# Harry Potter ?



## TerriJ (Jan 14, 2011)

We are staying at the new HGVC resort in Orlando in April.  We want to do the Harry Potter experience.  Any tips or advice?  I will be able to post info on the new resort.


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## CMF (Jan 14, 2011)

Be there before the park opens and run to the attraction as soon as get in the gate.

Charles


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## cindi (Jan 14, 2011)

Is it worth it if you haven't followed the whole Harry Potter thing? Never saw the movies nor read the books.

Will I still enjoy the attractions enough to stand in those long lines?


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## DebBrown (Jan 14, 2011)

Do you think the lines are still long?  We were there in July.  The strategy at that point was to do the HP section after 5pm.  Earlier in the day there were lines just to get into the HP village, not just for the rides.

If you're not into HP then they will be like any other ride.  The dueling dragons roller coasters are now re-themed to HP.  The journey ride in Hogwart's castle is pretty good.  Don't get tricked into standing in the long line for the lockers if you don't need them.  Everybody thinks they are in the ride line but they are just in the locker line.  

In July we waited about an hour for the main journey ride and quite awhile for a visit to Olivander's wand shop.  

Deb


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## TerriJ (Jan 15, 2011)

Thanks for the tips!


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## cindi (Jan 15, 2011)

DebBrown said:


> Don't get tricked into standing in the long line for the lockers if you don't need them.  Everybody thinks they are in the ride line but they are just in the locker line.
> 
> Deb



Really good to know.  Thanks.  We will try it out later this week.


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## Deb from NC (Jan 15, 2011)

Cindi-Please check back in and let us know how crowded it is!  We are going in February and we're wondering if the crowds have died down any.....
Deb


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## cindi (Jan 15, 2011)

Deb from NC said:


> Cindi-Please check back in and let us know how crowded it is!  We are going in February and we're wondering if the crowds have died down any.....
> Deb



Will do. Probably won't go til Tues or wed


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## dwgrant (Jan 15, 2011)

My family was there the first week of January and I would say that I agree with Charles' advice to be there when the gate opens and run to the Harry Potter section.  Even by 10AM there were lines just to get into the Harry Potter section.  On the other hand if you haven't read the books or seen the movies then there isn't much point in wasting your time, take advantage of the fact that the rest of the park is fairly quiet first thing in the morning.
Darrell in Ontario


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## TerriJ (Jan 16, 2011)

Is any day of the week better to go on?  We are there M through F in mid April.  Thanks!


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## Vodo (Jan 19, 2011)

My DD10 went today with friends and the Harry Potter area was still very crowded, even on a Tuesday.  We kind of thought the folks in town for the MLK holiday weekend would have vacated by today, but no such luck.  It was, however, better than any weekend day in recent months.  The good news is that the other park is pretty deserted, so take advantage of that if you have 2-park tickets.  Guests of the Universal hotels get in one hour before opening, so even if you rush to the Harry Potter section, there will likely be lots of people there ahead of you.  

Late January and most of February are good times for all the Orlando attractions, at least compared to the higher seasons just before and after those months.  It's about as good as it will get until May, and then it peaks again as soon as school is out in June and doesn't settle down until late August.  September through early December, excluding Thanksgiving week, is a great time to visit -- so long as you avoid hurricanes.


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## night0wl (Jan 19, 2011)

We went in September of 2010...and to be honest, there weren't any lines of significance.  I'm sure its because of the time of year we went, but we did the whole park, including Harry Potter, with time to spare...kinda bored at the end of the day. 

We really wish we had gotten the equivalent of the park hopper to head over to Universal proper...the park is just too small for the entrance fee for one day...


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## jancpa (Jan 19, 2011)

Go straight to the Olivander Wand shop.  The "show" only holds 20-25 guests and last about twenty minutes.  This will stack up quickly and move slower than the Journey ride.


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## tlwmkw (Jan 19, 2011)

We were there in Early December and got there at opening and went straight to the HP area.  There were no lines at that time and we walked straight onto the big ride in the castle.  The wand shop wasn't crowded when we got there but it was when we got out of the big ride.  As the day went on it got more crowded but by midday still wasn't too bad.  We did all that we wanted to do there and it only took about half the day.  We ate at the Three Broomsicks restaurant.  We left then and the rest of the park was empty.

tlwmkw


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## colamedia (Jan 19, 2011)

If wands are important:

There are 2 types of wands, the 'Hero' wands, based on the characters in the movie, and the 'Wood' wands.  
You can get the Hero wands outside the Forbidden Journey ride, but you can only buy the Wood wands in Dervish and Banges/Olivanders (the shopping bit of Ollivanders is actually in Dervish and Banges).  
If the wand show isn't a major concern, the queue to get into Dervish and Banges is always a lot smaller and faster to get to the shopping bit.  
The Wood wands are customised by birthday, so if you get any orders for wands, make sure you get the birth date, so you can get the right Wood wand.  
The Wood wands come in larger boxes than the Hero wands, and only the Wood wand boxes have Olivander's logo on the box, the Hero wand boxes are very plain.  The Wood wands are bigger than the Hero wands.
The Wood wands and Hero wands are all available in the online shop for Universal.  They do include the Wood wand birth dates, so they can be decided beforehand.
A lot of wand boxes in your lugguge might get your luggage opened by the TSA.  I had 5 wands in my luggage and it must've looked rather suspicious on the scanning, all those rectangular things with strange bits in them....


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## DVB42 (Jan 19, 2011)

tlwmkw said:


> We were there in Early December and got there at opening and went straight to the HP area.  There were no lines at that time and we walked straight onto the big ride in the castle.  The wand shop wasn't crowded when we got there but it was when we got out of the big ride.  As the day went on it got more crowded but by midday still wasn't too bad.  We did all that we wanted to do there and it only took about half the day.  We ate at the Three Broomsicks restaurant.  We left then and the rest of the park was empty.
> 
> tlwmkw



We were there in mid December and had the same experience with crowd size. In later December (close to Christmas) the crowds were VERY large and lines to the main ride were over an hour long.

I thought the ride was great. Also the decorations on the way into the castle were impressive.


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## TerriJ (Jan 21, 2011)

Thanks!  Do we need to buy tickets ahead of time?


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## falmouth3 (Mar 15, 2011)

*Harry Potter update March 2011*

I just got back from a 3 day visit to the Universal properties.  We won a 3 night stay at the Hard Rock Hotel on the property.  Staying there allowed us early entrance into the park.  If you can do that, you'll get 8 am entrance until the day you check out.  Or check out is 11 am so you can get in, do the Harry Potter stuff and check out afterward.  You also get the Express Pass free when you stay at one of the three on-site properties and buy admission.  That saves a lot of time in line!  The Express Pass can also be purchased, but early admission cannot.

Harry Potter is in Islands of Adventure.  That park can be a full day of entertainment.  We liked that park better than Universal Studios.  Both are an easy walk apart with City Walk connecting the two.  But even with waiting in lines, I don't think it's more than a 1/2 day experience at Harry Potter.  I think we spent about 2 hours there each day.

We did the early admission twice.  The first day we went to the wand shop first because there are really limited numbers of people (maybe 20) who can get in at any one time.  The "show" is about 5 minutes long and the lines can get pretty long.  After that, we went on the ride in Hogwarts.  It was a fun ride, but not for people who dislike a lot of motion.  You definitely get swooped around.  We found that the best time (of the two days that we did early admission to I of A) was after the initial surge of 8 AM early admissions and just before the 9 AM general admission people showed up.  We just walked through the lines and got on the ride.

Yesterday we wandered around and found that you couldn't even get into the Harry Potter area without getting a return time ticket.  It was filled to capacity around 2 pm.  Of course, we also found out that it was the first day of spring break for the local school kids.


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## Janann (Mar 25, 2011)

*Butterbeer*

We were there on Monday, 3/14/11.  We went to the "big Harry Potter ride" at the rope drop, and still had to wait 75 minutes for the ride.

People line up outside in the heat to buy butterbeer from a street vendor.  However, there was almost no line in the air conditioned bar at the Three Broomsticks restaurant.  The server mentioned to someone that you can't buy regular soda in the Harry Potter area, so plan ahead if you don't want Butterbeer or real beer in this area of the park.


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## tcrny (Mar 26, 2011)

We were there week Christmas week and the day we chose was Universal's record breaking crowd for the park, and all of them were trying to get in to HP! We got there just after it opened, and lines were 3 hours just to get return tickets! We had to wait 4 hours with return ticket to get into HP.  Once in there, it was so crowded you couldn't move.  Every single place had a line.  Olivanders Wands was hour and half wait.  Even butterbeers at the outside vendors were an hour.  My family and I are HUGE HP fans watched every movie read all the books.  For us we had to go, but it was disappointing how crowded it was.  And the HP section is not as big as we thought - it is small.  Hopefully they can someday expand it.  But the Hogwarts Castle ride was the BEST!  I hope it is not as crowded for you, but as everyone said be at the gate before the park opens and run to HP! Go on the Hogwarts ride first then straight away to Olivanders.  Those were the 2 main busiest attractions.  Enjoy!


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## TerriJ (Mar 27, 2011)

Thanks for all the great info.  We will be there mid April.  Sounds like it is busy all the time.


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## irish (Mar 28, 2011)

just there on 3/24.. still long lines for the quiditch(?) ride and ollivanders wand shop..we did a walk thru hogwarts castle rather then wait on line for the ride and bought wands from the street vendor instead of waiting on line for OLLIVANDERS WAND SHOP. walked right into THE THREE BROOMSTICKS and had butter beers. while i DID enjoy seeing HARRY POTTER WORLD. i felt there was soooo much more they could have done with it had the area been larger.


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## hofftkmn (Mar 29, 2011)

We were there on 3/22. Went later in the day but the sign still said a 90 minute wait. We went through the single rider line and got on in less than 20 minutes. There is really no need to all ride in the same car as you can't see who you're sitting next to anyway. Just ask the staff member at the entrance for the single rider line, and they'll direct you up the staircase to the left; it is not marked as such. We went later in the week with the same result. Fantastic ride!!


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## TerriJ (Apr 13, 2011)

Based on the great advice given here we headed in to the park right at nine along with many others.  We got on pretty quickly and really enjoyed the ride.  Got a really cool pic!  The rest of the parks were not busy at all, everyone still wants to to to HP!


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## TerriJ (Apr 14, 2011)

Just one thing I did wrong.  I bought the Express pass and it is not good for the main ride that everyone wants to go on.  Early in the morning, the other rides did not have long lines.  So that was a waste of money.  But all in all very happy with the experience.  And we have had picture perfect weather here.


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## amanda14 (Apr 14, 2011)

We are going on Sunday - I am sure it will be a mad house.  Getting there as soon as gates open and heading over to Potter.  No wands, no butter beer.  Just the couple of rides and then out of there.  Hopefully its not so bad.


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## TerriJ (Apr 16, 2011)

Just go as fast as you can to the HP area, then go right to the castle ride and get in that line.


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## dlpearson (Apr 17, 2011)

*Just got back this week*

We went on Friday and Saturday, April 8th and 9th, and then again on the 15th and 16th.  Crowds weren't bad either time.  Never had to wait more than 5 minutes for the Dragon Challenge.  Waited 40 minutes each time for the main ride in the castle.  Wife and I were surprised by how much motion sickness it caused.

The pumpkin juice is expensive ($6.75 I think?) and while good, a very strong flavor.  Definitely can't drink a whole one by yourself (the 4 of us shared it).  The butterbeer was surprisingly good---recommend paying the extra $1 and getting the slushy option (as opposed to regular soda/liquid).

David


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