Harry Potter Crowd Report Thread...

[mom2aandj]

Here is the situation: Family of 6 staying at Disney from 28 Aug to 5 Sept. Oldest HS age daughter is big HP fan, and is reason we are including WWoHP in the itinerary. The rest are a set of 6yr old twins, and a 5 yr old daughter. I had planned on getting them up at crack of dawn to high tail it to WWoHP first thing one morning. Now, I am starting to see recommendations of EVENING visits.

as pp pointed out, the park will start closing earlier. Aug 28 is the last day on the schedule for it to be open until 9 pm. After that it closes at 7, and then 8 pm on Sep 4 and 5.

 

[fuzzylemon]

Very good news indeed! We're arriving next Wednesday, too. I know it will be humid, but if the crowds are low, it will make up for the weather!

 

[mdb78]

Very good news indeed! We're arriving next Wednesday, too. I know it will be humid, but if the crowds are low, it will make up for the weather!

Have to agree with you on that! I am so cranky and snappy in a packed crowd mixed in with high humidity!

 

[spima3]

Very good news indeed! We're arriving next Wednesday, too. I know it will be humid, but if the crowds are low, it will make up for the weather!

And don't forget, for all those travelling in the next week or so, please come back and post your experiences! :

 

[nmartin]

as pp pointed out, the park will start closing earlier. Aug 28 is the last day on the schedule for it to be open until 9 pm. After that it closes at 7, and then 8 pm on Sep 4 and 5.

I didn't think that the parks were still open late. I will be there between Aug 22 to the 28th. I am interested! Please confirm.

 

[jwcollin]

I had printed off the park hours about a month or so ago, and it showed IOA closing at 7Pm during our stay of Aug 26-28. I went to the website yesterday and the calendar now shows IOA closing at 9pm for the same dates. Not sure if this is a good thing?? But I will take it!! More time to try to see WWOHP!

 

[mom2aandj]

I didn't think that the parks were still open late. I will be there between Aug 22 to the 28th. I am interested! Please confirm.

according to the schedule on the Universal website, IOA is open every night (except Aug 25) until 9 pm.

http://www.universalorlando.com/Resort_Information/theme_park_hours.aspx

 

[nmartin]

I had printed off the park hours about a month or so ago, and it showed IOA closing at 7Pm during our stay of Aug 26-28. I went to the website yesterday and the calendar now shows IOA closing at 9pm for the same dates. Not sure if this is a good thing?? But I will take it!! More time to try to see WWOHP!

Thank you! That is great news.

 

[msminniemouse]

according to the schedule on the Universal website, IOA is open every night (except Aug 25) until 9 pm.

http://www.universalorlando.com/Resort_Information/theme_park_hours.aspx

That's great!! They must have recently extended the hours. Last time I checked they were only open until 8 PM. Last summer around this time they closed at 6 or 7. I guess they are extending hours because of WWOHP.

 

[tarrbear]

And don't forget, for all those travelling in the next week or so, please come back and post your experiences! :

Will do

 

[phamton]

Yes, the park hours have been extended at both parks from what was originally posted on the calendar.

 

[JenF]

After receiving good advice on this forum I thought I would post my experience at WWOHP. I was there with my family 16th and being off-site we arrived by 8.15am. We had to queue to change up my vouchers(no problem there...one of my main worries passed!)and walked into the park at 8.40. We had no choice but to walk left around the park as only on-site guests were allowed the other way. It took us some time but I was pleased to see that we were walking past the white line which I expected would be full later with other guests queuing for HP. We made it into WWOHP and didn't start to join the line until we were in the FJ queue. The time was saying 70 min wait!!! but we stuck it out and were out by about 10.15. The ride was great but the waiting was very hot and the greenhouse in particular needs more powerful fans for this time of year. We loved inside the castle and once inside things speeded up. Even after reading previous posts we still got stuck in the locker queue which is confusing.GO LEFT if you have nothing to put in lockers. WE WENT ON WITH FANNYPACKS. We then went straight on Ride of the HIppogriff, had a butterbeer yum! and then had only a 15 min wait for Duelling dragons. Didn't do Olivanders but easily got into Honeydukes. It was very hot and very crowded and we left soon after and aim to go back in another couple of days. Thanks for all the advice on here!! Having a great time.

 

[inkkognito]

I'm so pleased the hours have been extended. Quite a boon for locals...we plan to run over there a few evenings with the hopefully minimal crowds. Things are dead in the Disney/Universal area in general now. I'm shocked at how deserted the roads and restaurants have been for the past week. Seems like dead season started a little early.

 

[phamton]

The parks have been pretty crowded this week, much more than last year at this time. It's still not as bad as July but it's certainly not dead right now. Tuesday was incredibly busy but Wed. and Thurs. were manageable.

 

[Metro West]

Yes, the park hours have been extended at both parks from what was originally posted on the calendar.

I thought they might depending on the crowds.

 

[left_arm]

All of this talk of shorter waits makes me more and more excited for the end of September!

 

[francie57]

We were at Universal on Aug 12 & 13. We went over to IOA around 7:30 at night on the 12th and the wait for HP was 75 min. We got in line and were done in less than an hour. We went back to IOA on the 13th - we were in the park by 8:15 and rode HP in the single line in about 10 min. The ride that took the longest was Dragons Challenge since they only had 1 car on each side and no express pass until after 9.

 

[Dragontears]

Thanks

We planned for October in the hopes the weather and crowds would be more managable.

Looks like this won't be so crazy after all.

Looking forward to future crowd reports.

 

[*Debi Potter*]

Hi,

I see you went to the Three Broomsticks for breakfast! I would like to do this on my upcoming trip in Sept. How far in advance can you make reservations? And does it open earlier than 9am for non-Universal hotel guests? Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated! Soooo excited to visit IOA again!

Thanks!!

 

[damo]

Hi,

I see you went to the Three Broomsticks for breakfast! I would like to do this on my upcoming trip in Sept. How far in advance can you make reservations? And does it open earlier than 9am for non-Universal hotel guests? Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated! Soooo excited to visit IOA again!

Thanks!!

You can only make reservations if you have the Harry Potter package.