Need help for 1 day visit to HP

[Familyx4]

We will be in the area and want to spend one day at IOA - particularly to see HP. It will be Monday June 27th. Any advice?

Is there a particular time of day where crowds may be a little lighter at HP? We want, and need, to be as efficient as possible that day to hopefully get it all in.

 

[mesaboy2]

People report the most success at WWoHP either first thing in the morning or the last couple of hours before park close.

If you opt for morning--assuming you're not staying onsite--you will want to arrive at least 30-45 minutes before park open. Even so, the onsite folks will have an hour headstart on you and the queues will already be full when you get to WWoHP. However, you will probably be able to get right in, and not have to return later with the timed-entry ticket system. Some report this system can start as early as 9:30-10:00. This way would virtually ensure you get to do everything you want, but you'll have large crowds to deal with.

The other option is to arrive a few hours before park close. This way is riskier, as there is no guarantee you'd walk right in, therefore reducing the time you'd have there. On the plus side, there are often less crowds--YMMV.

If this is your only shot at WWoHP for a while, I'd vote for early morning to be safe. Whatever you do, don't arrive midday and expect to be able to accomplish much. No matter when you go, expect heavy crowds in a small space.

 

[Badge]

Well, the day you are going to IOA is one of the longest park hours I have seen in awhile! The park will be open from 8am until 10pm, so you have more than enough time to see everything.

If you are a morning person, get to the park around 7:30 (which means you should arrive at the parking area around 7). The hotel guests will have already been in the park since 7am, but there will still not be a wait to get into the area of the park. After Harry, go and enjoy the rest of the park!

If you are not a morning person, arrive at the park around 9 or 10. The HP area will most likely be full, but don't worry! As the evening goes on, the HP area becomes less crowded. Go and explore the rest of the park, and then around 5 or 6, head to HP. Also, an advantage of seeing it before the park closes, is you get to see the area at night which is amazing! Also, the later it gets, the less crowded the area becomes. Enjoy your trip!

 

[bumbershoot]

YOu have the various options and ideas for seeing Wizarding World. NOW go and check out maps of IOA to see all the other fun stuff you can do, either while waiting to see if WW has slowed down, or to do after you've fully experienced Wizarding World. There's a lot of good stuff there beyond Harry Potter, don't miss out on it all!

 

[Metro West]

YOu have the various options and ideas for seeing Wizarding World. NOW go and check out maps of IOA to see all the other fun stuff you can do, either while waiting to see if WW has slowed down, or to do after you've fully experienced Wizarding World. There's a lot of good stuff there beyond Harry Potter, don't miss out on it all!

 

[Familyx4]

Thanks so much for the great ideas!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Here is what we did a few weeks ago:

Got to the park an hour before it opened, they let us in about 20 minutes before the posted opening time, there was barely anybody there yet. We then immediately made our way to WWoHP and got in the line for Ollivander's. After Ollivander's we hopped in the line for Forbidden Journey. After that we grabbed a butterbeer from The Hog's Head and left WWoHP to explore the rest of the park. Around 4pm after we had experienced everything else in the park we made our way back to WWoHP where the crowds were much lighter. The castle ride only had a 20 minute wait, Dueling Dragons had a 5 minute wait, Flight of the Hippogriff had a 20 minute wait. Ollivander's had a line but it was not too terribly long.

We rode what we hadn't done yet and then checked out all the shops which were not crowded.

The only thing we missed were the performances.

Since the park is open late that day you should have plenty of time to get everything done. That being said I believe we were there on a light crowd day as the lines for everything else in the park were not existent, pretty much walk on.