IOA in one day?

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

I am planning on staying at WDW for 9 nights, but some of my party (1 adult and 3 children) want to do Harry Potter so I have several questions:
1. Will we have to rent a car, take a cab, etc?
2. Can we do IOA in one day (first of August)?
3. Aren't the ticket prices a little steep for one day?

Thanks!

 

[Tink2Day]

Tickets are on par with a one day ticket to WDW.

You'll have to take some type of transportation to get to IOA from WDW. There is a whole sticky on transportation to US/IOA.

8/1 who knows?
Is WDW busy in the summer months? I haven't been then.
You can probably do all of IOA it just depends on the size of the crowds. Getting into WWOHP during that time may be a return ticket later in the day. It's just so hard to gauge it since it is so new and the 'in' thing.

 

[RMulieri]

Disney does not provide transportation to its competitor so you will nned to rent a car, hire a towncar, book a shuttle or take a cab to IOA.

Tickets are NO different than what a one day would cost you for WDW,the more days you but the cheaper it becomes.

Can't tell you much about 8/1, but I can tell you that the Harry Potter section of IOA is busy regardless of what day you go and requires pre-planning.It is only a year old so it is still a HUGE draw for IOA.

 

[kwdw]

With four people - you will probably want to take a cab. I did the Mears shuttle between WDW and US/IOA and it did go smoothly for me - but once you hit four people - I think the cab is about the same cost. Occasionally you can snag a cheap rental car - but that takes planning or luck!

Yes - you can do IOA in one day.

1) Buy tickets online before you go. It's cheaper and their ticket lines were long the day I was there.

2) Plan PLENTY of time to get there, walk from the taxi/shuttle drop off, get through bag check, and be there when it opens and follow the crowd to WWoHP. You probably need to leave the WDW area at least 1.5 hours before park opening time if going by cab. For the shuttle - at least two hours as there may be another stop.

3) If you are there FIRST THING - you will get into WWoHP and won't have to get a timed ticket to come back later in the day. Now - once you leave that section of the park - you may have to deal with timed entry to get back in later in the day - depending on the crowd and time of day.

4) Do everything you want in WWoHP before you leave that section. Then - enjoy the rest of the park. If you plan to do alot of the other rides in IOA outside of WWoHP section, it might benefit you to get an express pass. If you aren't big ride people, you could probably skip the express pass. If you really want to hit all the big thrill rides - this will make your life easier. It is definitely more money, though

5) Unless you have teenagers that eat a ton, I wouldn't suggest the meal deal. Can't use it in the HP section.

It does feel pricey because you'll be paying the one day ticket price. Disney is high, too, for just one day. If you really plan to make the most of it, I think you will get your money's worth.

The one mistake I made was not really understanding the rides and shows at Universal/IOA before going. I didn't use my first day at the park as wisely as I should have. I was exhausted/done for the day - but in many ways - I just really oriented myself to the park on my first day. So - spend alot of time on their website, take notes or print things out. Otherwise - you can waste alot of time doing nothing. I learned all about WWoHP in advance - but not about the rest of the park. That was a mistake. I should have spent more time figuring out what I was going to do AFTER my HP fix. IOA is a nice park - good theming, variety of things to do, be prepared to enjoy the rest of it, too. I thought I wouldn't be interested, but ended up wishing I'd knew more about the rest before going.

I love HP and for HP fans - the price and crowds are worth it. You can spend 3-4 hours in the WWoHP easily if you are a fan (some can spend longer) and I definitely recommend eating at Three Broomsticks to say you did (and drinking Butterbeer). Bring a pen and buy postcards to mail from Owl Post with a Hogsmeade postal code!

 

[heidijanesmith]

With four people - you will probably want to take a cab. I did the Mears shuttle between WDW and US/IOA and it did go smoothly for me - but once you hit four people - I think the cab is about the same cost. Occasionally you can snag a cheap rental car - but that takes planning or luck!

Yes - you can do IOA in one day.

1) Buy tickets online before you go. It's cheaper and their ticket lines were long the day I was there.

2) Plan PLENTY of time to get there, walk from the taxi/shuttle drop off, get through bag check, and be there when it opens and follow the crowd to WWoHP. You probably need to leave the WDW area at least 1.5 hours before park opening time if going by cab. For the shuttle - at least two hours as there may be another stop.

3) If you are there FIRST THING - you will get into WWoHP and won't have to get a timed ticket to come back later in the day. Now - once you leave that section of the park - you may have to deal with timed entry to get back in later in the day - depending on the crowd and time of day.

4) Do everything you want in WWoHP before you leave that section. Then - enjoy the rest of the park. If you plan to do alot of the other rides in IOA outside of WWoHP section, it might benefit you to get an express pass. If you aren't big ride people, you could probably skip the express pass. If you really want to hit all the big thrill rides - this will make your life easier. It is definitely more money, though

5) Unless you have teenagers that eat a ton, I wouldn't suggest the meal deal. Can't use it in the HP section.

It does feel pricey because you'll be paying the one day ticket price. Disney is high, too, for just one day. If you really plan to make the most of it, I think you will get your money's worth.

The one mistake I made was not really understanding the rides and shows at Universal/IOA before going. I didn't use my first day at the park as wisely as I should have. I was exhausted/done for the day - but in many ways - I just really oriented myself to the park on my first day. So - spend alot of time on their website, take notes or print things out. Otherwise - you can waste alot of time doing nothing. I learned all about WWoHP in advance - but not about the rest of the park. That was a mistake. I should have spent more time figuring out what I was going to do AFTER my HP fix. IOA is a nice park - good theming, variety of things to do, be prepared to enjoy the rest of it, too. I thought I wouldn't be interested, but ended up wishing I'd knew more about the rest before going.

I love HP and for HP fans - the price and crowds are worth it. You can spend 3-4 hours in the WWoHP easily if you are a fan (some can spend longer) and I definitely recommend eating at Three Broomsticks to say you did (and drinking Butterbeer). Bring a pen and buy postcards to mail from Owl Post with a Hogsmeade postal code!

Above is great advice. We lucked out an getting a rental car for a great price. We joined the National program (Emerald) for free using info on Mousesavers.com. We then used our Emerald discount to rent a car at the Car Care Center at WDW. The National company sent a shuttle to us at the Poly, took 2 mintues at the most to get to the CCC. Then we were off. We went to IoA at the end of our WDW trip, so it was easier for us to return the rental car at the airport on our day home.

We toured in July 2010 which was crazy crowded WWoHP. I imagine WWoHP will be very crowded this summer too. I would think about getting an Express Pass if you want to experience the bigger rides at IoA. The lines for them were very big in July, but the EP had very small lines. You might want to consider staying on site for one night as well. Free unlimitted Express pass and an hour early entry to WWoHP. Totally worth it for us!

 

[lovebug33]

We went on Sunday and Monday. Sunday was reasonable with crowds, Monday was insane. I know the people who were behind us in line had come from WDW and had hired a car service because they could call to have them pick them up whenever they were done and the car would be there in an hour. Definitely orient yourself with the park before you go. DH and I spent a huge amount of time just wandering around in circles looking for something to do after we saw HP. It was a HUGE waste of time! Also, a car service cost us 42 dollars for two people to get from US to Pop (one way).

 

[Metro West]

Now that summer is right around the corner, the deciding factor for how much you can get done at IOA in a single day will be the crowds at WWoHP and how long it takes to do that area. Sure...you can do the whole area in a few hours right now but if this summer is anything like last summer it's going to be crazy busy every day and it might take several hours just to wait in line for Forbidden Journey. The rest of the park shouldn't be too bad but there will still be waits of over 60 minutes for most attractions and 90-120 minutes for the water rides.

I hope its not as busy but I have a feeling the crowd levels are not going to fall that much from last year. As an Orlando resident I don't go to any of the parks in the summer...it's too crowded and WAY too hot for my taste. If you're coming down in the summer I say...have at it and have a good time.

 

[Harry Potter]

Just an interested observer to this thread, but do resort guests with keycards need the timed entry to WWoHP, or do we skip the waits?

I always stay onsite, but the last time was June 2010 during opening week of WWoHP, and at that stage the ticketed entry hadn't been in place.

I will always do WWoHP first thing during early entry BUT if I leave after a couple of hours (and thats stretching it) and want to do other areas in IOA, it will be quite strange to know that I couldn't get back to do FJ or DC again whenever I wanted.

 

[Badge]

Just an interested observer to this thread, but do resort guests with keycards need the timed entry to WWoHP, or do we skip the waits?

I always stay onsite, but the last time was June 2010 during opening week of WWoHP, and at that stage the ticketed entry hadn't been in place.

I will always do WWoHP first thing during early entry BUT if I leave after a couple of hours (and thats stretching it) and want to do other areas in IOA, it will be quite strange to know that I couldn't get back to do FJ or DC again whenever I wanted.

Yes, even hotel guest will have to wait to get into the area. The reason they have to close it is for fire/safety reasons. However, most of the time, they close the area of the park in the early afternoon (10 or 11) and by 5 in the evening, its open up again. So, if you go in the morning to HP and then leave to do other rides/shows, you should be able to get back into the area without a wait in the evening.