HP Purists

[single_eeyore]

I'm so excited! I finally have a date that I get to go home - Hogwarts that is! I managed to stick 1 day/2 nights at UO/IoA with my best friend in September on our way to another trip. I've been doing some reading, but I want to ask the question kind of the way I want to ask it lol. We're both HP purists and will probably barely/if-at-all skim the rest of the park (we've both been before anyway, but pre-Diagon Alley). Since we only have 1 day in the parks, I guess I'm asking what the best resort scenario is? Neither of us could really care less about amenities beyond a clean bed/shower and we won't be in the room long enough for them to matter and there won't be any lounging by the pool for us landlubbers so we don't care about that either. So - given we don't care about anything outside WWoHP, should we stick with a cheaper room/no EP since it won't really help/just early entrance, or should we do a deluxe resort?

I also wanted to ask what kind of single rider lines I might expect on a Thursday in early September just for the HP rides? We're both fine splitting up for faster lines. Just a guesstimate?

And does anyone recall the current price of the butterbeer fudge? Because I'm pretty sure I need to budget for about a wheelbarrow full of it

 

[damo]

You should be just fine saving money and staying offsite.

Not sure about the price of fudge!

 

[wilkeliza]

When we went in September we were able to do Gringotts at opening and ride 3-4 times before it got to a long wait. It was never more then a 15 minute wait and the first 2 times they just let us stand to the side and re-ride after that train left since Universal seems to have a rule that you can't stay in the same car even if there is no line. We then too the train with about a 10 minute wait and then Forbidden Journey had maybe a 35 minute wait. I think they were running single rider but can't be sure as I didn't use it.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

I think early entrance is pretty important. We stayed at Cabana Bay, got to UO before the park opened, and walked onto the Gringotts ride with no wait.

I would not stay at CB again, though. Housekeeping was not that whoopie. We had to request two out of our 3 beds have a sheet change because there were bloodstains on them. The manager must not have believed us, because he sent a housekeeper down to check and she had to call him from our room to confirm that we did indeed have stained sheets.

 

[single_eeyore]

Thanks Damo! That's definitely an option, I just figured staying on site would get us into the parks for a little extra time and we'll use all we can get since we only get the one day (besides, price wise we're looking at about $300 for 2 nights at CB so I figured that was competitive enough with whatever might be nearby)! We have plenty of relaxing on our other portion of the vacation to go hard at WWoHP for a day! We were just kind of debating between whether the EP is worth it for us to do the deluxe...

 

[Mjkre]

Within the two HP lands, there are only two rides that accept express pass (Dueling Dragons and Flight of the Hippogriff). So if you are truly not going to spend anytime at any other part of the parks, probably save your money on cheaper accommodations. However, I would still stay on site for early entry.

On the other hand, you can use the express pass to go on those two rides multiple times. So if you love being thrown upside down and twisting and turning(Dragons!) or kiddie style roller coasters(Hippogriff), EP does give u that ability to do both over and over. Also, if you are thinking of doing any other rides (e.g.: The Mummy etc), the EP saves so much time there which gives you more time for Harry!

 

[keishashadow]

I'm so excited! I finally have a date that I get to go home - Hogwarts that is! I managed to stick 1 day/2 nights at UO/IoA with my best friend in September on our way to another trip. I've been doing some reading, but I want to ask the question kind of the way I want to ask it lol. We're both HP purists and will probably barely/if-at-all skim the rest of the park (we've both been before anyway, but pre-Diagon Alley). Since we only have 1 day in the parks, I guess I'm asking what the best resort scenario is? Neither of us could really care less about amenities beyond a clean bed/shower and we won't be in the room long enough for them to matter and there won't be any lounging by the pool for us landlubbers so we don't care about that either. So - given we don't care about anything outside WWoHP, should we stick with a cheaper room/no EP since it won't really help/just early entrance, or should we do a deluxe resort?

I also wanted to ask what kind of single rider lines I might expect on a Thursday in early September just for the HP rides? We're both fine splitting up for faster lines. Just a guesstimate?

And does anyone recall the current price of the butterbeer fudge? Because I'm pretty sure I need to budget for about a wheelbarrow full of it

Going by your ticker early September is traditionally low crowds in all the parks, unless you'll be running into Labor Day weekend or the Christian concert weekend (name escapes me at the moment lol).

Keep your options open & don't book anything non-refundable offsite. If you are looking @ booking a Wednesday & Thursday night I'd think CB or even SF may have decent rates as the date gets closer; especially if you are an APH.

 

[single_eeyore]

Going by your ticker early September is traditionally low crowds in all the parks, unless you'll be running into Labor Day weekend or the Christian concert weekend (name escapes me at the moment lol).

Keep your options open & don't book anything non-refundable offsite. If you are looking @ booking a Wednesday & Thursday night I'd think CB or even SF may have decent rates as the date gets closer; especially if you are an APH.

Thanks K! I was hoping someone would chime in on that point - we'll be there the week of Labor Day, but not the weekend and from what I'm guessing from my reading it seems like a pretty good time to go crowd wise so I'm crossing my fingers! And you said exactly what I was thinking - CB Wed & Thurs night (not APH though).