HELP!!! Disney Faithful venturing to Universal for the first time About This Page:

[krystagali]

Hi all, I never, ever thought I'd be here. DH and I have been to WDW over 30 times in the last 15 years, I can plan a WDW vacation in my sleep. We NEVER venture off property.

HOWEVER, this upcoming August we have "extra" days outside of our WDW and my father (nearly 70 years old) wants to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter . I have no idea where to even start planning or how to make sure that the day is as Magical as a Disney day.

Help, HELP, HELP!!!

[manticorjenn]

I would first suggest going to the Universal website. It is definitely not like Disney, but, it will give you some information and ideas.

Second, make sure you get to the park at rope drop. With the new section of Harry Potter opening in July, it will be a mad house. So, you may actually want to go there first and then travel to the original section. Make sure you have a "park to park" pass so that you can ride the Hogwart's Express between the two parks.

The other thing I would do is get the "unofficical guides" beyond Disney book. Granted the 2014 edition won't have all the latest info about the new section, but, it will definitely have good advice about the rest of the two parks.

Hope this gives you a starting point. Enjoy your trip.

[xwewhisper]

I recommend staying on site in one of their deluxe hotels (Lowes) if your budget allows. This gives everyone unlimited Universal Express Access to the majority of the rides. Of course the new big ticket rides have been excluded from that, but it still saves you time the rest of the stay. They have packages available and usually if you stay a bit longer you can get a pretty good room discount but August is still summer high season so not positive there. There will be deals on the website if they are available, and they have Harry Potter packages available right now.


If you are just doing a day trip over there...

• Research transportation options, it can get pricey to get there for the day. Renting a car? Parking costs. Mears shuttle? Time constraints. Quicksilver Tours is probably the route I'd go.
• You enter through Citywalk, but everything is in walking distance once you are there.
• Park to Park access is a must for the Hogwarts Express! Undercover Tourist might save you a few bucks on the tickets.
• Of course, get there before Rope Drop to beat the majority of the crowds!

[mamasann]

I agree ~ if you can afford to stay at Royal Pacific or one of the other deluxe resorts, it would be well worth it. Those will give you express passes (think fast pass) to everything but the Harry Potter rides like Forbidden Journey and probably the new Harry Potter things. Those resorts are also so convenient to the parks either by a pleasant walk or ferry.

We've never gone at rope drop and have always been able to enjoy Harry Potter. That being said, the earlier in the day...or way later in the day has not been all that bad in the HP area, but Mid-morning thru afternoon you'll be shoulder to shoulder there. But it's the only part of the parks like that. Everything else is pretty easy to maneuver and the parks are small, and you can easily do one park per day.

Also.... you won't need to stress over ADRs. About the only table service in Islands of Adventure is Mythos and it's handy to HP area. So just make your ressie for around the time you think you'd be hungry. And there's 2 restaurants in the other park. We usually eat at one of the restaurants at the resort or there's tons of restaurants at City Walk. Just pick the cuisine you want!

I must admit, I was quite biased the first time we went to Universal, because we Love all things Disney. But Universal's fun too and if any in your party like coasters, they'll feel like they're in heaven. Universal's are way better IMHO than those at WDW. I'm really looking forward to heading back there for Thanksgiving!