I'm beginning to have a panic attack -- advice!

[macraven]

it will be more than a good substitute, it will be a fantastic one !

your dd will be so thrilled you won't have to tell her twice to do her chores around the house when you get back.....

 

[McGreezy]

it will be more than a good substitute, it will be a fantastic one !

your dd will be so thrilled you won't have to tell her twice to do her chores around the house when you get back.....

Yes!! Haha that will be a welcome change!! Thanks!

 

[CyndiLooWho]

For those that start with Minions, how do you ever manage to get in? we arrived at park open 4 days in July and the shortest time we saw for Minions was 45 minutes. This is right after getting into the park. We never rode it. We did ride Mummy, Transformers, MIB as walk-ons, sometimes multiple times before moving to the next ride. Those lines weren't long until about 90 minutes after the parks opened.

 

[Brenda Kim]

You just have to suck it up and wait, if you go in July that is, since it is really popular. Also make sure Universal Studios is not open early to people staying on property (if you aren't). Like we got early entry into Diagon Alley, and about 5 minutes before park open walked to do MIB and the Mummy. I would assume that other guests would go do DM (Minions) thereby inflating the wait time right away. In October last year we only waited 20 minutes mid day.

Another thought is that the wait times right when the park opens are not 100% correct, you should be able to tell by the que and how many times it wraps around the side of the building if 45 minutes is accurate or not. Also I don't know if they include the pre-shows in the wait time. If memory serves there are 2 pre-shows, one as soon as you get into Gru's house and then you go further into Gru's house and get lined up and then onto the actual ride. Each of those pre shows are about as long as the ride itself, so you are entertained and don't feel like your waiting in line, yet the time involved are added to the wait time.

 

[dixonsontour]

We did the minions with no wait on saturday 18th October last year. Got there 15 mins before official opening and park was already open. We also did it no wait on an early entry day when the park opened to onsite guests at 7am (gringotts was down so less need to rush to Diagon alley) We did it with minimal wait prior to park closing at 5pm for HHN too. It did have the longest posted waits of all rides that trip apart from hp stuff.

 

[soniam]

Find out which park is offering early entry for onsite guests and go to the opposite park to start. Get to the gate at least 15 minutes before official opening, because they sometimes let people in early. Go straight to the Wizarding World area for that park. Ride the main ride first so in Diagon Alley Gringotts ride, or if Hogsmeade ride FJ ride. These are the rides with the longest wait time so getting them out of the way early or waiting until later in the evening will be beneficial. Hogwarts Express never takes that long in line as they have a higher occupancy load. The line never seems to stand still for long.

THIS!!!!! Go to the park that doesn't have early entry. It won't be as crowded. Plus, at midday when everyone from the early entry park is heading to the other park, you will be going the direction on Hogwart's Express with the shortest wait. Also, the park you go to in the afternoon probably won't be as crowded as the park you came from, since everyone is now heading to that park. We were staying at Royal Pacific in March, so we had early entry. We did it both ways, and thought avoiding early entry was better. We usually do rope drop and AM EMH at WDW, so we were surprised at the effect. I think it's because most people hop to the other park midday. If you can manage to take the train both directions, do it. It's different in each direction.

Also, have 1 person from your group take everyone's stuff to the lockers. Everyone else can keep moving in line. The locker person can easily catch up. Tell the locker person to go to the station/kiosk at the back/far end of the room, where no one is and more lockers are available. Be prepared to lose everything in your hands and pockets on Forbidden Journey, including flip flops. I almost thought I was going to lose my eyeglasses.

If you have never been on the rides, I would suck it up and wait in the regular line to see the really awesome queue. The single rider lines for Forbidden Journey and Gringott's bypass the majority of it. We would usually get a butter beer, ice cream, or caramel bar to pass the time while waiting in line. A beverage in a disposable cup is nice too, because you can't have anything on the ride with you.

 

[soniam]

For those that start with Minions, how do you ever manage to get in? we arrived at park open 4 days in July and the shortest time we saw for Minions was 45 minutes. This is right after getting into the park. We never rode it. We did ride Mummy, Transformers, MIB as walk-ons, sometimes multiple times before moving to the next ride. Those lines weren't long until about 90 minutes after the parks opened.

In March, we got to the park before opening and were the second people at the turnstile. Not many people headed to Minions; most headed to Diagon Alley. It was not an early entry day. We just walked right into Gru's house, which is right before the ride. When we got out, the line was longer. We did it another day after waiting in line for a broken Forbidden Journey and then finally riding. That took at least an hour or so, but it was an early entry day. It wasn't too bad, but we also had express pass. Your best bet is to just do it first, maybe it's not bad right before closing. However, with it near the exit, I would think a lot of people would try to hit it up before going. Gringott's can be done pretty quickly within the last hour or two.