Just back and had a fabulous time!

[jeanico2000]

My DH, adult DD and I just returned from a combination Disney/Universal trip and we had an amazing time! We stayed 2 nights at the RPR, so had the FOL perk, which is always great, and we loved loved LOVED Diagon Alley! WOW! we managed to ride Escape from Gringotts 5 times in total, with our longest wait being 40 minutes due to a temporary breakdown. Every other time was a wait between 10 and 20 minutes. I, who gets motion sickness at the drop of a hat, was perfectly fine riding this (I can't ride Forbidden Journey without closing my eyes during the video bits, even after taking meds for motion sickness ). The whole area is gorgeous; we enjoyed 2 meals at The Leaky Cauldron, purchased a butterbeer in one of the lovely new 'footed' goblets, and took dozens of wonderful photos. The shows were great, especially the Tale of the Three Brothers and the Fountain of Fair Fortune. These are performed by talented puppeteers, and the puppets are amazing! Not to be missed! We also enjoyed the 'wand choosing' show at Ollivander's a couple of times (well set up with more than 1 room, so many more guests can take in the show with minimal waits, versus the Hogsmeade counterpart), and one of the wand masters was a woman (she was wonderful!). The train ride to and from IOA was great fun, and very cleverly done. We purchased an interactive wand, and DD had a fine time performing the spells in both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade (note: this is not always easy to do, but witches and wizards are always on standby to help out). All in all, it was absolutely magical. Any questions? Fell free to ask!

 

[Disney Khi]

Thanks for the report! We visited Diagon Alley back in Sept and also had a magical time. My DD5 is Harry Potter-obsessed so we spent all our time in the two HP lands. We also really liked The Fountains of Fair Fortunes show. It was one of our favorite spells to cast in Hogsmeade, so we lived seeing the show. Loved the interactive wands, too! I'm glad you had a great trip!

 

[Blue32]

My DH, adult DD and I just returned from a combination Disney/Universal trip and we had an amazing time! We stayed 2 nights at the RPR, so had the FOL perk, which is always great, and we loved loved LOVED Diagon Alley! WOW! we managed to ride Escape from Gringotts 5 times in total, with our longest wait being 40 minutes due to a temporary breakdown. Every other time was a wait between 10 and 20 minutes. I, who gets motion sickness at the drop of a hat, was perfectly fine riding this (I can't ride Forbidden Journey without closing my eyes during the video bits, even after taking meds for motion sickness ). The whole area is gorgeous; we enjoyed 2 meals at The Leaky Cauldron, purchased a butterbeer in one of the lovely new 'footed' goblets, and took dozens of wonderful photos. The shows were great, especially the Tale of the Three Brothers and the Fountain of Fair Fortune. These are performed by talented puppeteers, and the puppets are amazing! Not to be missed! We also enjoyed the 'wand choosing' show at Ollivander's a couple of times (well set up with more than 1 room, so many more guests can take in the show with minimal waits, versus the Hogsmeade counterpart), and one of the wand masters was a woman (she was wonderful!). The train ride to and from IOA was great fun, and very cleverly done. We purchased an interactive wand, and DD had a fine time performing the spells in both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade (note: this is not always easy to do, but witches and wizards are always on standby to help out). All in all, it was absolutely magical. Any questions? Fell free to ask!

In your 5 rides...how many of those were thru the single rider line and how many thru the regular queue? Were any or all these rides during EE? Thanks!

 

[BeerMe]

We're going in Jan/Feb and we haven't been to Universal since 2008. I loved the Simpson ride then, I'm looking forward to this visit primarily because of Harry. I'll turn 69 on this trip and I'm a bigger kid than most.

Thanks for the report

 

[schumigirl]

Glad you had such a good time on your trip

There doesn`t seem to be any or many reports of anyone suffering from motion sickness issues with Gringotts ride which is good news.

I can`t do Simpsons at all and FJ maybe twice with meds, but we rode Gringotts loads of times over our trip and never once felt even a little bit nauseous.

Glad you all enjoyed the wands, they looked fun

 

[Dee2013]

Previously I have only done the Seuss Trolley ride and ET. The first time I did ET I was nervous, but it was ok!

I previously posted about even feeling a bit motion sick walking on the dock at CityWalk, but not the boats.

Had I not seen a night vision on Youtube (now removed), I would not have tried Gringott's. There is an initial drop of about 10 feet, and some turns (not spins). I LOVED it! Not one feeling of yuck ones.

 

[jeanico2000]

In your 5 rides...how many of those were thru the single rider line and how many thru the regular queue? Were any or all these rides during EE? Thanks!

We went through the regular queue the 5 times, and we rode 2 of the 5 times during EE. By the way, when we were there, US was supposed to open at 8:00AM for EE, but they let us through the turnstiles at 7:45AM. It's quite a walk to get to Diagon Alley from the entrance of the park!

 

[johde]

Glad to hear you had a good time and that Gringotts for the most part behaved for you. Given everything in the queue, most people I think can live with 40 minutes assuming you don't get stuck in dead spot during the breakdown.

 

[buzzrelly]

Love hearing this! We are going for our first time in April and, like you, will be spending 3 nights at RPR. We are arriving late the first night but I really planned it that way so I could have early morning hours 3 times. Do both parks have EE? Do they alternate? Do you have any suggestions which park I should start with on day 1? I am also planning on getting my kids the interactive wands. Would you do that during the EE, or would you ride rides during the extra time?
Thanks for the info!

 

[johde]

Love hearing this! We are going for our first time in April and, like you, will be spending 3 nights at RPR. We are arriving late the first night but I really planned it that way so I could have early morning hours 3 times. Do both parks have EE? Do they alternate? Do you have any suggestions which park I should start with on day 1? I am also planning on getting my kids the interactive wands. Would you do that during the EE, or would you ride rides during the extra time?
Thanks for the info!

Right now, just Diagon Alley (& Despicable Me) has EE. IOA hasn't had EE since the end of summer. Right now, we don't know if Spring Break time might bring change to the EE schedule.

 

[subtchr]

This is so great to hear! You sound just like us -- DH, adult DD and I are going next month, staying at RPR, and really excited to see Diagon Alley!

I've been to US many times as a group tour guide in the past few years, but DD and DH have not been since 2006, so they have never visited the WWoHP. We are all kids at heart when it comes to visiting the parks, so I know we will have a blast!

Thanks for the report!

 

[jeanico2000]

Love hearing this! We are going for our first time in April and, like you, will be spending 3 nights at RPR. We are arriving late the first night but I really planned it that way so I could have early morning hours 3 times. Do both parks have EE? Do they alternate? Do you have any suggestions which park I should start with on day 1? I am also planning on getting my kids the interactive wands. Would you do that during the EE, or would you ride rides during the extra time?
Thanks for the info!

Unless things change by the time you leave, EE was at US only, so we started all our mornings in Diagon Alley. I would recommend riding Gringotts, and then taking in the wand show at Ollivander's (just in case someone in your party gets chosen!). You can then browse the wands in the store and select the interactive ones so your kids can enjoy practicing all the spells before the park gets too busy (there is a map of all the interactive spots included in the wand boxes). The train to Hogsmeade starts up when IOA opens, so you can board and head over to the other Potter park before it gets busy, ride Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff and Dueling Dragons (sorry, but I don't know how old your kids are or if they are tall enough to ride everything), and then have fun with spells there (hope you try this out too! not always easy, but plenty of wizards/witches on hand to help). The rest of IOA and US can be done with minimal waits thanks to the FOL perk for those staying onsite. When you've finished with IOA, take the train back to Diagon Alley as the experience is different both ways. You can then decide what/when you want to ride. I recommend lunch or dinner at the Leaky Cauldron and (of course!) Butterbeer and ice cream from Fortescue's! Have a magical time, and don't hesitate to ask if you have any more questions!

 

[spideymike]

Great to hear! We'll be going this weekend too for 5 days total at RPR and looking forward to it. First trip there with kids since 2004! So early entry to Wizarding sounds like it really pays off.

Btw, I would assume there's still child swap there for most rides since my 6-year old girl is a tad scared of most dark rides. My son and wife on the other hand can't wait to go on them.

 

[buzzrelly]

Unless things change by the time you leave, EE was at US only, so we started all our mornings in Diagon Alley. I would recommend riding Gringotts, and then taking in the wand show at Ollivander's (just in case someone in your party gets chosen!). You can then browse the wands in the store and select the interactive ones so your kids can enjoy practicing all the spells before the park gets too busy (there is a map of all the interactive spots included in the wand boxes). The train to Hogsmeade starts up when IOA opens, so you can board and head over to the other Potter park before it gets busy, ride Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff and Dueling Dragons (sorry, but I don't know how old your kids are or if they are tall enough to ride everything), and then have fun with spells there (hope you try this out too! not always easy, but plenty of wizards/witches on hand to help). The rest of IOA and US can be done with minimal waits thanks to the FOL perk for those staying onsite. When you've finished with IOA, take the train back to Diagon Alley as the experience is different both ways. You can then decide what/when you want to ride. I recommend lunch or dinner at the Leaky Cauldron and (of course!) Butterbeer and ice cream from Fortescue's! Have a magical time, and don't hesitate to ask if you have any more questions!

Perfect! Just what I was looking for, thanks! My kids are 13 and 11 and LOVE thrill rides. They will be going on everything, I am sure! I can't wait!

 

[disneyhottie]

I was just curious...did you get any motion sickness from the HP train?I asked the ride attendant about what t expect from it, and she asked me if I had ever rode on a train before, I replies,yes,many times.But I do get car sick and some motion sickness in boats.She told me is was like riding on a regular train....WRONG!It wasn't the movement, but the movie they show out of the window.I think the distortion and looking at it sideways is what did me inI will ride it again, but will make sure that I keep my eyes forward

 

[jeanico2000]

I was just curious...did you get any motion sickness from the HP train?I asked the ride attendant about what t expect from it, and she asked me if I had ever rode on a train before, I replies,yes,many times.But I do get car sick and some motion sickness in boats.She told me is was like riding on a regular train....WRONG!It wasn't the movement, but the movie they show out of the window.I think the distortion and looking at it sideways is what did me inI will ride it again, but will make sure that I keep my eyes forward

I experienced no motion sickness whatsoever on the train, even though I looked out the window throughout the ride. I also felt fine in Gringotts... yet Forbidden Journey keeps doing me in Go figure!

 

[cbsnyber1]

We're going in Jan/Feb and we haven't been to Universal since 2008. I loved the Simpson ride then, I'm looking forward to this visit primarily because of Harry. I'll turn 69 on this trip and I'm a bigger kid than most.

Thanks for the report

63 here - love your attitude!

 

[jevs]

Thanks for the report. We are going in January our party includes my 70 year old mum

 

[ogorchock]

We're going to Disney from 2/6-2/14 and we love Disney. My DD just read the HP series for a second time and loved them. I don't like rides and HP is just OK. Our plan is to stay at our resort in Disney the whole time and my DD and DH would go to Universal for a day. But, now I'm reading that they would need to buy park-to-park passes for the complete HP experience, which is getting to be expensive 1 day adventure.

So, I'm wondering what you thought of taking the time to move resorts and whether you found there was enough of an advantage to move.

Also, then you miss taking the DME back to the airport, right?

Thanks for any insights you can share.

 

[RebeccaRabbit]

Thanks for the good advice! We are going to Uni for the first time in January. Couple questions for you:

DD8 *loves* HP, however, she doesn't like anything even remotely scary. (As in, Haunted Mansion is too scary for her.) I'm guessing FJ is a no-go, but wondering about Gringotts and Hogwarts Express - are they scary at all? For some reason, she is ok with watching movies and reading books involving Dementors, giant spiders, etc. but does not want anything like that anywhere near her on a ride... Can you tell me what the scariness factor is?

Also, the puppet shows sound really cute. I hadn't heard about those. Is there a schedule for them? Where are they performed? Are these replacing the choir and Celestina Warbeck (sp?) shows, or in addition to them?

tia!