We are a WDW family but are thinking about heading to Universal on our next trip to Orlando to check out the Harry Potter lands. We aren’t interested in riding any of the non Harry Potter themed coasters. So my question to this group is can we do/see mostl of the harry potter things in the two parks at Universal Orlando if we only go one day. We will be staying a week at Wilderness Lodge at WDW on our DVC points, so we will drive or Uber/Lyft over to Universal. This will be a “dip our toes” sort of thing, so while we can’t see everything, will we at least be able to bounce between the two parks, ride the Hogwarts Express, maybe Hagrad’s coaster and get wands.
I am replying to myself, because I posted and then continued searching and found this helpful post with some tourinplans (which I was also looking for!)
My family has done all of HP twice now in a single day AND have done plenty of other attractions in both parks as well. They have gone from open to about 5pm on both occasions, once on an April trip and once this past late June. They do get the express pass unlimited, which I know does not encompass a couple of rides (I think Hagrids is one?), but if you didn’t want to do anything BUT HP I don’t think you’d even need that.
You do need park to park tickets though to do all of HP
There are 4 rides total in WWOHP (5, if you count the train…which you probably should, since it is part of the experience…and maybe 6 if you count riding it both ways, since the experience is a bit different in each direction).
You can easily get it all done in a single day if that is your focus. But make sure you arrive ahead of rope drop and head there early. The crowds in WWOHP start to become somewhat unbearable by noon or so. So, get as much as you can done early, allowing you more time to take in the sights of it all, watching people do their wand work, sampling Butterbeer, etc.
And, I wouldn’t skip Hagrid’s. Don’t let a 90 minute wait scare you. (Often, the posted wait for Hagrid’s is quite a bit higher than reality.) Even if you actually wait 90 minutes, it is arguably the best coaster experience in all of Florida, but not overly intense, and the grounds are beautiful.
I agree with the others that one day for HP is totally doable. Keep an eye out for reports of whether virtual queue is being used for Hagrid’s leading up to your trip - that adds some complexity to the situation.
I went before Hagrid’s opened and did everything (including 2 rides on Forbidden Journey), but I think 1 day should be doable even with Hagrid’s added.
If you have the time and inclination to try 1 non-HP ride, I highly recommend Spiderman. When it opened, I thought is was the best ride in Orlando. It no longer holds that title, but it remains a fantastic ride.
If all your looking to do is the big attractions/highlights than yes it’s 100% possible. But for us we really enjoyed the whole immersive experience and more than one family member is a Harry Potter junkie.
If you have a big Harry Potter fan the answer IMO will be a no… for example the wand experiences and other stuff -
Also, plan some low crowd time to check out both restaurants. It is in my notes which one it is, but one of them was built before being shown in the movies. So, the restaurant inspired the movie set, rather than vice versa.
Three Brooms was built and then they used that layout in the final movies.
Anyway, OP, one day for all of the Wizarding World is totally possible and make sure to build in time to explore the shops in Hogsmade, all of Diagon Alley, see the shows in Diagon Alley, and do the nighttime show in Hogsmeade.
Before we went the first time, I kept notes on small things, like Moaning Myrtle talking in the bathroom. This is where I put them, it was meant only for myself, so don’t be critical.
100% and time for some other stuff depending on your energy and time you want to spend in the parks and if you’re willing to fork up cash for EP. I highly recommend outside of HP that you ride The Mummy and Men In Black. The Mummy is a roller coaster/dark ride but indoors and no upside down and is one of my all time favorite rides and Men In Black is fantastically done.
I am an enormous HP fan. I would agree that with good planning and going open to close, you can do it. That having been said, if I really take my time and soak in all the details, do the spells, watch the shows, etc., I have spent 6 hours in Diagon Alley alone, so it’s possible you may feel you want more time. But it’s totally doable in a day.
Agree with all the good advice from the experts, and let me add something. You may know this already, but to get to (or leave) either Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade, you will need to walk through the rest of the parks. I say this because when we went the first time and focused our first full day trip on HP, I found it helpful that I could say to my family as we were walking by really cool non-HP stuff, “Don’t worry, we’ll do that tomorrow.” Because we had another day and a half planned in the parks. So just be prepared, because it’s going to be all so very very enticing when you head to (and from) your exclusive HP experience. Enjoy!
Thank you all! I am overjoyed at these thoughtful responses can cannot wait to add the day at Universal to our summer trip. Now time to add Universal Orlando to our tourinplans subscription and maybe check out their unofficial guide as well. Oh, and continue to read this board. You are all wonderful.
We saw quite a bit of HP in 1.5 days. We had express pass and were staying onsite, then we transferred to WDW after. We were also there to see a lot of other things too so we didn’t see all of HP but I considered HP pretty well done. One thing we did to save time was to get our wands outside of the parks, which for us was in the store at our resort, although they are available online. It was important to us to actually see and hold the wands before purchase which was a lot of fun in the store with nobody around. I did end up buying another one at Ollivanders and will admit it was fun to shop there but there were tons of others around (this was prepandemic, I don’t know what it’s like now).