Wizarding World of Harry Potter?

[devonpow]

Anyone been? Tips? Best hotels at Universal?

I'm taking my sister for her 40th birthday. ( shut up, we are geeks!), no kids just us two. I have done Disney a million times but never universal. Do they do a shuttle from the airport?

[sunnysally]

There are three onsite Universal Hotels which, if you can swing the price, I highly recommend. Last time, we stayed at the Royal Pacific because it was the least expensive of the three but it is still nice. I've stayed at the other onsite hotels as well, and I don't think there is much difference service wise. If you are big music fans the Hard Rock is fun and the spa is at the Portofino. When you stay onsite not only do you get the express pass but you get in earlier which is very important for the Harry Potter stuff. The Universal website has package deals so check that out.

When we went only one park had Harry Potter so we did one park per day. We went directly to Hogsmeade and did the Forbidden Journey. By the time we got off of that, we had to stand in line about 25 minutes to get into Ollivander's. Hogsmeade did fill up really quickly, so I'm glad we were able to get in and enjoy it with less of a crowd.

We loved the parks and are planning to go back next spring to experience Diagon Alley.Enjoy!

[devonpow]

Thanks! I booked at the Royal Pacific. Sounds like we just need to get out and moving early to hopefully avoid some of the crowd issues.

[zitiqueen]

If you plan to buy souvenirs, buy them at the big souvenir store near the entrance to the park on your way out. This store has all of the same souvenirs that are available throughout the park (including Harry Potter) and you won't have to drag them all over the place with you.

Buy the frozen butterbeer.

[spunkarella]

I used Orlando Informer and found the advice to be spot on. We went this May, before Diagon Alley opened.

I highly recommend getting there early, leaving after lunch for a nap at the hotel, and coming back around 5:00 or 6:00. We did this and walked right onto Forbidden Journey and both Dragon Challenges. We stayed until the park closed, and Hogsmeade got kind of magical with twilight, cooler temps, and almost zero guests. There were still staff cleaning up, etc and everyone greeted us and stayed in character. We could almost imagine we were really there.

My favorite part of the day was drinking Hogs Head special brew on their back patio, looking out onto the castle all lit up at night.

About souvenirs: you can also buy them in WWoHP and ask for your packages to be sent to the front of the park. If you want to send a postcard via owl post, buy stamps at home and take them in with you. The packages they sell in the store are $$ and not nearly as nice looking as the ones USPS is selling right now.