Several ?'s About Visiting Harry Potter areas

[Woodmnky]

My husband & I are trying to work an arrangement where we can leave our son with Grandma for the day so that we can go and see WWoHP. We will only have 1 day and not even necessarily the full day.

We are looking at going Wed. Dec 5. Both Touring Plans and Orlando Informer show wait times to be on average no more than 15 minutes for this date. Can this really be true? (We are used to Disney, where that is considered "walk on").

We will arrive plenty early, but I am wondering if Valet Parking is really the way to go to avoid tons of extra walking? It sounds like parking at Universal stinks and there is no trams and such.

We would like to see both Leaky Cauldron and the Three Broomsticks. If we start in Diagon Alley can we go into the LC and just look around or do we need to order food? If so, does anyone know if we can just order a drink instead of full breakfast? I may not be opposed to ordering a breakfast just to see the restaurant, but wondering if there are alternatives.

Lastly, is there any schedule available ahead of time for when the Castle show will be? If not an official schedule, does anyone have any educated guesses?

 

[FargoBear]

Historically crowds should be pretty manageable during that time frame. In terms of parking, valet isn't the worst way to go. I think the average person walks 8-10 miles a day at the theme parks, so cutting down wear and tear on the feet is never a bad idea. I don't think anyone would say anything to you if you went into the restaurant and looked around. You order at the back of the restaurant, so there would be no way for anyone to know whether you're meeting someone or waiting to decide what to order. I do really like the breakfast food they offer and it's reasonable in price. Just a quick note, but maybe you knew this, but you'll need a park-to-park ticket to see both restaurants and ride the Hogwarts Express, but maybe you knew that already. ... In terms of the castle show, I'm not sure anyone knows for sure, but from my understanding they'll be doing the nighttime presentation multiple times to limit congestion in front of the castle. If they did one big sendoff, like the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom, it would be nearly impossible to move due to limited space in front of Hogwarts.

 

[gotomu212]

It's no problem to walk in and look at the restaurants without ordering. I would recommend going between peak meal times so you can get a good look without bumping into folks. The TMs were really nice whenever we've said we're just looking and have even pointed out neat details.

Parking isn't bad at Universal (well compared to Disney) but splurging on valet is always nice.

 

[Woodmnky]

Thank you both for your responses.

 

[danielocha30]

Valet parking is the closest to the park entrance but still a considerable walk, for the price it is worth it, I don't remember people allowed to look around at the restaurant specially at 3 broomsticks were you are directed to your table after ordering, I like the idea of just ordering some Drinks, both restaurants are good I would a least eat at one.

 

[schumigirl]

Of course you can walk around the Potter restaurants without ordering.

We don't eat at either Potter restaurant, but always have a wander around and take pictures. It's never been a problem.......even had our picture taken with some of the TM working there last year.

You can have a drink in the Hog's Head pub attached to the 3 B's........

 

[PoohIsHome]

@Woodmnky We did valet for a one day visit last year (12/27) and while it was still quite a walk, it was worth the convenience. Our reasoning for shaving off any possible walking time was that the young wizard in my avatar pic was coming off a pretty nasty football injury (ankle broken in 3 places).

 

[bumbershoot]

It sounds like parking at Universal stinks and there is no trams and such.

No need for trams. I don't consider parking to be bad. It's a big structure, you walk frommcar to stairs or escalator, to security, along the path or moving walkways, and through citywalk to a park.

If we start in Diagon Alley can we go into the LC and just look around or do we need to order food? If so, does anyone know if we can just order a drink instead of full breakfast?

Issue I ran into at LC is that if there's a line you have to wait in it.

But you could ask the TM at the exit if you can go in and look around.

 

[TommyJK]

To avoid the sometime big lineup at Leaky Cauldron (for people ordering food) you can just pop in through the huge exit doors which goes right into the large dining area. They let us do that the last time we were there.