Harry Potter Crowd Report Thread...

[mintee]

I was there TODAY....thank you everyone for the advice... I read this post multiple times a day!!
First and foremost...the park now closes at 10pm
We arrived to the parking garage around 745 as advised--we were rightline to get to WWOHP in front of the Discovery Center in Jurassic Park-we were off site guests
We were let in at 845-We went straight on FJ-wait said 75 mins, but it was much faster...from there we hit the wand cart -it had NO lines and then rode the hippograff-15 min wait. The line for wand store was ridiculous...One piece of advice, bring some cash. There was no line at the small carts to buy the frozen butterbeer, but they were cash only. We made the mistake to buy it at the Butterbeer stand and it took forever! If you do have a credit card, the line at the main restaurant was so fast to get butterbeer and it was MUCH more frozen and better tasting!
We walked out of WWOHP by 10:30
Lines for everything else were in the 35-60 mins range all day. We actually left around 2 and came back at 6. The lines were MUCH better(all the water rides had 15-30 min waits) and you were able to just walk into WWOHP by 8 (that is when we went back) The line for FJ was longer, 90 mins but the waiting is easy because it moves fast.
We rode the hippograff again-20 min wait but the line for the wand shop was still ridiculous!
Very very crowded all day and we did not stop to take any pics because we didnt want to get run over by people
Frozen butter beer is awesome--pumpkin juice is liked spiced cider-very sweet. My kids did not like it at all.
By the way, a light up wand at the cart- $42.50
The broom was $32.40 I believe...needless to say, my twins left without a souvenir

 

[Albytaps]

I was there TODAY....thank you everyone for the advice... I read this post multiple times a day!!
First and foremost...the park now closes at 10pm
We arrived to the parking garage around 745 as advised--we were rightline to get to WWOHP in front of the Discovery Center in Jurassic Park-we were off site guests
We were let in at 845-We went straight on FJ-wait said 75 mins, but it was much faster...from there we hit the wand cart -it had NO lines and then rode the hippograff-15 min wait. The line for wand store was ridiculous...One piece of advice, bring some cash. There was no line at the small carts to buy the frozen butterbeer, but they were cash only. We made the mistake to buy it at the Butterbeer stand and it took forever! If you do have a credit card, the line at the main restaurant was so fast to get butterbeer and it was MUCH more frozen and better tasting!
We walked out of WWOHP by 10:30
Lines for everything else were in the 35-60 mins range all day. We actually left around 2 and came back at 6. The lines were MUCH better(all the water rides had 15-30 min waits) and you were able to just walk into WWOHP by 8 (that is when we went back) The line for FJ was longer, 90 mins but the waiting is easy because it moves fast.
We rode the hippograff again-20 min wait but the line for the wand shop was still ridiculous!
Very very crowded all day and we did not stop to take any pics because we didnt want to get run over by people
Frozen butter beer is awesome--pumpkin juice is liked spiced cider-very sweet. My kids did not like it at all.
By the way, a light up wand at the cart- $42.50
The broom was $32.40 I believe...needless to say, my twins left without a souvenir

Wow sounds like it was busier today than last week....

A light up wand sounds cool, I might bite on that one. Also a broom at $32.40? Could you possibly mean $320.40?

 

[MadeToLove]

I'll bet the castle looks cool at night...we are going in 10 days, what time does the park close?

park closes at 10:00 during the busy summer. Of course, if you are in line, you can ride after 10, and the shops are open much later.

 

[mom2aandj]

-we were off site guests
We were let in at 845-

they're not keeping it exclusively for on site guests and package holders until 9? I'm assuming this is because they are letting the on site people in earlier as well?

 

[Melissa612]

they're not keeping it exclusively for on site guests and package holders until 9? I'm assuming this is because they are letting the on site people in earlier as well?

We were there last week (thur and fri). We stayed off site and were at the park by 8:00 am. They let us right in and we headed right to the Harry Potter section and were in line to go into the Forbidden Journey. Looks like everyone was allowed in regardless of where they stayed.

We stayed in the Harry Potter area until maybe 1:00 pm, then headed into other areas of the park. During the morning if you left the Harry Potter area you had to get back in line to return and we were told the wait at that point was a few hours. We were told that if we returned after 4:00 pm we could get right back in. So we went to other parts of the park, returned at 4:00 and got right back in.

Definitely very busy in the morning. We had a group of 7 and did a bit of divide and conquer. While some people were on a ride, others were in line to get into the stores or into Ollivanders. That worked well though some lines are completely in the sun and that was brutal at times.

On Friday we hit Universal Studios in the morning then returned to Islands of Adventure at 4:00 and went right into Harry Potter. For some reason the lines were much quicker than Thursday afternoon. We got right into some of the stores, like Honeydukes without waiting. We could also hop back on the Dueling Dragon ride with a few minutes wait.

The stores are very small which is difficult for a theme park, but one of the people who works there said it was done intentionally per the request of JK Rowling. She wanted it to be authentic. I respect that decision, but it was difficult especially during the morning when it was so crowded.

Overall it was an excellent experience. Really enjoyed the whole park. Especially glad to have quite a few water rides to enjoy as getting soaked helped with the heat.

The Forbidden Journey and Dueling Dragons were excellent. Did FJ 3 times and Dueling Dragons 5 times. The attention to detail was really outstanding. Would love to see this part of the park expanded to include Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic. I could totally envision more excellent rides.

 

[EEyorelover22]

I know I will not be able to ride Dueling Dragons. Is it worth to walk through like for the FJ? I am not even sure how I will do on that ride either

 

[Pink Flamingo]

We were there last week (thur and fri). We stayed off site and were at the park by 8:00 am. They let us right in and we headed right to the Harry Potter section and were in line to go into the Forbidden Journey. Looks like everyone was allowed in regardless of where they stayed.

Hmmm, very odd. We were there those days & they had TM's checking for on-site room keys. Those who did not have them were not allowed in for early entry to WWoHP.

 

[Melissa612]

I know I will not be able to ride Dueling Dragons. Is it worth to walk through like for the FJ? I am not even sure how I will do on that ride either

Yes it's worth walking through the line. That's where you see the talking portraits, Dumbledore's office, the Sorting Hat, etc. Right before you get on the ride there is a "child swap" area. You could just wait there until the rest of your group gets off the ride.

 

[EEyorelover22]

Yes it's worth walking through the line. That's where you see the talking portraits, Dumbledore's office, the Sorting Hat, etc. Right before you get on the ride there is a "child swap" area. You could just wait there until the rest of your group gets off the ride.

This is the Dragon ride, yes?

I know I should walk through for the FJ.

 

[Pink Flamingo]

I know I will not be able to ride Dueling Dragons. Is it worth to walk through like for the FJ? I am not even sure how I will do on that ride either

I think it is. I went through the Express line once, then whet back with DH through the regular line just to take pics & see everything. There were several other people doing the same thing.

 

[Melissa612]

This is the Dragon ride, yes?

I know I should walk through for the FJ.

Sorry, I was referring to the FJ. I don't recall much of anything to see as you walked the line at Dueling Dragon. The Dragon line was very short in the afternoon, so you could easily walk up there then turn around and head back down.

 

[EEyorelover22]

Thanks. My kids are the Potter fans, but I have a large number of people here who are counting on me for pictures!

Does anyone know of a thread where all the info about the stores etc is posted? I read about the toilets to go in, but now I cannot remember where I even saw that.

 

[Melissa612]

Hmmm, very odd. We were there those days & they had TM's checking for on-site room keys. Those who did not have them were not allowed in for early entry to WWoHP.

Interesting, I never saw them check for anyone's keys when we entered the park nor at the line to get into Harry Potter.

I'm drawing a blank as to what TM refers to. Did they check for keys at the entrance to the park or at the entrace to Harry Potter?

 

[damo]

Interesting, I never saw them check for anyone's keys when we entered the park nor at the line to get into Harry Potter.

I'm drawing a blank as to what TM refers to. Did they check for keys at the entrance to the park or at the entrace to Harry Potter?

When we went, they checked three times for your room key. First before you got to the turnstiles, then at the turnstiles, then before you entered WWoHP.

 

[kmc]

We were there last week (thur and fri). We stayed off site and were at the park by 8:00 am. They let us right in and we headed right to the Harry Potter section and were in line to go into the Forbidden Journey. Looks like everyone was allowed in regardless of where they stayed.

No offense to you because I'm sure your family had a great time, but if this is what they are doing that's totally not fair to everyone who is paying extra to stay onsite or for the HP package for this paticular perk alone if they are just going to let everyone in anyway whats the point

 

[Melissa612]

No offense to you because I'm sure your family had a great time, but if this is what they are doing that's totally not fair to everyone who is paying extra to stay onsite or for the HP package for this paticular perk alone if they are just going to let everyone in anyway whats the point

No offense taken. I totally agree with you. I thought they wouldn't even let us into IOA until 9, and we were fully expecting to have to wait an hour to get in. I was very surprised that didn't happen.

 

[Lewisc]

The Virgin people who get in 30 minutes early are taken to 3 Broomsticks for a 30 minute sales pitch.

The lines on 1/25 and 1/27 were OK. Under 30 minutes for the early opening and around 60 minutes much of the day.

Almost all the merchandise (T-Shirts, mugs etc) can also be purchased at the shops in the front of both parks. Wands don't seem to be available outside of HP.

A wait of under 30 minutes means you'll be missing a lot.

Singles line didn't have much (any?) signage. Ask the team member as you enter the Que where to go. Singles line moves very fast but you miss virtually all the themiing in the Que.

 

[Dicecatt]

Last night was way more crowded than a few nights ago. Lines for the shops were double what they were on Saturday night. FJ was 90 minutes. We had a VIP event at Citywalk (Latin Quarter and the groove) but stopped in at WWOHP, and I did manage to get a butterbeer near the castle, they weren't selling it there on Saturday but they were last night. Love the slushie version of butterbeer.

We left that area quickly...way too many people and the line for Olivanders was incredible. We are going to go tomorrow morning early (we are onsite) just to try to do the shops. It was very difficult to even walk through the land last night, I'm surprised there wasn't a wait to get into it, there was so many people.

 

[asta]

We were there last week (thur and fri). We stayed off site and were at the park by 8:00 am. They let us right in and we headed right to the Harry Potter section and were in line to go into the Forbidden Journey. Looks like everyone was allowed in regardless of where they stayed.

Sorry to question the above statement but can any other offsite guest verify that offsite guests are let in at the same time as onsite guests? The hour of early entry was a strong reason for staying at HardRock for our upcoming trip.

 

[MadeToLove]

I know I will not be able to ride Dueling Dragons. Is it worth to walk through like for the FJ? I am not even sure how I will do on that ride either

The DD/DC queue has the Ford Anglia in it, it also has (what I believe are supposed to be actual movie props) the Goblet of Fire, Golden Eggs, Triwizard Cup, as well as the tent the champions rested in prior to the challenge, with Harry's costume and broom, and other props.

If there's not much of a line, it's fun to go thru just to take pictures and stuff.