“When’s the best time to visit the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park?” A common question that actually has two answers.
Best Time of Year to Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Park
If you’re asking about the best time of year to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, this will pretty much follow the seasonal crowds typical for Orlando, Florida vacation planning. Right after Labor Day to the week before Halloween is usually a very slow time in the Florida theme parks, including the Harry Potter park. Kids just went back to school, families already had their “summer Orlando vacation,” and there’s not many people traveling this time of year. With this in mind, I visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park last week and the Harry Potter ride was still a 45 minute wait at 3 in the afternoon. However, you could take the single rider line and cut that to a quarter of the wait.
Another good time for your Orlando vacation to visit the Harry Potter park is right after Thanksgiving up to the week before Christmas week. DO NOT try to come during one of these holidays or that weekend! Many people think, “Oh, I’ve got a great idea! While everyone’s home with family, I’ll take an Orlando vacation and get on all the rides at the Harry Potter park without having to wait in a single line!” Wrongo! These two holidays are two of the most busy times in the Orlando, Florida area. Add in New Year’s and you’ll have the top three.
Just like Labor Day, right after New Year’s Day, Harry Potter park attendance drops, dramatically. Again, back in school and just used up your vacation time over the holidays. This slower time extends up to about the end of February when you start to see spring breaks start around the country, sending families on a Florida vacation.
This pretty much sums up the slowest times of the year at the Harry Potter theme park. There may be a couple other moderate times, but these are the least crowded times of year.
Best Time of Day to Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Theme Park
As we’ve mentioned before, the best time of day to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park is in the afternoon and evening. Now, Islands of Adventure currently closes at 6-8PM, so you don’t want to wait too long to get over to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park. However, you want to avoid the crowds trying to get to the Harry Potter park as soon as it opens. Let it calm down a bit.
Now, when the Harry Potter park’s slow, it’s slow all day. Then, this advice won’t apply, as much. However, I would still lean towards afternoon to evening. The sun’s not beating down directly overhead and as the sun goes down, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park takes on a whole new aura. It’s really fun!
So, whether you’re looking for the best time of year or best time of day to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, you can now build a strategy with good information!
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Want to get all our tips and tricks for visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter? We wrote a travel guide for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Hogsmeade! We included all our tips and tricks that we’ve learned over the last year to make your visit to the Wizarding World as magical as possible. Be sure to check it out!
Get your Harry Potter theme park souvenirs from the official Harry Potter shop, the WB Shop!