WWOHP: Trip Report

[BigEeyoreFan]

Hi All - I thought I would post a trip report for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure. I had a hard time finding a report before I left fo rmy trip and thought I would share my experience with those of you who are coming...***SPOILER ALERT***

First of all, we went the Saturday and Sunday prior to President's Day - not the best weekend to go, but that is just how it fell. We booked a vacation package through Universal with the Harry Potter special where you stay at a partner hotel (Holiday Inn & Suites), get in an hour early each morning to WWOHP, and get breakfast at the Three Broomsticks.

The Hotel: this hotel is across the street from the parking lots of Universal Studios. Kirkman which is the street you have to cross is very busy, but has a crosswalk if you decide to walk to the park. It IS walkable - about 10 - 15 minutes walk to the IOA gate. As long as you follow the walk signs and walk along the sidewalk, you are definitely safe to walk between the hotel and park. The hotel itself is fine. The rooms are large, have a dorm size refrigerator, and are clean. Our non-smoking room had a smoking odor to it, but the hotel management sent housekeeping in right away to fix it. Other than that, no big bells and whistles, but I would recommend it as a convenient, inexpensive hotel.

Harry Potter World Rides: It really is an experience. You feel like you walk right into Hogsmeade. This is coming from someone who read all the books several times. You do have to get over the mixture of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley stores on one street, but it's pretty cool. The feature ride, Forbidden Journey was unexpected (at least for me). The walk through Hogwarts as you are in line for the ride was amazing - you see so many things from the books, Prof Sprout's greenhouse, Dumbledore's office, The Fat Lady's Portrait, the Sorting Hat, etc. It was really neat. The ride itself is a thrill ride - don't expect any less. It's not a roller coaster, it's closer to Spiderman from IOA if you've ever ridden that. You get rocked around, a dragon and spider right in your face, you see video that may make you a bit dizzy, etc. I say all this to make sure you expect a little excitment. This isn't some tame ride. As for Flight of the Hippogriff, this was a kids rollercoaster ride. It reminded me of Goofy's Barnstormer...very short and not too adverturous. It's perfect for your smaller riders. It gives you a great view of Hagrid's Hut, Buckbeak, and Hogwart's Castle. Worth a quick ride. The two Dragons, I didn't really bother. I recall going to IOA 10 years ago and there was a double roller coaster ride just like that one in the same spot when I went 10 years ago...I assume it was the same ride. My sister-in-law went and said it was fun, but it's just a roller coaster ride, nothing especially related to HP.

Harry Potter World Food/Shopping: We did NOT go through Olivanders. There was a long line every time we walked by and learned that 20 people go in at a time and only 1 child is picked for the demonstration where Olivander picks a wand for that child. Then everyone else could work with a shopkeeper to get their wand picked for them. We just didn't think it was worth the wait. You can get wands at Dervish and Banges. Shopkeepers can provide you with wands based on your birthdate or you can pick character wands. In my opinion, Sirius Black, Dumbledore, and Hermione Granger had the prettiest wands...although having Voldemort's would be cool. There's also tons of opportunity to buy things like the Triwizard cup, robes, golden snitch, the monster book of monsters, rememberalls, etc. Plenty of opportunity to spend money! At Honeydukes, you can get Bertie Bott's every flavored beans, chocolate frogs (which have 1 of 4 cards in them based on the 4 Hogwarts founders), and more. Within the Three Broomsticks and outside at various stands, you can get pumpkin juice and regular/frozen butterbeer. Pumpkin Juice reminds me of spiced cider and butterbeer reminds me of a cream soda. They are both pretty good, but I do like the frozen butterbeer better than regular (both good though). The breakfast that we got with our package was way better than I thought it would be. We had the option of an American, Traditional English, Pancake, or Continental breakfast. They included sausage, bacon, eggs, croissant, pancakes, in various combinations and a drink (which could be coffee, tea, butterbeer, or pumpkin juice). It was plenty of food and based on my math, it didn't cost us anymore to get the package than to book hotel and park tickets separately, so it was well worth it.

Crowds: We were allowed to enter the resort 1 hour prior to general audience with our package. Thank goodness! We were by no means the first people in line and by the time we got to the WWOHP (at the back part of the park), there were plenty of people already there on Saturday. We went first to the Forbidden Journey and the sign said 20 minute wait. We were moving the whole time and it was probably only 15 mins at most. By the time we did the rides and some shopping Hogsmeade was filled to capacity and they were only letting people in a few at a time based on slips of paper telling people when they could enter. Let's just say it was crowded. It was well worth it to get there 1 hour early. On Sunday, things were lighter. We got there around the same time and the Forbidden Journey posted only a 10 min wait. We got all our shopping and rides done in an hour and had time to pick up our butterbeer on the way to Suess Landing.

My overall feedback: As a HUGE fan of Harry Potter books, it was pretty cool to experience all that the WWOHP had to offer. I wish there had been more rides...I think they underestimated how hugely popular this would be. As cool as it was, I won't rush to go back unless they decide to add to the park. As much as WWOHP has brought people to Universal, it's not enough to make me want to go back over and over. I would still rather spend my time at WDW!

Well, that's it. Hope this helps any of you who are thinking of going or are headed to WWOHP and want to know what to expect. Enjoy and feel free to post any specific questions that I could help with. Thanks!

[PinKy]

Awesome! Thanks so much for the detailed review! I'm looking forward to going eventually. (when we can break away from WDW - LOL! I'm also a big HP fan!! )

[NJGIRL]

Thanks for the report. We really like the Universal parks (even before the addition of HP) and spend 2 - 3 days there each trip. We like it so much that we have stayed on property for a few days and plan on doing it again next trip.

[Crow]

thanks for the report. we are gonna try to go there in the middle of our trip next month

[forever a child]

Thanks for a great trip report! It makes me wonder if staying "on site" for our trip would be a better route too. At this point planning to stay at WDW and drive over to universal.

FYI, they WILL be expanding WWoHP...haven't really heard any details much but if you join any of the muggle websites..you are bound to see info as it is made available. So I am thinking after our trip this fall of looking back to a second visit in 2014 to see if there is anything new.

I did not know that the frog cards were only the four founders of Hogwarts....was hoping Dumbledore might be on one of the cards

The merchandise, although plentiful..most of it looks quite cheaply made. Any thoughts on it? What did you end up picking up for yourself?

Thanks again for a great trip report!

[NJGIRL]

It makes me wonder if staying "on site" for our trip would be a better route too.

The merchandise, although plentiful..most of it looks quite cheaply made. Any thoughts on it? What did you end up picking up for yourself?

Thanks again for a great trip report!

We stayed on site on our last trip and it was really worth it. You get the free express passes, you can enter HP an hour earlier than outside guests, plus the hotels are very nice and you can walk to both parks from them.

As far as the merchandise goes, I didn't see anything there that looked cheaply made at all, actually the opposite. Now I'm not saying it's worth the price because I think all theme park merchandise is overpriced. It's not typical theme park shopping so that makes it fun.