Harry Potter Crowd Report Thread...

[SmallWorld71]

Subbing for our upcoming June 16 trip. Hadn't counted on all this hub ub! I'm glad I found this thread. We are doing nine days at wdw (first timers)...then, I was trying to figure out if we should just stay and do a "break" day at disneyquest/chill at hotel pool THEN go to WWOHP (11th day).......OR........should we do nine days wdw skip the "break" day and do two days IoA instead of one? We have 11 days total.

We are me, dh(41), dd(14), and dd(13)

Thanks in advance for any advice/opinions

Do your kids like rides? My boys (15 & 11) love them and would definitely need the two days for everything they like to do.

 

[ksdave]

Subbing for our upcoming June 16 trip. Hadn't counted on all this hub ub! I'm glad I found this thread. We are doing nine days at wdw (first timers)...then, I was trying to figure out if we should just stay and do a "break" day at disneyquest/chill at hotel pool THEN go to WWOHP (11th day).......OR........should we do nine days wdw skip the "break" day and do two days IoA instead of one? We have 11 days total.

We are me, dh(41), dd(14), and dd(13)

Thanks in advance for any advice/opinions

I would strongly suggest at least two days at UO. As mentioned IOA is tops for kids who love rides, and there are several attractions at USF that they will probably love too (like MIB, Mummy, T2-3D, and Rip Ride Rockit). My kids grew up with annual trips to UO from the age 9 up. We spent as few as three days and as many as seven days there in a single trip and they were never bored.

 

[travelmel]

Do your kids like rides? My boys (15 & 11) love them and would definitely need the two days for everything they like to do.

I would strongly suggest at least two days at UO. As mentioned IOA is tops for kids who love rides, and there are several attractions at USF that they will probably love too (like MIB, Mummy, T2-3D, and Rip Ride Rockit). My kids grew up with annual trips to UO from the age 9 up. We spent as few as three days and as many as seven days there in a single trip and they were never bored.

Yes, we all like the big rides quite a bit. I want to clarify though that I would be spending both days at IoA....we have Universal Studios in California (I know the one in Fl is probably bigger and better but.... we have the majority of that stuff and I don't really want to go to FL to see the same things)

With that said, 1) yes we like rides 2) we would only be doing two days at IoA would you say we would need two days there?

Also, I don't quite understand the staying off property ride pass that you can purchase. We definitely plan on purchasing it but what I'm wondering is how good is it? Do you get a much better ride (line) pass if you stay on property?

Thanks

 

[cajunaggie]

We are visiting on Sun-Mon-Tues before Memorial Day. Staying on-site (we will be coming to Universal property early Sun morning from another part of Orlando & getting tickets, hotel key,etc - then headed to IOA).
Right now, we have tickets for Sun & Mon, park-to-park...I am debating on adding a third day. It will only cost ~$40 for everyone...my original plan was to hang out @ resort on Tues before we start the drive home around noon.
Will 2 days park-to-park be enough?

 

[OrcaPotter]

We are visiting on Sun-Mon-Tues before Memorial Day. Staying on-site (we will be coming to Universal property early Sun morning from another part of Orlando & getting tickets, hotel key,etc - then headed to IOA).
Right now, we have tickets for Sun & Mon, park-to-park...I am debating on adding a third day. It will only cost ~$40 for everyone...my original plan was to hang out @ resort on Tues before we start the drive home around noon.
Will 2 days park-to-park be enough?

If you're planning on seeing everything in Wizarding World, you may want to add a third day ... as the crowds at that time of year will no doubt be extremely high. If you're staying at a Universal hotel, make sure you take advantage of the early admission into that area. Otherwise, it will take you a full day to see it all because of the crowds.

 

[Metro West]

If you're planning on seeing everything in Wizarding World, you may want to add a third day ... as the crowds at that time of year will no doubt be extremely high. If you're staying at a Universal hotel, make sure you take advantage of the early admission into that area. Otherwise, it will take you a full day to see it all because of the crowds.

That's not a bad idea.

 

[crazik]

Just returned from a trip to Disney. I am a super Harry Potter fan, so I could not miss the chance to visit WWOHP. Anyway, we went on Tuesday, February 1st. Arrived at about 10am. There was a 5-10 minute wait (which really wasn't even a wait, just the time you spend walking through the pre-attraction stuff) for the main ride in the castle. We also went on the dueling dragons coaster, which also had essentially no wait. The flight of the hippogriff kid coaster had a 40 minute wait, so we skipped that one. The stores were also not too crowded, so we enjoyed some shopping. Grabbed a butter beer with only 1 person ahead of us in line. Their was a decent line for the wand shop, so we also skipped that... It looked like about 30 minutes long. We did not see any of the street performers or dancers I've seen on the internet, but also didn't wait around for them.

Overall, I would not bother going back... I love the books, love the movies, but could easily leave the park. We are not big fans of universal in general (essentially a big six flags), as it doesn't have the "complete" feel we get when at Disney. While I was impressed with the "architecture" of the castle and hogesmeade, everything was awfully gray and dull. I need some more color in my life!

So, lines were not an issue on the 1st of February 2011.

 

[Pikester]

Yes, we all like the big rides quite a bit. I want to clarify though that I would be spending both days at IoA....we have Universal Studios in California (I know the one in Fl is probably bigger and better but.... we have the majority of that stuff and I don't really want to go to FL to see the same things)

With that said, 1) yes we like rides 2) we would only be doing two days at IoA would you say we would need two days there?

Also, I don't quite understand the staying off property ride pass that you can purchase. We definitely plan on purchasing it but what I'm wondering is how good is it? Do you get a much better ride (line) pass if you stay on property?

Thanks

From my understanding, when you stay on property as a perk you get a "Fast Pass" (your room key) that allows you to access all rides that have the "Fast Pass" line as many times as you want through out the day. The rides that don't have the FP line you just have to get in line with everyone else.

If you do not stay on property and purchase the Express Pass that allows you to access all the rides with the "Fast Pass" line one time for each ride that day. The rides that don't have the FP line you just have to get in line with everyone else.

Like I said, this just my understanding as my family hasn't been yet. Won't be long now!

Feel free experts on Universal to add or correct what I wrote.

 

[NAB]

Yes, we all like the big rides quite a bit. I want to clarify though that I would be spending both days at IoA....we have Universal Studios in California (I know the one in Fl is probably bigger and better but.... we have the majority of that stuff and I don't really want to go to FL to see the same things)

With that said, 1) yes we like rides 2) we would only be doing two days at IoA would you say we would need two days there?

Also, I don't quite understand the staying off property ride pass that you can purchase. We definitely plan on purchasing it but what I'm wondering is how good is it? Do you get a much better ride (line) pass if you stay on property?

Thanks

Like the poster above just said. If you just purchase the easy pass it is only good once per ride. If you stay on property you can fast pass the same ride as many times as you want.

We did two days as well and wished we only were there one. We did stay on property and had the fast passes though.

Got there early , that extra hour early given to the hotel guest was nice too. Did Harry Potter first then everything is do able in that park in a day, at least it was for us. We did not do any water rides though.

 

[mariks714]

I went on Superbowl Sunday (2/6) and all the lines for the main attractions were fairly short. A 10 to 20 minute wait for the Forbidden Journey throughout the day. A 5 minute wait for Dueling Dragons, and the longest wait was for Flight of the Hippogriff at 25 minutes. Ollivanders was only about a 15-25 minute wait for the 2 times I went to see the show. And I didn't go at rope drop or arrive early. The park opened at 9am and I was there at around 11am, ate lunch at the 3 Broomsticks at 1pm, and was finished with WWoHP at around 2. After checking out the rest of IOA it was 4 and went back to WWoHP to ride FJ one more time and shop the stores. Overall, it was a perfect day to be at the park, considering I had no touring plan or strategy whatsoever!

 

[onelilspark]

Anyone dare to take a stab on the kind of waits will experience this Saturday? Half of us want to sleep in...the other half want to get going so we don't have to wait in lines...

 

[phamton]

I bet it will be busy in the afternoon. That is also the first day of Mardi Gras so many people hit iOA first before heading over to Mardi Gras. I wouldn't sleep in.

 

[LMO429]

I have not been on this thread from quite some time. I had a quick question I thought I heard somewhere that universal is giving out a time card to be able to get access to the wizarding world of harry potter. I think it would tell you a time to come back to access it. Is this true? I have cousins going easter week I just want to be able to give them the heads up.

again I just briefly heard this I think on a podcast I do not know if there is any truth to it or if i misunderstood..thank you in advance

 

[damo]

I have not been on this thread from quite some time. I had a quick question I thought I heard somewhere that universal is giving out a time card to be able to get access to the wizarding world of harry potter. I think it would tell you a time to come back to access it. Is this true? I have cousins going easter week I just want to be able to give them the heads up.

again I just briefly heard this I think on a podcast I do not know if there is any truth to it or if i misunderstood..thank you in advance

When the crowds are high they give out return time cards.

 

[LMO429]

When the crowds are high they give out return time cards.

Can you elaborate more? Where do you get the cards etc

 

[damo]

Can you elaborate more? Where do you get the cards etc

In the past, if the crowd is being lined up over in the Jurassic Park area, that is where they are giving out the passes to come back at a scheduled time. In low crowds, there are two entrances - through the Lost Continent area so that you enter into Hogsmeade or through the Jurassic Park area, so that you enter beside Hogwarts. When the crowds are really high, the general public(not the early entry people who are staying onsite or who have Harry Potter Packages) is only allowed to enter beside Hogwarts and there will be a long line there. At that entrance, you can get a timed entry pass.

 

[BarryCF]

Hi everyone...I have'nt been here in a while. We will be at WDW May 30th (Memorial Day) throught June 3rd. We are going to add 2 days, June 4th and 5th, to the trip and the debate centers on whether we should add WDW days or UO days.

We are 44 year old parents of a 13 year old thrill junkie girl. I am also a thrill junkie while my wife is not. I am also the only HP fan in the house but my 13 year old would love to ride FJ. We won't be staying onsite at UO if we go, so I'm wondering what crowds are like on weekends in early June. Predicted crowd levels at WDW per touringplans.com are really low everywhere except Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekends. If we go to UO and I can't get into the WWOHP I won't be a happy camper.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[stepheb]

We were at Universal from 2/10-12 - GREAT time!
On 2/10- we went to WWoHP for the last hour - did all the rides, Ollivanders and shops without much of a wait at all - perfect to begin our trip!

On 2/11 - went for early hour and again did all the rides (twice!) and Ollivander's before having breakfast at 3 Broomsticks. ASK for the details inside the 3 Broomsticks!!! One of the "table cleaners" came up to ask to see if we had noticed the house elves - so she took us around to see them, hear them in the kitchen, had us get a pic by the fireplace cauldron, outside for a great pic of the kids with Hogwarts in the background, to see the 3 broomsticks (also used in the movie) and a spot to get the best pic of the restaurant. SO NICE! and the kids loved the special attention!

Left WWoHP after this - getting very busy. Went back to WWoHP around 6 pm again - and were able to do everything again without a wait.

On 2/12 - got there for the early hour - rode all rides (Hippogriff was most crowded - esp. since all were FOTL - it didn't help the 15-20 min. wait) and left at 9 am - already WAY too crowded for us! Went back for the last hour again and were able to ride FJ one last time with about a 20 min. wait.

Overall - we were extremely pleased at being able to experience it and ride the rides as many times as we wanted (7 times on the FJ!) - wonderful!

 

[Bowen9475]

We are heading to IOA this Friday - with the main focus being on WWOHP. Give me your best tips/suggestions. Thanks!

 

[coastgirl]

Arrived just before noon today, Monday Feb 14. Took about 20 minutes to get our food at Three Broomsticks, a bit of a wait for FJ, but nothing unmanageable. Olivander's line was long through the afternoon, but we only had a two-show wait around 5. Stumbled on front-row seats for the Tri-Wizard show. No appreciable wait at FotH and Dueling Dragons. Our first visit to the park, and while the ride waits were pretty good, I was disappointed by how crowded Hogmeade was. Hard to enjoy the shops, or the ambiance--too many Muggles.