We are doing Universal for the first time for my HP obsessed daughter’s 9 birthday. We are staying at Dockside. I was planning Aug 23, 25, 27, 28 for Universal days. DD’s birthday is the 28th so I’m hoping we can wait until then to do Ollivanders and all the related wand magic.
If we have early entry, does it make sense to always start at IOA, or should we rope drop USF to do the wand stuff on the last day?
We obviously have to do Hagrid’s at some point, but running there first thing at early entry will be challenging with the kiddos (8&5). I think we would be better off trying for the 11am lull, right?
We plan to go back to the hotel for the hottest part of the day for a couple of hours.
Is it worth following a TP for all four days or should we just play it by ear? Obviously fully exploring the HP stuff will take priority but my kids will also enjoy trolls, minions, etc.
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Welcome! Please ask anything & as often as you like!
There are only a small handful of attractions open during Early Park Admission (EPA)
These are all the rides in Hogsmeade and VelociCoaster.
If you get your fill of those and/or don’t want to wake up an hour or more earlier you can totally go to either park when ready.
The best time of day to do spells is right at RD. This is true for both parks. Everyone else is rushing to rides. You’ll have more time to do these without people in front / behind you.
There are no “queues” for the wand spots. Everyone just kinda lines up on their own & you can take as long as you need. This can be nice or frustrating. Some families have multiple kids and some kids have trouble getting the wands to work. You can be standing at one spot waiting a while if the family in front of you isn’t considerate. These areas do have Team Members wandering around, but not really enforcing any rules about taking turns.
If you can’t get to the park gates one hour - 45 mins before RD and hustling up the hill to the very back of the park then you will not get great benefit to RD for Hagrid’s. It will habitually have a 60 - 80 minute wait all day. You might as well just do it when it’s more convenient.
There is a lull right around 11am - 11:30am. It’s not “official” or guaranteed. It’s just something a few of us have noticed & timed while in the parks.
This is smart! I always leave the parks around lunch time and come back after 3pm. The sun is going to be BRUTAL!
As much as love TP you don’t need a plan for Universal as much as you do for Disney. If you already have a subscription, then I’d definitely make a touring plan. You can use it to make sure you do have enough time to do everything you want and a checklist.
Hope that helps!
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Thank you so much for your input.
There are a few rides I know we won’t do (VelociCoaster, Hulk, Doctor Doom Ripsaw Falls, Rip Ride Rockit, Mummy, Jimmy Fallon, Fast & Furious), which makes planning a little easier. I do have the Universal subscription for TPs, but I haven’t found it too helpful yet. Maybe I need to play around a little more. We are also doing 1 day at AK, without EA.
We have wiggle room in the dates we go. Aug 28 for sure (due to the birthday). Originally I had thought Aug 23, 26, 27, 28 but it looks like Sunday 25th is less crowded than Monday 26th. That can’t be true, can it?
It’s only one point of CL different. You wouldn’t be able to notice any difference.
Remember, CLs are more of an indicator of how long your queue waits will be than an actual crowd size.
That’s helpful to know. In that case, having a break day in between will be better than three subsequent days, especially if there is no noticeable difference in CL.
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Do you think buying the new Lightning Lane multi pass will be necessary for AK on Aug 22? I know it doesn’t help with getting Flight of Passage.
It’s debatable… Multi-pass is always optional. It will come down to if you are early risers who will rope drop.
If it’s just the two of you and have the budget it will make your day easier, at a cost.