FJ Castle Tour only?

[EPRV We love Disney]

Hello!

I've been hearing that recently the FJ Castle Tour is not always available. Can anyone who has visited recently let me know if they noticed that the Tour was open? Only at certain times?

Does anyone know why the Tour would be closed at all?

Thanks!!

 

[mesaboy2]

It was surely for the high crowds expected over Christmas and New Years, so they could use the extra queue space freed up by closing CT. I don't think there's any restriction on it anymore.

 

[RMulieri]

oops.According to the Orlando Informer website, they are still having the tours.What they haven't been doing lately is separating the Tour-Only from the Ride line.The past week they have been requiring you to wait in one line whether u are riding or not.

http://www.orlandoinformer.com/2012...-part-of-forbidden-journey-really-closed-now/

 

[EPRV We love Disney]

oops.According to the Orlando Informer website, they are still having the tours.What they haven't been doing lately is separating the Tour-Only from the Ride line.The past week they have been requiring you to wait in one line whether u are riding or not.

http://www.orlandoinformer.com/2012...-part-of-forbidden-journey-really-closed-now/

HI!

Thanks!

It looks like what I mean is, is the Tour only line open. It appears that when you have to get in the regular line for the ride, it is difficult to stop and take in the scenery. So, the question is... is the Tour only line open?

Thanks! E

 

[EPRV We love Disney]

It was surely for the high crowds expected over Christmas and New Years, so they could use the extra queue space freed up by closing CT. I don't think there's any restriction on it anymore.

I hope it's open when we go in early Feb!! I'd like to be able to take in the castle without being rushed through the line.

Thanks!!E

 

[mesaboy2]

I hope it's open when we go in early Feb!! I'd like to be able to take in the castle without being rushed through the line.

Thanks!!E

If I'm reading RMulieri's post right, they're agreeing with me that the line is open but that you may have to go through the same line as everyone else (including those riding) until you get to it. On busy days, like when I was there over Thanksgiving weekend, that could mean as much as a 10-15 minute wait to get to the point where you would start the Castle Tour. But in early February, I don't think that'll be a problem at all--I bet you'll be able to walk right to it and then once in it, take your time!

 

[EPRV We love Disney]

This is super confusing, isn't it?

I think there are actually two issues..

One is the line to get into the Castle, this I understand is only one line now. Everyone waits in it.

The other is the Tour only option. If I understand correctly, this was an option to tour the castle separately from the line that goes to the ride. It doesn't include all of the rooms but does allow you to take your time.

The Tour only option appears to be intermittantly closed....particularly when the park is busy, but also when it's not busy.

Here is what I read from the link that was posted:

When I was at Universal today asking about the tour-only line, I was told that it was going to be closed all day. The team member did say I could use the regular line to go through the tour. She said that If I wanted to stop and check out something in one of the castle’s rooms, I could just wave people past me. Well, anyone who has been inside that line knows that it is very inconvenient to try to stop in the middle of the queue and tell other people to squeeze past you. That’s why there is a tour-only line! In the tour-only line you could really take your time and enjoy all the wonders of the castle. And you could easily bring your camera too.

By the way, I was told today that the castle tour-only line would be closed all day, despite the fact that when I was there the regular line didn’t even extend past the front entrance to the castle. So, there goes my theory that they are closing the tour-only line just when it is really busy.

So, to answer your question, is the castle tour still part of things? Yes, most definitely. Will you be able to take the tour-only line next time you visit so you can really appreciate Hogwarts Castle and skip the locker line? Probably not, unless the park is completely dead.

Too bad, huh?

So, I was hoping to hear from someone who has just gone and can let us know what they experienced....

Thanks!
E

 

[damo]

Phamton said that the tour only option was closed during the holiday season.

From what I have read in the past few days, the only people who don't go into the new queue are those who are doing the tour and those who are single riders without bags.

 

[RMulieri]

Orlando Informer tweeted again that today as well there was NO separate tour line.Everyone waits on the same line and proceeds through the castle .Meaning whether you are riding or not ,needing a locker etc.Everyone is waiting on the same line and walking through the castle to the ride start point.That presents logjams as people want to stop and take pictures etc..If this is going to be the new procedure , I think it stinks.Especially since it isn't even all that busy the past few days.

 

[mesaboy2]

Orlando Informer tweeted again that today as well there was NO separate tour line.Everyone waits on the same line and proceeds through the castle .Meaning whether you are riding or not ,needing a locker etc.Everyone is waiting on the same line and walking through the castle to the ride start point.That presents logjams as people want to stop and take pictures etc..If this is going to be the new procedure , I think it stinks.Especially since it isn't even all that busy the past few days.

There's got to be some misunderstanding somewhere along the way--the part I bolded in particular makes zero sense.

The entrances to both the Castle Tour and Single Rider queues branch off from the main one just inside the castle, and just past the lockers. The main queue continues on for a long while after this point to the loading area. To have SRs and CTs go all the way through to the "ride start point", which I take to mean load area, just doesn't add up. ETA: Unless both of those are not options anymore, I guess.

Until the Castle Tour queue becomes the Express queue--which is not expected to happen anytime soon, if at all--there is no downside to using it for people interested taking in the queue elements at their own pace unless it is during a crazy-busy period like Christmas, where they could use the extra queue space for the main queue. (That's one of my longer sentences, and that's saying something!)

I'm reading OI's posts and I'm just not taking from it any kind of permanent closure, as they seem to be suggesting. It looks to me like they were told by a single TM that it was closed for the day and have gone in a little bit of panic mode over it. This is a little like believing a CM at the Motherland that late FPs will be no good soon, no? I mean, they even called another person at UO who told them the opposite--it is still open.

OP, you're right--it's very confusing.

 

[Lightning19]

Having been in the parks the past couple of days, here has been my experience:

The castle tour option was temporarily suspended early in the week, when the posted wait time for the ride was 90 minutes.

Over the past couple of days, the castle tour option was available and the posted wait time for the ride has been in the 30-45 minute range.

When we went through with the castle tour option so that we could take pictures, we went to the right after the lockers, which starts in a room that is not in the normal queue. This room has a staircase and the walls are covered with the same moving pictures that are in the regular queue. The castle tour then continues into Dumbledore's office, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, locker area, Gryffindor door room, and Gryffindor dorm common area room. You then exit the castle before the queue reaches the sorting hat, and you exit down the stairs that you go down after riding the ride.

So, we were able to go through the castle tour without waiting in the ride queue, allowing us to take pictures without having people go past us in the normal ride line.

 

[RMulieri]

I hope this crap becomes clearer..I am trying to figure out the "who ,where,what ,why and hows" as it is and this is not helping me.For someone going on there first trip this is mind numbing

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I hope this crap becomes clearer..I am trying to figure out the "who ,where,what ,why and hows" as it is and this is not helping me.For someone going on there first trip this is mind numbing

I was there on Wednesday from opening to around 2 and it was available, as the wait was only 15 minutes. Even if the castle tour isn't available when you arrive the crowds have been really low. Walking through the regular queue is honestly worth it because you get to see more of the castle.

 

[EPRV We love Disney]

Well, I'll let everyone know what happened when I go! Maybe you'll read about me as the tourist who stormed the Castle Tour only line..lol...

RMulieri, remind me, I can't remember when you are going... before me? I'm there 2/8 - 2/12.....

Thanks everyone for mulling this over with me... it is helpful!

 

[RMulieri]

Well, I'll let everyone know what happened when I go! Maybe you'll read about me as the tourist who stormed the Castle Tour only line..lol...

RMulieri, remind me, I can't remember when you are going... before me? I'm there 2/8 - 2/12.....

Thanks everyone for mulling this over with me... it is helpful!

I am there 1/22-1/28

 

[Teleclashter]

Here is an unofficial tip. If you can walk straight through the gates of Hogwarts without going through the new line then castle tours are available by talking to a student at the gates and heading up the right lane. If it is busy and the new line is open the the only people getting up the right lane are special needs groups and single riders without bags. If it is so busy that the new line will be used up until park closing then there will not be any castle tours offered at all. That being said, it never hurts to ask even if it is busy.