Harry Potter Crowd Report Thread...

[Trishde]

Ok, so reading the reports was promising-we decided to rent a car and valet-we were at the gate by 8:40am and not too bad of a line. We high tail it with a pit stop to ladies room- I do the speed p** thing so less than a minute and my guys busted me for that- definitely through suessville - Got to Hogsmeade-quick pic of Hogwarts Express- then butterbeer cart-butterbeer (frozen is a butterscotch treat) was awesome but they need to and can make an adult version-so I see the line for Olivanders-not horrible but glad that is where me and DS10 went while DH & DS14 went on Dragon Challenge which they loved. Even though they picked another kid for the wand (still an awesome show) -"Olivander" or one of his "helpers" asked my son his age and when his birthday was and told him to get a holly wand- which we did and decided to get the birthday wands also for ds14 and myself-which my b-day id next Saturday so I got a Vine wand-there was a crowd- more than what I expected since the valet said not on the crowds. I think because it was hot that didn't help-maybe fans all around wherever they can be fitted while people are waiting and cool mist- something to think about with that FL weather- Forbidden Journey so worth the short and even though short it was hot and wore us out but I don't get it because we got in castle and you could have ran to where you got on ride- I didn't get that whole deal- taking pics is tough since I had a camera that is 7 years old -lots of great stuff in the castle -but the ride is unbelievable- locker part is a madhouse- getting one and getting your stuff back-even though the crowd was considered light- I think there could be more organization there. They have a sign for the lockers but then you have to figure before you get to lockers the left is for ride-Oh and a big btw- you have to do the fingerprint thing for the locker so whoever gets the locker has to open the locker- I will tell you- I had fit flops and made sure they were on my feet- I had skorts with pocket didn't lose cell or camera if you are a steady hand to hold on and a camera at the end then you could get great pics at the end when you return to Hogwarts.

 

[GetGlowing]

Getting really excited! I can't wait to check out Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, and Forbidden Journey!

What's the price of frozen butterbeer? Any sites or blogs that show a good selection of available souvenirs with prices? I'd like to do some "preshopping."

 

[Imagineer5]

Wait I'm confused, I thought offsite guests would be escorted to the left instead of through Seuss?

We'll be there for 2-3 days in about 3 weeks

We planned to get to the parking lot (staying at Disney) by 8:30AM and then we thought we'd have to go to the left to get into WWoHP thru JP & LC, but can we go to the right thru Seuss?

Never been before so really looking forward to everything, but def want to see WW first! Thanks for the advice!

 

[Trishde]

They let all of us go through Seussville.
We got in line for the park at 8:40am we purchased the tickets through the Universal website so we had them. They opened the gates for us at 8:50am they were letting the hotel guests in through another gate.
I don't know what the park was like in the afternoon because it was too hot to stay. But it did get busy -go to Olivander's first the line gets busy later. They only let about 20 in at a time and just because you get in first doesn't mean you get picked. They only pick one person and it is a great show.

 

[damo]

Wait I'm confused, I thought offsite guests would be escorted to the left instead of through Seuss?

We'll be there for 2-3 days in about 3 weeks

We planned to get to the parking lot (staying at Disney) by 8:30AM and then we thought we'd have to go to the left to get into WWoHP thru JP & LC, but can we go to the right thru Seuss?

Never been before so really looking forward to everything, but def want to see WW first! Thanks for the advice!

It all depends on crowds. When we were there last week, people were all entering thru Seuss.

 

[MHT to MCO]

We're headed out to Universal next week, and I have a question about parking...

I thought I read on here that someone did preferred parking and that it was totally worth it. Anyone do the preferred parking or valet? What were your experiences? Or do you think that with crowds down so much, we can not be so lazy and be fine hiking it?

 

[Imagineer5]

They let all of us go through Seussville.
We got in line for the park at 8:40am we purchased the tickets through the Universal website so we had them. They opened the gates for us at 8:50am they were letting the hotel guests in through another gate.
I don't know what the park was like in the afternoon because it was too hot to stay. But it did get busy -go to Olivander's first the line gets busy later. They only let about 20 in at a time and just because you get in first doesn't mean you get picked. They only pick one person and it is a great show.

It all depends on crowds. When we were there last week, people were all entering thru Seuss.

K thanks for the replies. Glad I know this now and am not confused when they start making me go the other way! (Seuss is faster, too, right? so that's even better!). I'll be there on a Sunday (Oct 3rd) and also on a Thursday (the 7th) so hopefully not too bad. Still not sure about buying express pass.

Also interested to hear why paying for the preferred parking was so great, esp if we get there so early?

 

[jenny105]

K thanks for the replies. Glad I know this now and am not confused when they start making me go the other way! (Seuss is faster, too, right? so that's even better!). I'll be there on a Sunday (Oct 3rd) and also on a Thursday (the 7th) so hopefully not too bad. Still not sure about buying express pass.

Also interested to hear why paying for the preferred parking was so great, esp if we get there so early?

We'll be there the 7th too!

 

[USMCLtCol]

Late report from our visit.

Based on the posts here, we decided to hit Harry on Sunday, 29 August. We were staying on Disney property, so we got over to IOA at about 9am. No lines to get into IOA at all, and we headed right to cut through Seuss. Got up to WWoHP a few minutes later, and it the crowd was sparse. We went straight on up to Hogwarts for FJ. The ride was a bit up and down that morning, apparently, but we only waited about 20 minutes. Most of that was waiting for the ride to come back online. Just as we reached the loading platform, it was shut down for about 5-10 minutes.

While my oldest daughter (the big Harry fan) and I stayed in WWoHP, my wife took the three smaller non-Potters to Seussville. They had a ball! We decided the plan was for my daughter and I to explore the HP area on our own, and hook up with the rest around noon.

We hit all the shops (except Ollivander's, more on that later...), rode the Hippogriff (nice), skipped the Dragons, had a Butterbeer each (I got frozen, she got bubbles. Frozen was more betterer), and took a boatload of pictures. We met up with the little guys (twins 6 yrs old and one 5 yr old), and we all rode the Hippogriff again. It was noon, and time to implement Phase Two of the plan.

Phase Two was to take the three little guys back to Disney, where they joined the evening babysitting club at around 4pm. That left my wife, me, and my oldest, to go back to WWoHP from about 5-8 (closing time). This was a home run. Back at HP, the sparse crowds were even lighter! We walked up to FJ, cut through Filch's to snag a locker, and walked onto FJ 4 times with no wait! This is where Ollivander's comes in. The line in the morning was estimated to be about an hour, so we waited to take our chances when we returned. Good move. We got on line at 5:50, waited 10 minutes, and we inside! Best of all, my daughter was picked for the show. She wore her maroon Griffendor tie, sidled her way towards the front, right hand side of the shop, and was chosen. Nice show, and she ended up with a vine wand. Worth the trip right there!

Overall, Sunday was a great move, and I would recommend also trying to incorporate an evening. Hogwarts looks very nice at night. I have a great picture of it I need to post!

 

[padams]

We spent this past Labor Day weekend at US/IOA. On Saturday morning around 10 am, the line for Forbidden Journey was 30 minutes just as the sign posted. On Sunday and Monday, we virtually walked right on to the Forbidden Journey using the single rider line. Literally, we waited only 1 or 2 minutes at the front of the line to join with groups of 2 or 3. The wait times were 30-40 minutes for the regular line. Labor Day was significantly less crowded than Saturday and Sunday. Sunday was the busiest.

As for Olivander's, the line on Saturday and Sunday was about an hour. On Monday, we were able to catch the line being only 35 minutes. IMHO, Olivander's isn't worth waiting more than 20 minutes. It's cute. It lasts less than 10 minutes. It's special if your child is picked, and they are young enough to believe the "magic". My 12 and 14 year olds bought wands and enjoyed the wand shop but they thought waiting in line for the Olivander's "show" was a total waste of their time. They would have preferred riding FJ or the Dragons in that time.

 

[scromwell]

We were there on Wednesday 9/8. Stayed overnight at Royal Pacific. I had received an email with a special deal...not sure if it was for FL residents or annual passholders (I'm both), but we scored a room for $134 including breakfast!

We arrived at IOA at about 8:05 and walked directly to WWOHP through Seuss area. The crowds were very light. Went directly to Ollivanders and were admitted to the 2nd show of the day after about a 5 minute wait. Everyone on line was admitted...about 10 of us. After Ollivanders we went directly to FJ. We were asked whether we wanted to go directly to the ride or whether we wanted to "see the castle." We said directly to the ride and were on with no wait at all in about 5 minutes. We immediately went back and this time chose to "see the castle." We took our time, walked slowly through the queue, and really looked at all the props and special effects. There was NO LINE!!!

After riding for the second time, we took our time and checked out all the shops. They were fairly crowded, but manageable. We exited WWOHP at about 10:30am, and there was no line to get in. People were just walking right in.

This visit was great and in sharp contrast to our visit in July when we could barely move anywhere in Hogsmeade, and the line to get into WWOHP snaked halfway around the park when we left!

 

[kjdaniel66]

I thought it was very jerky and kind of rough, but everyone's perception on this could be different. What you could do, is have all of you walk through the castle on your first time through so that you can all experience it together. Then your mom could exit while you and the others ride. If you think it is not too much, she could ride using single rider which never had a long wait the times that we went. Or, you could ride single rider (DH and the boys walked on via single rider yesterday at 9 am) and then see who should ride and then everyone could walk through the castle together whether they are riding or not.

Thanks for your insight! As the trip gets closer...I am getting more and more nervous about it.

Thanks again,
Kelly

 

[kjdaniel66]

Now I am sure I am not going to ride when we go. I want to walk through the castle and taste a butter beer. DH will ride and drink the rest of the butter beer.

Thanks everyone for your insight and help. I think that I am going to convince my mom not to go. She did great on soaring but I think FJ might be a little too intense for her.

What is the height requirement for the ride?

6 Days until our trip starts. YAHOO!!!

 

[kjdaniel66]

Forbidden Journey isn't bumpy or really jerky but kind of swoops back and forth and up and down. It does so a lot more aggressively than Soarin' and you sometimes feel like you could fall out thus the good solid restraints.

I felt a few moments of queasiness at the beginning each time I rode but it went away immediately. I think that taking dramamine is a good idea, just in case.

Great advice...thanks. I will tell her it is like soaring but more intense. The whole feeling like she might fall out.....will probably help change her mind. ;o)

Thanks again for your help.
Kelly

 

[padams]

Great advice...thanks. I will tell her it is like soaring but more intense. The whole feeling like she might fall out.....will probably help change her mind. ;o)

Thanks again for your help.
Kelly

Hi Kelly,

The ride mechanism that causes the seat to move in the Harry Potter ride is the same mechanism that Legoland uses on its robotic arm rides at its parks. In San Diego, the Legoland ride is knight themed. In the Denmark park, it's dragon themed. In Germany, it's a Bionicle, I think. I share this info with you because if you search youtube and the internet generally, you will find videos of these rides. The Harry Potter ride is 4 seats across rather than the 2 seats at Legoland and you don't program the movement yourself as you do at Legoland. The movement of the HP ride is less dramatic than what you can experience at legoland. Nonetheless, you can get a excellent idea of how the HP ride works, particularly the sweeping motions as described by othres above. The other difference is that the Legoland rides" arms are stationary and the HP ride moves down a track as the arm moves. I think if you can see how the ride works, you will know what to expect. If I hadn't ridden these Legoland rides, I would not be able to describe the HP ride accurately.

 

[padams]

I should have specifically said you can find youtube videos of the Legoland rides. Hope that helps.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Great advice...thanks. I will tell her it is like soaring but more intense. The whole feeling like she might fall out.....will probably help change her mind. ;o)

Thanks again for your help.
Kelly

I am not trying to be argumentative, but I don't think it is like Soarin. Soarin is the ONLY ride at WDW that DH will never ride again because he hated that feeling of flying with nothing really holding you in/ nothing to hold on to. On the other hand, he loved FJ. It has the harness like the loop roller coasters and you feel really secure in the ride. Which is a good thing because if I'd thought I had any chance of getting out of that thing, I probably would have jumped out and run for it!

 

[kjdaniel66]

Hi Kelly,

The ride mechanism that causes the seat to move in the Harry Potter ride is the same mechanism that Legoland uses on its robotic arm rides at its parks. In San Diego, the Legoland ride is knight themed. In the Denmark park, it's dragon themed. In Germany, it's a Bionicle, I think. I share this info with you because if you search youtube and the internet generally, you will find videos of these rides. The Harry Potter ride is 4 seats across rather than the 2 seats at Legoland and you don't program the movement yourself as you do at Legoland. The movement of the HP ride is less dramatic than what you can experience at legoland. Nonetheless, you can get a excellent idea of how the HP ride works, particularly the sweeping motions as described by othres above. The other difference is that the Legoland rides" arms are stationary and the HP ride moves down a track as the arm moves. I think if you can see how the ride works, you will know what to expect. If I hadn't ridden these Legoland rides, I would not be able to describe the HP ride accurately.

Padam,

WOW...thanks so much for your insight. i will definitely check out the videos on Utube. After reading eveyone's posts I was getting nervous for my 7 year old son also. I bet watching th videos will definitely help.

As for legoland in SD...is it cool for older kids too? My son is 7 and has been begging me to take him. When we moved back east from Cali in 2005 he was only 2..so we didn't go. I was just wondering how cool it is. Please let me know.
And thanks again for your help.
Kelly

 

[Imagineer5]

We'll be there the 7th too!

Nice! Maybe we'll see you there! Only ones at Universal w/ lime green mickey heads!

Late report from our visit.

Based on the posts here, we decided to hit Harry on Sunday, 29 August. We were staying on Disney property, so we got over to IOA at about 9am. No lines to get into IOA at all, and we headed right to cut through Seuss. Got up to WWoHP a few minutes later, and it the crowd was sparse. We went straight on up to Hogwarts for FJ. The ride was a bit up and down that morning, apparently, but we only waited about 20 minutes. Most of that was waiting for the ride to come back online. Just as we reached the loading platform, it was shut down for about 5-10 minutes.

While my oldest daughter (the big Harry fan) and I stayed in WWoHP, my wife took the three smaller non-Potters to Seussville. They had a ball! We decided the plan was for my daughter and I to explore the HP area on our own, and hook up with the rest around noon.

We hit all the shops (except Ollivander's, more on that later...), rode the Hippogriff (nice), skipped the Dragons, had a Butterbeer each (I got frozen, she got bubbles. Frozen was more betterer), and took a boatload of pictures. We met up with the little guys (twins 6 yrs old and one 5 yr old), and we all rode the Hippogriff again. It was noon, and time to implement Phase Two of the plan.

Phase Two was to take the three little guys back to Disney, where they joined the evening babysitting club at around 4pm. That left my wife, me, and my oldest, to go back to WWoHP from about 5-8 (closing time). This was a home run. Back at HP, the sparse crowds were even lighter! We walked up to FJ, cut through Filch's to snag a locker, and walked onto FJ 4 times with no wait! This is where Ollivander's comes in. The line in the morning was estimated to be about an hour, so we waited to take our chances when we returned. Good move. We got on line at 5:50, waited 10 minutes, and we inside! Best of all, my daughter was picked for the show. She wore her maroon Griffendor tie, sidled her way towards the front, right hand side of the shop, and was chosen. Nice show, and she ended up with a vine wand. Worth the trip right there!

Overall, Sunday was a great move, and I would recommend also trying to incorporate an evening. Hogwarts looks very nice at night. I have a great picture of it I need to post!

Awesome report!! CAN'T WAIT!! We're going on a Sunday too so that should be pretty decent in terms of lines (though HHN is that night...)

 

[Friendly Frog]

We're headed out to Universal next week, and I have a question about parking...

I thought I read on here that someone did preferred parking and that it was totally worth it. Anyone do the preferred parking or valet? What were your experiences? Or do you think that with crowds down so much, we can not be so lazy and be fine hiking it?

Good question.