Number of Harry Potter Books to Read

[Miranda Danda]

I’m sorry if this title is confusing! My daughter is currently about halfway through the first book, and she is wondering if this will be enough to appreciate the Harry Potter areas of the parks. Will she be able to recognize the places from the first book or will she need to read more of the books? She owns the first two, but she is not a super fast reader. We leave in less than a month and she has a pretty full schedule until then.
Thank you in advance!

 

[PoohIsHome]

Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley can be appreciated regardless of how much has been read. She may not recognize many of the things she sees, but she'll most definitely appreciate it. Seeing everything will also encourage her to keep reading!

Side note....my son asked me yesterday how many times I've read the series....I don't have an exact count but the best estimate we came up with was somewhere between 15 - 20. I'm listening to them on audio now.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I haven’t been to the Wizarding World yet (28 days!) but books 1-3 talk about both Diagon Alley and Hogsmede. They’re mentioned and visited in the others, but those are the ones they’re introduced in.

 

[dawnnikol]

Has she seen the movies at all? They're more accurate to the Wizarding World than the books. I definitely think reading the first book will give her a better understanding, but since the HPW covers everything, that's a lot to cover. I've read all the books (HP + Fantastic Beasts + extras multiple times) and seen the movies (multiple times) and it was still a lot.

There's also the audio book option, they're also fantastic as an option. She still might not get through them all, but I know my daughter sometimes gets frustrated with her own pace and these help a little. She uses the audio book in tandem with the book itself.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley can be appreciated regardless of how much has been read. She may not recognize many of the things she sees, but she'll most definitely appreciate it. Seeing everything will also encourage her to keep reading!

Side note....my son asked me yesterday how many times I've read the series....I don't have an exact count but the best estimate we came up with was somewhere between 15 - 20. I'm listening to them on audio now.

I’m on my 3rd go in preparation for our trip. My kids are FINALLY into it. My daughter is downright obsessed. I’m so excited for them to go on this trip.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Has she seen the movies at all? They're more accurate to the Wizarding World than the books. I definitely think reading the first book will give her a better understanding, but since the HPW covers everything, that's a lot to cover. I've read all the books (HP + Fantastic Beasts + extras multiple times) and seen the movies (multiple times) and it was still a lot.

There's also the audio book option, they're also fantastic as an option. She still might not get through them all, but I know my daughter sometimes gets frustrated with her own pace and these help a little. She uses the audio book in tandem with the book itself.

Yes to the audiobooks. My kids listen to them at bedtime (they’ve always needed background noise).

 

[DisBuckMan]

Escape from Gringott's ride is heavily focused on the later books/movies.

Agree with the above, watching the movies will help a lot.

I had never seen one of the HP movies or read the books the first time I went after the HP lands opened. I really had no idea of what was what. After going through the worlds, I decided to watch the movies and became a Potter Head. It's much more enjoyable if you have an understanding of what's going on.

Forbidden Journey is more focused on the early books...up to Prisoner of Askaban. Lots of quiddich, spiders, whomping willow, dragons, and dementors.

 

[dawnnikol]

I’m on my 3rd go in preparation for our trip. My kids are FINALLY into it. My daughter is downright obsessed. I’m so excited for them to go on this trip.

We started our kids super early on HP and even though I've been a fan for a super long time, it was so amazing to have them be into it, too. I hope your 3rd trip is the best ever.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

We started our kids super early on HP and even though I've been a fan for a super long time, it was so amazing to have them be into it, too. I hope your 3rd trip is the best ever.

Oh sorry for the confusion... 3rd time reading the series. This will be our first trip.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

A great option if you are driving is to listen to the audiobooks on the way down and back. We drive from KY, so in theory we could probably listen to 3 of the later books, but maybe the first 4 in order on the way down and back. It would sure put you in the mood if you do as we do and hit the HP parts of the park they day we drive in.

 

[dawnnikol]

You should check the run times on the audio books before you try to burn through them all, too.

I just double checked and this is what I found for them:

HP Book 1: 8 hours 33 minutes
HP Book 2: 9 hours 24 minutes
HP Book 3: 12 hours and 15 minutes
HP Book 4: 21 hours and 12 minutes
HP Book 5: 27 hours and 2 minutes
HP Book 6: 18 hours 55 minutes
HP Book 7: 21 hours and 36 minutes

The voice actor actually set a World Record for creating so many voices when he narrates. It's astounding.

 

[TommyJK]

The more books she reads the more references she will "get" but even a lot of major references get covered in healthy amounts in books 1, 2, and 3 that would cover almost all to see in WWoHP

Book 1:
- We get Diagon Alley in a lot of detail about it - the shops, Leaky Cauldron, Gringotts with even the numerous mentions of there supposedly being a Dragon deep below. So even if you haven't got through the whole series and what happens in Deathly Hollows specifically with the Dragon, you're prepped to know there's one down there. So good recognition already for what's in Escape from Gringotts even if the specific plot of the ride doesn't get covered until that final book/movies.
- We get loads of detail about Hogwarts itself, the different classes and locales etc.
- We learn a ton about Quiddich so there will be a lot of recognition about a lot of portions for Forbidden Journey
- We learn about Forbidden Forrest and Harry goes in there. Meet the Centaurs and Unicorn (albeit dead). Also we learn about Devil's Snare. So there will be some decent recognition for what in Hargrid's coaster

Book 2:
- We get introduced to the Womping Willow, The Spiders in the forrest, The Chamber of secrets. So reading this book will round out almost everything else you see in Forbidden Journey (minus one thing...)
- We also get introduced to the Ford Anglia (flying car) and Cornish Pixies so more recognition of what's seen in Hagrid's Coaster
- Also Book 2 introduces Knockturn Alley so that will give context to this part of Diagon Alley to explore

Book 3:
- We're introduced to the Dementors so that really rounds out pretty much everything within Forbidden Journey
- It's also the first book where we got a more in-depth view of Hogsmeade that helps visualize the village and shops that are there.
- We're also introduced to the Night Bus, which has a presence just outside of Diagon Alley at Universal

So IMO, It's those 3 books (and the good thing is they're all short as compared to 4 onwards) that cover about 90% of the things you "see" throughout WWoHP

Edit: Now that all being said, the first time we went to Universal (when only Hogsmeade was there) my family had read no books, and had only seen I think the first movie in passing. We weren't at all what you could call Harry Potter fans. And regardless it blew us away and we loved every bit of it, and it just got us more interested in the series. So however far your Daughter gets into the books, she will have a fantastic time regardless.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

You should check the run times on the audio books before you try to burn through them all, too.

I just double checked and this is what I found for them:

HP Book 1: 8 hours 33 minutes
HP Book 2: 9 hours 24 minutes
HP Book 3: 12 hours and 15 minutes
HP Book 4: 21 hours and 12 minutes
HP Book 5: 27 hours and 2 minutes
HP Book 6: 18 hours 55 minutes
HP Book 7: 21 hours and 36 minutes

The voice actor actually set a World Record for creating so many voices when he narrates. It's astounding.

LOVE the voice actor on these. And we'd only get through 1, 2, part of 3 on the whole round trip. I forgot they're so long!

 

[only hope]

An above poster was correct in saying what Universal built was based on the movies, not the books. Where the books and movies differ, generally Universal went with what the movies did. Walking into the lands is literally like walking into a smaller version of what you see in the movies. That being said, there are tons of small details from the books in the lands, but they’re easy to miss unless you’ve read the books a lot. I was a kid when they came out, so I have read them a lot, and there are plenty of details in Diagon Alley that I didn't pick up on unless I had just finished reading the book again.

I would recommend reading and watching the first book/movie. Watching the first movie will increase enjoyment of the parks more than reading the first book. If she doesn’t care about discovering the story for the first time through the movie instead of the book, then watch the next two movies before the trip. As others have said, that will cover nearly everything except Escape from Gringotts. Also, if she doesn’t want a major plot point of book seven spoiled, she needs to avoid riding Escape from Gringotts and avoid reading the headlines in the newspapers in the queue. If she doesn’t want book seven spoiled, you could still go through the line for Escape to see the bank, and use the chicken exit at the place where you pick up the 3D goggles.