Harry Potter Crowd Report Thread...

Ioa opened today at 725 for anyone to get in. Not sure when the parking deck opened. They are not checking for room keys or potter packages until you enter the park. The general public was let into wwohp at 845.

Brochures were being passed out telling guest it is better to visit wwohp after 3


There is package delivery for over sized stuff. I saw a broom being sent to a hotel. Could have been sent up the front



Today olivanders line was long first thong this am.
 
Thanks you to everyone who has been posting. I'm looking forward to seeing how much the lines thin down in September.
 


Planning on visiting WWoHP Sunday (7/18). Won't be at IOA until late afternoon. I've been reading that wait times are not as long in the evenings. I would appreciate a report from anyone that has visited recently and any thoughts on Sunday evenings in general. Thanks,
 
Sundays are usually not very busy. I think your plan to go on Sunday evening is a good idea.
 


Any reports from the last couple of days?

I was there Friday 7/9...Arrived at around 2p...got right into HP area, but there were TONS of lines. Ollivanders was at least 2hrs, FJ 75min. Unable to get into 3 Broomsticks or Derivsh and Banges. Waited 15 min for a butterbeer.

Weather....Hot and sticky..
 
I was there Friday 7/9...Arrived at around 2p...got right into HP area, but there were TONS of lines. Ollivanders was at least 2hrs, FJ 75min. Unable to get into 3 Broomsticks or Derivsh and Banges. Waited 15 min for a butterbeer.

Weather....Hot and sticky..

Thank you for that info. I've been watching this thread carefully. We're considering skipping USF this trip in favor of another day at MK. Some of my travel companions were already insisting on hopping between BOTH universal parks in one day. (Horrible idea, IMO) Couple this with the WWOHP (which is the primary thing we're all interested in) crowds and I'm feeling like we should skip USF altogether and go next time when things have died down.
 
Here's an update from my experience on Thursday July 8th. Stayed at the RPR, left hotel around 7:15am, walked to IOA via the walking path was back into the WWoHP area by about 7:45am area was already open... not sure what time the opened, but we went directly to Ollivander's and got in line. Took about 45 minutes to get in. watched the show, got pushed into the store after (Very tight, very clausterphobic!) got some wands and head off to FJ. Line stated 45 minute wait, but was really only 30 minutes... and in fact, it was a little annoying that it wasnt crowded... got hurded past dumbledores office with him still talking, through the DaD classroom just in time to see "the show"... then off to the child swap area... very easy to do... Ride was very "intense!" and a little too fast to really soak it all in...

After that it was about 9:15/9:30 or so... people were already waiting for lunch at 3 broomsticks... we took a break behind the restaurant in their outdoor seating area.

TIP: Get your butterbeerfrom the Hogshead!! dont wait in line at the cart... I went right in and order one with NO WAIT!

Headed over the DC and basically got right on with little wait.

Went back to the family who was waiting for me back at the 3 broom sticks at around 10:45 got an early lunch. they let people in already so the line was gone and got right in... had the rib/chicken platter... delicious!!
more shopping in the stores... no real lines yet for zonkos or the candy store... but ollivanders was HUGE and in the direct sun... so early entry folks... GO FIRST to avoid the heat.

took it all in, got our fill and then left the area around noon... they were just moving the line to get in rom over by JP to the main entrance.... did see how long, but they were still shouting about making sure you had your yellow tickets.

so to sum up... go early, go to ollivanders first... eat early for lunch... don't get butterbeer from the carts... go to the Hogshead! :)

Hope this helps! I really appreciate all the tips I read before my trip!!
 
Wow. how did you manage to find that out? Is that regular or was something unique going on? Just wondering.

Renee

We ate dinner there and got a flyer about the breakfast deal. We went there at 6 am and had the place to 0ourselves. Price includes drink and even used ap discount.
 
Planning on visiting WWoHP Sunday (7/18). Won't be at IOA until late afternoon. I've been reading that wait times are not as long in the evenings. I would appreciate a report from anyone that has visited recently and any thoughts on Sunday evenings in general. Thanks,

Don't go during the Day the lines were hours long we went once around dinner time waited 5 min for Butterbeer and the lines for the rides weren't to bad except for FJ which was still 2 hrs . I went last night around 9pm waited about 15 min in line for FJ and walked right into the HoneyDews.

TIPS time to go either first thing in the morning or at the end of the night before park closing if you want to do anything .
 
If staying offsite what should you line up for wwohp? Trying to decide if we should make a quick trip. Never been to Universal and was wondering if can you leave the parks and return later in the evening?
 
Sorcerer Jim .... Thanks so much for all the info. We leave in three weeks. I printed out your post to take with me. We are also staying at RPR and plan to head out early for the parks. Thanks again for the great report.
 
We were there yesterday (Sat. 7/10) and the crowds were there, but definitely much better than I expected. We decided to go to Universal first as we suspected that everyone would head straight for HP. Once we walked through City Walk and veered right to go to Universal, we noticed that EVERYONE was heading left to go to IOA, persumably for HP. Universal was great in the morning - 10-20 minute waits for everything. It was wonderful.

We headed over to IOA around 2pm. We go to HP probably closer to 3pm. We walked right in to Hogsmeade, and the wait for FJ was 60 minutes. I didn't think that was bad at all. There were lines to get into Honeyduke's/Zonko's (one line for both), Dervish & Banges/Owl Post (one line for both), and of course a line for Ollivander's. The Honeyduke's line moved fast and we were inside in about 5-10 minutes. The Dervish and Banges line moved slowly so we opted to get out of that line. We didn't even attempt Ollivander's. We walked over to the Hog's Head and had a butterbeer (about a 10 minute wait inside) and had no problem finding a table inside at all. After wandering around a bit and watching the Frog Choir, we left the HP section and went back into IOA.

We returned to HP around 6:30 and the line for FJ was at 75 minutes. We rode FJ back to back at this point and we did not wait 75 minutes for either ride. It really wasn't a bad wait - maybe an hour or slightly less from the time we got our locker to the time we spilled back out into the store. I was surprised at how many people walk right through Dumbledore's Office and the Defence Against the Dark Arts classrooms - we let several people go in front of us because we wanted to see the whole "show" in each room. If we had kept our place in line we would've missed most of it.

After leaving FJ we rode Hippogriff (15 minute wait) and then went back to the Hog's Head to try frozen butterbeer. Their frozen butterbeer was "on the fritz", but we walked right over to the Three Broomsticks line and got a frozen one and sat outside behind the Hog's Head and enjoyed it - it was only us and one other family back there! We were amazed - great quiet spot.

Overall, it was crowded like I would expect a new attraction to be, but definitely manageable and nowhere near the miserable crowds I thought it might be.
 
Curious to know if there are any thought on how busy it will be at the end of September? We will be there on a Wednesday and Thursday.
 

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