Please Help Me! To date, we are the anti-Harry Potter family!

[DisneyTravelers2008]

Wow this is one of the best posts i have ever seen in this forum. Thank you!

Add onto that the great characters ......

 

[Summer2018]

I appeal to you, the good people of the DIS, US/IOA, to help me before our family trip in August.

We are a family of 5 and the kids range in ages from 13 to 6. None of my kids have ever read a Harry Potter book, nor have they seen a movie. By association, neither have I or the wife. Daniel Radcliff could show up at the door holding a delivery and the kids would be none the wiser, simply thanking him for the box.

In trying to plan our trip I of course rely upon the resources of this board heavily (WDW 7x thus far) as we have never been to Universal (just once for me during a business trip, where Jaws, Twister and Earthquake were still there). Other than what we've shown the kids on Youtube so far they know nothing about the parks. In reading the Potter touring plan someone was good enough to post here, there is truly an amazing amount of detail that the park has to offer, from ride ques to signage, to just the setup in each of the parks. My fear is that what could be a magical period of time exploring this area of the park will instead just be a 15 minute walk-though, filled with "oh, cool" and "ok, what now" remarks.

I'd really like to be able to get the most out of the experience, much the same way they felt when they walked through Toy Story Mania and the immersion you felt.

Consequently, I'm appealing to you for any recommendations you might have. We will be at the parks for a full week with the unlimited park to park to park ticket, so getting to see everything won't be a problem. We are also staying at the HRH and have the benefit of the unlimited express pass.

In an attempt to get myself and the family up to speed, what would you recommend in terms of being "Potter-conversant?" Books first? If so, does one book capture much of what you see at Universal? Movies first? Same question as to the movies.

I must admit, I'm extremely ticked off knowing that Jaws was pulled several years ago, as I really enjoyed the ride the one day I had the pleasure of touring by myself years ago, but I'm willing to let that slide and move on Everything offered at the parks themed to Potter, from the rides to the food, appears to be really well done, and we can't wait to experience all of it.

Even though I truly believe that the books are always better than the movies, you seriously don't have time to read the entire book series unless you all spend every waking moment reading them. You could binge watch the movies a lot faster. We brought my DD who is a huge Harry Potter fan. My DH and I were not. She was impressed by it, and we were just along for the ride. Being a fan is crucial to enjoying the park.

We are headed to Pandora in AK for the first time this summer. We have the movie on our DVR to watch before we go.

 

[Kivara]

If you really want to read the books, go for it! If you don't finish on time, at least you'll have quite a bit covered.

There are 198 chapters in the 7 books of Harry Potter...reading one to two chapters a day, you could be through the series by August. JMO...I'm a nut for Harry Potter and books in general

 

[lolomarie]

I used to be of the ilk that believed that all books were better than movies, but that is no longer the case, with the advancements in technology. I now think that shows such as Game of thrones and Handmaids tale surpass the written work.

HOWEVER, this is NOT at all true for Harry Potter, in my humble opinion! HP is the most lovely, magical, heartwarming, courageous, endearing story of all time! (Lol, superfan or what?!?) And I believe that it MUST and SHOULD be read before it is viewed!!!!

In your family's case, I would do a family read aloud of the first book and view the first movie prior to your trip. I wouldn't suggest going beyond the first story for the 6 year old. I would encourage older children to read beyond that, sticking relatively closely to Harry's age as previous posters have outlined that the stories become darker. Harry is 11 in book 1, 12 in 2 and so on. Depending on your 13 year old, they could possibly read to book 4, but that's when things start to take a turn for the darker. As a matter of fact, I'm currently trying to convince a dear friend of mine to make her 12 year old stop reading at book 4 and wait a year or 2. Personally, I would have had her stop at 3!

Best of luck! Whatever you choose will be best for your family!

"Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it."
– J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 

[Liberator]

When the books started to be "cool" and everyone owned it, I asked a friend who was already done with the first book if he can borrow me the book.

I was bored. Completely. I stopped after about 2/3 and felt like I wasted my time. I tried to like it, but I was not able to "enter" into the story.

I gave up on the books and watched two HP movies. It were OK-movies for me, I do not care for watching them again.

But: HP at Universal is AMAZING!!!! It is not neccessary that you know the characters or the story, but the vibe will get you! For me this is the most amazing part of a theme park I have ever seen. And Butterbeer is something I am very happy about. Their main rides are out of this world!

But when it comes to gift shops and souvenirs I have to pass. I do not need a wand or a robe...but Universal provides other gift shops where they are happy to take my money for things that will find a nice place in a drawer at home

 

[Koz]

Thanks again to everyone for keeping this thread moving along. Related question re the wands. If I opt to pick up one on Ebay for what appears to be 50 cents on the dollar, should I be concerned that it may not work properly as it didn't come directly through Universal? I'm thinking that this won't be the case, but am not sure if Universal "activates" the wand at time of purchase.

 

[nighttowll]

Universal offers free wand repair on all their wands, so if you did get one that ends up not working, it shouldn’t be an issue as long as it is a legitimate Universal wand.

Where I’d be worried is if the wand ends up being a knock-off or something like that.

The nice thing is the wands continue to work trip after trip, so even though it was expensive, we’ve continued to be able to use the same one, year after year, and if it ever beaks, they will repair it for free.

 

[KJTex]

The first time at Universal my kids were 13, 10 and 6. They had not read the HP books, but loved the land and rides. After we got back home! I think we watched some of the movies to keep the feeling of vacation alive.