Harry Potter theme park at Universal?

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

We are headed back to Orlando in March, and looking to line up tickets to events and activities. In addition to Disney, we are looking into Universal and the Harry Potter theme park. I have not heard much about it on other sites, and nothing on this site.

Has anyone been there? Is there anything to do for someone like me who doesn't want to do the rides all day long? Do I just stick to Disney and watch the animals in the animal park (one of my favorite activities)?

Are there other 'must see/must do' in Orlando?

[MargeS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MargeS]

My nieces, (20 & 23) college students and BIG Harry Potter fans LOVED the representation at Universal. they were there January 5, 2011. Yes, there is a big wait just to get into the area and then waits for HP rides, shops, food, etc. But they claim if you are a HP fan, you will love it!!!

[3kids4me Super Moderator and Super Mom Find all posts View Profile Close 3kids4me]

We were just there in December. It is pretty cool, and worth seeing. I would suggest you go either very early in the morning or very late in the afternoon for best access.

Do you not like rides at all? You can still tour the Hogwarts school without actually going on the ride (but the ride was fabulous, unless spiders really freak you out), and there are plenty of interesting shops to see inside the Harry Potter area.

We didn't like the rest of Universal nearly as much as Disney; but one nice thing is that City Walk is right next to the parks, so your family can go on the rides and you can walk around City Walk a bit if you'd like.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

SNIP
Do you not like rides at all?

With me it is kind of like

[dcwojo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dcwojo]

Look for things to do on International Drive. Old Town in Kissimmee is nice. There are tours to see manatees. If you are there early enough spring training may still be going on. As for the Harry Potter Park I will write back soon. I will be there next week.

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

Besides going early are there other ways to beat the long waits? We are going this summer and everyone wants to go to Universal for Harry Potter.

[dcwojo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dcwojo]

I have never been there in the summer, but most of the parks offer a system to bypass long lines. You get a time to be at a specific ride or attraction and then go to a special line and usually wait less than 15 minutes. It costs a few dollars more but is well worth it.

[akparsa Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close akparsa]

Just returned...

We were at Universal on Jan 30th and were so lucky to have low crowds and little to no wait for rides. My daughter was able to walk onto the Dueling Dragons rollercoaster repeatedly - early in the day she went 4 times in a row, and later in the afternoon she did it another 3 times. There was a 20 minute wait for the castle. The longest line was for the Wand Experience at Olivander's.

I am a huge HP fan and loved the experience of seeing the park at Universal. It would lose lots of its appeal for me to go in peak times with the crowds, though.

Anita

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

Harry Potter update March 2011

I just got back from a 3 day visit to the Universal properties. We won a 3 night stay at the Hard Rock Hotel on the property. Staying there allowed us early entrance into the park. If you can do that, you'll get 8 am entrance until the day you check out. Or check out is 11 am so you can get in, do the Harry Potter stuff and check out afterward. You also get the Express Pass free when you stay at one of the three on-site properties and buy admission. That saves a lot of time in line! The Express Pass can also be purchased, but early admission cannot.

Harry Potter is in Islands of Adventure. That park can be a full day of entertainment. We liked that park better than Universal Studios. Both are an easy walk apart with City Walk connecting the two. But even with waiting in lines, I don't think Harry Potter is more than a 1/2 day experience. I think we spent about 2 hours there each day.

We did the early admission twice. The first day we went to the wand shop first because there are really limited numbers of people (maybe 20) who can get in at any one time. The "show" is about 5 minutes long and the lines can get pretty long. After that, we went on the ride in Hogwarts. It was a fun ride, but not for people who dislike a lot of motion. You definitely get swooped around. We found that the best time (of the two days that we did early admission to I of A) was after the initial surge of 8 AM early admissions and just before the 9 AM general admission people showed up. We just walked through the lines and got on the ride.

Yesterday we wandered around and found that you couldn't even get into the Harry Potter area without getting a return time ticket. It was filled to capacity around 2 pm. Of course, we also found out that it was the first day of spring break for the local school kids.

[davhu1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close davhu1]

Is there anything to do for someone like me who doesn't want to do the rides all day long?

Get the meal deal for ~$20 and spent all day eating!

We just got back. Took our time and did 2 days each park. I agree falmouth3, do the Harry Potter rides early in the morning or late. Better still go on a raining day if that is in the forecast.

1st day we arrived at 9:00 am
Dragon Challenge wait was 20 min (the wait was actually longer, more like 30 min). When we came out it was 60 min.
Forbidden Journey was 60 min.
Other rides after we were done with Harry Potter were 20-30 min.
Very long lines for shops and butter beer. (Don't get the regular one. Tastes just like root beer. The slush one taste like butter scotch).

Around 6:00 pm.
Dragon Challenge was 5 min. Kids went 3 times.
No lines to shops and small line for butter beer.
Other rides were 5-15 min.

2nd day we got there around 10:00 am. A little drizzle in the morning that stopped around 11:00 am.
Dragon Challenge. No lines. We went 3 times.
Forbidden Journey 20 min.
Less than half-dozen people for butter beer. No lines for shops,
Most other rides had no lines.
Brought bathing suit and rain coat for the water rides.
Express Pass would have been a waste of money on a rainy day. If the park is busy and only going one day, I think it is worth to do the Express Pass.

Also look for the single rides. It will get you through a lot faster.

Non-rides: Jurassic Park Discover Center, The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad show, and Poseidon's Fury. Go to the Olive Me Ship and spray water on the barge riders below.

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

Thanks, keep the information coming, it is helpful in developing our plans.

[troyandcarol Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close troyandcarol]

We went to Islands of Adventure 2 weeks ago on Tuesday March 1st. Weather was calling for very light morning showers. There were some showers until 10:30. We got there at 8:15 to be ready for the 9 a.m. opening. We were pleasantly surprised to find very light crowds. We went straight to Harry Potter and absolutely loved it!! If you like Harry Potter at all you will love it! They did an amazing job. Longest line was 10 minutes and that is pushing it. We loved the regular butter beer, the frozen butter beer tasted like a slurpee and I am not big on those. But they both were great. If your looking for restaurants the Pointe is an awesome spot on I drive. We always have a blast in Orlando every year and Harry Potter took it to another level

[gandalf252002 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gandalf252002]

I was in Orlando with my my niece and her parents, my mother and my girlfriend in February and thouroughly enjoyed out time there.

It was raining a couple days there, and to subsidize things we went to a few vacation presentations. Universal has lots of them offering deals if you are interested.

If you are not a big ride fan though, then I would suggest Disney instead. Although I was told Universal was more for "older people" and enjoyed Disney better $ for $. My niece is not a big ride person either and she spent a lot of time just waiting around for us.

I can suggest planning your time wisely though. We got fairly good whether and were luck that our longest wait time was probably 1/2 hour for any one ride.

[grest Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close grest]

My 13 year old nephew loved it last July, despite the heat and very long lines.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Just saw where Blackstone is trying to force Comcast to buy their stake in the company while the value is high (in large part to the Harry Potter Experience).

Blackstone Universal Orlando offer: Blackstone offers to sell its 50% stake in Universal Orlando to NBCUniversal - OrlandoSentinel.com

Some very interesting notes in the story, including info that the resort could lose some of it's licensing agreements upon the sale. You've got to love big business!