Harry Potter- Wizarding World FAQ

[damo]

I think that they really should make part of Lost Continent into the Forbidden Forest. I don't really think that Diagon Alley would be right, stuck beside Hogsmeade.

They could do lots of great things with Shreiking Shack or the Forbidden Forest and its creatures.

 

[Harry Potter]

I think that they really should make part of Lost Continent into the Forbidden Forest. I don't really think that Diagon Alley would be right, stuck beside Hogsmeade.

They could do lots of great things with Shreiking Shack or the Forbidden Forest and its creatures.

But how would all that space allocated to Forbidden Forest alleviate the congestion in shops and Three Broomsticks of Hogsmeade? The new area MUST have another restaurant and MUST have more shops - if not for the congestion issues, then at least because for UOR it's like printing money.

In fact, wouldn't that be good, an Ollivanders-style attraction in Gringotts where you can watch them print your personalised gold coins or notes?

 

[neoavatara]

I think you create a Diagon Alley, and move Olivander's there. There are other things you can put in that space in Hogsmeade. Gringotts, and a ride corresponding to the next movie, make a lot of sense. Forbidden forest is interesting.

How about a Ministry of Magic?

 

[Harry Potter]

I think you create a Diagon Alley, and move Olivander's there. There are other things you can put in that space in Hogsmeade. Gringotts, and a ride corresponding to the next movie, make a lot of sense. Forbidden forest is interesting.

How about a Ministry of Magic?

A lot of people say that mving Ollivander's to Diagon Alley would make sense, and I agree. BUT, if it's already in Hogsmeade, what's the point? It seems like you are right in that other things can be put in its place, but what exactly? Maybe expand The Owl Post?

I also want Dragon Syrup to be sold exclusively in Leaky Cauldron (and a couple of drinks stalls) in the new proposed Diagon Alley area, and Firewhiskey exclusively in the Hog's Head pub.

I like the idea of Ministry of Magic. I did think of it earlier, but it's too hard to make it into a unique attraction. A special effects dark ride with moving walls like what was seen on DHpart1 ?

 

[damo]

But how would all that space allocated to Forbidden Forest alleviate the congestion in shops and Three Broomsticks of Hogsmeade? The new area MUST have another restaurant and MUST have more shops - if not for the congestion issues, then at least because for UOR it's like printing money.

In fact, wouldn't that be good, an Ollivanders-style attraction in Gringotts where you can watch them print your personalised gold coins or notes?

I just don't think Rowling will go for Diagon Alley right beside Hogsmeade. She was so particular about Hogsmeade. You can extend Hogsmeade adding Shreiking Shack and other eateries and surround it by forbidden forest.

 

[neoavatara]

A lot of people say that mving Ollivander's to Diagon Alley would make sense, and I agree. BUT, if it's already in Hogsmeade, what's the point? It seems like you are right in that other things can be put in its place, but what exactly? Maybe expand The Owl Post?

I also want Dragon Syrup to be sold exclusively in Leaky Cauldron (and a couple of drinks stalls) in the new proposed Diagon Alley area, and Firewhiskey exclusively in the Hog's Head pub.

I like the idea of Ministry of Magic. I did think of it earlier, but it's too hard to make it into a unique attraction. A special effects dark ride with moving walls like what was seen on DHpart1 ?

The only point of moving Ollivander's, to me, is to make it more crowd friendly...right now, it isn't exactly convenient because of the size, and because the line is boring.

I don't what to replace it...but I am sure Rowling and Universal would have ideas.

As for right next to Hogsmeade...no, I don't like that either. But if they expand, they could put it on the other side, like another focus. Then, you can have Diagon Alley and Ministry, both in London, together, and Hogwarts and hogsmeade together...kind of makes sense. I think the Ministry could be cool...especially if you take ideas from the books that weren't clearly in the movies.

 

[Joey7295]

Is Universal Express offered to on site guests?

 

[Metro West]

Is Universal Express offered to on site guests?

Yes...Onsite guests receive unlimited Express for the duration of their stay. The hotel room key is the Express pass.

 

[Harry Potter]

I just don't think Rowling will go for Diagon Alley right beside Hogsmeade. She was so particular about Hogsmeade. You can extend Hogsmeade adding Shreiking Shack and other eateries and surround it by forbidden forest.

Interesting. Most people/websites out there seem to think a Gringotts themed dark ride will be part of the expansion. I wonder if they actually know that Gringotts is located in Diagon Alley, and therefore, according to you/Rowling, unlikely to ever be part of WWoHP? I had my heart set on a Gringotts ride, the showbulding could have been similar imposing scale to Hogwarts.

Is it possible that UOR might take a bit of creative licence and build a Gringotts Bank (local branch) in Hogsmeade Village, like they did with Ollivander's Wand Shop? I don't think it would work though as Gringotts is supposed to be in the Muggle World.

I don't like the idea of a Shreiking Shack. I guess it would be easy to retheme Posiedon's Fury into a Shreiking Shack Walkthrough attraction though. I think it would be too scary for young kids.

When they extend WWoHP into LC eventually, then I think Skipper Island Tours would need to come back which would take guests from PoE to JP, as the gateway from Seuss to LC would be boarded off for construction purposes. Seuss Landing therefore would become a bottleneck for fans of Dr Seuss only - until construction of WWoHP phase 2 is complete.

Only when you look at it that way, can you realise what a big undertaking the expansion would be in a logistical sense. The area of WWoHP, as you and others have quite rightly pointed out, is simply too busy and popular to have anything added to it at the moment.

 

[damo]

Interesting. Most people/websites out there seem to think a Gringotts themed dark ride will be part of the expansion. I wonder if they actually know that Gringotts is located in Diagon Alley, and therefore, according to you/Rowling, unlikely to ever be part of WWoHP? I had my heart set on a Gringotts ride, the showbulding could have been similar imposing scale to Hogwarts.

Is it possible that UOR might take a bit of creative licence and build a Gringotts Bank (local branch) in Hogsmeade Village, like they did with Ollivander's Wand Shop? I don't think it would work though as Gringotts is supposed to be in the Muggle World.

I don't like the idea of a Shreiking Shack. I guess it would be easy to retheme Posiedon's Fury into a Shreiking Shack Walkthrough attraction though. I think it would be too scary for young kids.

When they extend WWoHP into LC eventually, then I think Skipper Island Tours would need to come back which would take guests from PoE to JP, as the gateway from Seuss to LC would be boarded off for construction purposes. Seuss Landing therefore would become a bottleneck for fans of Dr Seuss only - until construction of WWoHP phase 2 is complete.

Only when you look at it that way, can you realise what a big undertaking the expansion would be in a logistical sense. The area of WWoHP, as you and others have quite rightly pointed out, is simply too busy and popular to have anything added to it at the moment.

Since we never saw the inside of shreiking shack in the movies, they would have total creative licence with it and could make it amazing. The outside could also be very cool. I think a lot could be done with the magical creatures in the forbidden forest too.

 

[Metro West]

I was specifically asking about WWOHP

You didn't make that clear. Anyway...there is no Express on Forbidden Journey for anyone. Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge accept Express. Is that what you wanted to know?

 

[christophfam]

Have you read the rumors that JK is about to make a BIG announcement? Some say it involves an amusement park, but really it is anyone's guess. There is a website that will post info when it becomes available next week.
www.pottermore.com

 

[damo]

Have you read the rumors that JK is about to make a BIG announcement? Some say it involves an amusement park, but really it is anyone's guess. There is a website that will post info when it becomes available next week.
www.pottermore.com

It is probably her Harry Potter encyclopedia that she had talked about putting out.

 

[happycampers]

Thank you to everyone who has shared information specific to WWoHP and US/IOA in general. I've been lurking for some time, learning so much from each of you. You were a big help in planning our first ever visit to this theme park.

Using tips from these boards:

We got the three-day tickets from Costco. We used one day during this trip and hope WWoHP will have even more to offer before the tickets expire in 2014.

We prepared by condensing everything into our camera bag, but didn't end up needing lockers anyway due to child swapping.

Although staying offsite, we arrived early. Someone had suggested being there around 8:00 in the parking garage for a 9:00 park opening. We were a tad ahead of schedule and were one of the first at the turnstiles which they opened at 8:35 when we were there on June 9.

We checked the queue at Ollivander's and it seemed short, so we went there first since DS10 was planning to buy a wand anyway. After about a 20 minute wait, we were stopped at the door to be first in the next group of people. We were led directly to the infamous spot in front of the staircase. However, sadly, it was not DS10 that was selected, but his older sister DD16 who was not intending to purchase a wand, but had fun nonetheless. We hung back a bit after the show and asked the wandkeeper for a photo of him with DS10 since he was the one getting a wand that day. The wandkeeper was very nice, posed for the photo, and, staying in character made a nice wand suggestion for a boy his age and size and told him where to find it. That was good enough for him, and that's the one he bought at the end of the day so we wouldn't have to carry it. We did look up his birthday wand out of curiosity and didn't care for it as much. So I guess it all worked out as his birthday wand probably would have chosen him if he had been in the show.

Got to see the Weasley twins and snap a few photos of them, although it was a complete surprise to us that they were there that day.

Went to FJ next to have DD6 measured. Chatted with the team member at the gate while he helped measure her. We knew it would be a close one. Her hair touched the bar, but he was able to slide a plastic credit card size card between her head and the bar, so she was a "no". After riding it, I feel it was a good thing she barely missed it because I don't think she would have liked it much at this age. With a 120 minute wait during the 9:00-10:00 time frame, he sent us off with directions on how to go to the front of the queue express-style! We used child swap and didn't have to mess with lockers after all. We did go through the whole queue later when the lines were shorter.

We rode Flight of the Hippogriff, which everyone including DD6 loved.

We thouroughly explored Hogsmeade and enjoyed every minute of it.

We held off souvenir purchases until later in the day so we wouldn't have packages to carry.

We tried butterbeer at the cart since the line was short, although I was prepared to go into the Hog's Head. Two cups, one of each variety were enough for our family of five to share a sample.

We spent some time in Suess Landing, then the kids wanted to go right back to Hogsmeade.

We ate a late lunch at The Three Broomsticks during off hours and had very little wait.

We got good seats for the Triwizard rally. They really should publish the times since hardly anyone we asked knew exactly what time the next ones started.

DH rode the Dragon Challenge since no one else in our party was brave enough to give it a go. The lines there were about 5-10 minutes later in the day and we were able to go through much of the queue to take photos, noting that they've now acknowledged Cedric as a competitor.

We got souvenir mugs of Butterbeer and a cute bottle of pumpkin juice before we left.

I know from the many suggestions that there is more to enjoy at IOA and we could have hopped over to US too, but the kids were thouroughly fascinated in WWoHP and wanted to spend as much time as possible there. Ah, well, we have two more days to enjoy it all next time. Thank you again for everything you've shared from your experiences!

 

[Harry Potter]

So if The Forbidden Forest was the next part of WWoHP then what kind of attraction would you want? There has been suggestions in this thread of a kilimanjiro safaris type ride, but I struggle to see how that would fit in with the wizarding aspect. They don't have jeeps or regular vehicles of any kind at Hogwarts - unless we're going to be driven around in old Ford Anglias?

Would it be a dark ride like Droomvlucht at Efteling in Netherlands?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zviAIIY6Bm0

 

[jjmannford]

My wife and I both want to ride FJ but we have a young child that cannot ride it. Can we use the single rider only line if we have a child swap situation? Thank you. This is our first time with our 3yr old son to US & WDW so we aren't child swap veterans yet.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

What is the nearest sit down restaurant to WWoHP and how do I make reservations?

 

[mesaboy2]

My wife and I both want to ride FJ but we have a young child that cannot ride it. Can we use the single rider only line if we have a child swap situation? Thank you. This is our first time with our 3yr old son to US & WDW so we aren't child swap veterans yet.

I'm not sure. The single-rider is usually only 5-10 minutes though, so just one of you could go through while the other waits with DS3 outside somewhere.

 

[mesaboy2]

What is the nearest sit down restaurant to WWoHP and how do I make reservations?

Probably Mythos in Lost Continent. I've not eaten there myself, but I've heard it's pretty good. Don't know about reservations.

If counter service is okay for lunch or dinner, you could do Three Broomsticks in WWoHP.

 

[damo]

You can make reservations to all sit down restaurants at Universal Resorts through www.opentable.com