Harry Potter Crowd Report Thread...

[firsttimer2007]

Padam,

WOW...thanks so much for your insight. i will definitely check out the videos on Utube. After reading eveyone's posts I was getting nervous for my 7 year old son also. I bet watching th videos will definitely help.

As for legoland in SD...is it cool for older kids too? My son is 7 and has been begging me to take him. When we moved back east from Cali in 2005 he was only 2..so we didn't go. I was just wondering how cool it is. Please let me know.
And thanks again for your help.
Kelly

My older kids loved it. They said the rides were mostly lame but they love legos and loved the park. We thought we would only spend a couple of hours there but ended up opening and closing the park.
So I guess it depends on your family.

 

[tammyroo]

We were there on Wednesday 9/8. Stayed overnight at Royal Pacific. I had received an email with a special deal...not sure if it was for FL residents or annual passholders (I'm both), but we scored a room for $134 including breakfast!


Just wondering what time you had to get up in order to eat and get there by 8ish. There will be about 11 of us, all adults, going in Dec and we'll be staying at Royal Pacific as well.

An additional question is whether we should plan on walking or riding the boat. My mom is 83 and will be using an ECV so I'm not sure which would be more efficient.

 

[damo]

An additional question is whether we should plan on walking or riding the boat. My mom is 83 and will be using an ECV so I'm not sure which would be more efficient.

Our policy is always to take the boat if it is there and walk if it isn't.

 

[bubba's mom]

Our policy is always to take the boat if it is there and walk if it isn't.

 

[Lou Holtz]

If you have an ECV, it makes much more sense to walk. Just ride that thing along the path. It would be much more difficult to get on and off of a boat.

 

[Troiandan]

We're headed out to Universal next week, and I have a question about parking...

I thought I read on here that someone did preferred parking and that it was totally worth it. Anyone do the preferred parking or valet? What were your experiences? Or do you think that with crowds down so much, we can not be so lazy and be fine hiking it?

I'm blessed with a Premier Pass, so Preferred Parking is included. What I like most about it is that I haven't had to park all the way at the far end of the row. For some reason, that trek from the far side seems to tire me more than any other walk. Even when crowds aren't heavy, it's still the luck of the draw as to if you can park at the near end or far end.

That said, I've only paid extra for Preferred on a couple of HHN evenings, when I was trying to get into the park before close for Stay and Scream. Otherwise, I don't personally want to pay extra for it. I think it's an individual preference - if the cost isn't too much of an object, the reduction in walking time really is nice

 

[wdwmousetales]

I was at Universal on Saturday and it was packed at Islands of Adventure. You know it is busy when Jurassic Park has a 45 minute line. You can take a look at the pics in the link below. I also have a video from the Wizarding World at that link.
http://www.wdwmousetales.com/09-11-10-trip-report-universal.html

 

[scromwell]

Breakfast began at 7. We got up at 6am, and were waiting at the restaurant door when it opened. It was a buffet. We were out by 7:30 and arrived at the park a few minutes after 8:00.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We just came back after staying at HRH from Thurs to Sun. We arrived at IOA around 10:30 am Thurs. FJ had a wait of 30 mins. Almost no wait for the single rider line. We were a group of 9 and really wanted to ride together so we waited but next time rode single rider, only around 4-5 of us since some felt queasy after. No wait for single rider and still got to sit together by chance. We returned late Fri afternoon, still no line for single riders so we rode once and kids rode around 4x with no wait, staying in single rider line.

You really can't see others you're riding with so we didn't see any point in waiting longer to sit together.

Ds10 was so happy to have old FU back, now Flight of Hippogriff, but this was 1st trip he was tall enough for Hulk and DD/DC so he was more into the big coasters.
Sat was crowded so we didn't stick around WWoHP area long. Between locals and Rock the Universe, I was surprised to see it so packed for this time of year. Will have to plan that better next time.

Overall, an excellent trip and we all got our fill of HP.

 

[manduh]

I was at WWOHP last Tuesday and Saturday, staying offsite:

Tuesday: Crowd was very thin in the morning and did not pick up until later in the afternoon. FR wait was 20 minutes at 10:00.

Saturday: We were waiting in line to get into the park when the doors opened. Went straight to FB and walked right on. Around 11:00 or so, the crowd got much larger. It was really packed. You had to wait in a line to get into the Owl Post.

There was a huge line around Ollivanders the entire time. If it's something you want to do, best to accept that you're probably going to have to wait.

Tips:
-Whoever said not to wait in the locker line at FB was a genius. The line for the locker was insane, but if you went to the right of the line and into Filch's, you can get a locker with no wait.
-Butterbeer is soooo sweet. I could only drink half of the frozen one - can't even imagine how the regular tasted.
-If you enjoy beer, you have to try the Hogs Head Ale. It's exculsive to WWOHP, and it's quite tasty!
-Besides the wand shop, they also sell the hero wands at the big gift shop near the entrance/exit.
-Ladies, make sure you go in the bathroom in the WWOHP area. You can hear Moaning Myrtle!

 

[SmallWorld71]

.
-Ladies, make sure you go in the bathroom in the WWOHP area. You can hear Moaning Myrtle!

FWIW - DH said you could also hear her in the men's room. He said it totally creeped him out.

 

[CaptHomer]

I have gone back a few pages and can't find anything. We were there in July and they let onsite guests in at 7:30. We will be there again on Saturday morning. Has anyone who has stayed onsite in the last week or two know what time they are letting onsite guests into the park at?

 

[damo]

I have gone back a few pages and can't find anything. We were there in July and they let onsite guests in at 7:30. We will be there again on Saturday morning. Has anyone who has stayed onsite in the last week or two know what time they are letting onsite guests into the park at?

It has been 8 o'clock lately, but I would be there by 7:30 just in case. Saturday crowds are heavier.

 

[CaptHomer]

It has been 8 o'clock lately, but I would be there by 7:30 just in case. Saturday crowds are heavier.

Thanks damo, that is what I was looking for. We will be there bright and early.

 

[Lilmattie13]

Ok So I am going to reach out and ask the pros here and see what you think. We are going to disney on Nov28th. By changing some things around we are acutally going to get down to florida on Thanksgiving. Since we are not checking into disney until the Sunday we want to try to hit Harry Potter world as me and the kids are huge fans.

Would you think it would be better to try and attempt this on the Friday (the day after thanksgiving) or the Saturday which I hear is the busiest day?

Trying to decide here because I want to plan to do the luau at sea world on the alternate day and buy the tickets for that.

Thanks for letting me know what you think.

 

[TIGGERGUY]

I was back in the Potter area last Wednesday afternoon when the skies opened up. Drainage back there is not the best. The drain in front of the Hogwarts Express looked like a whirlpool surrounded by 3-4 inches of water. The joke shop had a guy with a squeegee trying to keep the water out. The person manning the entrance to FJ told me their break room floods in this type of rain. I asked someone about a spell to get rid of the rain but they said they couldn't do it in front of muggles.

Good part was everyone was under cover. Line for the wand show was gone so it was just a matter of waiting for the next show. Near closing FJ was a walk on. Glad I had my hat and poncho ready.

 

[MHT to MCO]

I'm blessed with a Premier Pass, so Preferred Parking is included. What I like most about it is that I haven't had to park all the way at the far end of the row. For some reason, that trek from the far side seems to tire me more than any other walk. Even when crowds aren't heavy, it's still the luck of the draw as to if you can park at the near end or far end.

That said, I've only paid extra for Preferred on a couple of HHN evenings, when I was trying to get into the park before close for Stay and Scream. Otherwise, I don't personally want to pay extra for it. I think it's an individual preference - if the cost isn't too much of an object, the reduction in walking time really is nice

Thanks Troiandan! We' are headed out tomorrow and will be at the park on Thursday and Friday and the weather said mostly sunny and 90 degrees! I'm thinking the extra $5 might be worth it in this case, especially at the end of the day.....

Anyone else going to be there Thursday or Friday? If I don't see ya, have fun!

 

[mm42197]

Thanks Troiandan! We' are headed out tomorrow and will be at the park on Thursday and Friday and the weather said mostly sunny and 90 degrees! I'm thinking the extra $5 might be worth it in this case, especially at the end of the day.....

Anyone else going to be there Thursday or Friday? If I don't see ya, have fun!

We paid the extra $5 for prefered parking and got a great spot right by the walk through. It wasn't such a big deal at arrival, but your right after a long day in the park I was SO glad we paid the $5!!!

 

[KellifromCanada]

Hey!

We are planning a trip for November - 14 + 15th. How do those dates sound in terms of holiday crowds, school holidays, etc...

After the 15th, we are heading over to WDW for a few days.

We are experienced Disney fans, but can't wait to try Universal for the very first time and I am reading, reading, reading the threads for help. Feeling overwhelmed...

Thanks for your thoughts!

Kelli

 

[Marquibiri]

Is that true the boat rides from RPR to Citywalk start at 7 am?

Marquibiri