You should be fine with express pass. Epic lines will be insane though no matter what you do. I honestly might even skip Epic at those ages and go back in a few years. Can’t imagine a 4 yo waiting in any of those lines. I personally think the Ollivanders show is not worth the wait, but that’s just me. Buy an interactive wand for the 9 yo. The 4 yo won’t be able to do it - can borrow the 9 yo’s want a few times to try. Get tips on how to do the spells from older kids you see at the stops who clearly know what they are doing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lines for food at the two older parks HP places are terrible and the food is awful. Go between meal times to get a warm butterbeer and see the decor but find some place easier for lunch.

Do you kids like roller coasters or not? Most of the rest of the two older parks is not great. The 4 year old might like the Suess ride. If the 9 year old is a daredevil the velociraptor ride maybe but that’s pretty intense for that age. The minions thing is funny but it’s not even really a ride. Men in black is fun. I would just focus on HP and do Men in black and not worry too much about doing the rest of the older parks. For kids that age, HP will be the most fun. You can also just walk around and they usually have spontaneous shows.

Agree on everything here. Everyone told us not to eat in the HP themed eateries at Islands. Getting the butterbeer was fun, though. We ate lunch at Mythos and it was great. Very worth it to make reservations for a mid-day sit down, table service meal. Use the nicer bathroom, get yourself together. Also agree that the spontaneous shows were fun. They don’t have to be totally spontaneous though—you can track them on the app.

I didn't think Mythos was worth the hype. I thought the food at HP world was fine, though it's fish and chips, it's kind if hard to mess up fried fish and fries. The baked potatoes are fine too.

Mythos is just fine. Would rather take the kids to one of the Harry Potter restaurants so they can enjoy the experience.

+1 the food is pretty terrible everywhere in Universal. We are going back soon and my strategy is to pack protein bars, fruit and just eat snacks there most of the time. Disney has better food though I I do the same when we go there

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lines for food at the two older parks HP places are terrible and the food is awful. Go between meal times to get a warm butterbeer and see the decor but find some place easier for lunch.

Do you kids like roller coasters or not? Most of the rest of the two older parks is not great. The 4 year old might like the Suess ride. If the 9 year old is a daredevil the velociraptor ride maybe but that’s pretty intense for that age. The minions thing is funny but it’s not even really a ride. Men in black is fun. I would just focus on HP and do Men in black and not worry too much about doing the rest of the older parks. For kids that age, HP will be the most fun. You can also just walk around and they usually have spontaneous shows.

Agree on everything here. Everyone told us not to eat in the HP themed eateries at Islands. Getting the butterbeer was fun, though. We ate lunch at Mythos and it was great. Very worth it to make reservations for a mid-day sit down, table service meal. Use the nicer bathroom, get yourself together. Also agree that the spontaneous shows were fun. They don’t have to be totally spontaneous though—you can track them on the app.

I didn't think Mythos was worth the hype. I thought the food at HP world was fine, though it's fish and chips, it's kind if hard to mess up fried fish and fries. The baked potatoes are fine too.

Mythos is just fine. Would rather take the kids to one of the Harry Potter restaurants so they can enjoy the experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lines for food at the two older parks HP places are terrible and the food is awful. Go between meal times to get a warm butterbeer and see the decor but find some place easier for lunch.

Do you kids like roller coasters or not? Most of the rest of the two older parks is not great. The 4 year old might like the Suess ride. If the 9 year old is a daredevil the velociraptor ride maybe but that’s pretty intense for that age. The minions thing is funny but it’s not even really a ride. Men in black is fun. I would just focus on HP and do Men in black and not worry too much about doing the rest of the older parks. For kids that age, HP will be the most fun. You can also just walk around and they usually have spontaneous shows.

Agree on everything here. Everyone told us not to eat in the HP themed eateries at Islands. Getting the butterbeer was fun, though. We ate lunch at Mythos and it was great. Very worth it to make reservations for a mid-day sit down, table service meal. Use the nicer bathroom, get yourself together. Also agree that the spontaneous shows were fun. They don’t have to be totally spontaneous though—you can track them on the app.

I didn't think Mythos was worth the hype. I thought the food at HP world was fine, though it's fish and chips, it's kind if hard to mess up fried fish and fries. The baked potatoes are fine too.

Anonymous wrote:What would you all recommend for what order to try to do the rides/shows? That’s where I feel most unprepared, like if I were going to Disney I’d have a plan. But what I’ve said above is all I’ve got this time. I’ve found it hard to find info on Universal like there is on Disney, and also I’ve just been much busier leading up to this trip.

This is where universal is far better than Disney IMO. with there express pass you don’t really need to plan. We basically just did rides in order, weren’t zig zagging all day for fast pass. Though do watch the app for times

What would you all recommend for what order to try to do the rides/shows? That’s where I feel most unprepared, like if I were going to Disney I’d have a plan. But what I’ve said above is all I’ve got this time. I’ve found it hard to find info on Universal like there is on Disney, and also I’ve just been much busier leading up to this trip.

Anonymous wrote:The lines for food at the two older parks HP places are terrible and the food is awful. Go between meal times to get a warm butterbeer and see the decor but find some place easier for lunch.

Do you kids like roller coasters or not? Most of the rest of the two older parks is not great. The 4 year old might like the Suess ride. If the 9 year old is a daredevil the velociraptor ride maybe but that’s pretty intense for that age. The minions thing is funny but it’s not even really a ride. Men in black is fun. I would just focus on HP and do Men in black and not worry too much about doing the rest of the older parks. For kids that age, HP will be the most fun. You can also just walk around and they usually have spontaneous shows.

Agree on everything here. Everyone told us not to eat in the HP themed eateries at Islands. Getting the butterbeer was fun, though. We ate lunch at Mythos and it was great. Very worth it to make reservations for a mid-day sit down, table service meal. Use the nicer bathroom, get yourself together. Also agree that the spontaneous shows were fun. They don’t have to be totally spontaneous though—you can track them on the app.

How tall is your 4 year old?

The lines for food at the two older parks HP places are terrible and the food is awful. Go between meal times to get a warm butterbeer and see the decor but find some place easier for lunch.

Do you kids like roller coasters or not? Most of the rest of the two older parks is not great. The 4 year old might like the Suess ride. If the 9 year old is a daredevil the velociraptor ride maybe but that’s pretty intense for that age. The minions thing is funny but it’s not even really a ride. Men in black is fun. I would just focus on HP and do Men in black and not worry too much about doing the rest of the older parks. For kids that age, HP will be the most fun. You can also just walk around and they usually have spontaneous shows.

Definitely do the early hours and if you go to the bank ride and the line is all the way out to the lobby for the fast pass just leave and come back later when it’s shorter. We also did ollivander’s at night with no line and saw lines out the door in the morning.

PP here. Forgot to mention that the VIP tour cost does not include park admission.

How many rides do you want to go on at Epic and how much money do you want to spend? You can do a group or private VIP tour and skip all the lines and have time to go on some rides twice. Cost ranges from about $1500 - $2000 for a family of four. Includes valet parking, lunch and you literally walk right up to the front and get on each ride. We did this in June last year right after they opened and, for us, it was well worth the extra expense.

The Ollivanders show is fun even if you’re not getting your wand there. I’d get it ahead of time and set it up to have it, personally.

I would do epic first day. We have been to universal several years over winter break, and the crowds get worse each day after Christmas. Plan to get there even before it opens. The crowds get worse as the day goes on. I wouldn’t worry about the wands. Get them whenever convenient to you. Are you staying at a universal hotel?

The parks are decorated beautifully for Christmas but nothing else other than music.

We are taking a family trip to Universal Florida right after Christmas and I’ve had no time to prepare. Anyone have tips?

We are two adults, a 9 year old and a 4 year old. We’re spending two days with park hopper at Islands and Studios and have one day at Epic. We have express pass for the two older parks but not Epic (it was sold out!). We have early entry to all three - but Islands and not Studios is the one with early entry while we’re there. We’re focused on the Harry Potter parts of the parks.

We are thinking first day focus on HP in Islands/Studios. Second day do rest of Studios and Islands but return to HP if we didn’t finish everything we want to do. And third day at Epic go straight to Ministry of Magic ride at early entry and otherwise be prepared that lines may be too long for rides.

We will get next gen wands while there and do the quests — one big debate I’m having is whether to get the wands the day before and set them up or get them from Ollivanders (and how to do Ollivanders efficiently with Islands being the park with early entry).

Any thoughts on this plan? What order would you do things in HP world? We love Christmas theming - any Christmas things we shouldn’t miss?