Tell me how to do Hagrid's, Velocicoaster, Ollivander's & HP

[jbrinkm]

I have been reading the advice here and I'm still confused about how to tackle these. We have 3 full days (Sun, Mon, Tue) to do the parks this summer - our first time - and are planning to rope drop all of them. If the status quo still stands, EPA will be at USF but not at IOA but the biggest two headliners will be at IOA. So tell me how to do these please?

Since we have three days, do we just forgo the EPA for two of those days and rope drop a headliner for each day? i.e. Sunday IOA Hagrid's, Monday IOA Velocicoaster, Tuesday USF Ollivander's? My biggest disappointment about this is method is that we were also hoping to start in USF on our first day to do the HP experience in order of the events of the book. So I could do Ollivander's on day 1 and do the whole HP world during EPA but do I then run into a chance of not getting one of the other two rides on days 2 & 3?

If we wait until Tuesday to do either Hagrid's or Velocicoaster, I'm worried about this whole standby/VQ uncertainty... I'm anticipating that Velocicoaster will use the same methods, which are so confusing. I think what I'm not sure about is - right now, if you go for rope drop and go straight there, are you guaranteed to ride Hagrid's? If you are in a rope drop queue, do they kick you out when it goes to VQ? Do they give you an early heads up that they are about to switch? Or is it possible to waste a rope drop by getting in line and then having it switch over and you don't get a VQ time spot (or you get a spot, but have to come back to wait another hour later in the day)?

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I can't offer the wisdom of experience, as our upcoming trip is our first. But since it's our first, I'm packing the attitude that since everything is new to us, the kids will have fun no matter what. Assuming the status quo stays the same, here's my plan, keeping in mind that we will have Express Passes and my kids will be 5 and 10:

Day 1: RD USO for EPA, hit Ollivander's first to get wand or return time, then ride Gringotts. If Hagrid's goes to virtual queue and we manage to snag a time, ride the Hogwarts Express over to IOA, ride Hagrid's, then FJ and Flight of the Hipogriff. If not, stay in Diagon Alley for shops/spells, grab late breakfast at Leaky Cauldron, and take the HE over to IOA afterwards to enjoy Seuss Landing and Spiderman. Late lunch at Mythos. Try for a late afternoon VQ for Hagrid's, or standby if the wait has gone down, or if neither, enjoy Hogsmeade/spells at sunset, ride FJ and Hipogriff, then HE back to USO, then back to hotel.

Day 2: RD IOA for Hagrid's. Try to get Velocicoaster VQ while waiting in IOA line. Enjoy Hogsmeade shops/spells, ride FJ, late breakfast at 3 Broomsticks. If successful at Velocicoaster VQ, ride that, then let kids explore Jurassic Discovery center, then ride Jurassic Park boat ride. Back to hotel for lunch/break/change of clothes. Early Dinner at City Walk. Back to Hogsmeade in evening for castle projection show if that's happening by then. (December)

Day 3: RD IOA for whichever ride we didn't get the day before. If we got both, whichever we liked better (probably will be Hagrid's). Ride any IOA rides we didn't get to yet, or repeat any favorites. Take HE or walk to USO, same thing there. Dinner at hotel.

Admittedly, I don't really know how much time to factor in for walking the parks, but I've learned it's better to have modest plans and exceed them at WDW, where I've mastered the FP system so we usually get at least one ride on whatever is new and shiny, but usually just one per trip unless we get uncommonly lucky with low waits, like we did with Seven Dwarves last time.

And soaking in the atmosphere of the HP areas with the lowest possible crowds is a big priority for us. My kids will want to do every spell and visit every shop.

 

[cfoxga]

Much depends on crowd sizes and whether or not you have EPs. While Hagrids, Velocicoaster, and Ollivanders do not take EPs, most other things do. So burning EE (not sure why I don't call it EPA) to do one of the rides is not as big of a deal. In fact, EPs do not work during EE so you can still get stuck in a reasonably long line at FJ or Gringotts.

The above plan looks good. While Hagrids is a very good ride, I wouldn't waste EE on Day 1 for it. If you are HP fans, then there is so much more to experience (see https://www.disboards.com/threads/wizarding-world-touring-plans-and-details.3666427/ for ideas).

As far as the Hagrid VQ, it does not affect those already in line when it opens up. All it means is that you cannot get into line without a VQ ticket. If you go there right at rope drop, you will not get kicked out of line. However, if you are not there very early, you could still have a 45+ minute wait and miss out on several other smaller lines. If you can use VQ to ride it or VelociCoaster on day 1, that would be ideal.

 

[jbrinkm]

In fact, EPs do not work during EE so you can still get stuck in a reasonably long line at FJ or Gringotts.

I didn't realize that EP's didn't work during EPA - thank you for that info!

My only follow up question to the plan posted above is - how much longer is the line for Hagrid's with VQ vs standby?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

1. If they're no longer socially distancing the lines, I imagine that there will not be much use of VQ. That's really just to stop the lines from growing too large for the available space.
2. This means once you are in the queue, you are in the queue - VQ will only effect those who have not entered the queue yet.
3. If Hagrids is using VQ, the line usually will be longer than when they are at standby - simply because they switch to VQ when the line is at capacity, and VQ keeps it near capacity. If it is standby, it was more frequently under an hour (don't believe the posted wait time, check to see where the line is actually starting - no backup before the lockers meant a 30-40min wait, or less). Of course, this was during Covid so without social distancing this has probably changed...
4. I know everyone wants to do Diagon Alley first to "follow the books." Things to consider with that are A) the actors are younger in Forbidden Journey and so it is "set" before Gringotts, and it makes more sense to do that ride first, and B) as a whole, Diagon Alley is more impressive and immersive than Hogsmeade. I recommend Hogsmeade at IoA first for those 2 reasons.
5. I'm not convinced they will do much VQ with Velocicoaster regardless. It's been "open" most of the month and not creating huge lines.