Going to Universal Sept. 21st with a one day Park to park and unlimited express pass, with early entry at universal. I know the ride waits aren’t an issue thanks to the express pass but I would also like to plan my time in diagon Alley during the smallest crowd times as the shops and other areas can be miserable when crowded. Is the early entry hour really the best time to go, or would it be better later? I feel like all of the early entry crowds might overwhelm the place. As this is primarily what we are going for and don’t know how long the kiddos will last, doing it near park close is not an option. It’s prettty much first thing or after lunch
Start early. Crowds build very quickly in HP, so by noon it is quite busy. But if you get there at Rope Drop, you will have far fewer crowds to fight through.
Now, I haven’t been there at nighttime, but others have said nighttime is a great time to see it from an atmosphere perspective, so you might arrive earlier, see/do what you want, then in the afternoon, when crowds are busier, do other parts of Universal and then return for the “dark” hours. Sun sets at 7:18 pm on September 21 if that gives you any frame of reference.
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Thanks. Not really an option to go at night time as the park closes at 5 due to horror nights
Ah. Okay. Then definitely do early entry. You’ll be glad you did.
Hogsmeade is also cool at night. Only USF will close early for HHN.
I’d expect Hogsmeade to be more crowded than it normally is in the evening due to the early closure at USF. Do you have any experience with this? On my previous trip, Diagon Alley closed an hour after Hogsmeade every night and you could get empty street in Hogsmeade if you stayed to closing. This year, we’ll be there over September 13-16 (Fri - Sun) and USF will close at 5 pm every night with IOA closing at 9 pm.
Hogsmeade may be a bit more crowded, but I have not found it to be excessively so.
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