What is your plan when you are an off site guest and both parks have early entry?

[qa4ever]

We have two park days. Jan 30th and Feb 4th.

January 30th is during the Harry Potter Festival, and shows that last year both parks were open early.

Both parks open at 9 am that. If there is early entry, what time will the turnstyles actually open? Will it be 9, or earlier and we will just be held somewhere?

We will likely start at Universal, Minions and Gringotts will already have lines I assume, so wonder what another good opening strategy would be? Was thinking transformers, Shrek, E.T., Woody Woodpecker, Kang and Kodos, Simpsons, Men in Black. Then was going to see about some shows for the afternoon, maybe Animal Actors, Terminator, Fear Factor, or Makeup. Depending on wait times etc, likely take the train over, and maybe hit suessville (assume harry potter fans are not going to be crowding up that area . Then maybe train back for the parade if we're still going strong.

On our second day Feb 4th, I'm assuming just IOA will have early entry, so we can do minions and gringotts first that day, then hop over to IOA, and do all the stuff over there. As well as any favorites.

Any advice? What time will the turnstyles open on Feb 4th if no USO early entry?

 

[hopemax]

Usually, you can enter the turnstiles 30 min before opening. They hold the non-EE guests in the first part of the park. There will be some barriers across the walkway, and TM's checking to see if you are eligible to proceed. Shops are open, and the Patisserie. About 8:45-8:50, they remove the barrier and all guests are free to move about the park.

Even with EE, we've found that it's no problem to get into the next Despicable Me show. We are there waiting for the barriers to go away, walk briskly there, and still have minimal wait. We've done this both in the summer and during the holidays, and it still works. Then we are able to do Transformers and the Mummy while they are still 10 min or less. Check the time for Gringotts and ride it or hop the train to Hogsmeade to do Forbidden Journey. If we want to do Shrek, we tend to save it for later in the day. The worst times seem to be first thing, when people enter the park, decide DM is too long, and then do Shrek. A couple hours later and then it's 10 min.

The waits for the Hogwarts Express can sometimes get quite long in the afternoon, making it less useful for transportation. Walking from the front of IOA back to the studios for the parade should be a backup plan. Just looked at the app, and this week is pretty dead, short times for everything. I would imagine all the HP activities make the park more crowded, but the extra people would be concentrated in the HP stuff, so the train might be most affected. But I've never gone during the Celebration to know if the other lines get out of control. But I do get to go this year.

Mostly, my advice is. Watch the times on the app, and go where people aren't. Things can change sometimes surprisingly quickly at Universal and go from 45 min down to 20 or vice versa. Except Minions, although at this moment it says 35 there, so even that's not bad.

 

[bumbershoot]

I would imagine all the HP activities make the park more crowded, but the extra people would be concentrated in the HP stuff

Not as far as we noticed. The events are what suck up the event-attenders, and those aren't in the areas of the park where other people are going. Looking at the schedule, the events are all in out of the way places.

 

[hopemax]

Not as far as we noticed. The events are what suck up the event-attenders, and those aren't in the areas of the park where other people are going. Looking at the schedule, the events are all in out of the way places.

Aren't we saying the same thing? My point was that HP might bring an extra thousand people through the gate. But then those extra people would be heading to the events, not necessarily to the line for Transfomers, etc?