I’ve allocated two days to UOR and my initial plan was to do both parks on both days, mostly so that I could do Hogwart’s Express.
But as I started to look at my plan in detail, this started to make less and less sense to me. One park per day seems a lot simpler.
And I have done HE in both directions before. I won’t be traumatised if I don’t do it again.
Will you have Express and what hours are you planning on being in the parks?
The TP 2-day 2-park plan is to visit USF headliners first thing one morning and then take the HE to IOA and do non-headliners. Then the other day, do IOA headliners take the HE to DA and do shows at USF in the afternoon. It would be more efficient to just tour IOA one day and USF the other. If you have Express, you can do whatever attractions you want want at whatever times you want so efficiency doesn’t matter as much.
I am a fan of both HP areas in the evening. When I was there last June, IOA closed at 9 pm and USF at 10 pm. Diagon Alley was really nice after 7 pm in the evening. I took the HE from Kings Cross at around 8:30 pm and arrived at Hogsmeade right before the park closed. That was the best time to be in Hogsmeade! It was the least congested that I have ever seen that area (and we were there for early entry). We had the shops almost to ourselves.
Are you trying to save money or time? If money, then definitely one park per day. If time, then I think it depends on your priorities and whether you have express pass.
I will have an Express Pass (multiple use) for both of my days. On one day I’ve scheduled seven hours, on the other six hours.
I agree with @Pigsispigs. I adore both of the Harry Potter lands in the evenings and would do whatever I had to to make sure I had some evening time in each of them over the course of the two days. However, if I recall correctly, you are not a huge Harry Potter freak, so this may be less important to you. I will agree that it is simpler to just stay in one park each day. If you already have park to park tickets, perhaps at least one night you could take the Hogwarts Express over to whichever park is open later, as one park always seems to stay open later than the other.
I would also point out, however, that with Express Pass, you may be able to experience everything you want in one park more quickly than you think you can and you might appreciate the flexibility of being able to go to the other park afterwards.
I’m planning on leaving UOR at about 6pm each time to get back to dinner ADRs at WDW.
I feel like I didn’t do either of the HP lands justice last time, so I do plan on spending more quality time in each of them. I want to avoid dining there, though, as I thought the quality was poor and I’d to explore other options.
With about six hours on each day and the Express Pass I can probably do what I want when I want, but I like to have a vague plan of action.
This time round I do want to spend more time taking it all in, rather than rushing from ride to ride.
Honestly, based on what you’ve told me, you are probably better off just spending one day in each park. I believe you could easily fill 6 hours, even with Express Pass, taking your time and taking in details of the different lands.
Agreed… even with EP, you’re going to eat up some touring time with having your ticket scanned, queuing, and the ride itself. I’d just rope drop both days and make the most of each park.