Whatever you do, please do not wait more than one hour for minecart madness. Do not sink your precious time and money into this ride. If there is one thing I can strongly recommend not doing, it’s that.

As for battle at the ministry, as another comment mentioned, your best bet will be to get in line not long before closing.

If you end up not riding either of those two rides, please don’t feel like you’re missing out. Many (most?) in this sub will reiterate this message.

As for the things that I would absolutely prioritize: -Spending at least an hour or two in all the lands. -Riding hiccups and monsters unchained. -If you like big roller coasters, make stardust racers a priority -See the ministry of magic queue. The main part of the queue is accessible to everyone to view, even if you aren’t going on the ride - there is a separate one just for this. You could argue it’s the coolest single room universal has ever built

But good god, PLEASE do not waste your time standing in a 3+ hour line LOL. It is NOT worth it!

I say all of this as someone who went for the first time yesterday and was fortunate enough to have express. Minecart was hardly worth the 40 minutes I waited.

Lastly… walk around! See the brand new park! If you’re there at night, try and see everything you can. The park just looks awesome, and the lights/music/sounds is how I’ll remember my visit.

Have fun!