Onsite Hotel Stay Harry Potter Touring Plan?

[helenb]

The last time we were at Universal, Diagon Alley wasn't yet open (we missed it by 2 weeks ). So clearly that will be a big thing for us this time. I'm wondering if there is a suggested touring plan for people who have EE and unlimited express pass/FOTL? If not, what would people recommend?

For example, if we use EE to get into Diagon Alley early, what should our plan of attack be? Right now I'm thinking go to Gringott's first, then head to the Hogwart's Express afterward (about 5-10 minutes before park opening?) and then go to Hogwart's, ride Frobidden Journey, take the train back, then explore Diagon Alley. Does that work, or will Diagon Alley be too crowded by that point? Is it better to completely explore Diagon Alley before taking the Hogwart's Express?

I was also worried about the interactive wands. My son really wants one, and I know we'll want to spend some time exploring and working all of the effects. I was thinking of maybe doing this in the evening a couple of hours before closing, until close, to hopefully get away from the crowds. Also, that would mean that we could delay buying the wand until then, and not have to put it in lockers for many of the rides. Is this a reasonable plan, or will the HP areas be closed to capacity by then? (We'll be there in June.)

We're not too concerned about touring in the rest of the parks, since unlimited express pass makes that easy.

 

[bumbershoot]

How many days do you have?

EP works on Dragon Challenge and Hippogriff.

EE isn't both parks every day, so if EE is only at one park, you will not be able to go on HExpress until the second park is open.

How you tour the parks is up to what you like to do; we are all so different.

With the wands, I'm a total debbie downer about them, so I'm not going to talk about them LOL. I'd rather let other people spend the money, and that way I can stand around and watch other people work to get the effect.

 

[helenb]

We're going for 3 days, but not all full days. We'll be arriving at about 11 am the first day (coming in from a cruise) and we plan to do non-HP things for which we have EP that day, maybe do the interactive wand thing in the evening. We plan to do EE for the next 2 days. We're leaving about noon-ish on Day 3 to transfer over to WDW.

Yeah, we know about Dragon's Challenge and Hippogriff. My concern is the rides that do not offer EP, for which we will have to 'compete'. Also, I hear reports of DIagon Alley being regularly closed and needing a 'fastpass' to get in later in the dy. That's why I'm looking for advice.

 

[vatmark]

Depending on when you go in June both parks could have EE each day. We were there this past June the 14th-19th and both parks had EE. How we handled it is we did Diagon at EE one day hitting Gringotts first and then exploring stores and the rest of the area. Then another day we did EE for IOA and hit FJ first and then rest of that area. We left the Potter areas when things started getting crowded and then did the rest of the park with express pass. Both of the harry potter areas clear out later in the evening and we found that to be the best time to ride FJ and Gringotts. We never experienced either of the Harry Potter areas closing due to capacity. Maybe it did in the middle of the day and we didn't know but I think if you hit those areas at EE or later in the evening you should be fine. We never waited long for anything. The only time there were issues was when Gringotts broke down. We did Hogwarts express in the evening and the line wasn't long.

 

[sharona]

We have found Diagon Alley and Gringotts to be least crowded an hour or so prior to closing. You may want to wander over there your first night... if you do that and get on Gringotts that night, you can explore DA during EE while everyone else is on line for Gringotts then get in the single rider line if the wait is more than 20 minutes. Try to get on HE early. The wait for that can be long, although you are inside with ac while you're waiting so if you do end up with a longer wait, get a beer from the kiosk inside and enjoy your time out of the FL heat.

 

[TJDisneymama]

Anyone have any recommendations for me for February? We have 3 park days....the first day we do not arrive 'til late morning though so no EE on that day. Do we already know for sure which parks will be open each morning on 2/19 & 2/20? I haven't found any info but Touring Plans says US both days. Can I assume that's correct? So can we do all the HP stuff at US in that first hour and then head over to HP stuff at IoA right at 9:00 (park open)? Or are we better off saving IoA HP until end of day????

 

[helenb]

Thanks Vatmark and Sharona for the advice! That's exactly the kind of information I was looking for!

Anyone else have thoughts on when to do the interactive wand experiences?

 

[Katniss]

We just came back and both days we were there only US was EE. With that ONLY the HP area was open so you will just follow the crowd of people coming in early and head straight for Gringotts if that is what you want to do. We did the interactive wand throughout the day as we were there. It was a lot of fun.