Get Early Admission to Diagon Alley and the Gringott’s Bank Ride

March 21, 2015
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Hogsmeade Station at Islands of Adventure

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How to Use Universal Islands of Adventure Early Admission to Be First in Hogsmeade Village and Diagon Alley

You can gain early entrance to Universal Orlando’s Diagon Alley – even when only Islands of Adventure has early admission – here’s how.

Editor’s note: This post refers to early admission at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. If you will have early admission at Universal Studios Florida, click here to read my tips for that park. (Get Universal’s early admission schedule here).

Universal offers early admission to its theme parks for all guests staying at onsite hotels, and if you’ve read my 33 Things To Know Before You Visit Universal Orlando post you’ll know I highly recommend this.

The Islands of Adventure (IOA) park contains the Hogsmeade Village part of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, site of Hogwarts Castle and the excellent Forbidden Journey attraction. It does not, however, contain the Diagon Alley area – Diagon Alley is located in the neighboring Universal Studios (USF) park, which often has no early admission access. However, you can leverage your IOA early admission to get into Universal Studios before that park opens too!

Listen to more of my Islands of Adventure early admission tips on episode 26 of the Go Informed podcast: Islands of Adventure Early Admission Plan of Attack.

Diagon Alley Early Admission via Hogwarts Express

The best way to get from Hogsmeade in IOA to Diagon Alley in USF is to ride the Hogwarts Express attraction. This is a train that takes you between the parks, while keeping you immersed in the Wizarding World.

If you enter IOA with your early admission, you can take the Hogwarts express to Diagon Alley before that park opens. On our recent trip, we found that with an 8:00 early admission time, the Hogwarts Express started running at about 8:30. (Meanwhile USF was not scheduled to open until 9:00).

Here’s our suggested method for maximizing your early admission to the Wizarding World:

Get there early

Get to the park well before early-admission opening (see my suggestions in this post: 33 Things to Know Before You Visit Universal Orlando)

Get my tips to help you Master Your Theme Park Morning and get ready to rock that rope drop on episode 19 of the Go Informed Podcast.

Ride Forbidden Journey

Once the gates open, likely earlier than the posted early-admission time, you will be herded to Hogsmeade Village. Go ride the Forbidden Journey – you will probably be one of the first riders, and will be off the ride by 8:15 or so. Click here if you’re wondering if the Forbidden Journey ride is too scary for your child.

Go to the Train Station

Head for the Hogwarts Express train station. There may already be some people queuing up outside the ticket gates but you should be among the first to ride. Pay attention, the actual queue line will probably not be open yet so it may be a bit of a mob just hanging around. When it’s time to queue up, the ticket checkers (they have to make sure everyone has a ticket to get into the other park) will instruct everyone to line up in front of their podiums.

Waiting for the Hogwarts Express queue to open

Have Your Park-to-Park Ticket Ready

Once your park ticket is checked you’ll be in the queue for the attraction. Don’t panic if it’s a bit of a line – the Hogwarts Express can take a lot of people at once.

Turn Left Outside the London Station in Universal Studios Florida

Once you get off the train and out of the station, head to the left (just follow the crowd). Depending on what time it is, you may see people coming from the Universal Studios entrance. Most theme parks open a few minutes before the posted time. It will still be WAY fewer guests than usual.

Watch for Park Attendants Directing Traffic

There may be a queue forming for the Gringotts Bank ride OUTSIDE of Diagon Alley. Watch for park attendants directing traffic. If you want to ride on Gringotts, get in that line, otherwise continue into Diagon Alley and enjoying having the place virtually to yourself.

The Line for Gringotts is Probably Shorter Than it Looks

If you are waiting to ride the Gringotts ride, don’t panic about the length of the line. The actual Gringotts queue won’t open up until around the official park start time. Until then, the queue may just extend from the Gringotts door, so it is probably a lot shorter than you think.

The entrance to the Diagon Alley Escape From Gringotts ride is located right underneath the dragon! — The entrance to the Escape From Gringotts ride is located right underneath the dragon!

Know Where the Gringotts Ride Lockers are Located

Also note that if you are riding the Gringotts ride, you will have to store bags and loose items in a locker before you go into the building. If you’re looking at the Gringotts door, the lockers are located about 100 feet to the right. Have someone from your group get the locker while you stay in line. (Worst case if the line starts moving before your buddy comes back, just hang by the Gringotts door and let people pass you).

Zip Through the Queue Onto the Ride

Odds are you will be whisked straight through an empty queue and almost all of the pre-show (come back later for a longer wait and you can take it all in then). You should have virtually no wait for the ride, and even after you’re done riding you’ll find a quiet, nearly empty, Diagon Alley.

Park Hacker tips to really jump the queue:

These hacks will help you be first on the Gringotts ride and allow you multiple rides before the crowds slow you down:

Skip the Lockers

Don’t bring anything that needs to go in a locker. (Make sure whatever you have is ZIPPED into a pocket. Both the Forbidden Journey and the Escape From Gringotts rides are definitely phone-losers if you don’t have them secured completely). If you don’t have to stop for a locker, you might even be able to ride Forbidden Journey twice before heading to the train station, and you won’t have to fuss with a locker when you get to Diagon Alley either.

Ride Single

There is a single rider queue for the Gringotts ride. Ask the attendant at the door. It’s a shorter path to the loading area so might even get you on the ride faster.

This post and podcast episode are all about how single rider works at Universal Orlando and Disney World.

Skip Forbidden Journey and Go Straight to the Hogsmeade Train Station

If you really want to be first in line for Escape From Gringotts don’t ride the Forbidden Journey at all. Just go straight from the IOA gate to the Hogsmeade station. We like the Forbidden Journey too much to have tried this trick, but my assumption is that if you’re on the very first Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley you will be first in the queue for the Gringotts ride.

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