1 day in WWoHP...worth it to stay at Universal? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Dave and I are taking our niece Jess to WDW and WWoHP this June and she and I are going to spend a day at Universal doing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We are staying at AKL and BCV and were planning on going to WWoHP one day, while Dave stayed at the resort and had a rest day. But now, after reading SO many reports of how crowded WWoHP is, I was thinking about staying at Universal one or two nights so that we could get early entry to WWoHP. WWoHP is the ONLY thing we are really interested in...although I do suppose that we could check out The Mummy and some of the other rides, as we've never been to Universal.
Does anyone have any thoughts or advice for us?
__________________
**Meg**
Upcoming Trips:
2/16--Girl's Cruise on the Magic
7/2017--Sophie's 7th Birthday Blowout at AKV
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
Post Thanks / Like
We didn't stay at a Universal hotel when we did our one day this summer. We did have lines and missed out on Ollivander's Shop because the line was too long all day and in the hot sun, but were able to do everything else without problem in that area and really had no problems in the rest of the park. Though Forbidden Journey had a line all the time, in the afternoon it was pretty short. So if it's too long at the start of the day, just wait until later to it, and do the other attractions first. I wouldn't spend the extra money on changing hotels.
I'm also planning just one day and not staying onsite at Universal. (Well kind of. It'll actually be a Thursday afternoon and then a Friday morning, but combining the two equals one day in my book!) As posted above, I understand the line for Ollivander's is ridiculous all. day. long. I figure if the queue for Forbidden Journey is half of the attraction anyway, then it's no big deal to wait for that one. We're planning on waiting on Ollivander's first thing Friday morning - regardless of how long it is. For pretty big HP fan's such as myself and my DD, it'll be worth it.
We're not going anywhere else at IOA, so I think 1 day will be plenty of time to explore WWoHP. Should we end up with any extra time at all, I think we may explore Dr. Suess a bit, but we're strictly set on only WWoHP!! I think you'll be fine if you really and truly plan to spend all your time at WWoHP from open to close, you should be able to see it all.
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
For 1 day I wouldn't do it. WWoHP and the Mummy are in different parks Mummy in US, WWoHP in IOA). If you want to really see both parks, stay at a Universal Hotel (we Love Portofino) for 2 nights. Front of the line is great
i'd stay at a universal resort for two nights. but then, i love it there. however, beyond the love, it is a very different experience visiting as an on site guest vs. an off site guest. much more so than in WDW. i've done both at both parks, and would hesitate to do an off site universal trip...ever again.
first, you park a good mile from the gates to either park. there's no tram--just you, walking, really really REALLY far.
second--no matter the time of year (i stayed off site this past september, as you likely know) it will be MUCH MORE CROWDED at regular opening time, as onsite guests always get in an hour early. imagine showing up at MK at 10 am. the difference between having been at the gates at 8:45 is drastic.
third--even if you are only going to see the wizarding world, it is worth it to stay for two nights. my husband and i stayed for four and could have stayed two more--and we 'only' went for WWoHP. we did the wizarding world on two mornings and an early morning at US one day (the fourth day was our departure day). the on site resorts are BEAUTIFUL and the transportation is amazing. with a two night stay, you can do early access to IoA twice. on the first morning, do FJ and something else (olivanders, the shops, dueling dragons) and on the second morning, do FJ again (i promise you'll want to--even if you rode it three times the first day...ahem...like we did) and then something else (olivanders, the shops, dueling dragons) before the crowds arrive. you really only have that first hour before it gets crazy. and, again, i was there during VERY low crowd times on both occasions. once as part of the 'select few' an hour early, and once as part of the masses an hour later. guess which time i enjoyed more?
fourth--we were there in early may. june will be more crowded--especially late june (and i imagine you will be traveling in late june due to your work schedule--see why you should have just asked me? )
and...finally...fifth. i don't think i'd want to do universal ever again without the express pass. even in september i was annoyed by the lines. add to the crowdedness a weekend--forget about it. stay onsite. get the express pass, the ease of entry, the early entry, the happy fun transportation, the beautiful resorts. seriously, it is a totally different experience.
I would totally stay at a Universal resort. Their express pass or whatever they call it is totally worth it and we really liked the resort too. Just a different world to explore and I think its much more of an experience if you stay on site.
Just a thought - one night's stay at a Universal resort will give you 2 days of "Front of the line" privileges at the Parks - just show your room key at the attraction entrance and you will be directed to the Express line. Arrive at the hotel that morning - your room won't be ready but you can pick up your room keys and head to the parks. The next morning, check out and go back to the parks - your keys are good all day. The resorts will store your luggage if needed.
About This Page: 
1 day in WWoHP...worth it to stay at Universal?
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
) 
Michelle - with my step sisters!
Linear Mode
