Harry Potter first or last?

I’ve a 2 day/2 park ticket staying off site. Im a big fan of sticking to the touring plans but Im worried about leaving Harry Potter attractions to the end of the day! We’re planning on arriving at the park at rope drop, and leaving at about 5pm. Will Harry Potter be quiet enough at 3-4pm or should I rush over first thin in the morning? Going start July so very high crowd levels
Thanks in advance

VERY VERY FIRST THING

if you are able - consider staying on site - if only for a single night to get there an hour early.

June last year I hopped onto Gringotts 5 times in a row with no wait at park closing, almost during the fireworks. I?d say trust your TP @hazel_mclaren76!!1

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Last year, we were there June 29-July 1 and had lowest lines at the end of the day. So low, in fact, that we were able to get in line for EFG, ride EFG, walk to HEx, ride HEx, walk to FJ and ride FJ all within the last hour before the parks closed. And this was while towing 3 kids and ride swapping on EFG and FJ. It was cool; it was efficient; it was amazing! :laughing:

Okay, I just realized you said that you were leaving at 5. If you must leave at 5 and cannot stay later, you will probably want to go first thing in the morning. However, if it is an option, I would highly recommend perhaps taking a midday break, coming back and staying until close.

If you’re leaving at 5 pm, definitely do it first - although note that if you’re a big HP fan, you’re going to want to budget more time for seeing the rest of Diagon Alley/Hogsmeade than the plan will give you, so either budget some extra time or go back for sightseeing at the end.

Have to agree with @julieryc. I am not easily impressed - but both parts of HP were done exceptionally well. We spent a lot of time there not just for the kids but for us as well. I was thoroughly impressed - There is also some additional “magic” that happens later as it gets darker. Don’t sell your time at HP short. It is more than the rides - it is the whole experience

Great thanks everyone. I think I’ll try for the HP rides very first thing, then do other rides and return later in the day to investigate the rest of HP

That is what we did. Basically I used LINES to find out what was going on and we would go back or not. To be honest - it isn’t just the rides there. Yes Escape from Gringots and Forbidden Journey are great rides - but the whole ambiance of the HP areas is just spectacular. Olivanders in Diagon Alley is exactly what you would expect and if you can - do the wand selecting ceremony. Once again - not a MUST - but it just adds to the experience. The cast members are TOTALLY into it - which makes it great. It is also cool to get there and explore before it gets crowded. Don’t forget to get something butterbeer. It tasted exactly what I expected it to taste like. Dualing dragons is a great rollercoaster - but nothing special - it was re-purposed. The theaming of the queue is nice - but nothing crazy and unfortunately they didn’t re-paint it to better match HP (IMHO). Flight of the Hippogrif is nice - but a kiddie rolllercoaster at best.

touring plans has us going on minions, et, men in black, etc. well prior to going over to HP at 11:30am. It sounds great to get all those rides in in 2 1/2 hours (9am-11:30a) but it’s worrying me to leave HP til lunch time when I hear it gets very busy. Thoughts, folks? Thanks!

Depends on what you want to do in DA. If it’s Gringotts then first or last hour is best. If it’s Ollivanders and eating and shopping anytime will do. DM should be done Early. Do for me it’s DM then Gringotts .

So we did HP VERY first thing and glad we did - the lines when we were there grew very quickly - now we did have early admission and made a beeline to the rides. From our experience MIB had NO express pass line - the regular line was long - same with minions. If you can at all make it work - stay at a deluxe resort - the express pass is invaluable and will make your time at US much more enjoyable. Even if just for one night - you get two days of benefit

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MIB had EP line when we were there. Does it change?

there has always been exp and single rider lines open for mib during our visits have never seen it closed off

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We used Express Pass here a couple of weeks ago.

No still there - wasn’t sure if the person had EP