Universal Harry Potter

[ssmjlm]

Let's pretend life is normal, lol.

How much time would let's say a 10yo want to spend at Universal visiting HP World?  Is it worth to just tack on to a visit to WDW or its own trip?

Is 1 day enough? Should we visit just for that and not try and do both? 

[pandorica]

I think it can definitely be done in 1 day, but prefer 2 so you can do it at a more relaxed pace. There's not a ton to do, but it is spread between 2 parks and there's a lot to take in, even just walking around

[Covergirl82]

Earlier this month, I took my almost 10 year old daughter to Universal for about a half a day for just HP (Diagon Alley). She definitely would have loved to have been there longer, and really wants to go again so we can go back to Diagon Alley and also go to Hogsmeade (Islands of Adventure). One of the first things we did was buy a wand, and she bought one of the interactive wands. We spent a lot of time walking around Diagon Alley so she could try out the different spells. We went on the Escape from Gringotts ride once.

The reason we didn't do both on our recent trip was time and money. It would have been almost $400 for tickets for just the two of us for one day for both Universal and Islands of Adventure (IOA). (We had also gone to MK for one day on that trip, so had we not gone to MK, I would have been ok with buying tickets for Universal + IOA.) If you are only doing HP, I would think one full day between Universal and IOA would be fine.

[mainelyfoolish]

If your family likes thrill rides, I think Universal is worth its own trip. The cost of a two park ticket for one day is quite expensive, but the cost of going for three or four days isn’t a lot more. There is also a water park you can go to with a three park ticket. With a longer trip, you can go at a slower pace and revisit favorite rides.

I feel like you’ve said before that you’re a Fed; if you’re DoD (civilian included), you can get the military tix which is a fantastic deal for five day, two park tickets.

[momin2013]

We’ve done the Universal Diagon Alley side and spent about half the day there, then the rest of the day doing the rest of the park. I’ve heard that the other side, including the train ride, is just as worthwhile.

[ssmjlm]

mainelyfoolish, I am, but I know for WDW, it was cheaper through Undercover Tourist than MWR pricing. Universal could be different.

I figure she'll be 10 by the time travel like that will be on the table, so 2023. I just would prefer a WDW trip before Universal myself.

[SusanBAnthony]

We've been twice.

2 days is ideal.



We like it a lot more than Disney for various reasons.

[momin2013]

FTR, I like Universal much more than Disney.

[CrazyLucky]

We took my 9 year DS (and DD too!) last year. We spent 3 total days at Universal. Two were mostly at Harry Potter, and one hitting some of the rides in Universal. They both LOVED it and easily filled the two days of HP World.

[katiecj6]

I took my two boys to Orlando a couple years ago when they were 10. We spent two days at Disney and two days at Universal.

We all loved Universal more, and really enjoyed our two days. They spent hours playing with the magic wands in the Harry Potter worlds. So I vote two days.

[Wines Not Whines]

I agree with others that 2 days is ideal, but you can do it in one day if you get the park hopper tickets.

[MDmomof2]

We did 1 day with a 10 year old DD and 7 year old DS. We bought park hoppers and did both Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. We spent 8 hours at the park and did all HP world with some time to walk through part of one of the parks but no rides. It is PRICEY to do it that way but DD loved HP and we didn't want to eat up much of our Disney time so we crammed it all in and paid for it!

[aspentosh]

H and I went a couple years ago (left DD behind because she wasn't into HP yet) and we got the two park pass for a day. It was $$$ but I would do it again in a heartbeat and bring DD because she is super into HP now. And if we could swing it, I'd do two days. There is so much to SEE and explore that I wish we had more time. Not a ton of rides, but I could easily have spent hours just scouring all the Diagon Alley shops and drinking even more butterbeer (we had like 5 cups each, lol).

And the train to/from WWHP was so awesome and worth it.

[revolution]

We did it in one day. It was fun! It was early November so not super crowded.

If you are doing both parks in one day, I highly suggest splurging on the express pass. We are big disney people but wanted to take our tween to see HP and assumed it would be our only visit to universal so we splurged on the Express passes and it was well worth it.

[somersault72]

We did 3 half days which was more than plenty. 2 would've been enough. We stayed on property so we got in earlier than the general public and covered a ton of ground that way with no lines.

[mcmel]

We did 3 days (2 separate times) and I liked it because our feet hurt quite a bit on days 2 and 3 so those were shorter days. Universal is absolutely wonderful and the Harry Potter areas are truly magical for anyone interested in the books/movies.

[zarapipe]

Jan 19, 2021 10:50:19 GMT -5 mainelyfoolish said:

If your family likes thrill rides, I think Universal is worth its own trip. The cost of a two park ticket for one day is quite expensive, but the cost of going for three or four days isn’t a lot more. There is also a water park you can go to with a three park ticket. With a longer trip, you can go at a slower pace and revisit favorite rides.

I feel like you’ve said before that you’re a Fed; if you’re DoD (civilian included), you can get the military tix which is a fantastic deal for five day, two park tickets.

We aren’t a thrill ride loving family but dd is almost 11 and loves HP. We are planning an a universal and Disney trip next spring. Even if we don’t do thrill rides would we still have fun? Same question- if we don’t do thrill rides would you do one or two days?

[lemoncupcake]

Mar 7, 2021 14:11:45 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

Jan 19, 2021 10:50:19 GMT -5 mainelyfoolish said:

If your family likes thrill rides, I think Universal is worth its own trip. The cost of a two park ticket for one day is quite expensive, but the cost of going for three or four days isn’t a lot more. There is also a water park you can go to with a three park ticket. With a longer trip, you can go at a slower pace and revisit favorite rides.

I feel like you’ve said before that you’re a Fed; if you’re DoD (civilian included), you can get the military tix which is a fantastic deal for five day, two park tickets.

We aren’t a thrill ride loving family but dd is almost 11 and loves HP. We are planning an a universal and Disney trip next spring. Even if we don’t do thrill rides would we still have fun? Same question- if we don’t do thrill rides would you do one or two days?

If you aren’t doing the rides - just want to walk around/explore, shop and eat I think that one long day would be plenty. We love rides and spent 1 long day and 1 short day and saw everything we wanted to see.

And yes you’ll still have a great time. I just kept repeating “It’s so fucking magical” the whole time we were there. Every little thing is designed to build an experience, and if you’re a HP fan it’s amazing.

[dontlook]

Mar 7, 2021 14:11:45 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

Jan 19, 2021 10:50:19 GMT -5 mainelyfoolish said:

If your family likes thrill rides, I think Universal is worth its own trip. The cost of a two park ticket for one day is quite expensive, but the cost of going for three or four days isn’t a lot more. There is also a water park you can go to with a three park ticket. With a longer trip, you can go at a slower pace and revisit favorite rides.

I feel like you’ve said before that you’re a Fed; if you’re DoD (civilian included), you can get the military tix which is a fantastic deal for five day, two park tickets.

We aren’t a thrill ride loving family but dd is almost 11 and loves HP. We are planning an a universal and Disney trip next spring. Even if we don’t do thrill rides would we still have fun? Same question- if we don’t do thrill rides would you do one or two days?

My oldest son doesn’t love scary rides (big drops) and he had a ball at universal. We did one day but could have easily gone back for another day. We all agreed we liked universal more than Disney. We are planning a trip back in 2023 when the youngest is a little older and plan to do 3 days (1 on each side and then a water park day).

[ribollita]

I went to HP in Orlando years ago when it was only one park. Is that similar to how it is in California? Anyone been to both Florida and California Universal Studios?