Harry Potter Crowd Report Thread...

[jenny105]

I'm going to Disney 10/4-10/9, planning a day (Thursday to be specific) to visit WWoHP. Reading about the crowds is scary! I'm so used to going to Universal in the fall mid-week and having no crowds at all! I'm wondering how crazy it's going to be when I'm there. I guess only time will tell!

 

[bubba's mom]

Thank you. We are planning to go on a Friday night too. If you could give me some indication of the time, that would be great, thank you.

Okay....just home w/ a new power supply...fingers crossed

I checked my pictures for the 2 shows.

The Frog Choir we caught on Thurs, July 15th about 9:30pm

The BB/D show we caught on Fri, July 16th about 9:45pm

There is no scheduled times...think it's luck. Would like to think there's a show at least every half hour. If you're in the land/area long enough, you should be able to catch it. If you really want to see it, ask a TM.

(that said...we have video of both complete shows. it's a "been there, seen that once" thing for me. going to have DH upload to youtube here one of these days....)

 

[diberry]

The Frog Choir we caught on Thurs, July 15th about 9:30pm. The BB/D show we caught on Fri, July 16th about 9:45pm. There is no scheduled times. Would like to think there's a show at least every half hour.

Thank you so much - that's great news that they perform quite late in the evening.

 

[suzu]

I am just back too. There was a BB/D show at 9:30 PM on Monday evening. HP area still had huge crowds, but very few people were watching the show (less than 50) most were in shops or in line for one more ride of FJ.

 

[diberry]

Great, thank you!

 

[Thumper_Man]

I'm going to Disney 10/4-10/9, planning a day (Thursday to be specific) to visit WWoHP. Reading about the crowds is scary! I'm so used to going to Universal in the fall mid-week and having no crowds at all! I'm wondering how crazy it's going to be when I'm there. I guess only time will tell!

We'll be there the following Thursday after you are. I've been wondering the same thing myself. We're hoping it will have died down by then with all the kids back in school and such. We're staying off-site so reading all the posts, it's been sounding a little bit scarier. I guess only time will tell.

 

[jenny105]

We'll be there the following Thursday after you are. I've been wondering the same thing myself. We're hoping it will have died down by then with all the kids back in school and such. We're staying off-site so reading all the posts, it's been sounding a little bit scarier. I guess only time will tell.

I'm sure that part of the park is going to be busy and I'm expecting to wait to get on Forbidden Journey. But reading about waiting in long lines just to get into the land itself is scary! I hope that's done with by the time we get there!

 

[Lou Holtz]

Honestly, I'm not sure how much more crowded Universal is than it normally is this time of year. It probably isn't more than 15%. The same will probably be true of October. It might be 15% more crowded than you are used to.

 

[Disneyhappy]

Just returned Monday night. We went two mornings. At the boat launch at 6:50 for the first boat at 7 AM from PBR. Stood in line to enter the park until gates opened at 7:30 PM. On the first day, we were able to walk through a roped area directly to WWHP and into line for FJ where we waited until amost 8 AM to ride. We rode it twice at which point it was about 8:40 AM. The area was extremnely crowded. Had to wait in line of 10 people to enter the Owl's Post, We left the area by 9:30 AM and the crowds were crazy. The stores are too small to support the crowds right now. We returned later that night around 7:30 PM. Still very crowded. FJ wait time was 80 minutes. There was a line of about 35 people waiting to get into Owl's Post. In the morning, there was already a line at 9:30 AM for Three Broomstick's lunch which was not served until 10 AM. The other two mornings, they had people line up outside WWHP until closer to 8 AM. Two points - 1) it was hot, 2) there were about 40 people in line infront of us. At some point, they allowed people entering to go outside the roped area which was much broader so tons of people who arrived after us ended up entering WWHP in front of us once they allowed people to enter. Basically, about 200 people ended up in front of us if this makes any sense. Also, the crowds were the worse on Monday AM which I thought would be the least crowded, hoping weekend guests were on their way home and the Harry Potter convention was over. I enjoyed WWHP very much but I am not anxious to returned until the novelty wears off, if it does. US and all other areas of IOA were great, not as crowded. FOTL makes it so much better! The Brazilian tour groups were out in force but seemed much better behaved this trip!

 

[WambaWanda]

OMG. Just read about the conference after seeing this post. Staying off-site so purchased express pass for Sunday. I've never heard of this conference...how bad do you think it will be on Sunday afternoon? Looks like the conference ends Sunday morning. I sure wish I knew about this sooner.

Can you purchase an express pass at the entrance? I tried online and it said there were none available for the weekend of July 23-25. I hope there's not a conference that weekend as well. We are staying off-site too. Thanks!

 

[WambaWanda]

i'm home.....

We were there Tues-Sunday, I reported on HP Wed & Thurs. We didn't get up early to go Friday and I reported on getting up early for HRRR on Saturday.

Sat nite we had BIL & his family stay overnight and my 2 nieces are big Potter fans like my niece that joined us at the beginning, so I told them (and the rest of the family) if they wanted to see WWoHP, they needed to get up early Sunday morning. All 3 nieces (who are young teens) wanted to. (I didn't really want to because our flight home was 9pm last nite--2hr flight + hr ride home .....but, I did it for them).

Anyhow, more girls = slower pace. Instead of leaving PBH our usualy 6:40/45am time, I told the girls 6:30am we were leaving. I was proud of all of them when I woke them up, they got up and were ready. We actually left the hotel at 6:30am

Now remember...this is a SUNDAY!

We were first in line at our turnstile (only 2 other groups there) by 6:50am. (walked shortcut from PBH again)

By about 7:15am there was hardly anyone in line at turnstiles....MUCH different than Wed & Thurs when we went. (Wed was the most crowded...Thurs a lot LESS crowded) We were chatting with the TM and she told us Sunday was the least busy of any early entry day. She didn't know if it was cuz people went to church, or people were checking out and not bothering cuz of the long travel day but whatever...she flat out told me SUNDAYS ARE THE LEAST BUSY IN THE MORNING.

We were let into the park Sunday about 7:35am. No hold at the LC bridge...directly to WWoHP. We were in line for the first show at Ollivanders.

After letting out of Ollivanders, my niece who had been looking for a Gryff keychain, spotted one. She was ticked she spent all her $, but I bought it for her anyway. $10 My Fla niece also spotted a Gryff scarf...$40something she said. (wondering if restocked Gryff mdse cuz of those convention peeps?)

After Ollivanders and buying a keychain, we went straight to FJ (told the girls NO bags to locker ) and it was a 15 min posted wait time, but we steadily walked thru the line (pix to post later). We kept a steady shuffled pace and went right on.

They loved the ride (except one niece deathly afraid of spiders and didn't care of the dementors...but I told her if I told her they were on the ride, she wouldn't go...she agreed and was happy I didn't tell her and let her just ride to find out herself).

After FJ, we browsed gift shop and looked at our pic. No line at Butterbeer cart, so I got them all each a frozen butterbeer (later in the day, we'd get a cold and everyone agreed frozen was better--that was 9 ppl).

We went and browsed Honeydukes/Zonkos while sipping butterbeer. They had a sample of peppermint toads they were handing out (think 'York Peppermint Patty' mini-size). The girls browsed and sipped and we left after I bought a cauldron cake for my mom.

Outside, 2 of them wanted to ride Dragons...so, I sat & sipped w/ the other one and waited and chatted.

After the ride, we took one last stroll and left by 9am. INTO the GP droves coming at us!


So, of my 5 mornings, we went to WWoHP 3 times. Here's my summary:

If you are offsite, I wouldn't go 9am unless you plan to be at the gates for entry by 7am. FJ jumps to 60+ min wait VERY quickly and Ollivanders gets insanely busy QUICK! They open the land to everyone without a line around 3pm....lines will be long IN the land, but not to get into the land.

Go later at night...dinnertime or later as there are no lines to get into the land. If you are waiting outside in any line, at least the sun won't be blaring down on you.

If you are ONSITE, go early. Sundays least crowded. I know, I know....NOT a morning person, especially on vacation (neither am I), but it couldn't be worth it more!! I'm am SO NOT a morning person and I did it 3X. Do it early in your stay and sleep in later....
Onsiters: beeline it for Ollivanders then FJ.

There is more than 1 place to buy butterbeer (again, least lines early when onsiters get in). IF you find yourself with being in a long line, make sure to put 1 person in 1 line, and go check another place.

Thank you Bubba's Mom for all the helpful info! We are arriving in Orlando, Fri am on July 23 and leaving Mon am July 26. We will have Fri afternoon, Sat and Sun at IOA and US. We are offsite and have park hopper tickets. We have never been to Universal Orlando, only the CA. one.

After dropping off the luggage at our hotel, we are thinking about getting lunch then going to IOA for the rest of that day. Maybe we should ride other rides and then go to WWOHP at 3 or 4pm when there's no line to get into that section. I'm hoping that whatever we don't get to do on Fri in WWHoP we can get up early on Sat and Sun or do HP in the afternoons. I have not been able to get express passes for any of the days online. Do they sell them at the front gate? Are we doomed if we don't have any express passes?

We are probably insane by going on a busy July weekend, but it's the only time we can squeeze in and we are all huge Harry Potter fans!

 

[Purseval]

We got on the FJ queue tonight(7/21) at 9:45pm and were off the ride (which is about 4 minutes long) by 10:05. We found that we had a shorter wait in the evening than the morning so this morning, even though we had early entry, we didn't bother to go over there. It is still crazy crowded during the day so we spent that time doing other rides. My neice and nephew didn't ride FJ at all today. They said it was really nice for a simulator but the preferred rollercoasters. So when we were in line for FJ they were riding Dragon Challenge.

Out of all the things at WWOHP it looks like they spent the least time on Dragon Challenge. The ride is the same as Dueling Dragons was and they actually made the theming worse by plastering over the old castle. It's dull and dreary but they loved the ride itself.

Here is a picture of the village we took from the Hippogriff, click on it to enlarge:

 

[WambaWanda]

We will be going to IOA/WWOHP tomorrow, Sat and Sun. The weather forecast doesn't look that great, so I guess we'll be standing in lines with our ponchos. We are still very excited about going and will try to give a crowd report each day we're there. If anyone was there today, how were the crowds? I'm still trying to figure out if I can get express passes at the front gate. Anyone know??

Can't wait till tomorrow!

 

[Purseval]

Expect large crowds all weekend. It is the busy season, the hotels are all booked solid and Brazilian tour groups are all over the place. If your goal is to get on all of the IOA rides then being early is your best strategy since most early arrivers will be heading for WWOHP. If your goal is WWOHP keep in mind that there was a 45-minute wait for Ollivanders by 8am, one hour before official opening time. So even if you are early you will have a long wait due to the hotel guests. It has been relatively uncrowded between 8 and 10pm and it's been hot as all get out between 11am and 6pm. Rain may actually be a relief. Remember that you can get free ice water from any vendor who has a drink machine so bring a refillable water bottle and have a great time.


We are not big fans of express passes, we believe they are way overpriced and offer no help at all in WWOHP. Skip them unless you believe it is your only hope to get on the rides. You can buy them at any time so get there, walk around a while then decide. If you do buy them DO NOT USE THEM on a short line. Ask the attendant what the wait is and if it's less than 30 minutes save the pass until it gets more crowded. If I had a nickel for each time I've seen a family waste their passes on a walkon ride I'd have free express passes for life.

 

[asta]

We will be going to IOA/WWOHP tomorrow, Sat and Sun. The weather forecast doesn't look that great, so I guess we'll be standing in lines with our ponchos. We are still very excited about going and will try to give a crowd report each day we're there. If anyone was there today, how were the crowds? I'm still trying to figure out if I can get express passes at the front gate. Anyone know??

Can't wait till tomorrow!

I'm here now 7/22 @7:25 and exhausted back in my room at the HRH. We started this morning by waiting at the gate 7am. They let us in the main gate sometime around 7:40 and we walked straight back and into the Harry Potter area. While waiting at the main gate we saw them escort a large group (100) into the park about 7:15. I asked and was told this group was with Virgin tours and had special privileges because they were a captive audience (I don't know what that means). They also brought a horticulture tour group through around 7:30. Tip about entering-when walking in from the Seuss side make sure you take the left hand shortcut behind the carousel. This will get you their much quicker. We rode FJ twice (yea, I barely fit but they pushed hard and let me go, I didn't see anyone turned away.) After this the line for Olivander's was already very long. Too long for me to wait. I hung around and people watched while the rest of the family rode DC a couple of times. Enjoyed a frozen Butterbeer. It tastes like frozen butterscotch and was very good. Buy this in Hogshead Tavern with no line instead of from the outside stand. The shopping was very crowded and the store clerk told me they had sold out of a lot of things. The best bet is the candy store because it is easier to restock food items. It looked like they let the non hotel guests in at 8:45. The first sign of this was the appearance of one of the dreaded South American tour groups. We left the area soon after and spent the rest of the day in other park areas. I didn't notice anyone selling the express tickets but I saw lots of people using them so they must have been for sale.

 

[CaptHomer]

This is the crowd about 9:45 AM on July 16th. It starts by the bridge at Ripsaw Falls and ends at the bridge into Harry Potter. We got into Harry Potter when the gates opened at 7:30. I think this was the 2nd day we were there. I posted the pictures backwards to show where the line started. It will be a much more pleasant experience if you stay onsite.

The last day we were there we were the first group into Olivanders. DD didn't get picked though. DS was first one on Dueling Dragons, actually he was the only one on and was the only rider on both coasters.

As someone mentioned before the South American tour groups are plentiful.

 

[bubba's mom]

I'm here now 7/22 @7:25 and exhausted back in my room at the HRH. We started this morning by waiting at the gate 7am. They let us in the main gate sometime around 7:40 and we walked straight back and into the Harry Potter area. While waiting at the main gate we saw them escort a large group (100) into the park about 7:15. I asked and was told this group was with Virgin tours and had special privileges because they were a captive audience (I don't know what that means). They also brought a horticulture tour group through around 7:30. Tip about entering-when walking in from the Seuss side make sure you take the left hand shortcut behind the carousel. This will get you their much quicker. We rode FJ twice (yea, I barely fit but they pushed hard and let me go, I didn't see anyone turned away.) After this the line for Olivander's was already very long. Too long for me to wait. I hung around and people watched while the rest of the family rode DC a couple of times. Enjoyed a frozen Butterbeer. It tastes like frozen butterscotch and was very good. Buy this in Hogshead Tavern with no line instead of from the outside stand. The shopping was very crowded and the store clerk told me they had sold out of a lot of things. The best bet is the candy store because it is easier to restock food items. It looked like they let the non hotel guests in at 8:45. The first sign of this was the appearance of one of the dreaded South American tour groups. We left the area soon after and spent the rest of the day in other park areas. I didn't notice anyone selling the express tickets but I saw lots of people using them so they must have been for sale.

We saw the Virgin tour peeps too...but I don't think I ever saw about 100....maybe about 50 or so? They didn't seem to impact Ollivander's show or FJ that early...so, I didn't worry about them.

You should have stopped at Ollivander's first...that line gets long right away...whereas FJ line keeps moving early because of the way it loads. I would (one day park was open 10 min, and the line was already 30 min wait! ) recommend Ollivander's FIRST and then FJ. We did it that way every time and of the 2 out of 3 days we rode FJ, it was practically walk on..even after Ollivander's show.

Sounds like a successful morning tho

 

[bubba's mom]

This is the crowd about 8:45 AM on July 16th. It starts by the bridge at Ripsaw Falls and ends at the bridge into Harry Potter. We got into Harry Potter when the gates opened at 7:30. I think this was the 2nd day we were there. I posted the pictures backwards to show where the line started. It will be a much more pleasant experience if you stay onsite.

The last day we were there we were the first group into Olivanders. DD didn't get picked though. DS was first one on Dueling Dragons, actually he was the only one on and was the only rider on both coasters.

As someone mentioned before the South American tour groups are plentiful.

yep....those were the lines we saw around noon....masking tape on the ground and all

No way I'd be standing in that line....the line for Ollivanders is probably already 30/45min wait...and FJ prolly 30min...but a better bet than Ollivanders.

Your pix are an excellent advertisement for staying onsite. Can you image the people who don't know what they're in for if they aren't onsite?

 

[abooch]

So how are the other areas and rides at IOA/US? Long waits? Not bad? any info.. lol

 

[asta]

We saw the Virgin tour peeps too...but I don't think I ever saw about 100....maybe about 50 or so? They didn't seem to impact Ollivander's show or FJ that early...so, I didn't worry about them.

You should have stopped at Ollivander's first...that line gets long right away...whereas FJ line keeps moving early because of the way it loads. I would (one day park was open 10 min, and the line was already 30 min wait! ) recommend Ollivander's FIRST and then FJ. We did it that way every time and of the 2 out of 3 days we rode FJ, it was practically walk on..even after Ollivander's show.

Sounds like a successful morning tho

I think we had a great day and I think the Harry Potter area is great, maybe a little small but love the look. Also forgot to mention that we rode the Flight of the Hippograph. Loved the Hagrid theming and also loved that they smoothed out that rough stop from the Unicorn ride it replaced.

I was just guessing about the Virgin tour foul size. It could have been closer to 50.