Harry Potter Crowd Report Thread...

[Tink575]

We got to the Wizarding World today a little before noon and the wait for Forbidden Journey was 40 minutes. By 2-3 PM the wait was 30 minutes and then 20 minutes. No problem getting in anywhere!

There were fewer crowds than when we went in June during pre-opening. Virtually no lines for butterbeer, the only thing other than FJ than you had to queue for was Ollivanders. Not sure what the wait was there, but the Universal store on City Walk had all the wands. The wand cart in WW only had the wands for about 5 of the characters (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) and the WW exclusive designs.

 

[TPSlaughter]

My friend's family and I are going the weekend of October 22nd to Halloween Horror Nights and we were gonna do Universal on Friday and IOA on Saturday. Which day would be better to go to IOA? Cause I wasn't expecting it to be too crowded on Saturday, but I am thinking Friday might be better. What do y'all think?

 

[bigAWL]

So when I hear someone say the wait for FJ was 60 minutes, is all that time spent walking through the castle areas? Or is there a wait just to get into the castle? If the wait is only 10 minutes, does that mean the walk-through areas are empty and you are just rushing through until the last tem minutes wait to board the ride? In that case, do you tend to come across several people just lingering throughout the queue area to see the castle sights?

 

[ducky_love]

So when I hear someone say the wait for FJ was 60 minutes, is all that time spent walking through the castle areas? Or is there a wait just to get into the castle? If the wait is only 10 minutes, does that mean the walk-through areas are empty and you are just rushing through until the last tem minutes wait to board the ride? In that case, do you tend to come across several people just lingering throughout the queue area to see the castle sights?

When I was there a couple days ago the posted wait time was 20 minutes. We never stood in line exactly.. but we were all lingering in the castle looking at everything. Employees kept herding everyone along. We walked right on the ride.. it was just a long & interesting walk!

I would bet anything 30 minutes or less isn't really a "wait" at all!

 

[*Debi Potter*]

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

Marquibiri

10 days til WWoHP!! I can hardly contain myself!!! After hearing the crowd reports I'm a little more at ease. We'll be there on a Tuesday and Wednesday and they seem like pretty good days to go.

I had a question about the boat transportation though. When we leave WWoHP on our IOA day, we're having dinner at Thcoup Chop in RPR. Even though we're staying offsite, can we still use the boat transporation from Citywalk to RPR?? I know this question doesn't really belong here, so if anyone knows where it should be, please feel free to move it!

 

[LMO429]

We will be staying at Bay Lake Towers and coming over to Universal for a one day visit the first week of October.


I am trying to read my way through this whole thread. I just wanted advice what would be your suggestion for a plan of attack when we get to universal. Should we go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter first or should we go to other areas first. We have the express pass and should be arriving at Universal at 8:30 am


thanks for any input. it is much appreciated

 

[Imagineer5]

We will be staying at Bay Lake Towers and coming over to Universal for a one day visit the first week of October.


I am trying to read my way through this whole thread. I just wanted advice what would be your suggestion for a plan of attack when we get to universal. Should we go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter first or should we go to other areas first. We have the express pass and should be arriving at Universal at 8:30 am


thanks for any input. it is much appreciated

Oooh we'll be there twice during the first week of October too!! (3rd & 7th). Haven't been yet but our plan is to get there around 8:30 like you, head straight to WW, probably be there til 11-12 or so, and then do the rest of the park. Haven't bought the express pass yet, since it's the cheapest time of year we figure crowds should be pretty light. Are you going to Universal too or just IOA? I hear HRRR is down...that stinks...ride I was most looking forward to trying!

 

[mesaboy2]

10 days til WWoHP!! I can hardly contain myself!!! After hearing the crowd reports I'm a little more at ease. We'll be there on a Tuesday and Wednesday and they seem like pretty good days to go.

I had a question about the boat transportation though. When we leave WWoHP on our IOA day, we're having dinner at Thcoup Chop in RPR. Even though we're staying offsite, can we still use the boat transporation from Citywalk to RPR?? I know this question doesn't really belong here, so if anyone knows where it should be, please feel free to move it!

They don't check for room keys or anything on the boats. You should be fine, and it's not a long walk (~10 mins) anyway.

 

[bigAWL]

Looking foward to October crowd reports. Currently planning a trip to WDW in Oct 2011, and want to make a first visit to the Wizarding World. But I'm wondering how the impact of HHN crowds affect the park during the day at this time of year. Would it be better to plan a day there without HHN?

 

[SmallWorld71]

When I was there a couple days ago the posted wait time was 20 minutes. We never stood in line exactly.. but we were all lingering in the castle looking at everything. Employees kept herding everyone along. We walked right on the ride.. it was just a long & interesting walk!

I would bet anything 30 minutes or less isn't really a "wait" at all!

I agree. When we waited in a 60 min. line, the first 30 min. waiting in line outside and in the greenhouse - not fun. But, after that is was all winding through the castle which only took about 15 min. I wish that part took longer. I tried to stop and see everything but my family annoyed me by moving me on.

 

[CaptHomer]

Around 2 today there was a 30 minute wait for FJ. Olivanders had about a 20 minute wait. Much different than when we were here in July. DS got picked at Olivanders (think he was the only kid in there).

No ride at IOA had more than a 15 or 20 minute wait. With room key it was a walk on for Hulk and any of the other rides.

We will give it a go again in the morning.

 

[LMO429]

Oooh we'll be there twice during the first week of October too!! (3rd & 7th). Haven't been yet but our plan is to get there around 8:30 like you, head straight to WW, probably be there til 11-12 or so, and then do the rest of the park. Haven't bought the express pass yet, since it's the cheapest time of year we figure crowds should be pretty light. Are you going to Universal too or just IOA? I hear HRRR is down...that stinks...ride I was most looking forward to trying!

We are going to try and do two parks in one day. Not overly concerned if we miss anything. im bummed about HRRR I hope they fix it by the time we get there.

 

[MHT to MCO]

We are going to try and do two parks in one day. Not overly concerned if we miss anything. im bummed about HRRR I hope they fix it by the time we get there.

We just got back this morning. I asked an employee yesterday morning if she though it would be up and running. (we noticed that it wasn't running on Thursda) She said she had no idea and that it was down all week, but that " 'it' had a long, busy summer!"

 

[ducky_love]

Spent all day yesterday at the parks. It never got too crowded. Now is a great time to go!

 

[PlutoLuvr]

We just returned from a trip to O-Town last week, and we visited IOA/WWOHP on Wednesday, 9/15. We stayed offsite, so no early entry or other perks.

Arrival was around 9:30 a.m. or so. Park was empty and WWOHP had very, very light crowds. Wait for FJ was listed as 10 minutes, but hubby got in line and returned close to 45 minutes later. Time on sign out front was not correct. It was pretty crowded after that. We tried to enter a couple stores, and you couldn't move once inside (this would have been approaching 11:00 a.m. or so).

We took some photos of entering the WWOHP at 9:30 and what it looked like an hour or so later. Definitely too crowded for this FL resident who's used to no waits in September, but I'm sure this is better than how it was in summer.

Rest of the park was awesome, as always. Spiderman was a walk on, as was the Hulk. Oddly enough, Popeye's Bilge Barge was also a total walk on. They even redid the line so you walked directly into the covered building, walked quickly through it and got right on a raft.

We were amazed at how many guests just go to Islands, hit Harry Potter world and leave. I'd read a few posts about it here, but thought this practice couldn't be common. I was wrong! I overheard at least a half dozen comments in the short time I was walking through WWOHP from folks wanting to just do the Potter rides, get a wand, try the butterbeer and get back to Disney for *_______* (you fill in the blank, i.e., ADR for lunch, meeting with so and so at Epcot in the afternoon, etc).

I only bring this up for those who might be curious how Potter crowds are affecting the rest of the park. They're not the day we visited. Whatever crowds you would expect on a hot September afternoon with hurricanes brewing away were not at all affected by WWOHP.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

We were amazed at how many guests just go to Islands, hit Harry Potter world and leave. I'd read a few posts about it here, but thought this practice couldn't be common. I was wrong! I overheard at least a half dozen comments in the short time I was walking through WWOHP from folks wanting to just do the Potter rides, get a wand, try the butterbeer and get back to Disney for *_______* (you fill in the blank, i.e., ADR for lunch, meeting with so and so at Epcot in the afternoon, etc).

I only bring this up for those who might be curious how Potter crowds are affecting the rest of the park. They're not the day we visited. Whatever crowds you would expect on a hot September afternoon with hurricanes brewing away were not at all affected by WWOHP.

It's funny... that's why we get a lot of people here asking, "Is it really worth $80 just for 3 rides, a few shops and a restaurant?" Maybe for you it is or isn't, but that's why there's at least about a dozen other attractions in the park.

 

[damo]

It's funny... that's why we get a lot of people here asking, "Is it really worth $80 just for 3 rides, a few shops and a restaurant?" Maybe for you it is or isn't, but that's why there's at least about a dozen other attractions in the park.

So strange isn't it? At least ride Spiderman and Cat in the Hat. They aren't roller coasters and you won't get wet.

 

[xipetotec]

We were amazed at how many guests just go to Islands, hit Harry Potter world and leave. I'd read a few posts about it here, but thought this practice couldn't be common. I was wrong! I overheard at least a half dozen comments in the short time I was walking through WWOHP from folks wanting to just do the Potter rides, get a wand, try the butterbeer and get back to Disney for *_______* (you fill in the blank, i.e., ADR for lunch, meeting with so and so at Epcot in the afternoon, etc).

QUOTE]

Wow, that is shocking to me! I admit, our family are a Disney family. We love Disney, but we also LIKE Universal and go every couple of trips. And I can definitely say that we would NOT waste a Universal day on just doing HP ( or any new section for that matter ) and then going back. That seems ridiculous to me...

We'll be going in 2012, we'll definitely hit HP for sure, ( and from the sound of reviews, we'll be heading straight there to do as much as we can before it gets crowded ), but then we'll do the REST OF THE PARK TOO... sheesh!

 

[SnowWtch]

Planning to go down next Saturday to do IOA/USF. Think early morning when they open would be a good time for WWOHP? Just want to take some pictures. I figure later in the day and you'll get people who are biding their time till HHN and that might make it more crowded.

 

[Brandis]

Next trip to WDW in 2 weeks.

Actually, we have a day planned to go to Universal specifically to see WWOHP, ride FJ and try butterbeer and this will be our first destination for the day but then we want to enjoy the rest of IOA as well.