WWoHP Dilemma

[iheartdisney]

I am a die-hard Disney fan. I'd prefer to only go to WDW butI finally visited Universal last year with my daughter because she was so interested in seeing the Harry Potter section. We were staying on Disney property for the majority of our trip but on the first night we stayed at Loews Royal Pacific in order to take advantage of the early entry. We headed straight for the Harry Potter area, had fun and then went to explore the rest of the park. Eh. It was just so-so. Both of us looked at each other (and I was surprised at her decision because she's always teasing me about being Disney blind) and said, "I'd rather spend our time at Disney. Let's see if we can check in early." We had only been in the park a total of 3 hours and that included lunch.

My dilemma is this: I have two boys (ages 8 and 9) and a sister with her daughter (age 13) who would LOVE to visit the Harry Potter world. But I don't want to spend the money for a Universal resort. (Our impressions of Universal resorts compared to Disney resorts is for another post. Let's just say we were unimpressed.)

I thought about arriving late in the day (we live 8 hours from Orlando) and hitting WWoHP on the first day around 3pm. I've heard the lines tend to be shorter nearing the end of the day. But paying full price for all the tickets for a half a day when I'm not sure if we'll even enjoy the rest of the park? Yikes! $413.

Does anyone out there have any guidance or suggestions for us?

[EeyoresBestFriend]

There is no reason why you can't stay onsite at WDW and just do a day trip to US. That's what we do and it works great. Sounds like you'd already have the car so then you can stay as long as you want. I'd get park hoppers so you can check out both parks in the same day if you don't spend alot of time in one park.

I find the rides at Universal tend to appeal to boys more since alot of girls don't like getting wet or having thrill rides. The boys had a lot more fun at US character meet & greets, too. (This may not be your case, just from my experience) Disney doesn't seem to focus on boys too much. Our girls loved both US and WDW.

We've always felt that the parks are what you make them ~ if you want to have fun, you will, if you want to pick and compare ~ well ~ you might not have as much fun.

Enjoy whatever you choose to do! Either way, you're on vacation!!

[buzznwoodysmom]

Maybe it's just me, but I found Universal much more enjoyable when we stayed at one of their resorts. We visited Universal twice while staying at a Disney resort, mainly just to see WWOHP. My boys loved every minute of Potterland. The rest of the park was just OK, but Potter was more than enough to make my kiddos want to go back. Last December we decided to stay at Hard Rock and do both Universal parks. That was by far our best Universal experience.

Not sure which resorts you frequent in WDW, but we actually thought the Hard Rock gave any of Disney deluxe resorts "a run for their money".

As a whole we like the Disney experience better, but there wasn't anything negative about our Universal experiences. I think if you slow down and allow yourself the time to truly enjoy the resort as a whole you'd like it much more. The same holds true at Disney, our trips are so much better when we slow down and take it all in. Just my opinion, of course.

[Disney Doll]

We basically did a half day at IOA a couple weeks ago just for WWOHP. We got there around 9:30am and were done by 2:00. We literally came just for Harry Potter. It was our first time at Universal and we agreed that it's not something we'll do often, but to see WWOHP that one time, it was worth it to us. If you are only interested in WWOHP I think a half day is fine.

[MizMissy]

I agree that is a lot of money for a half day. Also, people say lines are shorter at the end of the day - from our trip last year, that was true for Memorial Day itself, but every other day, HP was still packed all day. I would hate to take a chance on half a day. Also, if you stayed on-site, you had an early start and express pass so it may have been easier for you to accomplish all you wanted to do in a shorter period of time. My suggestion if you want to do Universal at all, I would take at least a day to explore it simply because the other kids may like it better than you and your daughter.

Personally, my kids LOVED Universal ... all of it, but they are HUGE thrill ride junkies. I'm going to have a difficult time convincing them to return to WDW (even though it breaks my heart). We spent four days in the Universal parks last year and my kids could not get enough of the rides. We also loved HRH and have heard nothing but great things about all the Loew's hotels on site. I would be interested in hearing from you what your impressions were from RP.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Your best bet for Harry Potter is to get there early, not later... Wizarding World gets packed by 11:00 AM and remains that way all day... Get there by 9:00 AM... That is my advice...

[NJGIRL]

I have also found that people who have already made up their minds about Universal before they get there don't enjoy it. It's no different than the people who have never been to Disney and hate it and when they do go for the kids sake they hate every minute of it. You only spent 3 hours there so I'm not sure how many attractions you were able to do.

My advice is that if you disliked it so much don't go again. If you are not enjoying yourself your kids probably won't either. Spending that much money to do 3 attractions is a waste IMO.

We think the Universal Parks are great. My 13 year old likes them better than the Disney parks. I do enjoy the Universal Studio over IOA though.

I also think the Loew's are first rate hotels. There is no comparsion between the Universal and Disney hotels IMO.

[Crow]

last yr we stayed at WDW, took a van to Univ. got thru everything we wanted to in a day. went to Hp first. which i would recommend.
i have never stayed at Universal so cant say about the resorts there.

[fanofdisney]

Crow, when did you go last year? We are going in July and are really hoping get through IoA in 1 day.

[Disney Doll]

I have a coworker who went last July and they spent about half a day getting through just the WWOHP section. They spent the first half of the day at WWOHP and spent the second half of the day hitting the other attractions in IOA. However, crowds are much different in the summer. You won't get through the whole park, but you should be able to hit the major attractions with one full day. If you go just for WWOHP I wouldn't bother with the express pass since it's not available for the most popular attraction in WWOHP. (Last July the typical wait time for the Forbidden Journey was about 90 minutes). If you are planning to hit the other major attractions in IOA I would get the express pass especially if you want to maximize what you will be able to do in one day with summer crowds.

[Crow]

Crow, when did you go last year? We are going in July and are really hoping get through IoA in 1 day.

yea idt you will get thru as much in 1 day in the summer, we went in March..HP first but there was already a line building. and we didnt go in the shops due to lines. go there first and Spiderman.
and we didnt really go to the shows or Dr Seuss things