I confess myself... disapointed

[kbelle8995]

Figure that this is the newest section. There are a lot of hardcore Potter fans out there. And guess what is going to be crowded. I've learned that going early or going late is the best strategy. I love Diagon Alley so much. It is better at handling busier crowds than Hogsmeade but yes traffic has a tendency to stall in front of the Dragon.

Think of him as being the Mr. Potato Head of Universal, everybody has to get a picture

 

[christophfam]

When I first visited DA last November, each time we were there the dragon didn't breathe fire. I don't know if we just missed it or if it was experiencing technical difficulties that trip. The next trip last January I had sort of forgotten that he was supposed to do that. It was getting dark our first night and my daughter and I had just left Gringotts. We were walking down the middle of the street and all of a sudden we heard a loud boom. She screamed, I jumped and as we looked around we notice the fire above our heads. We also noticed there were people all around the outer fringes waiting to get a perfect picture. We had walked right into and under the fire ball and into their pictures. Oh well, they got a great shot of a mom and daughter scared out of their wits thinking a bomb had just gone off in DA.

 

[kelleybean]

When I first visited DA last November, each time we were there the dragon didn't breathe fire. I don't know if we just missed it or if it was experiencing technical difficulties that trip. The next trip last January I had sort of forgotten that he was supposed to do that. It was getting dark our first night and my daughter and I had just left Gringotts. We were walking down the middle of the street and all of a sudden we heard a loud boom. She screamed, I jumped and as we looked around we notice the fire above our heads. We also noticed there were people all around the outer fringes waiting to get a perfect picture. We had walked right into and under the fire ball and into their pictures. Oh well, they got a great shot of a mom and daughter scared out of their wits thinking a bomb had just gone off in DA.

Was it windy? I don't think they can operate the dragon in certain kinds of weather.

 

[glocon]

Lol- it does look like a fireball is going to shoot down the street!

 

[auntyjenn]

Yes, I hope I didn't come off too complainy. It was still great to get to go, just wanted to warn people. Here's a picture of the ally packed with muggles. Any time I have to push through people to get somewhere I am uncomfortable with it. Everyone was perfectly nice about it though.

 

[schumigirl]

It just makes me wonder how people remembered things before digital cameras were invented...

Well before digital cameras I know we and most people had a normal camera that took real pictures...........I have thousands of those too......all with precious memories. Go back far enough we as humans remembered things with cave drawings........

 

[kbelle8995]

Yes, I hope I didn't come off too complainy. It was still great to get to go, just wanted to warn people. Here's a picture of the ally packed with muggles. Any time I have to push through people to get somewhere I am uncomfortable with it. Everyone was perfectly nice about it though.


View attachment 84305

You are right in bringing this to the attention of visitors. Diagon Alley has only been open a year barely that so yes it is still the place to go at Universal. We will see if the new Kong Ride helps level this off. I had this experience as well especially on the weekend. Because right now Diagon Alley is still the hot ticket in town.

If you want to avoid the worst of the crowds you go early or you go late. I tried to avoid the walkway in front of the Dragon when I can and go through Carkitt market.

 

[sharona]

If you want to see DA with smaller crowds, try to wait until night and don't go during busy season. This was taken on a Sunday night in November, about a half hour before closing. It 's a bit blurry but you can see how uncrowded it was.

It did crowd up a bit in the alley right before the fire. In this one, you can see all the Death Eaters gathering to worship the dragon:

 

[debmich]

We only have one day and the crowd is supposed to be 6 out of 10. i think it closes at 7PM. From someone that is slightly claustrophobic, is this going to be bad?

 

[kbelle8995]

We only have one day and the crowd is supposed to be 6 out of 10. i think it closes at 7PM. From someone that is slightly claustrophobic, is this going to be bad?

Go early if you can or very late. The crowds tend to grow later in the day. Afternoon is very bad. Diagon Alley you can go to areas where it is less crowded. Hogmeade is tighter crowdwise than Diagon Alley. If it gets too bad you can always leave the area and go someplace else where the crowds are less

 

[Planogirl]

We only have one day and the crowd is supposed to be 6 out of 10. i think it closes at 7PM. From someone that is slightly claustrophobic, is this going to be bad?

We had an easy time walking around except at the corner where the dragon is and in a few of the shops. Some of the areas are pretty big and not so bad even when crowded. We did return in the evening and it was a lot quieter. It might also be better if it's rainy.

 

[ladybugx]

I can relate to this feeling of frustration. I love the parks, but I bet I would love them 10 times more if I were able to really take it all in without getting pushed in every which way, which was the case when I was there in January on a mid-crowd-level day. I honestly got incredibly frustrated at several times during the day. You can't take your time looking through the shops because there are people pushing their way around all on sides of you. You can't take a few seconds to really focus your camera the way you'd like to take a picture of a part of the land you find especially nice because you're getting pushed along and also have people walking in front of your camera nonstop. You can hardly stop to discuss what you want to go eat or where you want to go next with your group because the only thing there's really room to do is to just keep walking.

I wish it were realistic for them to only admit a certain number of people each day, but it's not. Even if it is somehow, they won't.

 

[damo]

There are areas in Diagon that are less crowded than others. Carkitt Market is usually less crowded as is Knockturn Alley. The main drag and the area right in front of Gringotts is usually crowded.

 

[schumigirl]

There are areas in Diagon that are less crowded than others. Carkitt Market is usually less crowded as is Knockturn Alley. The main drag and the area right in front of Gringotts is usually crowded.

Yes we never struggled to take pictures in most places.

We offered to take people's pictures for them and vice versa.........and never planned to stop in the middle of anywhere to chat.......just went to the side. Never found it that bad even on the busiest days.

 

[auntyjenn]

The shops were probably the worst part. Most of them were so tiny that two people couldn't fit in an aisle, so you had to stop if the person in front of you stopped. The lines for purchasing moved very quickly though.