My husband, 9yr old son and I are visiting Universal and WWOHP for the first time at the end of August and are wondering what the crowds will be like. We are staying on property, so I know we get early entrance to the parks. Would love any advice, tips and tricks anyone could recommend. Thanks!!
Are you staying at a Deluxe? As you will also be beneficiaries of the xpress pass - which we found to be INVALUABLE. Outside of that if the main draw is WWOHP - I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Get there FIRST thing in the morning. Hit the ride(s) then enjoy the ambiance of the place. The details are great. You may also find that later in the day there is a dip in the crowds and you can take advantage of that as well. But as you have early entry and as the only thing really open for early entry is the WWOHP area - take advantage of that.
We would go to Diagon alley for the 1st hour and then take HOGWARDS EXPRESS to the other park (you MUST have PARK HOPPER) and then see HOGSMEAD right when it opened.
Later in the evening things do calm down a bit as well. Make sure you take advantage of the LINES app to see what is going on.
Also for GRINGOTS - if you have a bag - send someone ahead to put it in the locker (its free) and then they meet you at the entrance. Same with FORBIDDEN JOURNEY