<p>We’ll be in Orlando Jan. 1 and we’re thinking of staying over for the Potter theme park. It’d be my wife and me + our kids, ages 24, 22 and 18 on Jan. 2. Could we do it sufficiently in one day or should we be planning on two?</p>
<p>We did it in one day easily. I will say, get there early, walk through the main park to Harry World and sign up for entrance. The line forms fast and takes a while, either get in it early or sign up for assigned time. We even finished up and did alittle of the rest of the park. We were there New Years Eve and it was crowded, more so as it got later in the day. You might want to go online and get tickets in advance? We loved it!</p>
<p>You can easily do it in one day. Have fun!</p>
<p>It’s a great attraction- top to bottom. The Hogsmeade village is nicely done. The candy store is very cute, can buy chocolate frogs. There are $10 ones/ and $15 ones that come with Dumbledore cards only - so catch the difference. There is also a magic store - nothing interesting in there. There is a line to get into the wand store. There is a little performance that is given - it’s short, cute. They pick a kid - he participates and gets to “buy” the wand that chooses him in the end. Butterbeer is a must - the frozen is best. Refills are not 89 cents if you buy the mug though - just fyi. 89 cents is for sodas, tea, etc. Go inside to Threebrooms to buy, don’t wait in line at vendor stands.</p>
<p>The ride itself is very cool. We got in an hour early by staying at on on-site hotel - well worth. WEnt right in - rode it twice. Can do single rider and move much faster. I would suggest this - you really don’t see each other on the ride at all. Don’t bring bags in to the ride. So again - go in the single line - you will move MUCH faster and it’s not big deal on the ride.</p>
<p>There is a smaller roller coaster - good for all ages. They turned dueling dragons into dragons … still two great roller coasters, worth the wait for the front seat.</p>
<p>It seems Harry Potter castle - main ride - slowed down in the evening. Wait was about 45 minutes …during normal times - but the castle is great to tour through you will enjoy the walk and it moves quickly. </p>
<p>The “world” itself is really not all that big. Again - go early, early = open the park and go right there. Lines get long throughout the day- and the area itself gets very crowded.</p>
<p>Agree with prior posters. We went to the roller coaster first and we were able to do both sides of it (slightly different from each other) and the castle. The smaller rollercoaster was dissapointing for the size of the line.
the shows (choir and Beaubatton dance) were cute</p>
<p>We did- 3 20 year olds. Lot of fun :)</p>
<p>Get to the more popular attractions early and then walk around later.</p>
<p>Butterbeer is a must. Don’t forget to go into the bathroom…especially the womans bathroom. I don’t know if the men’s is the same. Be aware, HP World is quite small in comparison to the crowds. Be prepared for long lines and lots of people. There are even lines to get into the stores. Have a wonderful time…it’s well worth it.</p>
<p>Great information - thanks everybody!</p>
<p>One thing we have done at Universal. We don’t usually stay there - we have a time share off property. But if you get one night hotel - you get four fast passes with your room the day you check in and the day you check out. So we go to the hotel first thing - check in - no bags - get our fast passes. Use all day. We usually don’t stay there - but might freshen up at some point. Come back the next day - use the fast passes to go to the other park. This is how we got in first on the second day. We did all we wanted to at the second park - and then hung out at the hotel pool that afternoon and went back to our timeshare. The four fast passes are more than worth the cost of one night hotel - at the cheapest hotel - just look on line. :)</p>
<p>We had an amazing time last year and echo the above posts! There are lots of quirky details thru out the village that make u feel like u are sharing a joke with other visitors. Big crowds when we were there too but everyone in such a good mood and excited about HP that the waiting was either good people watching or interesting conversations (people quizzing on books, movie trivia even two twenty somethings one upping on HP tattoos etc- though none of my kids 
). Great time and be sure to go to the woman’s restroom.</p>