Thanksgiving week

[Kathy Jetson]

I've been the 2nd week of June before and got along just fine without express pass. This year we will be there Monday 11/23 and Tuesday 11/24 of Thanksgiving week. I don't think we'll be able to swing express pass. Am I just kidding myself or will be able get on the rides? My son loves the coasters and of course all the Harry Potter stuff. Thanks for any help

 

[tink1957]

Single rider line is your friend...we went for New year's a few years ago and stayed offsite...it was crowded but manageable.

Express isn't good for the HP rides anyway so go and have fun

 

[Kathy Jetson]

Thank you, do most of the big rides have single rider there

 

[tink1957]

Yes, I think they all do...if I'm not mistaken.

 

[TXTransplant]

We were there right before last Thanksgiving, Sat-Mon (Tues we went to Kennedy Space Center). The crowds did get progressively heavier with each day. We stayed on-site and had express passes, but the crowds weren't unbearable. Single-rider lines for the HP rides worked great (especially Gringotts). The longest lines we waited in were Forbidden Journey (about 45 min, but it was really bad timing on our part) and the Shrek 3-D movie (also about 45 min, and we used express passes!). If Shrek and Minions are important to you, I would recommend doing those first thing in the morning, since the lines really seemed to back up, and they move slowly since those are shows and not continuously-loading rides.

My only other comment would be that the HP areas do get elbow-to-elbow crowded with people. Part of this is because of the design/theming. It takes away from the experience, so try to spend some time in the HP areas in the early morning hours so that you can really take in the design/attention to detail.

 

[Kathy Jetson]

Yes, I think they all do...if I'm not mistaken.

We were there right before last Thanksgiving, Sat-Mon (Tues we went to Kennedy Space Center). The crowds did get progressively heavier with each day. We stayed on-site and had express passes, but the crowds weren't unbearable. Single-rider lines for the HP rides worked great (especially Gringotts). The longest lines we waited in were Forbidden Journey (about 45 min, but it was really bad timing on our part) and the Shrek 3-D movie (also about 45 min, and we used express passes!). If Shrek and Minions are important to you, I would recommend doing those first thing in the morning, since the lines really seemed to back up, and they move slowly since those are shows and not continuously-loading rides.

My only other comment would be that the HP areas do get elbow-to-elbow crowded with people. Part of this is because of the design/theming. It takes away from the experience, so try to spend some time in the HP areas in the early morning hours so that you can really take in the design/attention to detail.

Thank you for the replies and the info. We are going to go and use single rider as much as possible and hope for the best!