Hypothetically, if one had two full park to park days at the parks during a non-busy time (CL 5 or less), without express passes, and a late half day was possible, what would be the best way to use the time in the parks? For example, if one had planned two full days, but had an extra day, and decided to also go the day of arrival, but not be there until the afternoon, would it be a good idea to make a TP from arrival time until close, or just check out wait times, then wing it? Or, would it be better to use that time for spells or shows? I’m asking for a friend, and since I’ve never gone when it wasn’t from park opening, I wasn’t sure. Any thoughts, ideas?
I think it would depend on what time of the year we are talking about. I personally feel that the end of the day is the BEST time to visit the Harry Potter areas, if your friend is into that at all. I have great luck with lines in the last hour before park close IF the park is open late. If you are looking at a time when the park closes early, that may not be the case.
If the park closes early or there is no real HP interest, I would throw together a TP just to get a general idea of where the crowds tend to be at that time of the day. They don’t necessarily need to follow the TP once they get there, but I always feel like a TP helps me get a handle on crowd flow. It may also be a good time to just check out any shows they may be interested in.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, personally, I love doing Diagon Alley later at sunset, but I usually go during spring or early summer when hours are longer, but crowd levels are still lower. I have never arrived late in the day, or left and came back, so I didn’t know what to tell her in terms of making touring plans or not.
I know she’s planning for sure two days, whenever she goes (possibly winter or early spring), but would be open to thinking possibly adding that extra few hours on a day of arrival if she were to arrive by an afternoon. She’s most of the time a solo traveler, but I think would possibly bring along a friend if their schedule allowed. I know she likes HP, and was there last when Hogsmeade opened up. She would definitely take her time on the other two days seeing everything HP, and then the rest. I guess the reason she was asking was to see if paying extra for a few hours was worth it, especially if the parks close around 7 or 8.
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I don’t remember the specifics, but I believe the difference between a 2 and 3 day ticket is somewhat minimal, and would probably be worth it if she had 3 hours or so. But, I always want more time in the Parks, so I may be the wrong person to ask! 
Haha, so am I!