Hogwarts_Is_Real
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2010
- Messages
- 24
we were there this past weekend--in 40 degree weather! Oh, Florida!
we had packed only shorts and tanks thinking Florida would be warm.
though i dont know much about FL weather's consistency, given our experience this past weekend, i would advise bringing a jacket at the very least to just leave in the car. that way if the temperature does drop, you can just run out to the car and bundle up instead of doing what my partner did and buying a jacket at Billabong on city walk for $70!!
(we saw so many people sporting "thing 1" and "thing 2" sweatshirts as there is a small merch cart right by the entrance of the park and i think no one expected it to be so cold so they bought the first long-sleeved shirt they found. wonder if they'll be wearing it when they get back home...)
anyway, on to more tips...
1. definitely have everything you buy sent to the front of the park. shops are so crowded it's hard to move with all your bags. also, you want to carry as little as possible because all the rides require you put stuff in lockers which takes more time. i remember reading here that FJ had free lockers but the ones we saw required payment...(has this changed?)
2. buy butterbeer/pumpkin juice in the 3 broomsticks or hogshead. the carts outside attract really long lines--also we found that eating around 10:30 am and 3:30 pm were good times when there was no wait.
3. i'm not sure the trend of fridays being the busiest day holds up. last friday it was "slow" according to the employees and saturday was almost double-y as crowded. we waited in lines way longer saturday than friday. maybe try sunday if possible?
4. do ollivander's first before FJ early in the morning. FJ early skips all of the castle bc the line moves so quickly so you don't see much. if your intent is to only ride the ride anyway and you don't care to see the castle, you always have the single rider option for the rest of the day, so see ollivander's first where the line is consistently long.
5. ollivanders is a quick, "underwhelming" 8 minute show (with usually an hour+ wait) with little special effects...it's popular, i think, because fans of the series know the weight of the wand ceremony--not because it's particularly a good show. i was delighted to see it because im such a fan of the books and know the significance of the moment in Rowling's story. the woman behind me who, by our conversation was just at the park to check it off her list and not really a HP fan, was really upset after waiting in line for an hour and seeing the show. she called it a scam. so if you arent really a fan of the story and arent impressed by small mechanical effects, then skip this. also, the quality of the 8 minute show depends heavily on the kid the wand master chooses. if they're into it and all. the girl that was chosen for us was really bored and embarassed to be there. she thought she was too cool so barely participated. what a shame because there were plenty of other kids dressed up and incredibly excited to be inside the shop--but from what i've read, he seems to choose unsuspecting people, "people in the back" who don't think they have a chance of being picked...this backfires sometimes because you'll always have the ones who don't want to be picked or are grumpy mc-grumpsters who were dragged there by family members and too cool for school.
6. one of my biggest tips is to try not to read too much into what actually goes on or happens in the park/rides because what's so magical when you finally get there is seeing it and discovering all the details/magic. i would definitely try to encourage you not to watch the youtube videos of FJ or read too much about it because it was a lot of fun not knowing what was around the corner
7. when going through the castle/FJ the first time, try to just take in everything and look around instead of snapping pictures of everything (the castle tour is GREAT for taking pictures as you can go at your own pace). i feel like a lot of people missed things because they were so busy taking pictures instead of actually seeing all the details (and there's a lot!)
8. the best part of the entire weekend---seeing hogsmeade and the castle lit up at night. stay after sunset if you can. it's breathtaking and seriously magical. most ppl leave right before or around when the park closes (at 7 pm for us this past weekend) so it was much more empty and had a very intimate feeling to it. it was lovely.
9. you can get in line for ONE LAST RIDE of FJ up until closing time (and maybe even a little bit after if they're feeling generous..) and don't worry, when you get out, if you want to grab one last pumpkin juice or couldron cake--honeydukes will stay open after the official park closing time just to accommodate to those last riders getting out of FJ. which i thought was very thoughful! (though know that almost everything else, especially those butterbeer/pumpkin juice carts outside and the other stores close on time and they're sticklers about it...)
10. if you buy a pygmy puff and they don't do the name ceremony at honey dukes---just ask the cashier. he put my friends pygmy into the bag and handed it to her. she was disappointed so i asked the cashier if he could do the name ceremony. he was happy to! she was tickled.
i'll add more if i can think of any. we had a blast and cant wait to go back! enjoy your trip and don't let long lines damper the mood! talk to those around you. everyone's more than happy to share their favorite HP moment!
we had packed only shorts and tanks thinking Florida would be warm. though i dont know much about FL weather's consistency, given our experience this past weekend, i would advise bringing a jacket at the very least to just leave in the car. that way if the temperature does drop, you can just run out to the car and bundle up instead of doing what my partner did and buying a jacket at Billabong on city walk for $70!!
(we saw so many people sporting "thing 1" and "thing 2" sweatshirts as there is a small merch cart right by the entrance of the park and i think no one expected it to be so cold so they bought the first long-sleeved shirt they found. wonder if they'll be wearing it when they get back home...)
anyway, on to more tips...
1. definitely have everything you buy sent to the front of the park. shops are so crowded it's hard to move with all your bags. also, you want to carry as little as possible because all the rides require you put stuff in lockers which takes more time. i remember reading here that FJ had free lockers but the ones we saw required payment...(has this changed?)
2. buy butterbeer/pumpkin juice in the 3 broomsticks or hogshead. the carts outside attract really long lines--also we found that eating around 10:30 am and 3:30 pm were good times when there was no wait.
3. i'm not sure the trend of fridays being the busiest day holds up. last friday it was "slow" according to the employees and saturday was almost double-y as crowded. we waited in lines way longer saturday than friday. maybe try sunday if possible?
4. do ollivander's first before FJ early in the morning. FJ early skips all of the castle bc the line moves so quickly so you don't see much. if your intent is to only ride the ride anyway and you don't care to see the castle, you always have the single rider option for the rest of the day, so see ollivander's first where the line is consistently long.
5. ollivanders is a quick, "underwhelming" 8 minute show (with usually an hour+ wait) with little special effects...it's popular, i think, because fans of the series know the weight of the wand ceremony--not because it's particularly a good show. i was delighted to see it because im such a fan of the books and know the significance of the moment in Rowling's story. the woman behind me who, by our conversation was just at the park to check it off her list and not really a HP fan, was really upset after waiting in line for an hour and seeing the show. she called it a scam. so if you arent really a fan of the story and arent impressed by small mechanical effects, then skip this. also, the quality of the 8 minute show depends heavily on the kid the wand master chooses. if they're into it and all. the girl that was chosen for us was really bored and embarassed to be there. she thought she was too cool so barely participated. what a shame because there were plenty of other kids dressed up and incredibly excited to be inside the shop--but from what i've read, he seems to choose unsuspecting people, "people in the back" who don't think they have a chance of being picked...this backfires sometimes because you'll always have the ones who don't want to be picked or are grumpy mc-grumpsters who were dragged there by family members and too cool for school.
6. one of my biggest tips is to try not to read too much into what actually goes on or happens in the park/rides because what's so magical when you finally get there is seeing it and discovering all the details/magic. i would definitely try to encourage you not to watch the youtube videos of FJ or read too much about it because it was a lot of fun not knowing what was around the corner
7. when going through the castle/FJ the first time, try to just take in everything and look around instead of snapping pictures of everything (the castle tour is GREAT for taking pictures as you can go at your own pace). i feel like a lot of people missed things because they were so busy taking pictures instead of actually seeing all the details (and there's a lot!)
8. the best part of the entire weekend---seeing hogsmeade and the castle lit up at night. stay after sunset if you can. it's breathtaking and seriously magical. most ppl leave right before or around when the park closes (at 7 pm for us this past weekend) so it was much more empty and had a very intimate feeling to it. it was lovely.
9. you can get in line for ONE LAST RIDE of FJ up until closing time (and maybe even a little bit after if they're feeling generous..) and don't worry, when you get out, if you want to grab one last pumpkin juice or couldron cake--honeydukes will stay open after the official park closing time just to accommodate to those last riders getting out of FJ. which i thought was very thoughful! (though know that almost everything else, especially those butterbeer/pumpkin juice carts outside and the other stores close on time and they're sticklers about it...)
10. if you buy a pygmy puff and they don't do the name ceremony at honey dukes---just ask the cashier. he put my friends pygmy into the bag and handed it to her. she was disappointed so i asked the cashier if he could do the name ceremony. he was happy to! she was tickled.
i'll add more if i can think of any. we had a blast and cant wait to go back! enjoy your trip and don't let long lines damper the mood! talk to those around you. everyone's more than happy to share their favorite HP moment!
