A Celebration of Harry Potter Crowds?

[KTwiegs]

We have had a trip planned for Harry potter for almost a year… and now that day has landed on the celebration of harry potter event. Im actually not thrilled about it because i was hoping for low crowds at the end of January. We will be there Friday the 29th of January. So it is the first day and we are planning to be there first thing in the morning and gone by early afternoon.

What kind of crowds should I expect?
thank you!

 

[macraven]

people that are there for the parry hotter gala will not necessarily be in the parks but at the private events for it.
believe some of it was held at the hotel.

scheduled events are during the day so you won't be facing that much of a crowd until the events are over for it each day.

there should be a schedule on line for times and places for this gala.

many participants that bought tickets for the event do come prior to it and stay a few days after so they can get in park time.

that would be the time period i would think could make the parks more crowded.

 

[chabs]

We have had a trip planned for Harry potter for almost a year… and now that day has landed on the celebration of harry potter event. Im actually not thrilled about it because i was hoping for low crowds at the end of January. We will be there Friday the 29th of January. So it is the first day and we are planning to be there first thing in the morning and gone by early afternoon.

What kind of crowds should I expect?
thank you!

I went last year and I didn't find the crowds to be awful. The bonus is that you will be able to get into the HP expo for free because it's included in the price of your ticket. Last year all of the in park events were at the studios (not IOA). I thought IOA was worse because it seemed like all of the South American tourists groups were specifically kept out of US because of the events-but IOA was mobbed with them. It was ok for us because we just went the opposite way and had FOTL because we stayed at the RP. The lines for rides were not bad at all and we never had to wait. We got in line for the expo when the cast interviews were going on last year and the line was about an hour. It was well worth the wait to see the expo. They had a lot of the costumes and props on display. The expo was at the end of the street by Rip Ride Rocket coaster in a separate building and there was also a little gift shop where you could buy event items. We didn't buy the package or anything-we were mostly just interested in seeing the expo. We were lucky enough to run into the Weasley twins and get pictures last year so that was a bonus. I wouldn't worry too much. We went back again in August and the crowds in January don't even compare. We couldn't even get into the HP shops to look at anything in August-it was ridiculously crowded if you didn't go first thing in the morning.

 

[bumbershoot]

From our experience of being there at the same time, there are no in-park crowds. The people there for the event are AT the events.

We were lucky enough to run into the Weasley twins and get pictures last year so that was a bonus.

So cool!

We were 100% avoiding any of the events but ran into Evanna Lynch and got a picture with her.

 

[pbb322]

We are going for the Celebration. This year the events are at both parks, but Friday night the only "event" for the Celebration is the private party in the two Harry Potter sections, and that starts in the evening, the daytime events are in the parks but only on Sat. and Sun., other than the expo which I think is open on Friday. Since it sounds like you will be gone by Friday afternoon you likely will not have a crowd level higher than normal, other than maybe a long line at the expo if you want to go see it.

 

[KTwiegs]

thank you for everyones help!

 

[qa4ever]

Does anyone know what the crowds will be like on the Saturday of the festival? Are there events in both parks that day and at what time and where?

 

[bumbershoot]

Does anyone know what the crowds will be like on the Saturday of the festival? Are there events in both parks that day and at what time and where?

https://www.universalorlando.com/Events/Celebration-of-Harry-Potter/Panels-And-Discussions.aspx

That's the info I found. The events might be in parks but they aren't obvious. At least not in our experience. If it hadn't been for running into "Luna" I wouldn't have known anything was going on. The attendees are busy in their panels etc. they aren't filling up the parks in ways that impact normal park-goers. In my experience.