I've been taking trips to Walt Disney World since I was 3 years old. For most people, a trip to Disney World seems out of the question due to crazy crowd levels, high prices, and intolerable heat. However, right now, it's actually the best time to book a Disney World vacation.
Harry Potter Theme Park Tips: What to Know Before Visiting the Wizarding World
27.07.2023 - 18:08 / smartertravel.com / Harry Potter
I’ll never forget my first glimpse of Hogwarts: the soaring spires, the winged-pig statues, the snow-covered rooftops of the surrounding Hogsmeade village. As a devout fan of the source material, those magical images will be etched into my memory forever. Of course, I’ll also never forget the sheer volume of wand-toting, spell-casting, butterbeer-guzzling people all around me, either. Elbow to elbow, we jostled for position under the hot Orlando sun like the crowds at the Quidditch World Cup.
Harry Potter Theme Park TipsThe mass of people didn’t diminish the experience for me, but it did get me thinking about the Harry Potter theme park tips I wish I’d known before my first visit. I made a few rookie mistakes my first time, but maybe you won’t have to. Here are my best tips for visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando.
1. Buy the Universal Express PassSeriously, do it. Remortgage the house if you have to. It’s worth it. Universal Express Passes let you zip through the lines on nearly all of the rides at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, including all of the Harry Potter theme park rides. Express Passes are pricey, but they are unquestionably worth every penny—especially if this is your first visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Express Passes come in two varieties: Universal Express (which allows you one express entry per theme park ride) and Universal Express Unlimited (which, as the name suggests, allows unlimited express entries to all rides that accept passes). For me, with a family of four including two children under 11, the Universal Express Passes did more to improve the quality of our trip than everything else combined.
Most rides at Universal have two separate lines: the standard line and the Express line. Express lines are more direct than the standard lines. This means you might wait about 15 minutes using the Universal Express Pass line to board Harry Potter themed rides. In the standard line, the wait times routinely reach 90 minutes to two hours.
For many, visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. There are places where it might makes sense to cut corners to save money, but this is not one of them. Pay the extra price and zip through the lines rather than spending most of your day waiting in them.
Universal Express Passes are available for purchase before your trip or at various well-marked locations throughout the parks. Special lanyards for displaying Express Passes are available for sale throughout the parks and many shops as well.
Related: Orlando Travel Guide 2. You Need to Visit Both ParksYou need to visit both Universal Studios Florida and the adjacent Islands of Adventure parks to
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