Time Estimate to Get Through IoA

[Plutofan1]

We are taking a break from our Disney vacation one day to visit the WWoHP on March 7. We are planning to arrive at the park opening, but we have a dinner reservation for Hoop-Dee-Doo at 5:00, so I estimate we will need to leave the park a little after 3:00. Will this give us enough time to get through the major park attractions? I'm not worried about riding everything, but I'd like to get our money's worth for the day. Our main purpose for going is HP but we'd also like to ride the other rides as well.

 

[kacaju]

how are you getting to the park from Disney? Dh and I went to Disney for a business trip of his. We took one of the buses from the Disney resort to Universal and on the way back to the Disney resort it took FOREVER to get back. Over an hour and a half. I am sorry I cannot remember which company it was.

 

[Plutofan1]

how are you getting to the park from Disney? Dh and I went to Disney for a business trip of his. We took one of the buses from the Disney resort to Universal and on the way back to the Disney resort it took FOREVER to get back. Over an hour and a half. I am sorry I cannot remember which company it was.

We are renting a car for the day to get to and from IoA.

 

[Lou Holtz]

Yes, that will be plenty of time to ride everything in IOA and probably repeat some favorites. This is assuming you are not going during Easter week, July, or week after Christmas.

 

[Plutofan1]

Yes, that will be plenty of time to ride everything in IOA and probably repeat some favorites. This is assuming you are not going during Easter week, July, or week after Christmas.

We will be going on March 7, which, as I understand it is a less busy time of the year. Would it be wise to invest in the express pass ($20 for that time of year)?

 

[mesaboy2]

We will be going on March 7, which, as I understand it is a less busy time of the year. Would it be wise to invest in the express pass ($20 for that time of year)?

That Universal Express is only $20 is a good indication that Universal itself doesn't expect much crowds. The conventional wisdom on purchasing them is to wait until you're there and see the crowds for yourself, then buy them if you think you'll need them. They are non-refundable and good only for the day you specify, so if you buy them in advance and find you don't need them, you are out-o-luck.

 

[IdesOmarch]

I don't know if this is possible but I would recommend re-arranging your schedule to allow a full day. You will not have enough time IMO to really enjoy everything coming in around 3 pm. Now if you rush you could get to "see" most of the IOA park, but not "enjoy" the park in that time. IOA has tons of things to do, Harry Potter is just one more awesome addition to an already awesome park, so its kind of like saying your going to disney animal kingdom, just to experience Expedition Everest. You would obviously miss a lot of exciting and cool things if you did that. Same thing with IOA. You will most likely go away going, "man we should have scheduled more time, there are so many things we wanted to do we didn't get to" if you limit yourself to less than a half day.

 

[Metro West]

I don't know if this is possible but I would recommend re-arranging your schedule to allow a full day. You will not have enough time IMO to really enjoy everything coming in around 3 pm. Now if you rush you could get to "see" most of the IOA park, but not "enjoy" the park in that time. IOA has tons of things to do, Harry Potter is just one more awesome addition to an already awesome park, so its kind of like saying your going to disney animal kingdom, just to experience Expedition Everest. You would obviously miss a lot of exciting and cool things if you did that. Same thing with IOA. You will most likely go away going, "man we should have scheduled more time, there are so many things we wanted to do we didn't get to" if you limit yourself to less than a half day.

I agree...why rush through just to make a dinner reservation? Cancel the dinner and enjoy the whole day at IOA.

 

[Plutofan1]

I agree...why rush through just to make a dinner reservation? Cancel the dinner and enjoy the whole day at IOA.

That's not really an option for us. Hoop-Dee-Doo is a must do for nearly everyone in our group, and its booked through the entire week. We are just going to have to make do with the time we have. After some thought, I'm not too concerned about it. I understand that we can't get EVERYTHING done in that amount of time, but it would be ideal (and hopefully realistic) to get through Forbidden Journey, Dueling Dragons, Jurassic Park, Spiderman, and the Hulk, especially when we are not going to have a significant lunch break (just snacks along the way since we have a big dinner). For us, these are pretty much the only attractions that would really appeal to us. If there's time, we could ride some of the other attractions like Popeye and Cat in the Hat, but to be honest, that is not why we are going. If Potter wasn't there, we wouldn't be going in the first place.

 

[Metro West]

That's not really an option for us. Hoop-Dee-Doo is a must do for nearly everyone in our group, and its booked through the entire week. We are just going to have to make do with the time we have. After some thought, I'm not too concerned about it. I understand that we can't get EVERYTHING done in that amount of time, but it would be ideal (and hopefully realistic) to get through Forbidden Journey, Dueling Dragons, Jurassic Park, Spiderman, and the Hulk, especially when we are not going to have a significant lunch break (just snacks along the way since we have a big dinner). For us, these are pretty much the only attractions that would really appeal to us. If there's time, we could ride some of the other attractions like Popeye and Cat in the Hat, but to be honest, that is not why we are going. If Potter wasn't there, we wouldn't be going in the first place.

Oh well...I'm sure you'll have a good time anyway.

 

[IdesOmarch]

That will at least give you enough time for you to see what you're missing, and you will no doubt go away going, man we've got to schedule an entire Universal only trip next time

That's actually what happened to me, I went to Universal thinking well we'll check it out, but can't compare to disney, then went away scheduling all of the last few trips there, and haven't been back to Disney. Now not that I won't go back to Disney, I will, but Universal is definitely on the same level, some think they have surpassed Disney with the theming.

 

[Plutofan1]

That will at least give you enough time for you to see what you're missing, and you will no doubt go away going, man we've got to schedule an entire Universal only trip next time

That's actually what happened to me, I went to Universal thinking well we'll check it out, but can't compare to disney, then went away scheduling all of the last few trips there, and haven't been back to Disney. Now not that I won't go back to Disney, I will, but Universal is definitely on the same level, some think they have surpassed Disney with the theming.

I've been to Universal Studios before and though I thought it was good, I'd never plan a vacation around it. To each his own I guess.

 

[minniefaye]

we are going the day before Easter--is that what you mean by Easter Week? Or are you referring to the week after? Is this a really busy time?

thanks for letting me "butt in" here

 

[Planogirl]

The trouble is that you are dealing with Universal fans here, most of who couldn't imagine spending just part of a day at one Universal park. Like you said, to each their own.

Try to schedule a little time to properly see the Dr Seuss area if you never have. I find it magical.

 

[chimo2u]

Too Bad you couldn't get the later hoop de doo reservation at 7:30 show, or even the last show of the night at 9pm.

 

[Plutofan1]

Too Bad you couldn't get the later hoop de doo reservation at 7:30 show, or even the last show of the night at 9pm.

The 9:30 one is available, but with a 3 and 5 year old, that's a little too late. Would have loved to have gotten the 7:15 though.

 

[Tink2Day]

No one has a clue what the crowds will be like I would guess.

You might even have to wait 2 or 3 hours to get INTO WWoHP.


Planogirl, I'd say most of us are theme park fans. I have been a Disney fan first and foremost for well over 55 years. I've been to many theme parks including Universal Hollywood etc and IOA is quite impressive particularly for fans of Harry Potter. The issue here is wait times and crowds.

Shoe on other foot, lets say you have part of one day in Fantasyland with an overflow crowd how much would you get done?

 

[Plutofan1]

I was going to start a new thread, but I'm just going to add to this one. What would be the best order in touring the park (on 3/7)? Again, the musts for us are FJ, Dueling Dragons(and some of the other WWoHP stuff), Spiderman, The Hulk, and Jurassic Park. If there's time, Popeye. Suess Landing is not a big deal to us because we have no little kids going with us to the park. Additionally, it was my understanding that only Universal hotel guests can go to WWoHP through Suess Landing, which would leave our only option to go to the longer route to the left. Is that true? We were planning on arriving at least an hour before opening. Will this enable us to ride FJ without an extremely long wait, or will the Universal guests with early access have already crowded it up? Sorry for all the questions...I'm just not used to this park and it's procedures like I am with Disney.

 

[Lou Holtz]

The only things that have a line when it's not busy are Forbidden Journey and Suess Trolley. You can just go in a circle doing everything else. There doesn't need to be an order.

 

[Tink2Day]

When we were there in early November, we walked through Suess, Lost Continent etc. FJ was a walk on for single riders, just the amount of time it took to walk through the queue for the regular line and this was all day.

The longest lines were for Ollivander's and Flight of the Hippogriff (about 15-20 minutes). We left that area went to JP, Toon Lagoon etc then back to WWOHP, still no wait for HP. Butterbeer bought from Hog's Head Pub, no one in there at all. No wait for my pumpkin juice. Bought souvenirs on the way out of that area 2 people in front of me at Filch's.
THEN on Nov 19, Deathly Hallows 1 came out and the place apparently went mad. We chose a Sunday to leave WDW and go over to IOA and I was THRILLED that we made the short trip.


It may calm down again in a couple of months, now that DH1 mania has died down a bit? I think if people go with the right attitude realizing that they may have to wait (like we do at the best Disney attractions) and it will be fine. Go with the wrong mindset and you'll be miserable.