Universal Hollywood Questions

[helenb]

We are very familiar with Universal Studios Orlando, but haven't been to the Hollywood park in a few years. But we're going again in a couple of weeks. I have a few questions.

First, we are staying at the Sheraton Universal and bought our park tickets through the Universal website. It is my understanding that this gives us early entry into the park. How do we prove that we qualify for early entry? Do we show our hotel room keys, or is it imprinted on the barcodes for our tickets?

Second, my son has an interactive wand from Orlando. Will this wand work in Hollywood? Also, it's been a year since we were in Orlando and I'm guessing the battery in the wand is dead. In Orlando they have 'wand repair' where they will replace the battery for free. Do they do this in Hollywood as well? Where is the 'wand repair' station? Does it take a long time?

Third, our early entry plan is to go to Forbidden Journey and then the Ollivander's show. Is this the right order?

Last, do they make you put all bags in a locker on Forbidden Journey, like they do in Orlando?

Thanks!

 

[SMD]

We bought annual passes online and were allowed in for early entry on first entry. My guess is it's coded on the ticket. The interactive wands from USO work. I've never seen wand repair, but also never asked. The Ollivander's shop is always busy, I'd assume if it's anything wand related it's in there. During EE the only thing open is Harry Potter. It will be extremely crowded, probably moreso than later in the day. I'm not sure order matters, but the line for FJ backs up really quickly during that hour, so if the wait time is under an hour, I'd do that first. There's also single rider. The wand show is pretty short, I'd waited through a few cycles and it didn't take that long. And yes, you have to leave your bags in a locker, and there can be long lines for the lockers. If you do single rider, I'd consider taking turns holding the bags in the baby swap area while others ride.

 

[bumbershoot]

Someone on quora took the wand apart and said that the tip is an IT transmitter that works by being a reflective bead. No battery. But the tip is very sensitive to being broken.

Stop in at a store to ask for a USH interactive magic spot map.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Honestly I would only advise going to the whole Harry Potter Land after 3pm. Its at the park entrance and the whole world and its mother go there in the morning. We went go there around 9.30am and went straight down to the lower level. All 3 headliners, Transformers, The Mummy and Jurassic Park were walkons and we did them multiple times. The wait board showed over 50 minutes wait time for Forbidden Journey at 10am!

 

[Frozen2014]

Honestly I would only advise going to the whole Harry Potter Land after 3pm. Its at the park entrance and the whole world and its mother go there in the morning. We went go there around 9.30am and went straight down to the lower level. All 3 headliners, Transformers, The Mummy and Jurassic Park were walkons and we did them multiple times. The wait board showed over 50 minutes wait time for Forbidden Journey at 10am!

Not OP but very good to know. So try for HP later in the day.

 

[SMD]

Honestly I would only advise going to the whole Harry Potter Land after 3pm. Its at the park entrance and the whole world and its mother go there in the morning. We went go there around 9.30am and went straight down to the lower level. All 3 headliners, Transformers, The Mummy and Jurassic Park were walkons and we did them multiple times. The wait board showed over 50 minutes wait time for Forbidden Journey at 10am!

Since it's the only thing open during EE, you might as well spend the first 55 minutes there if you have access. But waiting for other rides just before the park opens will also save a ton of time.

 

[DLgal]

Honestly I would only advise going to the whole Harry Potter Land after 3pm. Its at the park entrance and the whole world and its mother go there in the morning. We went go there around 9.30am and went straight down to the lower level. All 3 headliners, Transformers, The Mummy and Jurassic Park were walkons and we did them multiple times. The wait board showed over 50 minutes wait time for Forbidden Journey at 10am!

That wasn't my experience. I went on a Saturday last August and we went straight to HP areas and it wasn't crowded at all. Actually, the entire park was kind of dead. We did FJ standby with a 20 min wait and then rode single rider another 4 times in succession. We rode the Hippogriff ride twice in a row (10 min wait each time), did the wand show (longest line so far, about 35 min wait). We noticed the land got really crowded around 11:30,so we had lunch at Three Broomsticks then went to Simpsons area, rode that and had a Duff. Then went to the lower lot. Everything there had a 10 min wait. We did Transformers and Mummy, then went back up to Hogsmeade to the pub. Rode FJ a couple more times single rider. Left around 3pm.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Not OP but very good to know. So try for HP later in the day.

Exactly, Im a huge Harry Potter fan, been to the London studios where it was made and have done a Harry Potter walking tour of London and been to Kings Cross Platform 9 3/4 For me it was waaay more enjoyable to experience Harry Potter Land with less crowds. I went on Forbidden Journey multiple times, using the single rider line. The shops are more like walk through attractions in their own right BUT they are small, narrow aisles, more regular European style shops than USA style stores. During busy times they have low crowd limits and only let people in on a one out one in system. In the evenings when the land in general is less crowded, it is a much nicer experience to wander through the shops.

Since it's the only thing open during EE, you might as well spend the first 55 minutes there if you have access. But waiting for other rides just before the park opens will also save a ton of time.

Honestly I think EE is a waste for Universal. I can defiantly see the benefit for Disney but for Universal IMO it is not needed. I was in Universal and Disney in the same week, end of June 2016. The crowd patterns are waay different. In Universal, the majority of the crowd flow like sheep from the entrance to Harry Potter, then down to the lower level and the middle section. If you do the opposite, START at the lower level and go against the main crowd flow, you have a far better park experience and you dont need to be there for EE or rope drop

 

[SMD]

That wasn't my experience. I went on a Saturday last August and we went straight to HP areas and it wasn't crowded at all. Actually, the entire park was kind of dead. We did FJ standby with a 20 min wait and then rode single rider another 4 times in succession. We rode the Hippogriff ride twice in a row (10 min wait each time), did the wand show (longest line so far, about 35 min wait). We noticed the land got really crowded around 11:30,so we had lunch at Three Broomsticks then went to Simpsons area, rode that and had a Duff. Then went to the lower lot. Everything there had a 10 min wait. We did Transformers and Mummy, then went back up to Hogsmeade to the pub. Rode FJ a couple more times single rider. Left around 3pm.

I think that in the last 9 months or so that they've been going a major push for the CA Neighbor Pass the waits for FJ have really shot up. I think there's a fair amount of people who bought that pass just to go repeatedly for HP. I've only been once since the nighttime show started, so that may shift the crowds until later in the day. We did EE in December and did all of the photo ops and shopped during that hour because FJ was 360 minutes within 15 minutes of opening. Just the wait for a locker was over an hour. In subsequent trips during Spring Break, Mother's Day, Memorial Day and this past weekend I definitely noticed that the line seemed to die down around lunch. Probably the best strategy is to have a maximum time you're willing to wait and keep checking the app.

By the way, yesterday I had a meeting on the lot and joked that I could go get Butterbeer with my pass. I was shocked to walk right into 3 Broomsticks at 12:30 with zero line. I went over to Hog's Head, and the bartenders were just waiting. Meanwhile the line outside at the cart was massive and FJ was 240 minutes. It was oppressively hot, and I realized the park has hardly any shade. I took the Butterbears back to the office and reported that it wasn't as crowded as I expected, but not worth dealing with the heat.

 

[helenb]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

We have the FOTL passes (the ones where you get each ride once) and the people with me have never seen HP land at all. I was thinking we would use EE to experience FJ once, then use our passes to go a second time later in the day. HP is the major draw for my companions, so I'm thinking of spending the morning there, then having lunch at 3 Broomsticks and then heading out to use our FOTLs on the rest of the park.

I appreciate teh responses! Hopefully my son's USO wand won't need repair.

 

[oakleycat]

I think your plan is good, it's most crowded in HP late morning - early afternoon so going early, then hitting the rest of the park, then going back should work well. As for wands, we got ours in Orlando in 2015 and they are still going strong (AP holders here in CA). We have gotten good service on "wand repair" - one of my sons actually broke his in half (stepped on at home) and they took it from him, "magically" repaired it in the back, and brought him a new one, no cost. The team members in HP have always been really great to us. And yes, no bags allowed on FJ.

 

[helenb]

Sorry it's taken me awhile, but I just wanted to report that our plan worked well. We did the HP area in the morning, and were first at EE and first on the FJ ride. We were actually able to do FJ twice very quickly in EE, because we didn't have bags and were still able to walk in with minimal line after our first ride, when everyone else was trying to figure out the lockers. Then we did Ollivanders and walked through a couple of stores, heading down to the lower lot just as the park officially opened. We did the other rides and attractions with our FOTL pass, then came back to 3 Broomsticks for lunch, then did the 2 HP rides with FOTL and then the upper lot shows and Backlot Tour. It was a very efficient and fun day!

The FOTL is definitely worth it if you only have one day and want to experience everything. Combining that with EE allowed us to get a little more out of the HP area. I would definitely do this same plan again if we went back.

 

[rtfelt]

I know this is late, but for others who might be asking the same question. We had AP for USH for last year, went weekdays, weekends, holidays...and used the same strategy. Almost everyone gets EE, unless you buy your ticket at the gate there. At EE do Olivanders (usually 5 min wait), FJ for less than 15 min wait (could probably do twice), FOTH with 5-10 min wait, be done with HP world before EE over. Go to Simpsons for less than 15 min wait then DM for same. Near the end of last summer, USH started delaying lower lot opening for 30-60 later than regular park opening. Lower lot should be open now, so head there and do Transformers (less than 10 min wait), Mummy (less than 10), then Jurassic (less than 10). Eat lunch then ride the backlot tour while your food is digesting and spend the afternoon doing the shows, walking dead (if 8 am opening, this could be done before lunch), HP wand windows, and anything else. Easy to be done by 5 with everything. If you're into characters, then the plan will need to be changed, or if you have another day, spend it doing characters.