Harry Potter Crowd Report Thread...

[Don Pacho]

^^ when I rode FJ around 8 PM, it had a 30 minute wait

 

[swissfamilyrobinson]

We went to IofA Tuesday, March 15 as non-resort guests, in the middle of our nine day trip to WDW (split stay at POFQ and POR). I THOUGHT I had done my research on the US board. We didn't have bags - just wore jackets with pockets that we could put our stuff in (using ziplocs) and then tie around our waists later.

We got caught up in the horrifically long line for FJ at RD at 9:00 a.m. I'm thinking we could have bypassed the line altogether and gone straight to the single rider line since we had no bags, but there was no one telling the HUGE crowds that. The line was all the way back to Jurassic Park and was two hours long. Finally, my DD went to ask someone about the single rider line, and we got out of that line and went straight to single rider and practically walked right on!! I was confused and irritated with myself for not doing enough research!!

The moral of this story is - ASK someone before you get in the line!! They may not be making announcements, unless you are right up by the castle. I was assuming we had to get in the long line and then split off to single rider when we got closer. Like I said, I was confused!!!

The park was extremely crowded that day. I overheard one employee say that both IofA and US were at capacity. Wall-to-wall people in the WWoHP section. I want to say that by 10:30-11:00 or so, they had closed off the section, and were handing out entry passes. We left after getting a pass, and went to do some other things. I was about ready to go back to our resort, but we decided to stay and eat lunch and then returned to HP. (Our re-entry time was 1:20-2:20.) I'm glad we didn't work our entry pass like a fast pass, because they were checking each and every pass and I'm not sure we could have entered after our allotted time. The girl, at first, said we couldn't enter yet - that it was too early. They were allowing the 2:10 people in. I said, "No, our time is for 1:20!!!!!" She said, sorry and let us on through.

We decided to bite the bullet and stand in all the lines for the rest of the stuff we bypassed in the morning. I would estimate we stood in line for Ollivander's for 90 minutes, and Honeydukes around 20 minutes just to get in.

I do believe my hair lightened a good bit from standing in line in the sun all day!!!

On a side note, the Hulk ride broke down for an hour or so, and almost all the people who were in the 80 minute line came pouring out. We waited around. It's a good thing we didn't pay too much attention to the worker posted at the entrance - she finally started telling people that the ride wouldn't be fixed anytime soon - could be hours - and within five minutes of her saying that it was up and running!

Also, another hint (which may already be posted, but worth repeating): If you even THINK you might want to get the Express Pass, you may want to get it early, online. I had checked the price online just four days before we went and that Tuesday was supposed to be a green day - $25.99. When we got there the price was $59.99 - it had jumped to an orange day!!!! Needless to say, we didn't get one!

All in all, we had a nice time, and I'm glad we stuck it out. I just wouldn't make the mistake of going during Spring Break again!

 

[hitomi04]

i was today at island of adventure and i was very scared of the heavy crows but it was really ok

Forbidden journey:
Wait times
At 14:00: 50 minutes
At 16:00: 60 minutes
Post 17:00: 20 minutes (I went with my sister and it was a real 20 minutes wait post 5pm)
Single ride: 10 minutes or less always (i wait 5 minutes post 5pm my second time i made the single ride line)
Post 18:00: Close for technical problems (i was in the line my third time and they take all of us out of the castle)

Dragon challange
At 14:00: 20 minutes
At 16:00: 30 minutes
Post 17:00: 25-15 minutes (i wait 15 minutes the two times i went)

Flight of the Hippogriff
20 minutes always or less (i wait 10 minutes)


After 5pm it was excellent at harry potter, i also went 3 times to spiderman (5 minutes wait time after 7pm) and 2 times to hulk (20 minutes wait time after 7pm)

Amazing day at island of adventure.

 

[jhwdw92]

I was at IOA and WWOHP on Saturday (March 26th). We were worried about the crowds, as we were not staying at a Universal Resort and this was indicated as an "Orange Day" online. We did buy the express pass, but obviously this will not work for FJ.

We drove to the park and arrived at around 8:05 and were in line waiting to get in by 8:15. To our surprise, they opened the park at about 8:30, and we were rerouted to the left and had to walk through Marvel and Toon Lagoon on our way to WWOHP. Once we arrived at the castle at about 8:40, the posted wait time was 30 minutes. We hurriedly threw our bags in a locker and ran into line. We probably only waited 20 minutes and all enjoyed the ride very much.

After this, we rode Dragon Challenge twice with our express passes, still having to wait about 10 minutes per ride. Then we got butterbeer from one of the carts (no wait) and shopped in Honeydukes (no wait). By this point (about 10:30 AM) we were ready to leave WWOHP and saw a posted wait time of 60 minutes for WWOHP and learned they were already handing out re-entry passes for later in the day.

Moral of the story- go early! We finished WWOHP in less than 2 hours (albeit without Ollivanders- decided it wasn't worth the wait) and were able to enjoy all of IOA and US by 6 PM because we had express passes. Overall it was definitely a good day!!

 

[Toad_Passenger]

I was at IOA and WWOHP on Saturday (March 26th). We were worried about the crowds, as we were not staying at a Universal Resort and this was indicated as an "Orange Day" online. We did buy the express pass, but obviously this will not work for FJ.

We drove to the park and arrived at around 8:05 and were in line waiting to get in by 8:15. To our surprise, they opened the park at about 8:30, and we were rerouted to the left and had to walk through Marvel and Toon Lagoon on our way to WWOHP. Once we arrived at the castle at about 8:40, the posted wait time was 30 minutes. We hurriedly threw our bags in a locker and ran into line. We probably only waited 20 minutes and all enjoyed the ride very much.

After this, we rode Dragon Challenge twice with our express passes, still having to wait about 10 minutes per ride. Then we got butterbeer from one of the carts (no wait) and shopped in Honeydukes (no wait). By this point (about 10:30 AM) we were ready to leave WWOHP and saw a posted wait time of 60 minutes for WWOHP and learned they were already handing out re-entry passes for later in the day.

Moral of the story- go early! We finished WWOHP in less than 2 hours (albeit without Ollivanders- decided it wasn't worth the wait) and were able to enjoy all of IOA and US by 6 PM because we had express passes. Overall it was definitely a good day!!

This sounds very similar to the day we went (Sunday 3/13). I can't thank the people on these boards enough for all of the suggestions they gave us. I've read reports about Saturday 3/12, Monday 3/14, and now Tuesday 3/15 being absolutely jammed with people, but the Sunday we were there we had a crowd-free day. We were supposed to go that Monday or Tuesday, but people here suggested changing to Sunday...thank you, thank you, thank you.

As to the time in WWOHP, I agree with you. We were able to ride FJ, and the Hippogriff, buy our wands, eat at 3 Broomsticks (Butterbeer FTW!), shop in Honeyduke's, Zonko's, and Dervish & Bange's, and were out of the WW area by 12noon. Interestingly enough, we wanted to take some pictures later in the afternoon, and we could still walk back in (appx. 3pm) without return passes.

If anyone out there has a flexible schedule, try and go on a Sunday!

 

[MouseEarsForLife]

I love hearing all of these great things about Sunday! We're going next Sunday, so fingers crossed it's just as good!

 

[CamdenScott4]

Just curious if anyone has done rope drop at IOA, went to WWoHP but went to Hippogriff or Dragons first, not FJ? What are wait times at RD for those - anyone know?

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Just curious if anyone has done rope drop at IOA, went to WWoHP but went to Hippogriff or Dragons first, not FJ? What are wait times at RD for those - anyone know?

As I said in my post above we were there at RD on a Sunday, which wasn't as crowded as other days. We went right on FJ, which was posted as 20 minutes, but was more like 10. After that we took our time at Hogsmeade, and then decided to go back to the Hippogriff. By that time it was about 45-60 minutes after RD, and the wait was posted 15, but took about 20 minutes. Our day wasn't that crowded and Dragons was only about 20-30 minutes all day, down to 10 by about 3pm. Not sure what it was at RD, though.

 

[Procrastinate]

We were at IOA on Thursday, 3/24. We were staying onsite, and arrived at the park around 8:15. We headed straight to FJ which posted a 30 minute wait. We had no problem getting a locker. The line moved very quickly. If someone tried to stop to take a picture, one of the workers told them to stop and to take a castle tour after the ride. After FJ, we rode Hippogriff and Dragons (twice), both of which had 5 minute waits. We heard that FJ was up to a 90 minute wait at that time. Ollivanders had a 1 hour wait, so we decided to skip it at that time. We probably finished and left WWOHP by 9:30. I never saw a line for offsite guests. As far as I know, they were able to walk in any time after 9. This was very different than our experience last July when there was a long line to get in after 9 and Hippo and Dragons had long waits. The general area still seemed pretty crowded.

We did the rest of the park and found short lines everywhere except Hulk and Spiderman. We went back to WWOHP midafternoon. Wait time was listed as 60 minutes. We did single rider, and were probably on within five minutes. By the time we got off the ride, the wait time was down to 30 minutes. Hubby did the castle tour, and said he saw parts that you don't see while waiting in line. We then did Ollivanders, which was down to a 25 minute wait. IMO, it wasn't worth waiting any longer than that, but if you're going to stand in line to go into the store, you might as well wait to see the show too.

We headed out of the park around 7, having done most things multiple times.

In all, it was a much better experience than last July. Better weather, fewer people, and less maintenance problems throughout both parks. I wouldn't hesitate to go back during spring break.

 

[Bethenny]

The moral of this story is - ASK someone before you get in the line!! They may not be making announcements, unless you are right up by the castle. I was assuming we had to get in the long line and then split off to single rider when we got closer. Like I said, I was confused!!!

This applies also to the locker/non-locker lines. The first day we had no problem walking right into the no bag line. But the second, there was a huge mass of people right at the entrance. After a few minutes, I could see that they were all trying to funnel into the locker line. So we were able to bypass that massive crowd and go into the no bag line.

Just curious if anyone has done rope drop at IOA, went to WWoHP but went to Hippogriff or Dragons first, not FJ? What are wait times at RD for those - anyone know?

Those lines are very short at that time. We did FJ first (twice), then pretty much walked onto Hippogriff twice before the line got long. And that was maybe 20-25 minutes. I actually never saw dragons get higher than 10 minutes. And we walked on every time with the express pass. I was just there last week.

 

[damo]

Just curious if anyone has done rope drop at IOA, went to WWoHP but went to Hippogriff or Dragons first, not FJ? What are wait times at RD for those - anyone know?

Do you mean rope drop for early entry or rope drop for the general public?

 

[Bethenny]

Do you mean rope drop for early entry or rope drop for the general public?

Good question. My answer pertains to early entry.

 

[msp2mco]

We were at IoA and WWOHP today (3/28) at day-use rope drop. We were let in about 8:45 and walked all the way around to get to WWoHP. I asked if we were in the single-rider line for FJ and were told that we were. The line moved quickly, and in 15 minutes we were on, but it was not a single-rider line. I wonder if they hadn't opened it at that time. We rode FJ, then we opted for Flight of the Hippogriff. We went in the day-use line and were walking by all these people in the Express Line. I even asked the people behind me if they had a special pass to which they said, "No, he just told me to go in this line." We basically walked right on to the ride, while the people in the Express Line watched us.

Hogsmead filled up quickly after that. We had lunch at The Three Broomsticks about 10 AM with very little wait.

It rained off and on in the morning, then it rained harder in the afternoon, so crowds weren't bad in the rest of the park. We didn't make it back to WWOHP.

NOTE: We noticed other lines where the Express Pass people actually had to wait a lot longer than the regular wait lines. Glad we didn't upgrade to that.

 

[CamdenScott4]

Do you mean rope drop for early entry or rope drop for the general public?

Sorry - I meant RD for general public, no Express Pass etc.

 

[crazy4veggies]

We went to IOA on Thursday, 3/24 and were surprised they let us into the park at 8:45. We went straight to FJ, and waited about 45 minutes to ride. When we got out, however, the WWOHP was much more crowded and Ollivanders had a huge line. We ate at the Three Broomsticks with no wait then returned in the evening. We were able to do Ollivanders in 20 minutes after 8 p.m. and FJ had a wait time of 30 minutes.

 

[MIChessGuy]

We went to IOA on Thursday, 3/24 and were surprised they let us into the park at 8:45. We went straight to FJ, and waited about 45 minutes to ride. When we got out, however, the WWOHP was much more crowded and Ollivanders had a huge line. We ate at the Three Broomsticks with no wait then returned in the evening. We were able to do Ollivanders in 20 minutes after 8 p.m. and FJ had a wait time of 30 minutes.

This is the strategy I followed last August as an offsite guest. It worked out pretty well, including the slightly early entry time (8:40 in our case). The only glitch was about an hour later when FJ's fat police kicked me out. Having since ridden successfully in the modified seats, I anticipate success on my next trip this summer. "Bookending" the day seems to be a good approach in general for the Wizarding World -- first thing to get ahead of the massive crowds, and again in the evening when the young'uns have had enough.

 

[msp2mco]

We went to WWoHP yesterday (3/29) and arrived before RD (not hotel guests). We were let in shortly after 8:40 and walked a bit beyond Spiderman before we were held back at another rope. Then we walked the rest of the way to WWoHP and had a line to cross the bridge because they were limiting access across the bridge with roped lines. Once across, we headed for FJ (no bags). The wait time was already 60 minutes, but we took the single-rider line and truly walked right on.

After the ride, we looked around, had a butter beer, and rode DD. By the time we left the area (about 10:30), they were handing out return time tickets.

 

[wheezywhizzy]

Does anyone know how the crowds are today!?

 

[phamton]

Does anyone know how the crowds are today!?

Crazy busy today. The Ellen show was taping and it brought in a lot of crowds.

 

[wheezywhizzy]

Crazy busy today. The Ellen show was taping and it brought in a lot of crowds.

I figured it was crazy because Ellen and Kelly Clarkson were there. Thanks for confirming