Hogwarts Express

[jenna288]

OK, not sure if this is a bit of a silly question but we are going to universal for the first time and just trying to plan things out When do people normally go on the hogwarts express? at the beginning or at the end of the day? Do you end up in IOA? We are planning on doing IOA on another day completely but do people tend to carry on with rides in IOA?

[cookiebeth]

When we used it we had the fast pass so did most rides in both parks in a day. But if you want to use it and go to the other park on a different day, ride it at the end of the day and just leave the park from there.

[Andysaurus]

It's just themed transportation between parks, just like riding the monorail from Magic Kingdom to Epcot.

How most people seem to do it is they go to Universal Studios, ride all the Harry Potter attractions there, ride HE to IoA and ride the Harry Potter stuff there, and then ride HE back to US to continue their day doing other stuff.

If you only plan on doing one park then either ride it and then get back in line and immediately ride it back or just skip it altogether.

[Claudette]

Originally Posted by jenna288

OK, not sure if this is a bit of a silly question but we are going to universal for the first time and just trying to plan things out When do people normally go on the hogwarts express? at the beginning or at the end of the day? Do you end up in IOA? We are planning on doing IOA on another day completely but do people tend to carry on with rides in IOA?

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These days I wouldn’t do it at all, it is quicker to walk between the parks and we have done it before and feel no need to do it again.

But for a first time visit, yes I would do it. But I don’t think it matters whether you do it first thing or last thing, just do whatever fits in with your plans. In the middle of the day is another option, but it can get long queues.

[LLamb]

Currently early entry is at IOA so most people
start there and then use it to hop across.
Early afternoon is the busiest time so either do it early or late.
I’ve done it loads of times but still like to ride it. It is also different each way, so if you’ve never done it, make sure you ride it both ways.

[Orlandoguy]

Remember you need a park to park ticket to ride the hogwarts express as others say it’s sometimes quicker to just walk between studios and islands

[Gill H]

Also it is a different experience going one way than the other, so if possible I would do it both ways.

[deanobrown]

If you're interested in doing one park at a time, then you can always jump on and ride, then join the queue in IOA and go back to US on the return journey?

[dan223]

Normally the worst time to do it is middle of the day/early afternoon, that is when most people consider park hopping.

[SamH88]

We did universal and IOA in one day and started with Universal then got the Hogwarts Express over to IOA at about 12ish and did the rides we wanted to do there. We then decided to get it back to Universal again at the end of the day before leaving because it’s a bit different each way.

It’s really well done and definitely worth doing.