My family is going to Universal Dec 21-25. Probably a terrible time to go. We will have EPA and express passes. I'm wondering if anyone has a good plan for seeing Diagon Alley with reasonable crowds during the holidays. Seems like a lot of the touring plans I've seen want you to start by going to the Minions ride and not rushing right over to the WW of HP because that's what everyone else will be doing. What is the point of the early entry if not to do Diagon Alley before the park opens to everyone? Should we start at IOA (if open) and ride the HP rides then take the HExp to Diagon Alley? Arghhh! I just don't know what to do. We are newbies. I've been researching my butt off, but it would be nice to hear what regular folks think. Thanks!
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Can't find the right tourning plan
- Thread starter Austen
- Start date
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure where you have been researching but Orlando Informer is the gold standard for information about visiting UOR. Anything you could want to know is there and if you don't see it ask them. They are happy to help your plan.
Thanks! I have been reading Orlando informer like crazy. I do like their touring plan the best, but it save Diagon Alley for later in the day as well. I should just do what they say there. I'm just trying to factor in things like having to go to Olivander's in a timely manner during this Covid time because you have to now sign up for a reservation. Also trying to figure out the virtual queue thing for Hagrid's as well. I will be with 3 teenagers with phones of their own. Should we all be trying to get queue reservations or is that overkill?
Disneyhead'71
Well-Known Member
Yes, everybody should try to get a VQ spot.
The reason that all the touring plans have Minion Mayhem first is it has terrible capacity causing huge wait times. If you want to ride the Minion ride, right after the park opens is the best time to do it with a minimal wait.
That said, Minions isn't really a must see in my opinion.
Trackmaster
Well-Known Member
If you have EPA you should be able to see Diagon Alley pretty reasonably empty... at least for 15-20 minutes. Since Universal has been going to 8 AM openings and 7 AM EPA on busier days, if you can get in front of the gate of your desired park at 6:30 AM, you'll be in a good position. It'll still be dark probably, and you'll get to watch the sunrise too. Its pretty awesome actually. Most people aren't that adventurous, that the first 90 minutes is pretty reasonable. And you have Express that will will help you midday. You should be fine. I wouldn't worry about it.
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
Shhhh, that's AP stuff.....
Trackmaster
Well-Known Member
You have to have more of a "grow the pie" mentality. Let's not squabble over the slices of the pie, and realize that if we all take advantage of 7 AM openings, who knows, maybe they'll give us more. If they can only dare hope to get people in from 11 AM - 6 PM, bye bye expanded hours, and we all have to pack ourselves in at the most boring hours of the day. They'd love to expand their hours if people would support it. More in park spending, more disbursement of crowds throughout the day. They're just not going to open it up and stay open when they know it'll be a ghost time.
crispy
Well-Known Member
We have been here for 5 days, and it has been crazy busy. Everyone rushed to Hagrid's for early entry, but we have done the opposite. We head to Studios and start hitting the app at around 7:50 am to get in the virtual queue for Hagrid's. We were able to get a time all five days we have been here. This morning we rode 7 rides in Studios before 9:30am, took Hogwarts Express to IoA and were in line for Hagrid's for our 10:10 ride.
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
Is the smile on your face hurting yet?
crispy
Well-Known Member
Hagrid's is one great coaster! Unfortunately, I tripped this morning as we were heading out and fractured my arm so no smile this morning.