IOA/WWOHP - partial day?

[chasemac]

As usual, we are trying to squeeze as much as possible into our trip. This will be our first family trip to WDW and as my DS15 is a huge HP fan, we wanted to try to spend some time at IOA/WWOHP. It will be me, DS15 and my father. The rest of our crew is going to have a relaxing morning at the pool and we are planning to meet up with them by 2 or 3 to head back to the MK. My question - is it possible to do the Harry Potter stuff and maybe a couple of the other coasters and leave by 1 or 2? We are planning on doing this on Sunday, April 9.

 

[mesaboy2]

Yes, as long as you are there at rope drop or a little earlier.

 

[chasemac]

Thanks, we are planning on getting there early. Do you know how long the cab ride is from Disney POR to Universal?

 

[mesaboy2]

PO Riverside is maybe 15 miles from Uni. The main artery between the two is I-4 and traffic can be very slow at times on it. Hopefully an Orlando local can respond with an estimated time for you....

 

[Metro West]

As usual, we are trying to squeeze as much as possible into our trip. This will be our first family trip to WDW and as my DS15 is a huge HP fan, we wanted to try to spend some time at IOA/WWOHP. It will be me, DS15 and my father. The rest of our crew is going to have a relaxing morning at the pool and we are planning to meet up with them by 2 or 3 to head back to the MK. My question - is it possible to do the Harry Potter stuff and maybe a couple of the other coasters and leave by 1 or 2? We are planning on doing this on Sunday, April 9.

It's possible you might still have to wait to get into HP even if you show up early...just keep that in mind. Don't assume because you're getting there at park opening (rope drop is a Disney thing) everything will be a walk-on. I would hate for you to wait several hours and not be able to do everything you want at IOA before dashing off to Disney. It's too bad you can't devote an entire day to IOA to make sure you can do everything w/o having to rush around but I understand vacation plans.

I don't live too far from the Universal area and it takes me anywhere from 25-35 minutes on average to get to DTD from that area...and I take the back roads. To be safe and to make sure you're at the gates for park opening, you should allow at least 35-50 minutes to get there. Heck...when I was at the MK the other weekend, it took me 45 minutes just to get from DTD to the Crossroads! Since you are going in the morning it shouldn't take as long as it will in the afternoon.

 

[mesaboy2]

Don't assume because you're getting there at park opening (rope drop is a Disney thing) everything will be a walk-on.

Sorry, my background is showing!

 

[cigar95]

We find in general that traffic on Sunday mornings on I-4 is quite light. (You said April 9 - did you mean the 10th?) We usually leave the WDW area about 8:20 to head north to Longwood for church on Sundays, so it's about the same time you'd be heading to Universal.

A smart cab driver should know the back way out of WDW from the Port Orleans area, picking up I-4 from route 535. That will save you a few minutes. And the cab drop-off area is a fair bit closer to the main entrance than is the parkng structure.

but if you're buying tickets that morning, that may take an additional 20 minutes or so as well, depending on crowds. Be sure to allow for that. (Starting to sound like a 7:30 departure may be needed.)

 

[nytimez]

Since they open Harry Potter an hour early to hotel guests, it could be an hour wait by the time you reach there.

I took part in the early open recently... and it was great, I rode three times with no wait. But it was stunning -- I mean amazing -- to see how quickly the line built up and extended out of the castle and out to Jurassic Park once the park opened for regular hours. I actually sat off on the side and watched it happen, I should have filmed it -- it would look like a time-lapse video happening in real time.

I still think you can do this, especially if you only want to do a couple of things outside of Potter -- but you will have some waits, even getting there early.

 

[Princess Sleepy]

Piggybacking on this topic, how bad are the lines if you don't have a FOTL pass from staying at a resort? We always use FP at WDW and just don't do things with long lines mostly. We want to do 1 day at IOA but I am having a hard time affording the resort. Will we spend the whole day waiting in line to do just a few things without the pass?

 

[Metro West]

Piggybacking on this topic, how bad are the lines if you don't have a FOTL pass from staying at a resort? We always use FP at WDW and just don't do things with long lines mostly. We want to do 1 day at IOA but I am having a hard time affording the resort. Will we spend the whole day waiting in line to do just a few things without the pass?

It depends on when you're going. Summer crowds can be very heavy especially for WWoHP and Spring Break crowds are insane. If you are going during an off peak time, the lines shouldn't be too bad. Otherwise...be prepared to wait and wait and wait.

 

[mesaboy2]

If you're willing to split up, many rides, including FJ, usually offer single-rider queues as well. Last Sunday as a SR I was able to hit all the headliners in IoA--and a few at the Studios--multiple times in some cases, in 3.5 hours.

 

[nytimez]

If you're willing to split up, many rides, including FJ, usually offer single-rider queues as well. Last Sunday as a SR I was able to hit all the headliners in IoA--and a few at the Studios--multiple times in some cases, in 3.5 hours.

This is true -- but when the FJ line backs up out of the castle, you can't even get to the single-ride queue for a while.

Also, for a partial day, I always find Universal to be better at the end of the day rather than the beginning. I don't recall seeing the FJ line go out of the castle in the afternoons recently -- but it was in the mornings.

 

[Planogirl]

We went during a busy time (early August) last year and we were offsite. We arrived about 45 minutes early and had a minimal wait to get into the Harry Potter area. We headed straight for FJ and probably waited about 45 minutes. We did NOT even attempt Ollivanders though. I believe that most people recommend heading straight to Ollivanders if you want to try it and then to FJ. The other HP attractions shouldn't be a problem.

If you can get through HP in a reasonable amount of time, you should be able to enjoy Hulk and Spiderman and some of the other attractions before you have to leave. There might be some wait but hopefully it won't be too awful. We find that Universal attractions tend to get really busy in the afternoon.

 

[tarrbear]

Heck...when I was at the MK the other weekend, it took me 45 minutes just to get from DTD to the Crossroads! Since you are going in the morning it shouldn't take as long as it will in the afternoon.

Oh my gosh. My sister lives in that area, I couldn't imagine 45 minutes just from DTD to Crossroads!

 

[Princess Sleepy]

We will be there the last Saturday in October. My kids will be 5 and 7, so I don't know if the single-rider line will work. Maybe for things they don't want to ride, like Dueling Dragons. What happens at Ollivander's? Is it worth the wait? Is it expensive?

After HP, we mostly want to do Juarssic Park, all of Seuss, and Rispsaw falls. Maybe Spiderman, but not Hulk. I have two girls and none of us is really into comic books, so I would be okay skipping that whole section.

If we do stay off-site, any recommendations as to the best hotel as far as convenience and amenities? Also, I know nothing about City Walk. With two younger kids, should that be something we are thinking about for Saturday night?

 

[mesaboy2]

We will be there the last Saturday in October. My kids will be 5 and 7, so I don't know if the single-rider line will work. Maybe for things they don't want to ride, like Dueling Dragons. What happens at Ollivander's? Is it worth the wait? Is it expensive?

After HP, we mostly want to do Juarssic Park, all of Seuss, and Rispsaw falls. Maybe Spiderman, but not Hulk. I have two girls and none of us is really into comic books, so I would be okay skipping that whole section.

If we do stay off-site, any recommendations as to the best hotel as far as convenience and amenities? Also, I know nothing about City Walk. With two younger kids, should that be something we are thinking about for Saturday night?

My wife and I swap out for single-rider so that one of us is always with DD6. That is only necessary on the big thrill rides, since DD6 is either not tall enough or daring enough.

Ollivander's is a recreation of the scene in the first HP movie where Harry gets his wand. It is cute and mildly entertaining at best. Having done it twice, I would say my family would wait maybe 30-35 minutes at the outside. If you've never done it and have time to kill, then 45-50 minutes tops. In late October, crowds should be fairly light and I would guess you would have a good chance of a shortish wait in the last hour of the day. They cut that line off before park close, however, so be careful not to wait too long to get in line if it's a priority for you. Ollivander's does not cost extra, in fact you can't buy anything in there either. After the show, you are ushered out into a store where you can buy all kinds of wands and HP swag.

Jurassic Park is fun, my kid loves the play area in there (Camp Jurassic). Pteranadon Flyers is also a fun ride, but is slow-loading and you must have a child below a certain height to ride it. Adults by themselves are not allowed to ride. I also like JP River Adventure, but one or both of your kids might find it a bit scary towards the end.

Ripsaw Falls is a blast, and DD6 loves everything in Seussland. She did Spiderman for the first time, but spent much of the ride with her head in her lap. IMO, it is not as scary as JPRA.

CityWalk to me is a louder, more adult version of Downtown Disney. We are not clubbers, so we skip all that and just hit Bubba Gump Shrimp Company for dinner and head out. If parking at Universal, then you have to walk to CW to get to either of the Universal parks.

Sorry I can't help you on nearby hotels. This last trip we stayed near Downtown Disney and drove the 15 minutes or so to Uni each day.

 

[mesaboy2]

This is true -- but when the FJ line backs up out of the castle, you can't even get to the single-ride queue for a while.

Also, for a partial day, I always find Universal to be better at the end of the day rather than the beginning. I don't recall seeing the FJ line go out of the castle in the afternoons recently -- but it was in the mornings.

Not always. If you are SR and bagless, as I was last week, I just walked up the left lane past the castle gate like I knew what I was doing. I knew that the right lane was for people who needed lockers or didn't know better.

 

[nytimez]

We will be there the last Saturday in October. My kids will be 5 and 7, so I don't know if the single-rider line will work. Maybe for things they don't want to ride, like Dueling Dragons. What happens at Ollivander's? Is it worth the wait? Is it expensive?

After HP, we mostly want to do Juarssic Park, all of Seuss, and Rispsaw falls. Maybe Spiderman, but not Hulk. I have two girls and none of us is really into comic books, so I would be okay skipping that whole section.

If we do stay off-site, any recommendations as to the best hotel as far as convenience and amenities? Also, I know nothing about City Walk. With two younger kids, should that be something we are thinking about for Saturday night?

I think you could do most, if not all, of that in a day even without Express Pass on an average day. Be aware of height requirements -- I don't know how tall your 5-year-old is, but you might want to look into it. More rides have higher requirements at Universal than at Disney.

I don't think City Walk is anything special -- your kids will likely be drawn to the carnie-style win-a-prize booths, but other than that it's restaurants and shops and not necessarily kid-oriented.

Can't help you on the hotel, I usually stay on property.

For the record, do the extra wait for the front row when you do Dueling Dragons. It's a completely different (and far better) ride when you can actually see what's going on. And if you can only go once, go for ice. Or whatever they call it now, the blue side.

 

[Princess Sleepy]

Thanks for all the help! For the record, I have a very tall 5 year old. She is actually 4 right now and is over 42" tall. I realize she will not be 48" tall by fall, but she will be tall enough for most of what we want to do. Ollivander's does sound like fun. We may have to try that, since HP is the main reason we are even making a stop here. It sounds like we can skip City Walk. Can you eat at the Resort Restaurants even if you are not a guest? The Pacific Rim one at RPR sounds like we'd love it, but I just don't think we can afford to stay there.

 

[nytimez]

The Pacific Rim one at RPR sounds like we'd love it, but I just don't think we can afford to stay there.

I wouldn't eat there if I wasn't staying there. The food is OK... but certainly not worth going out of your way for.

The only one I might -- MIGHT -- consider going to if I wasn't staying there is the Portofino, and you don't even have to eat to enjoy it: They have an opera singer sing from a balcony in the courtyard every evening.

But even that is something I enjoy if I'm staying there... not really something I'd visit just to visit (although it's a fantastic-looking hotel and worth the trip if you're into that sort of thing).