Is Harry Potter Costume good quality at Universal? How crowded are Sundays in September?

[ExcitedMama]

I'm trying to figure out how to plan our week so I can buy park tickets. DH has a conference at the Disney Hotel and we are tagging along. We drive down from Nor Cal and arrive at the hotel 9/23 and check out 9/29. During the week DH will be at his conference. My 7 year old has just discovered HP and says he wants to be him for Halloween. We haven't been to Disneyland since he was 4. DH had a conference in downtown LA and afterwards we changed hotels to one of the motels by Disneyland. He couldn't read then so when we got on the tram from the garage he had no idea where we were going, he was all excited because he thought we were going to the movies! It was awesome when he figured out what was going on. Even if we don't tell him again there's no surprising where we are when we check in at the DH, which will still be fun. I was thinking the best day to take him to Universal would be Sunday 9/24 so DH can go and it would be really fun to throw my son for a loop as we drive away from Disney where he's going to expect to go. At some point this time he might figure it out before we get that there since at some point I'm sure there will be signs but I'm sure he will be very excited. Would this be a pretty good day to go? They are crazy early risers so we could leave pretty early to try and make whatever opening time is.

Since he wants to be HP and we will probably try to do the Mickey Halloween party one night is a HP Costume from Universal worth it? I have no idea how much an upcharge would be for buying it there but I figured it would add to the fun memory/souvenir for him, but I don't want to do it if the quality isn't good. Thanks!

 

[SMD]

The robes are $110, the scarves are $40 and the ties are $35-ish. Interactive wands are $50. I'd buy a costume elsewhere and get a tie or wand at the parks. They also sell house patches for $8-10, so you could always get a generic robe and add the patch that you get in the park to save some money that way.

 

[StageTek]

The quality is very good. Sundays in September are not too crowded.

 

[ExcitedMama]

Thanks! Any recommendations on where to buy the costume elsewhere in advance?

 

[StageTek]

Walmart, Target, Party City all sell robes and ties. Amazon has a "Harry Potter Costume Kit"

 

[ExcitedMama]

Oh, I know I could probably find one anywhere. I should have been more specific. I meant where would be the best place to buy a good quality robe? This would be used a lot for dress up and then handed down to another wizard in the future. Thanks!

 

[SMD]

Etsy? It's hard to judge quality, but they do have reviews for past sales.

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh, I know I could probably find one anywhere. I should have been more specific. I meant where would be the best place to buy a good quality robe? This would be used a lot for dress up and then handed down to another wizard in the future. Thanks!

Universal's robes are amazing. We bought my son's when he was 7, and apart from the fact that they are above his knees now, they are still beautiful. We'll be passing them along soon, once I can release my teary-eyed grip from them. oh and he's 13 now and wore them for many a dress up time and Halloween.

Expensive but very worth it.

 

[ExcitedMama]

Thank you Bumbershoot! Now you have me leaning to buying onsite which I do think would add to the memory/souvenir value. I'm still trying to plan out our trip and the day we go to Universal depends on when I could get tickets to MHP and if Universal is doing a nighttime thing at the castle in the fall. It looks like we would be going on either a Sunday morning or a weekday morning during the end of sept. Does anyone know if the robes are a one size fits all or sized? Would there be any risk of them not being in stock? I can't seem to find much information on USH, another thread mentioned early admission with advanced purchase would the costume shop be open? I imagine he'd have more fun if he was wearing his robe for the ride to add to the experience. Thanks!

 

[StageTek]

Well you can't go wrong with the robes directly from USH. I would say that is the best place to buy a good quality robe. There are many different sizes of robes. The shop is open during early admission.

The nighttime thing stops in August - last one is 20th. September starts Halloween so the park closes at 6PM.

 

[danielocha30]

you won't find anything like the ones at Universal, those robes are beautiful and they don't look like a costume is the real thing, they are heavyweight and IMO nothing will be better than this, you ask for a full costume, you can really improvise and get the pants and shirt anywhere and just add the accent to the robe, check out Hot Topic web they carry lots of good HP merchandise for great prices stuff like scarfs, socks are better priced there

 

[ExcitedMama]

Thanks so much everyone! I'll bu a scarf ahead of time then and see what else he needs for the full costume look.

Oh no, Stage Trek the park closes at 6pm in the fall? Is that because they do a separate Halloween themed event? Or just no reason to be open late? That's really helpful in trying to figure out how to fit in the trip to USH and the museums.

 

[StageTek]

https://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/calendar-and-hours/

Click to September. It's a little of both - the Halloween event on weekends and generally low attendance during the week

 

[ExcitedMama]

Thanks again StageTrek! I completely missed the calendar somehow!

 

[bumbershoot]

There are sizes. My son has an xxxs that was long when he was 7. I think they go up to xxl.

Not sure what time the shop opens but there's a store in citywalk that has HP stuff. Might have the robes. From memory it's right at the end of CW as you get bear the security area to enter the park.

 

[oakleycat]

The robes sold in the park are amazing, definitely get one there if you can swing it. Plus picking one out in the official robe shop in Hogsmeade is a cool experience for the kids. We have two, one bought in Orlando and one at USH, and they are still going strong after many many trips to USH. Prior to those we had a couple bought from Party City/Amazon and they do not compare.

 

[StageTek]

An excellent point, oakleycat. In March I took my niece to get a robe. Just watching her in the store was a joy. And the employees were so great - they enhanced the experience by playing along in character.

 

[ExcitedMama]

I had not idea the stores were character themed for anything other than the wand! How fun! Thanks so much!

 

[oakleycat]

It's not technically a "character experience" like the wand show but the team members in the stores are great and will usually try to play up their characters. My son broke his first wand (bought in Orlando) and took it back to the wand store (2 years later at USH) and the employee played along and took it back for "magical repair" and brought him a a new one, no cost. The customer service we have experienced has been excellent!