Hi all,
I’m not seeing any recent/this year discussion on doing a 1-day touring plan for only Harry Potter attractions, and the way the official Touring Plan is set up, you have to do two different plans - one for each park. I keep trying to set it up but it is kind of confusing, and it keeps wanting me to add non-HP rides. Plus, I’d like everything together in one plan. We are going one day (Dec 19) and are not staying on site, and won’t have early entry. We plan to get an interactive wand at Ollivander’s and do spells where possible, would like to see any holiday shows, etc. If possible, it would be great to ride Gringott’s twice. Has anyone (recently) created a custom plan, or do you have tips on use the TP’s provided to make a great experience? Thanks in advance.
This article was written back in 2014 and I wonder how current it is. Plus, I keep getting “bad gateway” errors when trying to hit the TP site today…aargh. Wizarding World Two Park Touring Plans
Hello. Unfortunately I could not tell you about creating the touring plan part. I think you have to create 2 plans for the same day.
However, I was in Universal on November 30 and December 1, so I just want to tell you about the wait and crowd level a little bit. Both day were marked at crowd level 3.
On both days, the parks were not crowd at all except in lunch time at Leaky Cauldron and Three Broomstick and during the first show time for the Magic of Christmas on Hogwarts Castle. I was out of HP area so I had to went back to see the lighting of the castle. People were line up near the bridge area so one entrance side of the HP area was closed so I had to circle around for quite far. The lighting would be done in like 6:00, 6:20 and 6:40 after sunset. Each session would be about 5-7 minutes. I wanted to have dinner without minimum wait at Citiwalk so we wanted to catch 6:00 and left right after that.
Most of rides were about 10 mins wait except Flight of the Hippogriff was constantly about 20-30 mins. I rode the Forbidden Journey like 3 times and I think the TM recognized me and told me like you knew the drill regarding the safety part. I needed to test it out because my dad was worried about his back issue. So I did it alone, then dragged my parents each for one ride. This way we did not use the locker. The 2 stage shows in each area were in 30 minutes interval. If you were able to spend 2-3 hours in each area, you should have no problem catching the shows.
So I would suggest doing IA in the afternoon maybe? Start in Ollivanders just in case you may get picked. The interactive wand part is fun but require patient and luck! Some locations would be obvious at night time.
I also spent time to buy some post cards, stamps and mailed out at the owl stand. Those were costly!
Wish you have a lot of fun!
So don’t stress too much and also don’t get upset if you can’t do all the rides - so if you do into it with the right expectations you will have a better time.
My preference for rides is FORBIDDEN JOURNEY - hands down. So do that first. Flight of the hippogrif and the other roller coaster are good - but not show stoppers in my opinion - especially if you have limited time and you want to do magic.
To confirm - you will need a park hopper. Plus the Hogwart’s Express is just fun to do. I would do the Olivander’s in Diagon Alley
The only real ride on the other side is Escape from Gringots - which is cool.
Don’t worry about having two separate plans. Just go with it. It makes sense - one is in one park and one is in the other. Just pitch the first one when you are done with it.
Have a great time and don’t forget to get some butter beer. Also - we didn’t particularly fancy any of the restaurants - and ate at Mythos (right outside of Hogmeads) it was very good.
Unfortunately, Dragon Challenge has gone to the great beyond, so there are only 4 rides across both parks: Gringotts, Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff, and Hogwarts Express. You’ll also want to do Ollivander’s and check out the shows: Celestina Warbeck’s show has been updated for the holidays, and Tales of Beedle the Bard and Frog Choir are entertaining as well. Add in some time to wander the shops and do the interactive wand stops, and you’ll find quite a full day.
As others have said, you’ll need to do two plans: one for IoA and one for USF. Just make a plan for wherever you want to start and adjust the start time for the other park to coincide with whenever you plan to hit the Hogwarts Express.
Okay, thanks, all. I guess I’m just looking for advice on which park to start with. We want to get a wand at Ollivander’s. Should we go to Diagon Alley first and do the show there and purchase, or is the Ollivander’s in IoA preferable for any reason? Since we don’t have early entry, I wondered if it would be a good strategy to enter IoA, take Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley right away, and get a wand there. Would that help with crowd issues? Thank you!
Thanks, @bgmutza. Any advice on which park to start with? How far in advance do you need to know when you want to ride Hogwarts Express - is it a long wait as well, or can you buy a ticket beforehand for a certain time?
So I may suggest that, as you don’t have early admission. I would go to the park that does NOT have early entry so that you have “just as a good a chance” to get to the front as anyone else. But whatever side you go to - make a bee line to either Forbidden or Escape.
Also with both you must get rid of ALL, EVERY, ALL (did I say all) bags. They have FREE lockers. Send your quickest muggle ahead to stow all the bags in the lockers and then meet them at the line entrance. MAKE SURE YOU FULLY REMEMBER THE LOCKER NUMBER!!!
I agree with @Tigger613: start with the park that doesn’t have early opening, then move to the other. I haven’t been on HE since they added Express Passes, so I don’t know how that will affect things. My experience is that it is a short wait in the morning and long in the afternoon and evening. The last time I rode it in the afternoon, we remarked that it would’ve been faster to just walk, but YMMV.
No tickets are needed other than a park-to-park ticket to the parks. Without EP, you’ll just have to join the queue when you’re ready to move on. Note that the rides on HE are different depending on the direction you’re heading, so if you have time, ride it both ways!
The original poster has a different situation, but for somebody who’s not going during a slower period, here’s how the 1 day HP plan is suppose to work (I think).
You can copy the plans, and you can edit them to add or subtract attractions. You can Evaluate (don’t optimize!) to get an idea of how long your waits will be. Work on the morning part of Part 1 until you are satisfied. Feel free to move things around as needed, but leave the Hogwarts Express step right before the Rest step, and Evaluate after your changes. Then, take the start time of the “Rest” step over to Part 2, and enter that as the start time of Part 2 of the plan. Tweak that plan to your heart’s content, making sure the Hogwarts Express step is the last one. Take the total time from that plan, shown at the bottom, and go back to Part 1. Modify the Rest step to be that amount of time (plus a bit, just in case). Now, massage the last part of Part 1. Hopefully you can get to everything you want in the hours you have.
Thanks, everyone. I hope I got it all right. If anyone wants to give feedback, here are my plans. I’m not sure I did the Hogwarts Express and break things right, but at least it’s a plan! I am surprised that it’s saying there will not be a wait at Ollivanders in Diagon Alley…hmmm.
Looks good to me, but you may be cutting it close for the Hogwarts show. Everything I’ve read says that the first couple of showings are jam packed, so you may not get a decent spot hustling out of dinner. Also, be sure to check the hours for Mythos, as they close earlier than most restaurants. I think they’re open at 5, but I’d double check to be sure.
My only other suggestion - is be flexible. I always put plans together - but somewhere along the line we end up winging it due to something that happens. So my only other suggestion is chug some butterbeer and be flexible and don’t freak out that you are going off plan “STOP HAVING FUN HERE - WE ARE LATE FOR HAVING FUN OVER THERE - WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU KIDS!!!”
So plan, but be flexible and have fun - if you decide you want to wander in the stores a bit more - make THAT the fun.
Yes, perfect advice @Tigger613. I want a solid but do-able plan that includes all the various fun options and performances since we only have one day (and there is SO MUCH anticipation and excitement from my 11yo, as we really didn’t think we’d ever be able to afford to go) but the plan is to just gauge things once we get there and adjust as we go. I just didn’t want to miss something only because we didn’t know about it or wait too long for something when we don’t have to.
I get it - being prepared allows for spontaneity - a lot of people don’t understand that!!!
Also don’t be afraid to take robes (if you have them) - our son took an old halloween costume robe and it was fun for him - so don’t be afraid to do stuff like that.
Oh, there will be Hufflepuff regalia for my DD, including robe. :) My DH dressed as Hagrid (including platform boots) to deliver her Hogwarts letter at midnight when she turned 11. I wish he’d wear that, but it would be a bit much. LOL
It sounds like most of your bases have been covered, but as an obsessive Harry Potter fan, I want to chime in from the obsession side. Personally, I would only go to Ollivanders in Diagon Alley because that is the real one. Ollivanders wasn’t in Hogsmeade! I also have heard that Ollivanders is better than the one in Hogsmeade. Every time I go to Universal, I do a Harry Potter day and I always start in Diagon Alley so that I can take the same path as Harry, starting there and traveling to Hogsmeade. This is, of course, not a touring strategy, merely a fan strategy.
Also, I will note that I have worn a small fanny pack on Forbidden Journey, Escape from Gringotts and Flight of the Hippogriff and never had a problem. A small wearable pack like that will not be required to go into a locker, and this can make a huge difference in the time you waste in the locker area.
I will agree that you should wear whatever fun things you want to wear. I’m 42 years old and wore a robe and a tie and carried my wand around on my last trip in October. It makes it all the more fun.
Also, have you considered doing Shutterbuttons while you are there? I won’t bore you with the details if you already know what it is, but if you don’t, please ask!
My DH dressed as Hagrid (including platform boots) to deliver her Hogwarts letter at midnight when she turned 11. I wish he’d wear that, but it would be a bit much. LOL