Diagon Alley - need a 2 park ticket?

[DznyGrlSD]

I'm trying to avoid spoilers as much as possible which is why I started a different thread rather than go into the DA thread.

If we want to see Potterland and now Diagon Alley (and ride Hogwarts Express) in October we have to buy a 2-park ticket, is that right?

 

[Master Yoda]

Correct.

 

[DznyGrlSD]

Correct.

Booooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Money-grubbing jerks. There is NOTHING I want to do at US except Potter.

What if we are going to Halloween Horror Nights (I've never been)? Can we do Potter stuff at US during that or no?

 

[Master Yoda]

Booooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Money-grubbing jerks. There is NOTHING I want to do at US except Potter.

What if we are going to Halloween Horror Nights (I've never been)? Can we do Potter stuff at US during that or no?

I am not sure. From what I have read, only US will be open for HHN so Potter land at US should be open , but I wound not expect it to be open at IOA.

 

[KingdomofDreams]

You can do Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley (and all rides/experiences contained within) without a park-to-park pass. You only need a park-to-park pass to ride Hogswart's Express, because it goes back and forth from Uni to IOA. It would have been nice if they'd set it up otherwise, but I imagine there would have been quite the bottleneck at the exit from the stations for them to verify people's park passes before they could allow them to enter the 2nd park.

ETA: Just to clarify - Hogsmeade is in IOA and Diagon Alley is in US - two separate parks. To experience both you would need to either purchase park-to-park admission which allows you to enter both parks on the same day, or one park admission for 2 separate days to use one day at each park. Hogwart's Express being the only thing requiring a park-to-park.

 

[katiekinzakat]

I am not sure. From what I have read, only US will be open for HHN so Potter land at US should be open , but I wound not expect it to be open at IOA.

Diagon Alley will not be open for HHN. And of course seeing both would require tickets to both. They are in two separate parks.

 

[Master Yoda]

Diagon Alley will not be open for HHN. And of course seeing both would require tickets to both. They are in two separate parks.

Any particular reason it will not be open during HHN other then the obvious "we want to sell full priced park tickets"?

 

[katiekinzakat]

Because JK doesn't want her IP used during the event, much like Dr. Seuss's widow didn't want them using Seuss Landing when HHN was at IOA.

 

[wdwfan22]

Because JK doesn't want her IP used during the event, much like Dr. Seuss's widow didn't want them using Seuss Landing when HHN was at IOA.

Correct universal has confirmed Diagon Alley will not open for Halloween horror nights

 

[DznyGrlSD]

Just to clarify...the ONLY reason I need a 2-park/1 day pass is to ride Hogwarts Express? I think I'll save $40 then

 

[katiekinzakat]

Yes. You can visit each land separately in their respective parks with a one day ticket.

 

[Mike C]

Yes. You can visit each land separately in their respective parks with a one day ticket.

Hogsmeade is in Islands of Adventure, Diagon/London is in Universal Studios. On the same day you have to use l a park to park ticket even if you don't ride the express. If you use two days, than you can, but will not be able ride the hogwarts express without the two park ticket. The train is going to be packed just with the people with park-to-park, trying to squeeze in round trip rides for single park tickets would be operationally insane.

Diagon Alley has Gringotts, 4 shows, Nocturne, London, the shops, the interactive experience. Animated elements/Animatronics all over the place. It's much more densely packed with things that Hogsmeade, even though the isles are a bit wider. You could easily spend 4-5 hours looking there alone. Hogsmeade is in the Islands of Adventure park, and is still very much awesome.

The rest of both parks are pretty good, Springfield, NY, lost Continent, Seuss, etc. Universal already announced that Diagon Alley won't be opened up for HHN, but will be open during the regular daylight hours.

 

[fugawe09]

I know it was floated in closed-door meetings a few months ago that initially you would only be able utilize the Hogwarts Express once per day per ticket and to return to your starting park you would need to walk via the front turnstile, an attempt to slow people down from bouncing between the parks and to disperse the crowds. Haven't heard any more to this tune, so perhaps they scrapped it. But if this were true, it could affect your gameplan. Also not sure what their capacity phasing plan is, but I suppose it is plausible you could take HE from USF to IOA, only to find that USF had reached capacity and you can't go back to that park. I would probably make sure I was satisfied with what I had seen in one park before hopping to the other that first week.

 

[JT3000]

Booooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Money-grubbing jerks. There is NOTHING I want to do at US except Potter.

Show those money-grubbing jerks who's boss and don't give them your business.

Shorter lines.

Seriously though, you would have to visit both parks regardless if you wish to see both HP lands. And if that's all you're interested in, a 1 day park hopper shouldn't sound that unreasonable. You're not going to spend a full second day in a park you don't even like.

 

[DznyGrlSD]

Thanks everyone for clearing this up for me. It looks like we're going to do a 1 day, 2 park pass with the HHN add-on for $177. Gonna be a L.O.N.G. day at US/IOA for us!!!

 

[Ginzuishou]

Will they put a ticket booth at the train so you can upgrade your park ticket?
just kidding, kind of.

How do they plan on letting guests know about the 2-park ticket thing...signs at ticket booths???? etc...??

 

[JoeCamel]

Would not be missing a bet if they had ticket booths at the stations to offer an upgrade. Have not seen that on any of the videos though. I think changing to a one ticket both parks pricing model would go down easier. I don't care, I got the maxi pass for the valet parking so it is park to park and a much better deal than WDW $500 pass that I had for the last two years.

 

[Timekeeper]

How do they plan on letting guests know about the 2-park ticket thing...signs at ticket booths???? etc...??

I anticipate informational flyers being handed out with the receipts at the parking booths, much like they do during Mardi Gras, HHN, and other special events that they want guests to be informed about.

 

[Bairstow]

I anticipate informational flyers being handed out with the receipts at the parking booths, much like they do during Mardi Gras, HHN, and other special events that they want guests to be informed about.

Yeah, I would imagine guests are going to be completely bombarded with information about what is required to ride what.
They're tempting a cyclone of customer satisfaction issues if they don't.

 

[danlb_2000]

Will they put a ticket booth at the train so you can upgrade your park ticket?
just kidding, kind of.

How do they plan on letting guests know about the 2-park ticket thing...signs at ticket booths???? etc...??

I believe I saw reported somewhere that there will be a place in each station where you can upgrade your ticket.