How much time for Harry Potter?

[DisneyMama811]

I'm in the early planning stages of a Disney trip for next year (hopefully) my 7yo has just discovered HP though and desperately wants to visit the Harry Potter area of Universal, I'm trying to figure out if I can make it work as this will likely be a once in their childhood trip for us. If we were to visit Universal primarily to do the Harry Potter stuff, how many days should I plan? is one day enough?

 

[bchbetha]

One day isn't enough. You'll want (at least) 2 days. There is so much to see and do, Just getting a wand and playing with that can take up a good amount of time. Exploring the shops, bank, shows, restaurants takes time too. Then there are the rides. Finally, both have evening draws and it would be hard to pick one- light show at Hogwarts vs the magical quiet on Diagon Alley in the last hour of the park being open? I couldn't choose so would want time to do both. 1 day is possible but it'll be a rush. 2 days is relaxed and lets you also enjoy the rest of the park. There are plenty of other great rides and attractions at Universal.

 

[Beckyb3]

One day isn't enough. You'll want (at least) 2 days. There is so much to see and do, Just getting a wand and playing with that can take up a good amount of time. Exploring the shops, bank, shows, restaurants takes time too. Then there are the rides. Finally, both have evening draws and it would be hard to pick one- light show at Hogwarts vs the magical quiet on Diagon Alley in the last hour of the park being open? I couldn't choose so would want time to do both. 1 day is possible but it'll be a rush. 2 days is relaxed and lets you also enjoy the rest of the park. There are plenty of other great rides and attractions at Universal.

Curious BchBetha if you think two days is enough for HP as well as the rest of the park? My daughter is most interested in HP but I think it would be nice to do the rest of the parks as well since my girls have never been. I am debating whether we spend a day at Volcano Bay or not because we need the full three days for the main parks.

Original Poster, sorry not trying to hijack your post! How many days are you planning for Disney? If your 7yo hasn't been, I would say you need at least five days for Disney! I have been without kids to Universal/IOA just for HP land and we did it in a day but we didn't do all the wand stuff so I do think it could be tight with kiddos. Also, are you planning on staying at one of the resorts that give you Unlimited Express pass. That could make a big difference as well depending on when you want to go. I am planning a Disney/Universal trip right now as well!

 

[AussieFan8]

My daughter and I go to Universal solely for the Harry Potter areas. We've been doing this for years and almost always do only one day and think it's enough time if you're concentrating on just those areas. It helps now that she is older and we can do single rider lines, but it's still doable without doing single rider. The biggest issue to me as someone already mentioned is that both HP areas are really nice at night and you'd have to choose one if only doing one day. If you're going in the winter and the parks are open late, you might be able to squeeze in Hogwarts Express to the other park so you can at least see both at night.

Having said all that, if this is a once in their childhood trip, you might want to do two days just so you can really take your time and see both parks at night and maybe catch a few other things in the parks. But also consider whether this will actually be once in a lifetime - that was what we thought as well and here we are, eight trips later! But if you want to keep costs down, I think you'll be fine with one.

 

[ChanaC]

I think it also depends on what time of year you are planning on going. During the peak busy season the lines are pretty brutal so you might not be able to do as many attractions as you want. If it's a non-peak season, I would think one day is enough, but once you get there you may realize that there is a lot of other rides and attractions that might interest them. And if you are spending the money to go, you might as well get your money/time out of it and do as much in the parks as possible. For that reason, I might consider a two day ticket. Some other things to consider:

- You might want to get a park-to-park pass, which is the only way to get on the Hogwarts Express, which is both a ride and a mode of transportation to connect both halves of the park.
- If you get a wand from Ollivanders, there are lots of cool interactive wand spots around both sections of the park, and those are things people tend to do over and over because they want to see if they can "improve" their magic.
- Prepare them ahead of time that they might not get chosen to do the Ollivander wand experience. It sucks but they only pick one person and you don't want a kid to walk out in tears because they thought they were going to get to do it
- Make sure to check their height before going! The Forbidden Journey ride is really cool but it does have a height limit, and I've seen too many kids also walk away in tears when they are excited to ride but find out at the last minute they are just an inch too short.
- Hagrid's Motobike ride is a bit more of an intense coaster, so be prepared for them to be too short or maybe a little freaked out when they see the cars whiz by.
- And like I said above, there might be other attractions in the parks they might be interested in. For seven year olds, the Despicable Me, Cat in the Hat, and Spider-Man rides are pretty popular. Islands of Adventure has a couple of cool (literally) water rides that become really appealing in the summer heat.

 

[Cuchman]

I would say it depends on your style. It could be done in one day, but for me that would be quite rushed. So much of enjoying the HP areas is absorbing the atmosphere and details. You would risk shorting yourself with just one day. I agree with other responses - I could see a 7-10 year old wanting to spend a whole day just playing with the wand-related stuff.
My family is at a point now where we do an entire week just at Universal (my kids are all young adults now). I'd say probably three days of that ends up being spent on Wizarding World areas at least.

 

[DisneyMama811]

Curious BchBetha if you think two days is enough for HP as well as the rest of the park? My daughter is most interested in HP but I think it would be nice to do the rest of the parks as well since my girls have never been. I am debating whether we spend a day at Volcano Bay or not because we need the full three days for the main parks.

Original Poster, sorry not trying to hijack your post! How many days are you planning for Disney? If your 7yo hasn't been, I would say you need at least five days for Disney! I have been without kids to Universal/IOA just for HP land and we did it in a day but we didn't do all the wand stuff so I do think it could be tight with kiddos. Also, are you planning on staying at one of the resorts that give you Unlimited Express pass. That could make a big difference as well depending on when you want to go. I am planning a Disney/Universal trip right now as well!

debating the trip length, originally my general plan was 10 days vacation (Day 1 and 10 being airport days as we are Canadian) then 6 days at Disney and 2 days to relax and do whatever, so that we will not be go go go the whole time. Now that Universal is potentially on the table I have to rethink. DH and I have both been to WDW and Universal (not since 2011 though so it's all very different) but the kids haven't been. I am *hoping* maybe we can go in January 2022, when the kids will be 7 and 5. There are alot of factors weighing on when we will actually go, the biggest thing right now is I need to get over my pandemic induced anxiety about crowds and being in public in general lol

 

[shawthorne44]

If you stay one night in Premier, to get the two days of EP, I think you could do two days.

The HP area gets really crowded mid-day. It is hard to enjoy being there when it is wall-to-wall people. Also, Early Entry is mostly HP stuff. We like to do EA, do the HP area and leave when it gets crowded, explore the rest of a park, and come back to HP 3-4pm finishing up there. With the EP's you should be able to explore each park in one day. But, of course you have to do the train both ways and chat to the train station people. Ask them HP questions like Where is the 9 3/4 platform?

 

[bchbetha]

Curious BchBetha if you think two days is enough for HP as well as the rest of the park? My daughter is most interested in HP but I think it would be nice to do the rest of the parks as well since my girls have never been. I am debating whether we spend a day at Volcano Bay or not because we need the full three days for the main parks.

It's so hard to say! You can really get sucked into the HP stuff. Then thinking about other crowds, park hours, whether you'll have EPs...

 

[greg9x]

While the Harry Potter areas are a big draw for the parks, think it would be hard to ignore the rest of the areas for a kid if never been there. Would plan on at least 2 days in the parks. 3 is better to get to things missed or go back to favorites.

You can just hit the rides in HP and have a look around, or can spend more time looking in shops, eating there etc. So amount of time to 'see' HP depends on how involved you want to be.

 

[bobafemme]

I would think 2 days is the low end, especially if it might be a once in a childhood event. That would allow for less hurry, rush, can't rest or we'll miss doing the thing feelings. A lot of great advice in the tread so far, and I don't think doing Universal is really done 'wrong' when you know you budget and temperaments and how those might shape your expectations. staying on-site to get the early entry would be extremely helpful for the HP experience, and if a premier hotel is in your budget, then the express passes are a dream.

 

[Daisy7425]

We just got back from two half days and two full days at universal and it was just enough.

For us, WWoHP was just so awe inspiring that it took a long time for everything to even fully sink in. We spent the first half day just wandering around looking at everything and going in the stores. Then we went back to our hotel and made a list of everything we wanted to see again and again. One person in our party didn't notice something, so others wanted to go back and show them. WWoHP isn't like a regular theme park in my opinion. It's totally immersive and there are literally new details to ogle at every turn.

 

[mitsukoshi samurai]

It's so hard to say! You can really get sucked into the HP stuff. Then thinking about other crowds, park hours, whether you'll have EPs...

And become a potterhead

 

[Travelgrrl]

originally my general plan was 10 days vacation (Day 1 and 10 being airport days as we are Canadian) then 6 days at Disney and 2 days to relax and do whatever, so that we will not be go go go the whole time. Now that Universal is potentially on the table I have to rethink.

I would do 3 Disney days (with park hopping, you could visit all 4 main parks in those 3 days), then take a day off to relax and recharge by your hotel pool. Then I'd do 2 days at Universal, getting a hotel room there for one night so you have Express Pass (though not necessary really if you do go in January - you could just Uber from your Disney hotel both of those days), then I'd take a second day to relax, then hit it with 2-3 more Disney days! That would be a perfect amount of theme park days and resting days. You can see a lot of Harry Potter world in two days, plus other parts of the parks. I do love Disney but Universal's rides are far better, IMO.

 

[Kit Jackson]

I would say six days at Disney World, and then move to a hotel at Universal Orlando for the final two days (If you can afford it, stay at one of the hotels that includes Express Pass). You may not be able to do everything you want to at both locations, but you should be able to do most of what you want.

 

[Kellydelly]

I would say you need at least two days at Universal with park to park passes. And don't miss out on the rest of the park, I love all of it. I am not a Harry Potter fan, and nobody in our family is but we sure appreciate the theming and how cool it is at Universal!