Two day strategy?

[JoJoL]

Going for two days over MLK weekend. Staying onsite, have express pass and “park hoppers” (forgive me for the WDW lingo)

Should we spend the first day being totally immersed in HP? And then do all other stuff in the two parks the second day? Or do one park a day? My kids and I love HP and haven’t been to Universal since Diagon Alley opened. Any advice?

 

[schumigirl]

Since you have park to park tickets, you should take advantage of the Hogwarts Express.......it’s a must do Potter fans........and you should ride it both ways........the rides are different in each direction.

I’d plan to do that and work the rest of the parks around that since Potter is your focus.......

 

[gotomu212]

I LOVE HP and our strategy is to work it into the mornings and evenings and do other rides during the day when it’s crowded. We pick one park to start in (we’ve been to EE less now that all HP rides are EP) but if doing EE I’d pick that park, check out HP, as things start to become crowded take Hogwarts Express to the other park and do non-HP stuff. Then when crowds die down check out HP there. The next day start at the different park to make sure you ride the Hogwarts Express in both directions (it’s different each way) and check out the original park non-HP areas.

That said we do tend to hop back and forth a few times, especially after the first day. If one park gets crowded but the other looks slow we go ahead and hop.

 

[verleniahall]

u have 2 days too long at universal - it is NOT worth your money

 

[mjhtvchick]

u have 2 days too long at universal - it is NOT worth your money

That is really rude and not the point - if you don't have anything positive to contribute, why even comment?

 

[macraven]

u have 2 days too long at universal - it is NOT worth your money

Your first post in the UO boards and this is the best you can come up with?

 

[schumigirl]

That is really rude and not the point - if you don't have anything positive to contribute, why even comment?

Your first post in the UO boards and this is the best you can come up with?

You’ve really got to laugh at posts like that........it’s a little obvious.......no real comments to help the OP........they made a similar comment on the HHN thread......nothing constructive to the discussion.......


JoJoL.......most of us here will try and help you with constructive options for your trip.........Hope you’ve had some thoughts on what you might do for your trip.........

 

[macraven]

JoJol

MLK period can be busy

My thought would be to go with the P2P tickets so you can switch parks if lines are long

Do potter and switch parks on the train ride from one park to the other

Staying at one of the deluxe hotels gives you unlimited ep

But some holiday periods ep lines can have waits and park hopping is a good thing

Down load the uo app so you will be able to check line waits and know when to switch parks

 

[JoJoL]

Thanks for the advice! I am a little worried about the holiday weekend crowds, but we’ll make the best of it. Great idea to keep an eye on the wait times in the app. Thx!

 

[bchbetha]

Tip- put your phone in airplane mode when you don’t need the app or other connections. The app is a total battery killer and airplane mode helps!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Just a tip on doing spells, they are hard and it takes little kids many tries to get them so the lines get long much of the day. The keep the spells turned on long after they close down the rides and shops at night. We were in Hogsmeade last night for the castle show and after the official park close, the place cleared out fast. We stayed and did spells for half an hour. With the 3 kids we did about 2/3 of the spells and checked out the windows more closely. It was beautifully uncrowded (maybe 20 to 50 people in the whole area) and we could actually hear the sound effects in some of the windows. Even after half an hour we did not see the sweepers who will eventually clear the park completely.

Since you are Potter fans take advantage of that time too.

Also, I suggest we dress up our trolls in pink tutus and practice our dancing spells on them. They can get jobs in the window next to Fortesques.

 

[maverik85]

since you are very interested and focused on the Potter stuff, especially if it's the whole family, I'd focus on them at first. Can start at Diagon Alley since it will be new to you and could be fun to kind of go through the HP journey. Go on Gringotts, check out the shops and grab food/Butterbeer if you want, then take the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade and check out the village and rides there. Then bring the Express back as it is a different expereince each direction. After that you'll be free to check out the other attractions at your will and revisit HP as you want to.

 

[mcjw2011]

It is totally doable in two days (I did it in 2017). Given that you're taking your family during a holiday, I strongly recommend you guys come right before the park opens and go directly to IOA when they open. You can get most of the rides done within a 10-15 minute wait period, walk around the shops, take the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley and ride the attractions again before it gets crowded. Then you guys can explore the other sections when it gets busy.

My personal favorite non-ride HP attraction is the Knight Bus. The conductor changes every 30 minutes so there will be a different guy each time you walk through the London section interacting with the shrunken head.

 

[JoJoL]

Thx!