Navigation strategy

[EdmondD]

Hi all! Sorry to be that guy who posts a question that's probably been answered numerous times, but I never spend any time here on the US/IOA side, and we've got our first trip coming up very soon (May 16)!

We are at Portofino with five-day hoppers. We have two days set aside to be full park days, starting in the morning. We have an 8yo who is tall enough for pretty much anything, and a 25yo. We're all big HP fans.

Is the best plan to take advantage of the early admission and hit HP in one park and then take the train to HP in the other park? Or do all the HP stuff in one park and then stay in that park for the remainder of the day? With express pass we'll be able to hit pretty much everything by the afternoon, correct?

Do you have a preferred plan or strategy that works best?

Thanks!

 

[skylock]

5 days with express pass you don't need a strategy plan.

HP will have much fewer people in it for early admission. crowds swell during the day.

 

[EdmondD]

Thanks!

I will say it's only two full days. We'll burn another day on the day we arrive, probably getting to the parks around 4, another half day on a Disney Springs day and then the morning of the day we fly out. But I do get the sense we'll be able to cover a lot of ground in all that time.

 

[skylock]

Express pass is magical. It is unbelievable what you can get done with it.

 

[Disxuni]

Either sounds like a good idea and you got EP so you have plenty of time to all that you may desire. A thing to note is that HE is different both ways.

 

[Blue32]

Also.....if you have express, EE is a great time to do spells as most are headed to rides first thing.

 

[bobbie68]

Hi I agree with pp on doing HP worlds on early entry. It is so nice to walk through with less people. If you are going to be later than like 11:00 leaving one HP world to go to the other you will be hitting larger crowds. You can do it just expect that. You could also hit Diagon Alley in the evening it will be less crowded. Hogsmeade may have more people at night because of the light show if it is running.

The express pass will let you get through everything you want to. Kong sometimes has a line on the express pass. We went one time and the express line was over 45 minutes and others it was 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

 

[imprint]

For the two full days using Early Entry, I would use those days to ride in the EE park and take the HE to the other park and ride there (presumedly EE will be Diagon Alley in the Studios). On the other days, you can spend time looking around at the HP areas. Like a previous poster said, you will want to ride HE both ways at some point, since the experience is different each way. With two full days, three partial days, park hopper tickets, and express passes, you will be able to do everything you want. Depending on how ambitious you are each day, it might be a lot of walking, but you definitely have the ability to do it all (repeatedly). You'll have a great trip. Enjoy!

 

[gotomu212]

I’ll be the contrarian and say that we no longer find the HP great areas to explore during EE (unless you just want to wander through the shops). As they’ve added more EE/but non-EP hotels, EE seems overly crowded with those that really need to take advantage of EE and since it’s the only area open it funnels everyone into that space quickly swelling the crowds (and that’s after a brisk walk to the back of the park).

We like to try HP areas in the late afternoon/early evening when we’ve found areas almost deserted (although with the light show Hogsmeade is better around dinner time). Since you are going in on arrival day later in the day, I’d suggest checking out HP and seeing what it’s like. If you’re able to actually get stuff done I’d skip EE and just use your EP as you enter the park to enjoy rides as you come to them.

 

[EdmondD]

Thanks, everybody!

 

[Sue M]

Orlando Informer has a great 3 day touring plan. We used it for our last Portofino stay. If you get the chance one evening hang around to hear the singers. They preform from the balcony off the lobby. We grabbed a table on the Piazza with some food from the Italian Deli.