Quick trip for HP fan

[Surgie2]

Two adults and a 9 YO planning just a one-day visit to both parks in February during Presidents week but not on Monday.

9 YO is a huge HP fan so that will be focus of the visit. Plan to arrive the day before the park visit, spend night at a hotel with EP and spend all the next day at the parks.

Which hotel would make this short visit most efficient? Not familiar with any Universal hotels. Any reason to choose one park day over another that week? We can do Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

 

[Dawn Peterson]

I would choose Hard Rock. It is closest to the parks. It Is a 5-7 minute walk. Royal Pacific is 12-15 and Portofino Bay is 15 to 20. We have HP fans and we usually start Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Florida and then take the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmede in Islands of Adventure. Just get there early as possible for HP because the lands are small and get crowded quickly. We have never been that week but weekdays are generally slower than weekends so any of those should be fine. Maybe choose Wednesday Or Thursday because they would be farther from the holiday.

 

[Surgie2]

Thanks Dawn. Is it important to get to the wand shop early?

 

[AJA]

I would pick the Hard Rock Hotel. It’s a very easy walk and has a fun vibe.
As the pp said use Early Entry and go right to the HP area in that park. Only one park will have early entry so that would decide where (which HP area) we started.

With EP the areas outside of HP should be easy for you to get in most of the “must rides” you want to experience.

Concentrate on HP early/before lunch and again after 4pm. At mid day the HP shops will be packed so it’s a good time to explore something else.

With only one day and a HP fan, I would pick the one park you have the most interest in exploring outside of HP and concentrate on that park in the afternoon.

From our experience Wednesday is probably your best bet for lowest crowds as it cuts out the 4 day weekend guests. But keep an eye on park hours.

 

[Surgie2]

Thanks AJA. How far in advance is the park with Early Admission announced?

 

[AJA]

Thanks AJA. How far in advance is the park with Early Admission announced?

It will be the same park for the entire month of February. It will be posted by January.

With 1 day and a young HP fan that wants to experience rides (and rides outside of HP) start in the park you can get to earliest.

Now for an “older” HP fan that is only wanting to concentrate on the full HP experience (or a child that is ride timid) the best themed plan would be to start at Studios with Londons Diagon Alley area and then take the train to Hogwarts, following closely to the experiences in the book. But for a nine year old that really just wants to experience all things HP and HP rides, then still have some time for Dinosaurs or Transformers, start in the first available park.

 

[CarolynFH]

And be sure to ride Hogwarts Express in both directions! The experience is different!

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We are budget minded people .
We ordered the robe and scarf on ebay, they were (real wizarding world merch )