WWoHP in Nov--Mid week offsite or Fri early entry?

[Ignitor]

We are coming to FL in Oct/Nov mainly to go to Disney, but we are big HP fans so we would like to fit in a visit to WWoHP, ideally in 1 day. We are arriving Fri night 10/28 and leaving Saturday 11/5 (we are driving, so this is still flexible at this point and could be Sun). We have 6 day Disney tickets, staying onsite. Kids are 10 and 6 (almost 7 by then) and like rides, so if we have time to do other things at IOA, great, but all things HP are the primary objective. This is the first FL trip for the kids and might be the only one for quite some time for financial reasons.

We could tack HP on at the end of our visit, in which case we would book a 2 night package at an offsite partner hotel and use early entry for Friday, 11/4. Alternatively, we could stay onsite at Disney the entire time and just buy 1 day 1 park tickets with the goal of going to IOA mid-week without early entry.

I know Fridays are typically busier than mid-week, especially at WWoHP, though it looks like 11/3 is hopefully avoiding any area days off school and prior to Jersey Week. This is our first trip to FL with the kids and might be the only one for quite some time for financial reasons. So, which would you do? Thanks in advance; these boards have already been tremendously helpful.

 

[Melanie230]

I would probably go for the 1 day during the week. Since your children have never been to Disney you don't want to cut your trip any shorter since it is hard to get everything into a week there. (IMO) I would make sure to go AFTER HHN at US/IOA so you might want to check the dates that that event is over. It gets VERY crowded at the end of October there. Also if you go for the 1 day ticket you can be flexible on the day you go to US/IOA. Have fun! Your kids will love Universal. My children are close to your children's age and they LOVE Universal!

 

[Metro West]

You're coming at the end of HHN and that weekend will be busy at the Studios. HHN will be staged every night over the weekend so the Studios will close at 5pm on each night. IOA will be open until 7pm each night which will give you ample time to do what you want. If you want to do both parks, start with the Studios since you're going to lose an hour and then head over to IOA for the rest of the day. HHN crowds rarely affect IOA so you should be OK. CityWalk will be jammed that night so if you want to have dinner somewhere over there, you might have a long wait. You can make dining reservations at the kiosk outside the AMC theater that morning...if you want.

I don't think you need to wait for mid-week...the weekend would be OK...just a little more crowded than during the week.

Having stated all that...if you can afford to do one night onsite, do it! The unlimited Express and early entry for WWoHP will save you lots of time. You could easily do both parks at your leisure. It is pricey though and with HHN's last weekend, you might find it difficult to find onsite rooms for a single night due to the HHN packages.

 

[Ignitor]

Thanks for the feedback. Just to clarify, we would go after HHN is over. Either 11/1, 2 or 3 (Tues, Wed or Thur) without early entry OR Friday 11/4 with early entry.

We're just planning to do IOA, not US and only for 1 day (not going to spend the money or time to try to do both parks with all we're spending at Disney). I will look into staying onsite 1 night to see if we could swing that (any tips on discounts?); I had only priced out onsite vs partner for the 2 night packages and onsite was out of the question. Since Express isn't valid for the big WWoHP attractions, it's not a big priority for us, but may come in handy for the rest of IOA; just not sure how much time we'll spend at WWoHP vs the rest of IOA. We can at least get early entry with the partner hotel package (which sounds more important at WWoHP, especially on a Friday).

 

[macraven]

i agree with mid week.
i'm guessing tuesday should have no crowds.

 

[Metro West]

Thanks for the feedback. Just to clarify, we would go after HHN is over. Either 11/1, 2 or 3 (Tues, Wed or Thur) without early entry OR Friday 11/4 with early entry.

Since you're only doing IOA, mid-week would probably be best and yes...HHN will be over by November 1st.