1. Get there as early as you can to avoid longer lines (and remember if you're staying at Royal Pacific or Portofino Bay, your room key acts as your fast pass for some of the rides and that you can get in early to the park). Or consider getting there in the afternoon when everyone's eating lunch and already inside the park.
2. Get a locker only if you need to. The lockers can be somewhat pricey if you use them all day, so limit what you bring into the park. Share a bag (and keep it small so they fit in the locker should you decide you need one to ride Forbidden Journey or something), keep money to pay for one, if you have a hat or camera, make sure they can be put in the locker as well. Also, a note: there are apparently little compartments in the Forbidden Journey seats so that you can stow cameras, but they rushed us on last year so we didn't get to stow ours there. Brae had to hang onto it for dear life throughout the ride. Keep that in mind for shoes that might fall off as well since your feet dangle freely on FJ.
3. Oh, and one more note about FJ, it does fasten between your legs so wear spanks under uniform skirts, girls!
4. Speaking of uniforms, I've heard conflicting information about the park's costume policy, but it is officially that they will not let you in if you're over 18 and wearing a uniform. This is to prevent predators from luring children away from parents (or finding lost children) and pretending they work there. So, yes, they sell robes and stuff there, but you cannot wear them in the park! The only exception is DURING the Open at the Close event for Leaky attendees after 10pm. I know last year at Infinitus we were allowed to wear costumes after 2pm in the park, but the rules changed this year for Leaky. I know some people have posted that they've worn their uniforms and haven't gotten in trouble or wore everything but the robes and got in, but do so at your own risk. And remember, crazy tourists will come up to you and demand you take pictures with them if you do this and manage to get in.
We wore our Slytherin robes last year and a Spanish tourist came up to ask if she could take a picture with us. I don't think we responded right away, and her entire tour group came up to us until we were surrounded by about 30 girls who didn't speak a word of English to hear our protests. They grabbed our purchases out of our hands to wave our wands about enthusiastically and cuddle Brae's stuffed owl and Fluffy for picture after picture after picture. You have been warned!
5. Share food. It's expensive, especially if you add up everything you'll want in Honeydukes. So, use what you learned in kindergarten, and save some money.
6. Think about shopping elsewhere. There's a store in the airport with WWoHP merchandise as well as outside the park. Add that to carts along the street in WWoHP, and you might be better off using one of the many other options. (I know, we all want to see Honeydukes, The Three Broomsticks, Ollivander's, etc. This is just for convenience.)
7. Buy a souvenir glass for butterbeer! It costs around 85 cents to refill it with soda, it's free to refill it with water, and it's only around $3.25 to refill it with butterbeer (if one glass doesn't make you completely full and hyper).
8. Go to the bathroom! Trust me. Oh, and check out the Gringotts ATM too and see how many galleons are in your account!
9. Hang around for the shows. They're pretty darn sweet.
10. Wear plenty of sunscreen. Think about bringing a fan, water bottle, umbrella, and a hat. And don't forget cameras and cell phones in case you lose your friends in the crowd.
11. If you're staying at Royal Pacific or Portofino Bay, remember it's free to have purchases sent to your room, but I wouldn't recommend trusting them with chocolate or anything that might melt in the heat. Take that back to your room with you when you leave (and think about buying it just before you leave the park so it's not goo when you open it expecting it to be frog-shaped.
12. Pay attention to some of the advice in our Con Advice post about saving money by not eating in the park (or only eating at the Open at the Close event since they'll have a lot of stuff for free), getting on certain rides and shopping at certain times, paying attention to your health since it's easy to become dehydrated in the Florida heat, etc.
13. If you want to do everything, don't expect to cram it into the eleven hours that a ticket to Open at the Close will get you there. You'll need at least a few more hours. We tried last year with Night of a Thousand Wizards and didn't get to ride Dueling Dragons and barely made it onto Forbidden Journey. If you take any more time shopping than we did, you'll miss stuff, especially if you return to the Royal Pacific for the opening festivities.
14. Don't let long lines deter you from doing everything. It will take a while, but it's so worth it!
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