Our Inaugural visit to the Darkside

[charmed1212]

After many vacations to Disney, my family has de died to visit the darkside. My daughters are older now and love Harry Potter as much as I do, so we felt it was time to venture into the unknown. Unfortunately it is much harder to find info for Universal than Disney.

So, I am asking for help. Any tips and tricks for newbies? We are going over Thanksgiving break and will be there 4 days. I know it will be busy, but I am hoping that 4 uninterrupted days will give us time to get everything we want done. We are staying off site since my husband has hotel points and our stay will be free.

My daughters are 6 and 10. We will probably have a backpack with us and a camera. How will that work for rides?

Really I would just like advice from people who have been there with kids. I think I am a little stressed out that I haven't planned anything and I don't need to. I guess I am just used to Disney. Lol

Thanks a million!

 

[RMulieri]

with it being over Thanksgiving,. it will be very busy. Plan on long waits especially for Harry Potter. I would familiarize yourself as to what each park has to offer and come up with a game plan..Touring plans has some ( which costs money) or you can google the info ( there are other sites out there, they are just not allowed to be mentioned here) As for a bag, there are several rides where NO BAGS Are allowed.FOr those rides, there are lockers provided that are free for the length of the wait/ride. The rides are: Hulk, rip ride rocket, Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, Men in black, Dragon Challenge, Mummy

 

[eXo]

As a veteran of USF/IOA and a recent newb to Disney, I might be able to help a bit.

Are you getting park-to-park passes for all 4 days?

Universal is totally different from Disney in terms of planning. You can feasibly show up to Universal with no plan in mind and still get a decent amount done. That said, it will cost you more. Between the thanksgiving break and the fact you haven't been before, I would suggest budgeting in a express pass for at least one day.

A base level EP will allow you to skip most of the line for each ride 1 time. Currently this does not apply to any of the HP rides though (except the Dueling Dragons). Having this will cost you, but it will allow this mid day hours where lines all hit peak levels to still be useful park time to you.

Second tip - don't count on the Hogwarts Express to be a quick way to get from park to park. The lines for that train were very long for us on days that were listed as "moderate to low" on the crowd charts. I saw a group getting on at one point, proceeded to walk all the way from the back of USF to the gates, exit, walk down to IOA, enter, make my way back towards Hogsmeade, and then about 30 minutes later I saw the same group leaving the train station. The fact I walked over and still had 30 more min. before the train made it is sort of ridiculous.

Third tip - save morning time for the actual shops in the two HP parks. Especially over at Hogsmeade, the shops are fairly narrow. It really blows trying to look and things and take the ambiance in if you are shoulder to shoulder with people in there. The interactive wand spots around the two areas an also be hard to enjoy and take advantage of if a: there are people blocking you or B: a line of kids all waiting their turn to do it, which sort of spoils the effect of seeing what will happen.

Our plan was to hit Diagon early, enjoy it until the crowds hit, and then mosey off to the rest of the park using our Express Passes to hit all the rides.

There is a website that focuses on 'touring plans' <hint hint> that I used to make lists of the rides we wanted to see and it calculated the lowest walk and wait times for us. I used that on the days I didn't buy express passes.

As stated above, bags are fine on many rides and lockers are free for those you can't have bags on. EXCEPT for the Jurrassic Park river ride. That ride allows bags.... but it is a very bad idea to take your bag on it. Same for the Ripsaw Falls or Bilgerats Barges actually. All three of these rides will get you wet. As a matter of fact, don't waste your money on their $12 ponchos. You will get soaked right through it. Unless you have a full change of clothes (socks and underwear too, as well as a nother pair of shoes) don't bother with these rides. You'll save yourself the $4 locker fee to store your bag (which is silly since you can get an $8-$10 all day full size locker at the front of the park).

Feel free to ask any thing that comes to mind.

 

[wookiebeck]

Agreed, you don't need to plan as much, but there are a few things to do to prepare.

Without express passes, you will have to wait longer. Thus, just like at WDW, if you can ropedrop you will have a better tour. The two Potter areas are the big draw. We were there for summer crowds What we did was explore the areas and shopped and browsed around in the morning, while everyone was scrambling to get in the ride lines for HP.

Then in the evenings when everyone had ridden, the streets and shops were packed. So we rode the rides with short lines. Patience pays off.

You might want to get a few lunch/dinner reservations down. See the food sticky for ideas.

Have fun!

 

[charmed1212]

As a veteran of USF/IOA and a recent newb to Disney, I might be able to help a bit. Are you getting park-to-park passes for all 4 days? Universal is totally different from Disney in terms of planning. You can feasibly show up to Universal with no plan in mind and still get a decent amount done. That said, it will cost you more. Between the thanksgiving break and the fact you haven't been before, I would suggest budgeting in a express pass for at least one day. A base level EP will allow you to skip most of the line for each ride 1 time. Currently this does not apply to any of the HP rides though (except the Dueling Dragons). Having this will cost you, but it will allow this mid day hours where lines all hit peak levels to still be useful park time to you. Second tip - don't count on the Hogwarts Express to be a quick way to get from park to park. The lines for that train were very long for us on days that were listed as "moderate to low" on the crowd charts. I saw a group getting on at one point, proceeded to walk all the way from the back of USF to the gates, exit, walk down to IOA, enter, make my way back towards Hogsmeade, and then about 30 minutes later I saw the same group leaving the train station. The fact I walked over and still had 30 more min. before the train made it is sort of ridiculous. Third tip - save morning time for the actual shops in the two HP parks. Especially over at Hogsmeade, the shops are fairly narrow. It really blows trying to look and things and take the ambiance in if you are shoulder to shoulder with people in there. The interactive wand spots around the two areas an also be hard to enjoy and take advantage of if a: there are people blocking you or B: a line of kids all waiting their turn to do it, which sort of spoils the effect of seeing what will happen. Our plan was to hit Diagon early, enjoy it until the crowds hit, and then mosey off to the rest of the park using our Express Passes to hit all the rides. There is a website that focuses on 'touring plans' <hint hint> that I used to make lists of the rides we wanted to see and it calculated the lowest walk and wait times for us. I used that on the days I didn't buy express passes. As stated above, bags are fine on many rides and lockers are free for those you can't have bags on. EXCEPT for the Jurrassic Park river ride. That ride allows bags.... but it is a very bad idea to take your bag on it. Same for the Ripsaw Falls or Bilgerats Barges actually. All three of these rides will get you wet. As a matter of fact, don't waste your money on their $12 ponchos. You will get soaked right through it. Unless you have a full change of clothes (socks and underwear too, as well as a nother pair of shoes) don't bother with these rides. You'll save yourself the $4 locker fee to store your bag (which is silly since you can get an $8-$10 all day full size locker at the front of the park). Feel free to ask any thing that comes to mind.

We are getting annual passes. I'll keep the express pass in mind in case we miss out on some things we want to do. I do want to shop in the Harry Potter area so I appreciate that info. Thank you for the info!!!

 

[charmed1212]

Thank you everyone!! My thoughts are that I essentially want to see 1/2 a park a day since we have 4 days. We are big offseason vacationers so I don't know if I'm ready for the crowds. *shudder* I really just want to ensure that my kids have a great family vacation.

 

[Luckybee]

Just with regard to the "poncho" advice. Of the water rides we only tried Jurassic park and we had the cheap throwaway ponchos for that purpose. Dh was completely dry with his(other than his feet) and I got a little wet on my lower body but that's because my poncho rode up on me and I didn't notice until the ride was over. ymmv but I found them very helpful but we always like them for water rides.

 

[MomtoGKC]

I think you will be surprised at how much easier it is to get the parks done than it is at Disney and with little to no planning! We went over spring break and got everything done in 2 days - and we even left the parks in the afternoon, we didn't stay until closing. We did stay on property though so had the front of the line passes.

I'd say the most important things are the same as Disney - get there early and get the front of the line pass if possible. Actually, if you are getting annual passes have you checked the price of an on site hotel for one night? It might be cheaper then front of the line passes for all 4 of you and you would get early entry two days plus the passes that are good for rides all day (instead of one time on each ride.) I just played around with some days and there are very cheap rooms at Cabana Bay but they only get you early entry I believe not the passes. Other than that some nights had rooms around $350 - try both with the code APH and without to see the best prices for you.

As far as ponchos - the only water ride we did was Jurrasic Park and my kids found the best solution to staying dry. Get a poncho - as soon as you get on the ride take off your shoes and put in your lap - tuck feet up and tuck poncho completely around you!

 

[RMulieri]

How wet you get on Jurassic park is hit or miss.I have gotten drenched and I have been on and been completely dry..Dudley do rights and Popeyes...Didn't matter..I couldn't have gotten more soaked if I jumped in with my clothes on..we were all drenched thru to the skin

 

[mrsabbott]

Lol! Popeyes and Dudley Doright's got us soaked as well! We also made the mistake of wearing jean shorts that day so it took awhile for us to dry! My advice is to wear something that won't chafe and don't wear white!

We also plan to visit for 4 days and, unfortunately, it will be right after Easter which is supposedly very busy. We won't have an express pass at all. We plan to do one entire day of just HP. The next will be the rest on Studios. The next will be the rest of IofA. The last day will be spent revisiting our favorites and seeing anything we might have missed.

 

[eXo]

JP is def. the tamest of the water rides. I should have been clearer about that.

Even Ripsaw Falls isn't horrible, BUT the way you put your legs around the person in front of you can create a scenario where you don't get wet, but your foot/calf gets soaked. Especially due to how much water the log itself retains. So sometimes you take a corner on the ride towards the drop, and all the water sloshes up one side and gets your legs.

Bilge Rats Barge is simply a soaking. There is no way around it. Unless it is a very hot summer day and you are wearing sandals, you will be miserable after riding it. I got so wet that when we got back to the hotel I hung my clothes up and they were still damp 3 days later.

The poncho will do you no good there, nor will it protect your legs on the ripsaw falls ride.

I've ridden JP about 6 times and I've never gotten all that wet. But it is enough that if it is cold outside, it could make you uncomfortable. In which case a cheap home poncho may be worth it.

I simply have a problem with the fact the park has free lockers every where else, but then you get to JP and it's $4 for a locker and then $12 for a poncho. It's a rip off.

 

[schumigirl]

How wet you get on Jurassic park is hit or miss.I have gotten drenched and I have been on and been completely dry..Dudley do rights and Popeyes...Didn't matter..I couldn't have gotten more soaked if I jumped in with my clothes on..we were all drenched thru to the skin

Spot on!!

I've ridden JP hundreds of times and some times we come off dry, sometimes just a sprinkling but others we have been drenched to the skin.

Different every time.

Dudley and Popeyes.........you will get drenched

 

[DonnaDavid]

I sent you a PM.

 

[DonnaDavid]

We are getting annual passes. I'll keep the express pass in mind in case we miss out on some things we want to do. I do want to shop in the Harry Potter area so I appreciate that info. Thank you for the info!!!

Look into getting a deluxe room for a night; if you time it right you will get two days of express passes for your one night stay.

 

[charmed1212]

Thank you everyone!!! You guys are awesome!!