My kids will not ride FJ but want to see all the rest...can we stay offsite

[vbarry]

We are DVC members and I am racking my brain and my checkbook on how to make this all work. It would be cheapest for us to just stay on Disney and then go over to Islands of Adventure for a day. If my kids will not ride FJ and just want to see all the rest Olivanders, Broomstick restaurant and shop and the stores and tour the castle etc.....should I be worried about the front of the line access or entry for HP? We would get there as soon as the park opens and would go during the week....one issue is that it is the week of 4th of July.

Any opinons on this? Thanks

 

[jake&samsmom]

In the WWoHP, the US Express Pass or Front of Line access is only available to use for the Dueling Dragons Ride, and Flight of the Hippogriff. There is no front of line pass merely to enter the WWoHP. Go early, have your park tickets in hand, and hightail it to Harry Potter as soon as the gates open. We are DVC members too and stayed at our home resort AKL, and took a cab ride to WWoHP last Sunday. We were interested in riding only the FJ ride (Express Pass is not allowed for this ride) and more importantly, touring and examining every nook and cranny of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. I thought we were very successfull in achieving all this, and we surely didn't need the Express Pass to enjoy touring Harry Potter. Here's a link to my mini-TR, it might help you since it seems to me we were in the same predicament as you are in now
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=39976545&postcount=10
Hope this helps.

 

[bumbershoot]

There is no front of line pass merely to enter the WWoHP.

Staying onsite gives you Early Entry to WWoHP (specifically and exactly, I believe it's to all of IOA, but we used it for HP) every day. When someone staying offsite gets to WWoHP, it will already contain an hour's worth of people staying onsite.

We experienced differences in this on our trip. Arrived December 10 in the afternoon, no significant line even at that point for FJ, no line to get into the wizarding world at all. But just two days later, LONG lines by the time the area opened to the park. We got there half an hour into Early Entry, and the line for Ollivander's was 40 minutes (which we stood in). Half an hour later I can't imagine how long it was for the offsite people.

The next day we waited for half an hour at approx 10am just to get INTO the shop that's connected to Ollivander's. The two main giftshops don't sell all of the same merchandise, and we wanted something that was in that shop (should have bought it the day before when there were no extra lines to get in the doors, or when we were in there after Ollivander's anyway), so we waited.

So it really CAN make a difference.

Do the kids have interest in "touring" the FJ castle? Being there for Early Entry can make a difference with that (though I hear there's a separate line to just "tour"...seems like that might move too fast to really experience it though, to me).

And Flight of the Hippogriff is a pretty fun and VERY tame coaster...even though I never experienced a LONG line for it, using the FOTL pass for it was helpful in that it got us on even faster. And since my 6 year old (who refused to ride FJ but liked walking through the line with me) and I were riding it 14 times in a row, that became important to us.

Should the kids get interested in other things while walking to WWoHP, you might really appreciate the onsite FOTL pass. Just bypassing the wait for Cat in the Hat alone was worth it!

Universal was super-fun; we enjoyed it SO much more than we expected, and we expected to enjoy it! I wouldn't downplay how much you guys might like it...honestly, I'd stay just the one night onsite and have fun for one or two days at Universal.

 

[tamis]

One other tidbit of info. Even if your kids don't want to ride FJ the queue line is amazing for all ages and at the very end of it they allow families to do a kid swap where one adult can stay in a room with the children who are too little or scared to ride and watch a Harry Potter movie that is playing. A couple minutes later when your party gets off the ride they meet you in the room and you get to get on the ride with a couple other members of your party. It was a great child swap experience for my family who had one child too scared to go on the ride.

 

[jake&samsmom]

Staying onsite gives you Early Entry to WWoHP (specifically and exactly, I believe it's to all of IOA, but we used it for HP) every day. When someone staying offsite gets to WWoHP, it will already contain an hour's worth of people staying onsite.

True, there is Early Entry for US onsite guests, but I compare that to the Morning EMH at Disney, not a Fastpass. My understanding of the US Express Pass is like a Fastpass, not an EMH. That's what I meant when I said there is no Express Pass that you can purchase to enter the WWoHP. But I agree, you are right that if you stay onsite you do get the early entry into US-IOA.

 

[pjredhead]

If anyone goes to Universal please ride Harry Potter FJ. The best ride ever. I am not a thril seeker, person I am 60 yrs old and was really nervous about this ride. Love it. It is the best. Do not let others scare you about it. You will be so amazed by all the high tech stuff you won't even let your mind be scared. Give it a try. Kids love it and so do adults. rode it twice and there were allot older folks rider than me.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Even if your kids do not want to ride FJ, make sure you do the castle tour. It is a seperate line from the ride queue and you can stay in each area for as long as you like without people pushing to get to the ride. The only think you miss is the greenhouse but I didn't find them all that interesting.

 

[Tink2Day]

Right, FJ doesn't have Fast Pass (FOTL) but touring the castle doesn't usually have a line.
The issue will be even getting IN to WWOHP.

That's where early entry comes into the picture. The week of July 4th, right before the last installment of the movies come out?

Even if you get there very early, you'll be one of many IMO.

The difference to me seems that there are a LOT more people who can utilize WDW EMH vs IOA Early Entry.

Bumber, when I was there it was at my own pace for the tour. People who wanted to move on could go around me, it's even separated from the lines for the ride so not an issue.

PJredhead, I'm right there with you and it was great! (well I wasn't QUITE 60 when we went)

 

[vbarry]

Thanks everyone. My ten year old is not a rider. I could try to talk her into it all day and she would not do it. She is a HUGE Harry Potter fan and cannot wait to buy a wand and a scarf. She really wants to go and shop, tour the castle and oh...go to the bathroom and listen to Moaning Myrtle! HA She is also taking a friend who is not a rider. My six year old is a little scared of the Harry Potter movies but is quite daring on rides.

The rates are just high that time of year and we would need a larger room with five. I will keep checking rates and thanks for the info!

 

[bumbershoot]

If anyone goes to Universal please ride Harry Potter FJ. The best ride ever. I am not a thril seeker, person I am 60 yrs old and was really nervous about this ride. Love it. It is the best. Do not let others scare you about it. You will be so amazed by all the high tech stuff you won't even let your mind be scared. Give it a try. Kids love it and so do adults. rode it twice and there were allot older folks rider than me.

While I agree that everyone should *try* the ride, it's just not true for everyone that it's so amazing they won't be scared. I was a bit scared, and more importantly I became rather ill b/c of the ride, and it ruined the next 12 hours or so for me.

So yes, try it, but be aware that you might be one of the few people who come off that ride a lovely shade of green (or having PTSD from the enormous spiders, shudder).

The rates are just high that time of year and we would need a larger room with five. I will keep checking rates and thanks for the info!

Good luck!

 

[glocon]

I think that there will be a big difference in crowd levels for people who visited the WWoHP last week, and those who will visit the week of the 4th of July. The crowd levels will be SO much higher in July that you cannot even begin to compare a touring experience in early February to one in July. That for sure is a time that early entry will be a huge asset and totally change your experience of IOA for the better. And if someone plans on enjoying the other parts of IOA the FOTH access will definitely hellp them do so, especially if you will be there for only one day. There is much to do for the fainter of heart in IOA.

 

[glocon]

One more thought... are there is Harry Potter packages at offsite hotels? These are much cheaper options in which you get early entry, but no FOTL access. That would be another option which is much more budget friendly if these are still available.. Check the Universal website.

 

[Metro West]

One more thought... are there is Harry Potter packages at offsite hotels? These are much cheaper options in which you get early entry, but no FOTL access. That would be another option which is much more budget friendly if these are still available.. Check the Universal website.

There are HP packages available at Universal "partner" hotels but I'm not sure of the cost or which hotels are participating.

 

[fairyprincess88]

One more thought... are there is Harry Potter packages at offsite hotels? These are much cheaper options in which you get early entry, but no FOTL access. That would be another option which is much more budget friendly if these are still available.. Check the Universal website.

Yes there are. Two weeks ago, I stayed at the Holiday Inn Maingate at the Entrance to Universal Studios on the Harry Potter package. It was a great hotel, very close to the parks(walking distance or shuttle/cheap cab) and it was $400 cheaper than staying at the RPR. It did include early entry and breakfast at the Three Broomsticks. It does not include FOTL of course, but we didn't need it considering when we visited.

While I didn't visit July 4th last year, I was there 4 days later and we stayed offsite at Disney. It was crowded yes, but doable. We just got to IOA at around 7 and they lined us up in Jurassic Park for the WWoHP(they let us into the park with the early entry guests-just did not allow us into Potter). We were the first regular admission park guests into the area and found we were easily able to do everything we wanted in the section with minimal waits. However, that's not to say it was smooth sailing and we had to pack our patience to deal with the crowds and lines. But it is doable to stay offsite at Disney as long as you go in knowing you will have be there very early and wait in a ton of lines.