IOA December 28 and 29 - Page 2 - The DIS Discussion Forums

iheartpeterpan · 12-30-2012, 01:58 AM

I was there yesterday, and after waiting 6 hours for my appointed Harry Potter world time, we finally got in there, to be crammed shoulder to shoulder with zillions of people and looking at a 200 minute wait for Forbidden Journey. The one thing I wanted to do at Universal, WWoHP and Forbidden Journey... I couldn't stay onsite or get there early because I was there for a soccer tournament.

Base ticket + $109 for express pass (which I was lucky to get as others in our group could not get it) and we were able to ride most things... but not the one thing I wanted to do.

I have already sworn Disney off at Christmas. Now I have sworn off Universal as well. My son comes for this tournament every year - but I think now we will head over to Busch Gardens... or anywhere else.

schumigirl · 12-30-2012, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iheartpeterpan

I was there yesterday, and after waiting 6 hours for my appointed Harry Potter world time, we finally got in there, to be crammed shoulder to shoulder with zillions of people and looking at a 200 minute wait for Forbidden Journey.

We have friends who are spending 3 weeks in Orlando over Christmas and I told them to avoid the parks this week.

They went yesterday to IOA and I got an email last saying just saying "You were right wish we`d listened".........now I know why. Oh dear. That`s not fun at all.

DeluxePrincess · 12-30-2012, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metro West

You learned a valuable lesson that I try to convey on the boards. Do not come during Christmas week...it's just too crowded to enjoy yourselves. Hopefully your next visit will be more enjoyable.

The "funny" thing was that I did ZERO research on Universal at Christmas, thinking Express Pass was all we needed to enjoy the parks. Wrong!

Quote:

Originally Posted by iheartpeterpan

I have already sworn Disney off at Christmas. Now I have sworn off Universal as well.

Honestly, Disney was very manageable if you stayed onsite at Christmas! Universal just can't handle the crowds as well as Disney. We saw teens dressed in their Harry Potter robes crying because they couldn't even get close enough to the castle to take a picture! Pure insanity!

iheartpeterpan · 12-30-2012, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeluxePrincess

The "funny" thing was that I did ZERO research on Universal at Christmas, thinking Express Pass was all we needed to enjoy the parks. Wrong!

Honestly, Disney was very manageable if you stayed onsite at Christmas! Universal just can't handle the crowds as well as Disney. We saw teens dressed in their Harry Potter robes crying because they couldn't even get close enough to the castle to take a picture! Pure insanity!

It is not manageable for me. I cannot stand crowds like that, where you can't walk down the street without having people touch you. MK closed for capacity every day this week. That's way too many people for me. Love Disney, just not at Christmas.

Metro West · 12-30-2012, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iheartpeterpan

It is not manageable for me. I cannot stand crowds like that, where you can't walk down the street without having people touch you. MK closed for capacity every day this week. That's way too many people for me. Love Disney, just not at Christmas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeluxePrincess

Honestly, Disney was very manageable if you stayed onsite at Christmas! Universal just can't handle the crowds as well as Disney. We saw teens dressed in their Harry Potter robes crying because they couldn't even get close enough to the castle to take a picture! Pure insanity!

You're talking about a much smaller space (WWoHP) than usual and with the MK closing so often this week, if you were to compare just Fantasyland and HP, I would imagine it's the same thing. It's too bad the kids you saw were crying but that's just the nature of the beast at Christmas for the most popular themed area in the world.

Would you have still gone to Disney w/o staying onsite?

DeluxePrincess · 12-30-2012, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metro West

Would you have still gone to Disney w/o staying onsite? [/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

Absolutely not!

We utilized EMH and that really helped us avoid crowds. We left the parks in the afternoon and came back in the evening. Can't imagine parking twice in one day with the possibility of getting shut out of a park.

cutegirlsmomma · 12-30-2012, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeluxePrincess

We spent the 27th and 28th at Universal and it was ridiculously crowded, which I expected. However, we had just spent 5 days at Disney and found that we could work around the crowds and enjoyed ourselves immensely. So, I figured with Express Pass we could be pretty much stress free at Universal. Sadly, this wasn't the case. Even Express pass had long waits. We left the parks by noon. DH tried to take DD over to Harry Potter area at around 8 o'clock last night and they had the crowds lined up way back to Jurassic Park and Mythos with people just waiting to get in Harry Potter land, not even the ride!

On a positive note, we did get to ride Forbidden Journey a couple of times at 7 am yesterday and today before we checked out. Without that hotel perk, our Universal stay would have been a disappointment. We still had fun, but our past summer visits have been so much better.

Live and learn. We will never attempt Universal again during Christmas week!

i was at IOA yesterday.....we were in the harry potter land at 8PM and it wasnt bad at all....we went on forbidden journey and only waited 30 minutes.

Metro West · 12-30-2012, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeluxePrincess

Absolutely not!

We utilized EMH and that really helped us avoid crowds. We left the parks in the afternoon and came back in the evening. Can't imagine parking twice in one day with the possibility of getting shut out of a park.

Yeah...that would be a nightmare!

DeluxePrincess · 12-30-2012, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cutegirlsmomma

i was at IOA yesterday.....we were in the harry potter land at 8PM and it wasnt bad at all....we went on forbidden journey and only waited 30 minutes.

We must have taken the crowds home with us on Saturday morning then!

There was no getting near Potter on Friday night!

THREEBOYSPLUSONE · 01-01-2013, 12:51 PM

We were at IOA on 27th and studios on 29th. It was crowded and there was some things we didn't do but we had a great time. My husband won the trip and this was the only time we could go. We didn't do roller coasters because our kids don't like them. We never got to WWOHP because there was a huge standby line just to get in section and our boys don't really care about it. The longest we waited for anything was about an hour. In the studios we didnt get on Despicable Me because the shortest line we saw all day was 100 minutes. W e did get on a couple of things a little quicker because of my disability, Cat in the Hat has a separate handicap entrance so even though the line was 45 minutes we got right on both times we went on. We never made it for park opening usually about half hour later and we stayed for 12 hours in each park. We really enjoyed it. At IOA we ate lunch around 11 and there were no lines. The only place we encountered lines for the bathroom was the studios and that was only in the afternoon. Before lunch time it was really nice walking around and a lot of things didnt have long waits but after lunch was a completely different story. I would have no problem going that time of year again.

12-30-2012, 01:58 AM	#16
iheartpeterpan Still A Kid At Heart Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 273	I was there yesterday, and after waiting 6 hours for my appointed Harry Potter world time, we finally got in there, to be crammed shoulder to shoulder with zillions of people and looking at a 200 minute wait for Forbidden Journey. The one thing I wanted to do at Universal, WWoHP and Forbidden Journey... I couldn't stay onsite or get there early because I was there for a soccer tournament. Base ticket + $109 for express pass (which I was lucky to get as others in our group could not get it) and we were able to ride most things... but not the one thing I wanted to do. I have already sworn Disney off at Christmas. Now I have sworn off Universal as well. My son comes for this tournament every year - but I think now we will head over to Busch Gardens... or anywhere else. __________________ 1972 Fort Wilderness, 1976 Fort Wilderness, 1978 Disneyland California, 1985 "College Girls" Offsite, 1991 Honeymoon Trip Offsite, 1996 Coronado Springs, 2000 Coronado Springs, 2004 Magic Kingdom Offsite, 2006 Disneyland Paris Offsite, 2008 Wilderness Lodge, 2009 Grand Floridian, 2010 Coronado Springs, 2010 Offsite Soccer Tournament at ESPN WWS, 2011 Wilderness Lodge, 2011 POP Soccer Tournament at ESPN WWS, 2012 Offsite, 2012 Fort Wilderness, 2012 Offsite Soccer Tournament at ESPN WWS, 2013 Band Trip POFQ

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01-01-2013, 12:51 PM	#25
THREEBOYSPLUSONE Earning My Ears Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 18	We were at IOA on 27th and studios on 29th. It was crowded and there was some things we didn't do but we had a great time. My husband won the trip and this was the only time we could go. We didn't do roller coasters because our kids don't like them. We never got to WWOHP because there was a huge standby line just to get in section and our boys don't really care about it. The longest we waited for anything was about an hour. In the studios we didnt get on Despicable Me because the shortest line we saw all day was 100 minutes. W e did get on a couple of things a little quicker because of my disability, Cat in the Hat has a separate handicap entrance so even though the line was 45 minutes we got right on both times we went on. We never made it for park opening usually about half hour later and we stayed for 12 hours in each park. We really enjoyed it. At IOA we ate lunch around 11 and there were no lines. The only place we encountered lines for the bathroom was the studios and that was only in the afternoon. Before lunch time it was really nice walking around and a lot of things didnt have long waits but after lunch was a completely different story. I would have no problem going that time of year again.