please help with itinerary for harry potter and princess themed events at Magic Kingdom...

[koloa401]

Hi, been real busy at work but now have a sudden opportunity for a vacation between the 19th and 25th of April. I have 2 daughters age 4 and 9 and would like to take them to magic kingdom and the world of harry potter. My oldest enjoys harry potter and my youngest is all about princesses. Can someone help me plan a 2-3 day trip to maximize the experience? What are the must-dos? What passes should I splurge on? For the hotel stay, closest as possible to the events, prefer theme hotels but have no idea what... budget secondary to experience. Would like to have a relaxation day or two at the hotel where kids just play at the pool etc...

Thank you!



(1) Hi All, THANKS FOR THE REPLIES!

How about if we can do ~2 full days each at universal and magic kingdom?

Yes we will have a car.

Can someone recommend the 3-4 must-dos at universal harry potter and 3-4 must-dos at magic kingdom princess related?

taking the hogwarts express is a must.

Would like to have a hotel at universal 2 days then transition to magic kingdom for 3. sorry for the confusion.


(2) Hi All, doing some serious digging under time constraints...

So far we have
2 adults and 2 girls (4 and 10).
rental car
~2-3 days at universal (ill leave details of MK out of here)

Must-do?
hogwarts express
Ollicanders wand shop
Flight of the Hippogriff with 9 yr old
eat at The Leaky Cauldron
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
interactive wand exhibits

Does this sound about right?
I configured a package at the universal website for the following: 4/19-4/21 = $2923 for 4 park 2 park tickets, early park admission, free universal express, at the Hard Rock Hotel. Also, are the park 2 park tickets the tickets used to enter into the parks themselves or is it an option that is added unto the tickets when I purchase them?

Is there a better way to get a deal at the premium hotels?

Thanks!

 

[suevee]

Harry Potter at Universal princesses at WDW. With only 3 days very hard to do both. I suggest you pick one and plan. I do know if you stay at Universal Hotel you get front of line passes. Also there are 2 parks instead of 4.

 

[rwdavis2]

Just to be clear, no snark intended. You do know that Harry Potter is at Universal and not Disney? It's not clear form your post. With that out of the way, I might stay one night at a Universal hotel and the rest at Disney World.

With only 3 days, I would not do much relaxing at a pool. It's a waste of time for only 3 days in Orlando.

After reading the above post, I agree. Pick one park or the other.

 

[BrianL]

Well, first of all, Harry Potter stuff is all at Universal Studios, not Magic Kingdom. Doing both in 2 to 3 days would be tough, but if you only want to do Magic Kingdom and Universal, it could be done. They are not that close, so you might consider switching hotels. Will you have a car? That can make it easier.

Staying very close to MK is expensive, so it depends on what fits your budget. Any WDW on-site hotel though is convenient enough for MK. I would post on the Universal board for information about the best hotels for that part.

As for events, you might try to get a dinner reservation for Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle, though that will be tough with very short notice (there are often cancellations though). Otherwise, there are many opportunities to meet princesses around the park. If the sisters from Frozen are important though keep in mind that they are located at Epcot, not Magic Kingdom. They can (usually) be seen in the Festival of Fantasy parade at MK though.

For Universal, in order to do all of the Harry Potter stuff you need to visit both parks and have a Park to Park pass, meaning you can travel between them on the same day. This is needed to ride the Hogwart's Express train as it takes you from one park to the other. If you only want to do the HP stuff you could do it in a day, but if you want to maximize and see all of both parks you'll need at least two full days.

 

[caliope]

For those dates, you have only a little over two weeks to plan. I'd start by seeing where you can get a hotel reservation. As others have said, Harry Potter is at Universal while the princesses are at WDW. Will you have a car? Have you been to any of the parks before? All of these are factors.

 

[rwdavis2]

Let me chime in again and suggest to the OP, I suggest you do some research on your own. It will save you some time and you will get quicker answers by looking over the Disney and Universal park site.

edit: I just noticed the time frame you're dealing with. Although it's possible to have a great time without planning, the trip would be much more enjoyable if you do any kind of planning. Maybe you want to wait until you have some time to do some research. Do you understand Fast Pass Plus at Disney or Express Pass at Universal?

I always tell people a trip to Disney World is like a Mt. Everest expedition: It requires stamina, planning, and money.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I will go with the other PP's and say 2 to 3 days to do Harry Potter AND Magic Kingdom - there is really no way to "maximize" that experience particularly unless your younger daughter will be happy with meet and greets and not necessarily go to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, Cinderella Royal Table, etc. You CAN get Harry Potter done in a day, IMHO, as long as you don't see any other parts of Uni or Islands of Adventure and you buy a park to park pass. You also need to decide if you want to stay at Uni or WDW. If not staying at Uni, buy the express pass. At Uni, we like Portofino Bay and Hard Rock. At WDW, I would consider Grand Floridian (it's very "princessy" and one monorail stop away from MK) or a Royal Room at POR (if you want to save some money).

 

[damo]

How is the budget? This could be a pricey little vacation. If budget isn't an issue, then no problem. If budget is an issue, I would choose one experience over the other.

Can you clarify your time? Not sure if you mean 2-3 days at each park or 2-3 days altogether.

 

[angryduck71]

IF I had a "sudden" vacation two weeks out, I'd pick Universal (Potter) over Disney (princesses). You simply don't have enough time to plan Disney. At Universal, you can stay at one of the three premium hotels and get free express passes and be OK. This is a busy time to be in Orlando. But, Universal with express passes would be manageable. And, you'll want early entry you get from those hotels as well.

 

[macraven]

You would waste a lot of park time if you need to split two days between UO and wdw

Assume the third day you mentioned would be a partial day for travel

Tickets are expensive when only at the park for a partial or half day

 

[koloa401]

Hi all, please see updated original post. thank you!

 

[damo]

Hi all, please see updated original post. thank you!

Okay. Much more doable!!! Stay at either Royal Pacific, Hard Rock or Portofino Bay to get unlimited express passes which will make your stay soo enjoyable. With 3 days you will be able to see and do everything and your girls will have a ball. Make sure to purchase the interactive wands at one of the Harry Potter areas and enjoy the interactive spells at both parks.

 

[rwdavis2]

Hi, been real busy at work but now have a sudden opportunity for a vacation between the 19th and 25th of April. I have 2 daughters age 4 and 9 and would like to take them to magic kingdom and the world of harry potter. My oldest enjoys harry potter and my youngest is all about princesses. Can someone help me plan a 2-3 day trip to maximize the experience? What are the must-dos? What passes should I splurge on? For the hotel stay, closest as possible to the events, prefer theme hotels but have no idea what... budget secondary to experience. Would like to have a relaxation day or two at the hotel where kids just play at the pool etc...

Thank you!


Hi All, THANKS FOR THE REPLIES!

How about if we can do ~2 full days each at universal and magic kingdom?

Yes we will have a car.

Can someone recommend the 3-4 must-dos at universal harry potter and 3-4 must-dos at magic kingdom princess related?

taking the hogwarts express is a must.

Would like to have a hotel at universal 2 days then transition to magic kingdom for 3. sorry for the confusion.

I would do all the HP rides at Universal. There are not that many. Have you actually looked to see what's there? Again, a little research on your own will go a long way. I'll let other chime in on princesses.

 

[toonaspie]

Express Pass would be pointless if you are ONLY doing the Harry Potter stuff at Universal (two of the three rides won't take Express Pass). However you do get one hour early entry to Harry Potter before the park opens regardless of what Universal hotel you stay at.

Very important: You must get the park-2-park option for the full Harry Potter experience as it is split between both parks.

For Magic Kingdom, if your daughter wants to meet princesses you might want to check/focus your fastpasses on the meet and greets.

You might have to switch hotels during your trip (from Universal to Disney) to get the most out of your short time there.

 

[bumbershoot]

Is there another adult? If not you won't be able to do many Wizarding World rides because of the 4 year old.

 

[koloa401]

Hi all, please see my edits?!

Thanks!

 

[rwdavis2]

If you go to the Universal web site you'll see you can buy the park to park tickets. The only thing you will have to take care of at the hotel is getting Express Passes. The last time we did it you had to use your ticket to get a photo id of the Express Pass. It was in the lobby of the Hard Rock.

 

[pcstang]

Your park to park ticket is what you use to enter the parks and to ride hogwarts express. You will use your room key, after checking in, to get your express pass.

 

[bumbershoot]

I configured a package at the universal website for the following: 4/19-4/21 = $2923 for 4 park 2 park tickets, early park admission, free universal express, at the Hard Rock Hotel. Also, are the park 2 park tickets the tickets used to enter into the parks themselves or is it an option that is added unto the tickets when I purchase them?

Is there a better way to get a deal at the premium hotels?

Go to loewshotels.com and check out just a room only rate. Then buy tickets from UO or undercovertourist etc. see what the total is.

You get early entrance with any onsite hotel no matter how you book it.

You get unlimited express pass with royal pacific, hard rock, and portofino no matter how you book it. Once you check in you go to the EP kiosks in the lobby and pose for a pic then the EP card comes out of the machine. Each person needs their own.

Make sure that the package, with its restrictions and fees, is the best financial choice for you.


Ticket gets you past the turnstiles.

Room key cards get you through the Team Members for early entrance.

And EP cards get you into the EP lines.

 

[damo]

There are lots more things that you should do!!!! If you are staying for a couple of days make sure you do all the rides in Suess Landing. Do Pteranodon Flyers in the Jurassic Park area. Do the Jurassic Park Playground. Do Despicable Me, Shrek, ET, Kang's and Kodos. Your older one might also enjoy Spiderman. Check out the website. I wouldn't just be going for the Harry Potter stuff when there is so much more to do.