WWoHP...Here I come!! PTR/TR Complete

warriorping

Always Believe
Joined
May 10, 2017
Hi everyone! My name is Ashley and this August will be my first trip to Universal Studios in Orlando :hyper:! I've been to Universal Studios Hollywood a couple of times growing up but not since they have added Harry Potter to the park!

As you can tell I'm a Potterhead and I am very excited finally see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in person. My travel champion, my brother, let call him M., on the other hand is not. However, being the best brother I could ask for, he tolerated watching the movies with me growing up and he even tried to read the books :-). He didn’t get to far in the series (book wise) though but hey, that is okay!

This is our plan for this trip:

Day 1: Travel day!! Our plane lands in Orlando around 5 pm and we have booked Tony Hinds as our transportation to and from the airport on both travel days. We are staying Cabana Bay Beach for this trip! Thinking of going to dinner at the Cowfish or Fusion Bistro Sushi.

Day 2: Spend the majority of the day at Universal and IoA for non HP rides/activities.

Day 3: Spend the day at parks for all HP rides/activities. I am going to try and go on every HP rides and attractions but the Dragon Challenge. I am not a big roller coaster fan (especially the one where my feet dangle in the air) but I’ll see how brave I get with that one when we get to the park.

Day 4: Day to relax, maybe go to Disney Springs, maybe go to Morimoto Asia for dinner

Day 5: Go back the parks to go on any rides again or that we may have missed. Maybe go to Volcano Bay in the morning. I haven’t heard such great reviews, but it just opened and I want to give it a try. I will see how we feel that morning.

Day 6: Homeward bound :(

I do plan to head back to the resort mid afternoon everyday to relax at the pool to get out of the heat.

I hope to spend a lot of time in Harry Potter World on this trip but we will see how things go each day. I am going to try and update my planning each week with what is on our top of rides, activities, and restaurants that we want to do on this trip. Any suggestion will be helpful too!

Also for those who have stayed at Cabana Bay Beach, any room request suggestion, I would greatly appreciate the recommendation!

Stay tune!
 
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Sounds like a fun trip!

Not sure if you are stuck on doing all the HP things back-to-back; if you're OK with mixing it up, it's easiest to get through the area & get on the rides first thing in the morning, and later in the evening.

We usually start in one of the Potter areas, when it gets too crowded or the waits get to long, we go around the rest of the park. Then pool/rest, dinner, back to the parks for more Potter or other things, depending on how much we've done and current wait times.

I know there are some apps out there for checking wait times as well. I imagine it would come in handy, since you won't have EPs.
 
Sounds like a fun trip!

Not sure if you are stuck on doing all the HP things back-to-back; if you're OK with mixing it up, it's easiest to get through the area & get on the rides first thing in the morning, and later in the evening.

We usually start in one of the Potter areas, when it gets too crowded or the waits get to long, we go around the rest of the park. Then pool/rest, dinner, back to the parks for more Potter or other things, depending on how much we've done and current wait times.

I know there are some apps out there for checking wait times as well. I imagine it would come in handy, since you won't have EPs.

Thank you for the suggestions and tips! :)

The plan (hopefully) is to break the park days apart mid afternoon to avoid the mid day crowd and the Florida heat. The original plan (fingers cross we can stick to it) is to do day 2 for anything that is not HP at the parks and day 3 is for HP part of the parks so it is not to overwhelming the first two days we are there. I hope to stick to it.

I think there is an app for Universal, something like the MDE, I am going to take a look into getting that app too for the trip but I might invest in getting the EP for the last day we are there.
 
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Following! :)

I am excited to live through you and experience the HP world through your eyes. I definitely think you should be brave and give the Dragon Challenge ride a try!

:thanks:
 


Following along! So excited for your trip, and honestly I could spend my entire time at Universal taking in all the HP stuff especially if you plan spending some time doing all the interactive wand activities etc. Cabana Bay is amazing (obviously I've talked your ear off about it) you'll love the pool and lazy river area!

:)
 
Good luck avoiding Harry Potter lands on your first park day :rolleyes1 that's going to take a lot of effort :D... me being a potterhead also will suggest to start at Diagon Alley to experience the "new wizard" amazement as you explore your journey to Hogwart School.
Have a great trip!! :wave:
 
Good luck avoiding Harry Potter lands on your first park day :rolleyes1 that's going to take a lot of effort :D... me being a potterhead also will suggest to start at Diagon Alley to experience the "new wizard" amazement as you explore your journey to Hogwart School.
Have a great trip!! :wave:

Thanks for the suggestion about going to Diagon Alley first! That is probably going to be my first stop day 2. Let's see how day 1 goes first :rolleyes1 It is going to be a struggle big time :laughing:
 
Nice plans!

Both places you've picked either Cowfish or Fusion on Citywalk are both really good........we like Fusion for a quick snack more than dinner........but can't go wrong with either.

If you really love sushi consider Orchids Lounge at RPR.........by far the best sushi we've had over there........only a boat ride from Citywalk or a short walk from CBay.........some folks forget about the hotel dining options.

Will enjoy reading along with your plans..........
 
Nice plans!

Both places you've picked either Cowfish or Fusion on Citywalk are both really good........we like Fusion for a quick snack more than dinner........but can't go wrong with either.

If you really love sushi consider Orchids Lounge at RPR.........by far the best sushi we've had over there........only a boat ride from Citywalk or a short walk from CBay.........some folks forget about the hotel dining options.

Will enjoy reading along with your plans..........

I'll have to take a look at Orchids Lounge menu now, it may be on our list to maybe try our last day. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
Count down is on! 49 days!

As mentioned at the start, each week will update with a little more planning and a little more research done.

This week is rides that I definitely want to try to go on:
  • Race through New York
  • Skull Island: Reign of Kong
  • Transformers the Ride 3D
  • Men in Black Alien Attack
  • Fast & Furious Supercharged
  • Hogwarts Express
  • Flight of the hippogriff
  • Forbidden Journey
  • Harry Potter & Escape from Gringotts
  • TeAwa The Fearless River
  • Honu of the Honu ika Moana
  • Krakata Aqua Coaster
  • Maku of the Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides
  • Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides
  • Puihi of the Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides
I am really excited for the Harry Potter & Escape from Gringotts and seeing the Hogwarts Express in person! I also can’t wait to try Men In Black out. I loved Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios at Disney so I hope this would be as fun. I think this will bring the competition out between M. and I.

Doing more research on VB, and hearing that the crowds tends to die down mid afternoon/ early evening, I think I will be definitely going there but I am going to change my plans just slightly. Instead of going on the last day in the morning, it will be day 2 in the afternoon.
 
Ashley you will love Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Make sure to go back to Diagon Alley in the evening before the park closes. It's is so nice to experience it when there is almost no one there.

Escape from Gringotts is my favorite ride. You will love it.

You are going to have a great time.
 
Ashley you will love Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Make sure to go back to Diagon Alley in the evening before the park closes. It's is so nice to experience it when there is almost no one there.

Escape from Gringotts is my favorite ride. You will love it.

You are going to have a great time.

I hope to go in the evening to Diagon Alley one day. I've been hearing it really nice in the evening! :yay:

I am making it known now that I am hoping for LOTS of Honeydukes pictures :cutie:

Give me 2 weeks and you'll get and update on the shops and entertainment in the hopes of seeing/visiting ;) but I promise I will try to get pictures of Honeydukes
 
49 days!! :woohoo:

I can't remember if I mentioned it to you before, but you should definitely check out all of @schumigirl 's TRs! I've spent a lot of time reading them recently for planning (and fun of course!) and they are packed full of tidbits! ::yes::

I don't know if I would be able to stay away from all of the Wizarding World stuff once I got in there, I think the temptation would be way too much!! I wouldn't be super strict on your plans to hold off if you really feel the urge to dig right in! You're on vacation girl, do whatever you want! :goodvibes
 
49 days!! :woohoo:

I can't remember if I mentioned it to you before, but you should definitely check out all of @schumigirl 's TRs! I've spent a lot of time reading them recently for planning (and fun of course!) and they are packed full of tidbits! ::yes::

I don't know if I would be able to stay away from all of the Wizarding World stuff once I got in there, I think the temptation would be way too much!! I wouldn't be super strict on your plans to hold off if you really feel the urge to dig right in! You're on vacation girl, do whatever you want! :goodvibes

Tbh there is a high chance we might do something HP related the first day, maybe lunch at the broomstick or leaky cauldron or even stop by the hogwarts express.
I'll see how we're doing day 1:rolleyes1
 
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