Question about getting into Harry Potter

[guinea pig]

We are going to WDW June 5 - 11. We are going to IOA for one day to see Harry Potter, of course. What is the best strategy. What time should we get there?

 

[stacynak]

We are going to WDW June 5 - 11. We are going to IOA for one day to see Harry Potter, of course. What is the best strategy. What time should we get there?

I'm so glad you asked this question. We are going the exact same time you are (June 5-13) & only doing one day at IOA. I was wondering the same thing.

 

[damo]

You want to be at the gates no later than 8:30. Onsite guests get in at 8.

 

[lovebug33]

How early can you get there if you aren't on site? I was thinking of staking out a space in line starting around 7:30. I want to be one of the first in! I love me some Harry!

 

[magicbob]

We were staying offsite this past week and we were herded towards the Jurassic Park side. We arrived before 9 and were allowed into the park around 8:30 up to the bridge by Hulk. About 5 minutes later we were "walked" to near the Toon Lagoon/Marvel Island border. Then we were walked all the way to WWOHP through Jurassic Park. There was no running or pushing..there was a bunch of people but everyone was very orderly.

When I went in early January, this was my experience as well. Off-site guests were sent through Marvel/Toon/Jurassic with the flow being controlled like mentioned above. We went to WWOHP first thing (as was most everyone else).

We got into WWOHP no problem, but stayed longer than we originally planned because they told us if we left we would not be able to come back without an entry time ticket. We stayed for about another 2-3 hours and got our fill (even though we were coming back the next day we planned to see the rest of the park and only go back to WWOHP if there was time). We did some other stuff during the afternoon and then we were suprised to see that, later that same afternoon, WWOHP was allowing everyone in with no entry tickets. We went back in (mostly for another butter beer!).

The next day, we started out visiting Marvel, etc. (which was pretty empty since everyone was at WWOHP). As I said, we intended to go into WWOHP again if the opportunity arose, but we weren't counting on it. We stopped by WWOHP later in the afternoon and walked right in again.

That said, it was still VERY crowded at all times. Barely room to walk around on the street. But we did get to see everything and, since we used the single rider line (my kids are older and it wasn't critical that we sit together... especially on this ride where you really can't see the person sitting next to you anyway), we rode FJ about 5-6 times in two days, but it was a little harrowing fighting such crowds just to get from point A to B.

 

[RedSox68]

As a rule-of-thumb, Tuesdays tend to be less busy than Mondays. But since we're starting to get into spring break time, these next few weeks won't be typical. Just trying to give you a small ray of hope!

We are going to be there on Thursday, Friday and Saturday on May 19th-22nd post-cruise from DCL. I dread to ask this, but what can we expect crowd-wise since those days are so close to the weekend? We had friends go down in February on a Monday and Tuesday and said it was mobbed. I would have thought those days were be less mobbed Getting nervous here about being able to get anywhere in HP land

 

[damo]

We are going to be there on Thursday, Friday and Saturday on May 19th-22nd post-cruise from DCL. I dread to ask this, but what can we expect crowd-wise since those days are so close to the weekend? We had friends go down in February on a Monday and Tuesday and said it was mobbed. I would have thought those days were be less mobbed Getting nervous here about being able to get anywhere in HP land

I'd be most concerned about the Friday since lots of school groups go for their graduation trips on Fridays in May. Other than that, it shouldn't be bad.

 

[RedSox68]

I'd be most concerned about the Friday since lots of school groups go for their graduation trips on Fridays in May. Other than that, it shouldn't be bad.

That's a good tip, thanks. Maybe Friday early opening before the buses start arriving

 

[damo]

That's a good tip, thanks. Maybe Friday early opening before the buses start arriving

Yes, get IOA done as early as possible, cuz that's the park that the young kids want to go to.

 

[BealsRwe]

Just chiming in...we were at IOA/Universal last Wed (3/16), and then again on Sat (3/19). On Wed, we arrived at IOA about 10am after getting our vouchers redeemed for our annual passes. We arrived to WWoHP thorugh the Seuss side, and retrieved our return ticket to enter between 1250-150pm. We went back during the time, and it was busy. We waited 1.5 hours for FJ, but the queue moved almost non-stop, and so much to look at. The stores had lines just to get in them, so we skipped thoses. DH and I went back on Sat, and arrived at the park around 10 am again, and were able to return around 12. No wait to get into most stores (except Olivander's). Our wait time at FJ was just about an hour-posted time 75 min. We enjoyed our butterbeer, and walked thorugh Hogsmeade. We went over to Universal for part of the day, and returned to IOA as we wanted to see Hogwarts at night. After about 330pm, we were able to walk in and out of the area, and there were few lines. In fact, since we had seen the queue for FJ before, we went through single rider-waited less than 5 minutes. We spent a lot of time there on Sat, and even went on FJ just before closing, and even the regular queue was down to 20 minutes. We expected waits, as it was our DD spring break. It was not bad at all IMO.

 

[RedSox68]

Great report, BealsRwe. Thanks! Makes me not dread the Saturday visit so much.