Harry Potter Crowd Report Thread...

[Tadsgirl]

Going again Tuesday and will let you know the wait time then.

BArb

Wow, thanks Barb. We will be there on Thursday!

 

[mesaboy2]

Wow, thanks Barb. We will be there on Thursday!

So will I. Good luck with the child-swap/single-rider/castle-tour stuff on FJ. Let us know how it went!

 

[ChrisFL]

Arrived at about 9:30AM this morning, Forbidden journey went from a 10 minute wait to a 30 minute wait while we were entering. After we exited, it was up to a 60 minute wait.

The wait line for Ollivanders was pretty long, stretching past those other shops to the left side of it around the corner of where the small stage is.

The rest of the parks weren't that busy, longest wait of the day was 25 minutes for Jaws

 

[Tadsgirl]

So will I. Good luck with the child-swap/single-rider/castle-tour stuff on FJ. Let us know how it went!

I will!

 

[Coach81]

nice thread

 

[SnowWtch]

We'll be there on Thursday and are hoping the shops aren't that hard to get into. We aren't riding the rides or eating there. We just want to wander around.

 

[w and r]

Will IOA likely be very busy February 16-18? I think this is just before presidents day?

 

[w and r]

Will IOA likely be very busy February 16-18? I think this is just before presidents day?

 

[Lou Holtz]

If you look at the park hours for IOA on the Universal website, how late the hours are will tell you how busy they expect any particular day to be.

 

[Ltl Mermaid]

Hi! I am going to UO on Friday and plan on spending trhe morning at IOA and WWOHP, a few hours at USF, and then back to WWOHP at IOA. I want to ride FJ at around 645 (IOA closes at 7pm) using the single rider line (there are 4 of us). Approximately how long is the average wait time for FJ using the single rider line at around that time. Does anyone have any experience in this?

I have tickets for ICE! at Gaylord Palms and we have to get to the resort between 8-815pm and we need to grab a quick bite at Citywalk (at the food court) before we leave.

Is this a feasible plan? Thanks!

 

[Ultimate17]

You might be cutting it close. I doubt the line at FJ will be very long for single riders, but you aren't giving much slack. Its a long walk to the garage from WWOHP. Then you gotta get outta the garage at closing, then you gotta fight I-4 traffic on a Friday. If it were me, I'd hit up FJ earlier and still plan on tyring to leave the park around 6 or 6:30. Then grab food near Buena Vista ensuring I had time to get to Gaylord.

I live in Orlando and know traffic on Fridays can be very unpredictable.

 

[ducky_love]

Hi! I am going to UO on Friday and plan on spending trhe morning at IOA and WWOHP, a few hours at USF, and then back to WWOHP at IOA. I want to ride FJ at around 645 (IOA closes at 7pm) using the single rider line (there are 4 of us). Approximately how long is the average wait time for FJ using the single rider line at around that time. Does anyone have any experience in this?

I have tickets for ICE! at Gaylord Palms and we have to get to the resort between 8-815pm and we need to grab a quick bite at Citywalk (at the food court) before we leave.

Is this a feasible plan? Thanks!

Ok- if this were ME then I could keep this schedule. But I hustle through the crowds and know back roads to take if I-4 is a disaster (which it often is on Friday afternoons). The single rider line at FJ is normally a 10 minute wait all day. I would go a little earlier and give yourself a little more time.

Not to mention Gaylord is a BIG place and you might get a little turned around. For ICE it is best to park to the far right near the conference entrance, but parking may not be available in that lot. If you have to park on the other side of the building you could have a 15 -20 minute walk ahead of you. If you decide to run early the H2O grill on property is yummy and affordable or there is a McDonalds & Chick-fil-a just around the corner on 192.

 

[Ltl Mermaid]

Thanks to both of you! I am very quick in a crowd BUT I do not know the area very well in terms of traffic times for driving. In your experience, how long does it usually take to get from UO to Gaylord Palms on a Friday night (approximately of course).

I am doing FJ earlier in the day but really wanted to try and hit it up a second time since I am such a HUGE Potter fan. Plus I wanted to see WWOHP at night.

Unfortunately I already bought my ICE! tickets before they extended the IOA park hours to 7pm and all of our other nights are booked with other reservations at WDW itself.

If we have to wait until after ICE! to eat, we can but it would be a late meal for us since we wouldn't be able to eat until after 9pm. Not ideal but we can if we must.

What time SHOULD we get in line for FJ (single rider line) in order to safely make it to ICE! by 815pm?

Thanks SO much!

 

[Timmy Boy]

Hey guys, I ran over to the park today after class. There are small wreaths (sp?) on the Hogsmeade doors. OMG though, the park was DEAD. Great for us guests, probably not so great for Universal, as they want it busy.

Dragon's Challenge was posted at 5 minutes. They had 4 trains on (2 per side) and were almost running empty trains. I rode 6 times, 3 Horntail, 3 Fireball. On 2 of the Horntail rides, and 1 on the Fireball rides, I actually had the entire back row to myself, and the rest of the train was empty except for the front row which had people. I have NEVER seen it that empty.

Forbidden Journey was posted a 10. Yes, a 10 minute wait. I used singles and got in in like, 2. I'm happy to report that the effect where your faces appear are back! However, the Dragon's steam out of his mouth was out though

Hippogriff was 5 as well. Team Members were friendly, and the park was clean. Overall a good time. It's kind of crazy how the parks can be absolutely crazy for Thanksgiving, be dead like today, then be an absolute madhouse by the end of this month. Oh yeah, Ollivander's line was probably a 1 or 2 show wait.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Hey guys, I ran over to the park today after class. There are small wreaths (sp?) on the Hogsmeade doors. OMG though, the park was DEAD. Great for us guests, probably not so great for Universal, as they want it busy.

Dragon's Challenge was posted at 5 minutes. They had 4 trains on (2 per side) and were almost running empty trains. I rode 6 times, 3 Horntail, 3 Fireball. On 2 of the Horntail rides, and 1 on the Fireball rides, I actually had the entire back row to myself, and the rest of the train was empty except for the front row which had people. I have NEVER seen it that empty.

Forbidden Journey was posted a 10. Yes, a 10 minute wait. I used singles and got in in like, 2. I'm happy to report that the effect where your faces appear are back! However, the Dragon's steam out of his mouth was out though

Hippogriff was 5 as well. Team Members were friendly, and the park was clean. Overall a good time. It's kind of crazy how the parks can be absolutely crazy for Thanksgiving, be dead like today, then be an absolute madhouse by the end of this month. Oh yeah, Ollivander's line was probably a 1 or 2 show wait.

I saw this too, though I saw a 20 posted at FJ when I was in the area (shortly after 3pm). I also saw no dragon steam/breath, and the face effect worked, but not properly. 3/4 of the faces showed.

There was no line for single riders, no wait for at the Hog's Head, the main butterbeer cart only had about 3 people waiting on each side. There were still a lot of people, but it was not packed!

Over on the Studios side, Rockit was a 5! ROTM was no wait. Also, ballons are up over at USF.

 

[tink1953]

we were there as well today...everything was a walk on at both parks.

no crowds at all...

no wait at forbidden journey and into Olivandors too..(this time he picked an adult for the wand, has anyone ever seen this happen before?? I thought he always chose kids and yes there were kids there)

Universal was the same.....

BArb

 

[geenerbell]

We were there today as well. IMHO it was the perfect day. I think mid-week+morning thunderstorms forecast=No lines at FJ!!! We arrived at 8:30 and were the 8th and 9th person in line at the front gates. I only saw two or three groups use the Early Entry. We walked to HP and walked on FJ. Then went to Olivanders, waited one show and got in. MY SON WAS PICKED TO HAVE A WAND CHOSE HIM!! WOW!!! We then went back and walked on FJ-5 minute wait time posted. My son rode 3 more times in the single rider line with no wait. Two times was enough for me!! We had a day to remember. Thanks everyone on this board for all the great info. Loved every minute!

 

[Echo queen]

we were there as well today...everything was a walk on at both parks.

no crowds at all...

no wait at forbidden journey and into Olivandors too..(this time he picked an adult for the wand, has anyone ever seen this happen before?? I thought he always chose kids and yes there were kids there)

Universal was the same.....

BArb

An adult has posted here that they were picked at Olivandors, my son was picked to his surprise.

 

[lori1043]

I was there too today and it was my first time and it was FABULOUS! Forget the rest of the parks- WWoHP is a place I could stay at all day. And we almost did.

We rode with ZERO wait, FJ 4x(once there was a 20 minute wait posted but we walked on), Dragon Challenge each side 2x, FoH 2x(kinda funny it's so slow and different, but I liked the scenery). We were there at rope drop and stayed till 5. We wandered over to Jurassic Park(what a disappointment the water ride was), did the Dudley Do Right flume thing(has to be a blast when hot!)and the Marvel area(loud and headache forming) but LOVED Hulk, of course. Walked on 3x.
Suess was positively adorable but my kids weren't interested, but there were no lines. We did go into that QS place and met Grinch and Cat in the Hat and Thing 1. That was cute. The place is al Christmas-ed up! My favorite Christmas decor in both parks for sure.

We walked right back around to WWoHP. Nothing else interesed us. We tried for Posiedon 2x but the times were always 20 minutes later then when we arrived, so we walked on over to HP and were perfectly happy. We actualy did the walk through at the castle so we could actually enjoy and get the whole story going through the lines that you do not get when there is no wait.

As a bonus, My DD11, in line for Dragon Challenge ride, tells me, "hey, mom, that kid over there looks like the kid from American Idol, you know the one who did really well? he's got the same spiky hair and nose". We kept peeking and just decided this kid looked like him a bit- but then I overheard the guy with him ask him if he keeps in touch with any of his AI contenstants and he said "yeah", so that verified that we saw Aaron Kelly 2 people in front of us. Kinda cool. If I had know I'd have asked him for a pic-poor guy- some crazy woman in line asking for pics with her kid.

We went over to US after(thinking they closed at 7, like IoA) and rode ET and the Mummy. We could tried other things but all of us agreed we'd do better just staying in WWoHP. US was completely empty. I took pics of the streets b/c there was hardly a soul on them. I wondered what it looked like in summer in front of the Mummy ride(Another one we really liked). Literally deserted.

The longest line we waited in was for Ollivanders-about half hour. But we were super lucky, blessed(whatever you wanna call it) b/c our 11 year old was picked for a wand. Yeah, it's hype, they make $32 every 5 minutes b/c are you really NOT gonna buy the wand "made for your kid"(lol). It's ALL she wanted all day long. It made her year. Plus, she had saved for it, but I paid half.

We actually went for my now 13 year olds birthday(we live nearby and we each pick a park to go to on our birthdays). We only went to Universal b/c I had come comp tickets that we were saving for when HP opened(but i was not braving the crowds before now). We have WDW AP's, so we usually go there.

My daughter had a WONDERFUL birthday and we all had a blast and I don't think the day could've been better.

Anyway- this is the perfect week to be here!

Hope I helped someone- especially a newbie with DD's who are tweens or now a teen!

Lori

 

[mollybeasley]

I hope it's like this when I get there on the 13th! Or maybe Wednesday will be the better day.