One day: Universal or Legoland: Update

[Amy]

If you aren't willing to buy a park to park ticket then I'd skip US if Harry Potter is your only goal. You won't be able to ride the Hogwarts Express without it and neither section will take you a full day. If I had to choose one I'd do Diagon Alley in US but then you miss the Hogwarts Castle which is in Islands of Adventure.

[ilikedonuts]

Yeah skip Universal if you won't get park to park tickets. You need tickets to both to do all the Harry Potter stuff.

[nsl]

We had a nice time last February doing just Diagon Alley (no IOA ticket, so we missed Hogwarts and the Express), but it only took us around three hours to see and do pretty much everything. My kids were 8 and 5 at the time, and neither of them was very interested in doing much else at Universal. We made it an early day and just hung out at the hotel pool for most of the afternoon, which was fine since we were tired after several Disney park days.

[Amy]

Aug 14, 2016 15:58:57 GMT -5 @trapeze said:

ilikedonuts amy and nsl


Oohhhhhh! I'm so glad I asked! I didn't realize those parks were smaller. So if we go for the hopper (or whatever it's called) do you think that would be a better experience for us than Legoland?

For your son who liked HP, for sure. The rides are fairly intense so you'll have to decide if he's up for those but the theming is awesome. Go through Olivander's and get him an interactive wand and he can spend a long time going around the parks doing spells. And make sure you take the train both ways at some point, the trip is different each way. There's a cute Dr Seuss land in IOA as well for the 5 year old. There aren't nearly as many rides kids can do but if you do park to park, you can do most of your day, including meals, in the HP area. Full disclosure I haven't been to the FL Legoland. 

[lala]

If he's super into harry potter- is there a way to do 2 parks for 2 of you and just 1 for one adult & the baby?

[stephm0188]

We did LL. When we do Universal, we want to do it right with a resort stay and two park ticket.

[nsl]

Aug 14, 2016 19:40:55 GMT -5 lala said:

If he's super into harry potter- is there a way to do 2 parks for 2 of you and just 1 for one adult & the baby?

Or you and he go to both Universal parks and your H does Lego Land or a pool day with the two little ones? 
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[Wines Not Whines]

I haven't gone to Universal since they opened the HP stuff, even though I'm a huge HP fan, because I don't think my 6 year old would get much out of it. I think your 7 year old would love it if he's into HP, but I don't know about your 5 year old. Universal is more geared towards older kids, teens and adults.

On the flip side, my son LOVES Legoland. It's geared towards younger kids, I'd say ages 10 and under are perfect.

[orval]

I would do LEGOLAND as it is best for the younger set. I think the 5 yr old and 1 yr old would not enjoy Universal as much as LEGOLAND.
You do need both parks if your concentration is Harry Potter.

[jeaniebueller]

I would do Legoland since your kids are younger. I felt like Universal was way focused on thrill rides and roller coasters that your 5 and 1 year old won't be able to take advantage of.

My only other thought is if one of you took your 7 year old to US and the other took the younger two to Legoland?

[read247]

You should definitely do park to park tickets if you choose Universal. One section of WWoP won't really fill a day, and the Hogwarts Express is really a big part of the experience IMO.

Also, how tall are your kids? The (few) rides in WWoHP have height restrictions. And in all honesty, my 9 yo found them to be a little intense...we did Forbidden Journey first and she was done after that. My 12 yo did everything else except Dragon Challenge (none of us are into roller coasters so no loss there) and was fine.

My girls thought going to Ollivander's, getting interactive wands, then "doing magic" all over the place was the best part. They also really got into the theme, wanting to visit all of the shops, try butterbeer and pumpkin juice (and butterbeer ice cream!), and eat in the restaurants.

Outside of WWoP, they really weren't into much (there are lots of thrill rides that were too intense for them...#2 even flipped out at the Minions movie b/c the seats move so we ended up being moved to the front row, which is stationary). They did like Seuss Landing, especially as a place to relax a little and cool off since the One Fish, Two Fish ride shoots water at you. :-)

I know nothing about LL, so I'm no help there.