total newbie, 1 day...help!

[kschafer]

Several questions...help to any of them are appreciated

1. We are staying at Bonnet Creek. How early should we leave to drive, park, get in line, etc and basically be able to enter the park at the time they let people in?

2. I found a travel agency that will sell tickets that include early morning admission even if staying offsite. How do I know which park has the early morning hour and is it worth it?

3. If I decide to save some money with undercover tourist, do I have to go through a ticket exchange or can I go straight to the gate?

4. What do you suggest if my priority is Harry Potter stuff? We will do park hoppers to maximize our opportunities but I'm not sure how to prioritize. I will splurge for express pass if it seems necessary but I have read that you can get those at any time during the day so I think we will wait and see how the day is going.

5. Is there some way to know when any parades or other main events will be? Their website only shows for the next 10 days or so. We are going the second week of March so I think the Mardi Gras parade will be taking place but anything else?

Hit me with your best advice!

 

[Dawn Peterson]

I’m following because this is our first visit and we are going the 3rd week of March, 1 day for Harry Potter .

 

[bobbie68]

Hi congrats on heading to Universal. It is one of our favorite places to go.

I think it willdepend what time the park is opening and the day of the week. You could hit traffic during the weekday morning. When we went this past summer and stayed off site and went to the parks we gave ourselves a little more than an hour for a 20 minute drive, plus parking and getting to the gate. You will have to watch the website for the park times. If you are going on the weekend maybe 45 minutes. However, with this said I like to be there early and one of the first in line, so I might be suggesting earlier than some.

Yes it is absolutely worth going for early entry if you can. Since you are going for one day it will make a difference in the HP sections. The website will have it with the hours of the parks. There are some tabs and it will mention early entry park. It usually is the Studios though.

I have never used Undercover Tourist

I agree with waiting on the express pass untill you see how busy it is. They will tell you it is subject to availability and could sell out. If you go to early entry and it is the studios I would go right to Diagon Alley. Usually the first hour is slower and you can ride Gringotts and walk around without much crowds. I would then take the Hogwart's Express over to Hogsmeade in Islands. The later the day goes on the busier it gets. You could do the whole studios then take the Hogwarts Express in the early evening to see the light show, and it is a little less busy the last hour. My family does not mind bouncing back and fourth to the parks so that is what we do. Just an FYI the Hogwarts Express has a different experience both ways.

I don't look at the show schedule before we go so I can't help with that.

I hope this helps and I am sure others will have some good advice. Enjoy your trip!

 

[confetti]

We just went last week. We stayed off site near to Bonnet Creek. We left our resort at 7:40 and made great time. We were in line at the gates for IOA at 8:05, which was earlier than I planned. We wanted to hit Hagrid's first thing to avoid the long lines. We didn't get express passes and we really only wanted to do the HP stuff. They opened the gates at 8:45, we went straight to Hagrid's. We were off the ride at 9:07. Then we hopped onto the Hogwarts Express and went to Diagon Alley. We were there until about 12:00 and then rode the Express back to Hogsmeade. Gringotts was a 20 min wait, Forbidden Journey was a 30 min wait. We didn't spend as much time in Hogsmeade because we've done that at Universal Hollywood. But we poked around a bit and took photos. We hit the Jurassic area and we were out of the park by 3:00.

I don't know what the crowd levels are like mid-March compared to first week of Feb, but that was our experience. From what I understand, if you do the early entry and ride the express over to Hogsmeade, you'll be behind the crowds heading to Hagrid's since the express doesn't start running until 9:00 and they often start Hagrid's line before then. So decide what your priority would be.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You can go straight to the gate w/ UT tickets.

What ages are your party? The single rider lines for Forbidden Journey and Gringotts are very useful, particularly for re-rides (Gringotts especially should be ridden once "normally" first, as the queue has relevant portions that intro the ride).

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Show times:
https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/plan-your-visit/hours-information/show-timesThey'll update further ahead later, having the schedule available in advance is unfortunately one of UO's downfalls.