Harry Potter Crowd Report Thread...

[KeroKero]

Wondering how the crowd levels are these days. We'll be arriving in Orlando Thursday and spending 2 days at US/IOA the following week ... just curious on what to expect

 

[Alejop]

The thursday before the columbus weekend is gonna be so crowd?

 

[DCDisney]

Many schools have Fall breaks around Columbus Day and it will probably be very crowded. It was last year. Mid-morning they restricted access to Hogsmeade and gave out tickets to come back later.

 

[Alejop]

Many schools have Fall breaks around Columbus Day and it will probably be very crowded. It was last year. Mid-morning they restricted access to Hogsmeade and gave out tickets to come back later.

After o before?

 

[kaylyn2012]

Visiting Universal for 1st time Feb 18-21 on-site @ Hard Rock - crowd level? Any suggestions about maneuvering around parks with 13 year old boy - LOVES Harry Potter! Thanks!

 

[rtfelt]

Going to IoA tomorrow (Sunday) and plan on going "left" and doing the rest of the park first and then HP later in the day. I'll let you all know how it went and give a crowd report.

 

[klacey1]

Going to IoA tomorrow (Sunday) and plan on going "left" and doing the rest of the park first and then HP later in the day. I'll let you all know how it went and give a crowd report.

Please do! I hope your day is going well and crowds are low!!

 

[rtfelt]

Ar Harry Potter world right now. We stated the day without early entry. They

let us in @ 8:45. We went left & did not follow thd crowd to HP. We did spiderman, hulk... first. No lines. We then went to HP about 2 pm. FG was 30 min everything else less than 10. Haven't been to Ollivanders but line looks like about 30 min. If we go Ill report. Sorry 4 typos I'm on my phone .

 

[mesaboy2]

Ar Harry Potter world right now. We stated the day without early entry. They

let us in @ 8:45. We went left & did not follow thd crowd to HP. We did spiderman, hulk... first. No lines. We then went to HP about 2 pm. FG was 30 min everything else less than 10. Haven't been to Ollivanders but line looks like about 30 min. If we go Ill report. Sorry 4 typos I'm on my phone .

FG = Forbidden Gurney?

 

[gometros]

FG = Forbidden Gurney?

Forbidden Grawp

 

[kingken]

Going to IoA tomorrow (Sunday) and plan on going "left" and doing the rest of the park first and then HP later in the day. I'll let you all know how it went and give a crowd report.

thanks for the update, going friday (hurricane permitting) for 2 weeks so hopefully crowd levels will be lighter, what was universal like if you went

 

[mesaboy2]

Went three times this week in the late afternoon after work while in town on business and flying solo. Monday and Tuesday afternoon (8/22 and 8/23) were what I would call moderately crowded, which is more than I was expecting. Tuesday was the worst (relatively speaking), with waits at FJ posted wait at 75 minutes for the main queue (SR down the stairs), Spiderman 30 minutes. I think those waits were longer because of the on-and-off rains that day, which to my way of thinking has people going to the more indoor rides.

Thursday (8/25) wasn't bad at all, longest wait I saw in either park was Simpsons at 30. Hulk was walk-on, Spiderman and Mummy 15, FJ was 20 for main queue (SR walk on), FotH 10, MiB at 20 (SR walk on), Jaws 10. Didn't notice any others.

Never had to wait to enter WWoHP on any day, though I never arrived earlier than 3:30. Still, WWoHP was pretty packed all days--just the nature of the beast.

Hope this helps future planners.

 

[wisblue]

Ar Harry Potter world right now. We stated the day without early entry. They

let us in @ 8:45. We went left & did not follow thd crowd to HP. We did spiderman, hulk... first. No lines. We then went to HP about 2 pm. FG was 30 min everything else less than 10. Haven't been to Ollivanders but line looks like about 30 min. If we go Ill report. Sorry 4 typos I'm on my phone .

We visited IOA on Sunday, August 21 and, at least by my standards, the park was NOT crowded.

We were staying at WDW and drove to Universal early to pick up tickets and get in line for admission. We were allowed into the park at about 8:45 and went right to WWOHP. The area was not crowded at all, though there was a line for the show at Olivander's (from early entry guests). We walked right on FJ, Hippogriff, and Dragon Challenge and then spent some time walking through the shops at Hogsmeade. We then walked through the rest of the park, riding Jurassic Park (5 min wait), Spiderman (5 min), and Hulk (less than 5 min with single riders; posted time was 20 min.) We then went back to WWOHP for lunch at Three Broomsticks, and walked back for The Cat in the Hat (10 min due to a short breakdown).

Around 12:30 we went back to ride FJ again, intending to use the single rider line. But, because the posted wait time was 30 min, we decided to go through the line so we could see the castle at a slower pace. Even then, we moved pretty quickly, and were on and off the ride in about 15 minutes.

Because it was getting extremely hot, we had done everything we wanted to do, and we had some shopping to do to get ready for my daughter's check-in at the Disney College Program the next day, we stopped in a few shops and left the park around 2 PM.

The longest posted wait time we saw was for the Ripsaw Falls water ride (60 min), presumably because it was so hot. Because we didn't want to get drenched before getting in the car, we didn't intend to ride that anyway.

My daughter, who had visited IOA last August, said that the crowds, especially at WWOHP and the shops at Hogsmeade, were significantly lower this time. There was no wait to get into the WWOHP area when we left, and I doubt if there was one all day.

 

[damo]

We visited IOA on Sunday, August 21 and, at least by my standards, the park was NOT crowded.

We were staying at WDW and drove to Universal early to pick up tickets and get in line for admission. We were allowed into the park at about 8:45 and went right to WWOHP. The area was not crowded at all, though there was a line for the show at Olivander's (from early entry guests). We walked right on FJ, Hippogriff, and Dragon Challenge and then spent some time walking through the shops at Hogsmeade. We then walked through the rest of the park, riding Jurassic Park (5 min wait), Spiderman (5 min), and Hulk (less than 5 min with single riders; posted time was 20 min.) We then went back to WWOHP for lunch at Three Broomsticks, and walked back for The Cat in the Hat (10 min due to a short breakdown).

Around 12:30 we went back to ride FJ again, intending to use the single rider line. But, because the posted wait time was 30 min, we decided to go through the line so we could see the castle at a slower pace. Even then, we moved pretty quickly, and were on and off the ride in about 15 minutes.

Because it was getting extremely hot, we had done everything we wanted to do, and we had some shopping to do to get ready for my daughter's check-in at the Disney College Program the next day, we stopped in a few shops and left the park around 2 PM.

The longest posted wait time we saw was for the Ripsaw Falls water ride (60 min), presumably because it was so hot. Because we didn't want to get drenched before getting in the car, we didn't intend to ride that anyway.

My daughter, who had visited IOA last August, said that the crowds, especially at WWOHP and the shops at Hogsmeade, were significantly lower this time. There was no wait to get into the WWOHP area when we left, and I doubt if there was one all day.

Sundays are lovely.

 

[HolliePoppins]

We are going to WWOHP in Sept. for one day. I am trying to choose between a Wed 9/21 or Fri 9/23. Is there a significant difference in crowds between a wed. and a fri.? TIA

 

[mesaboy2]

We are going to WWOHP in Sept. for one day. I am trying to choose between a Wed 9/21 or Fri 9/23. Is there a significant difference in crowds between a wed. and a fri.? TIA

Going on Wednesday should take many locals out of the equation. Definitely suggest Wednesday.

 

[mcjw2011]

I'm thinking about going in November, and leave a few days prior to the HP celebration. How busy was it last year? It probably was midway through, due to the "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" release in mid-November.

 

[Metro West]

I'm thinking about going in November, and leave a few days prior to the HP celebration. How busy was it last year? It probably was midway through, due to the "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" release in mid-November.

WWoHP was busy practically everyday last year and I don't see it really slowing down any this year. Mid-November isn't usually crowded so you should have no problems with seeing the rest of the parks.

 

[mesaboy2]

I'm thinking about going in November, and leave a few days prior to the HP celebration. How busy was it last year? It probably was midway through, due to the "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" release in mid-November.

I don't think the movie releases impact crowds much, other than the theaters at City Walk.

If you're going in early November and getting out of Dodge before the celebration, I would guess you won't encounter heavy crowds.

 

[Alejop]

Im going to IOA 6 of october (just before columbus weekend) its thursday...ir will be so crowd?
Thanks