Here at Diagon Alley

[Lynzer4]

I hope the issue today doesn't happen tomorrow morning. We are planning to arrive at the gate around 6am. Want to be in the front of the pack to get ion the ride

 

[KingdomHearts24]

I rode it today without early entry. Got in the diagon alley line first for maybe an hour. Got there at maybe 9ish at gringotts and got out at 2:30. That was with the ride not running until close to 12pm.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

How were the lines for the shops? Do you line up in roped off areas for each shop separately? I remember back in 2010 at Hogsmeade they had ropes up near Zonkos and they counted the people and only let so many in at a time. Is it similar to that? How were the crowds just walking around DA? Could you see in the shop windows? Did you see the two shows? Was the line at the Leaky Cauldron crazy long? I've been reading a lot about Gringott's but I'd love to know more about the other areas as well.

 

[zebsterama]

I rode it today without early entry. Got in the diagon alley line first for maybe an hour. Got there at maybe 9ish at gringotts and got out at 2:30. That was with the ride not running until close to 12pm.

That's great!

Do you recall what the posted wait time was when you got in line?

Also, did you see a lot of people in line ahead of you bail out?

Thanks!

 

[Bluer101]

How were the lines for the shops? Do you line up in roped off areas for each shop separately? I remember back in 2010 at Hogsmeade they had ropes up near Zonkos and they counted the people and only let so many in at a time. Is it similar to that? How were the crowds just walking around DA? Could you see in the shop windows? Did you see the two shows? Was the line at the Leaky Cauldron crazy long? I've been reading a lot about Gringott's but I'd love to know more about the other areas as well.

The shops have small queue lines, nothing to bad. Maybe a 5-10 min max wait. No issue there. If you want to do olivanders I would do it in DA with the multiple show rooms. It was way better than Hogsmeade.

 

[damo]

Gringotts seems to be running this morning during early admission.


Universal was damned if they did and damned if they didn't open Gringotts when they did. People wanted a concrete opening date and Universal gave them one. New rides, all over the place, have a history of trouble the first while. Maverick at Cedar Point had trouble, Radiator Springs at California Adventure had trouble, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had trouble, Forbidden Journey had trouble, Test Track had trouble, Indiana Jones at Disneyland had trouble, Jaws had trouble......it just goes with the territory. That is why no park ever guarantees that a ride will be open during your stay. Just read the fine print on any ticket.


Here's an excerpt from an article from the LA Times in 1995 about Indiana Jones....same type of thing as Gringotts


"The ride has had its share of teething troubles since opening March 3. It broke down three times during a press preview last month and worked sporadically during other special parties celebrating its opening. New rides often have operating troubles at first, so the breakdowns were not considered unusual."

 

[zebsterama]

Gringotts seems to be running this morning during early admission.

Let's hope!! -- where did you hear this?

The reason I ask is that Orlando Informer on Twitter (as of 45 mins ago - unless I'm reading the date incorrectly) is saying "Escape from Gringotts: "@blerns3: @*************** at the carts now. They're still doing test runs. No one on yet pic.twitter.com/ZoWWzLTdRl"

Let's hope all sides are running all day long!! Need some .... goodvibes!

 

[damo]

Let's hope!! -- where did you hear this?

The reason I ask is that Orlando Informer on Twitter (as of 45 mins ago - unless I'm reading the date incorrectly) is saying "Escape from Gringotts: "@blerns3: at the carts now. They're still doing test runs. No one on yet pic.twitter.com/ZoWWzLTdRl"

Let's hope all sides are running all day long!! Need some .... goodvibes!

Orlando Informer ‏25m
First Escape from Gringotts ride of the day, no issues. "@blerns3: overall an amazing ride, loved it" #DiagonAlley

 

[Susan2771]

We had no problem wandering the shops yesterday morning between 7:30 and before 9:00. We did not experience or see any line ups during that time except for the gringotts bank shop. A person can spend hours browsing alone if they like to do that sort of thing. Our girls got the interactive wands and had fun with them. It was a bit tricky at a number of the displays to get the spell to work. They have staff at a number of the spell stations to help the kids out. They were thrilled though when the spell worked. Because people would have to try over and over and over again, a line up would build up. At least seeing the interactive wand line ups helped us to easily find the interactive wand medallions

 

[RMulieri]

Gringotts seems to be running this morning during early admission.


Universal was damned if they did and damned if they didn't open Gringotts when they did. People wanted a concrete opening date and Universal gave them one. New rides, all over the place, have a history of trouble the first while. Maverick at Cedar Point had trouble, Radiator Springs at California Adventure had trouble, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had trouble, Forbidden Journey had trouble, Test Track had trouble, Indiana Jones at Disneyland had trouble, Jaws had trouble......it just goes with the territory. That is why no park ever guarantees that a ride will be open during your stay. Just read the fine print on any ticket.


Here's an excerpt from an article from the LA Times in 1995 about Indiana Jones....same type of thing as Gringotts


"The ride has had its share of teething troubles since opening March 3. It broke down three times during a press preview last month and worked sporadically during other special parties celebrating its opening. New rides often have operating troubles at first, so the breakdowns were not considered unusual."

EXACTLY... when they announced a July 8th opening instead of Mid-JUNE people were flipping out, Could you imagine had they said it wouldnt open till Sept or so ? it is not unusual to have glitches.Heck, we went to Universal in August last year, over a month AFTER Transformers opened, and we only managed ONE complete ride in all 4 days we attempted.It kept going down, wasn;t running for early entry etc..With technology this new it is going to unfortunately.

 

[KingdomHearts24]

That's great! Do you recall what the posted wait time was when you got in line? Also, did you see a lot of people in line ahead of you bail out? Thanks!

Yes, it was 420 mins but to me i felt like that wasn't accurate. It was probably 1 or 2 hours less than that. Also, all the things you see and experience on the way to the ride when you are in line makes it feel like time is going by way faster.

 

[MinnieGi]

Will be keeping an eye on this thread - we go in Nov. and hoping things are running smoother by then!!!

 

[xApril]

Ended up hopping in line at 7:40am yesterday and got off Gringotts at 12. It was posted 180 when we got in, was 350 when I went to the bathroom at 10, and 300 at 12 when we got off. A few holdups here and there, but our ride went uninterrupted.

 

[ocalla]

Im sure this is a stupid question but, How hard is it to get into just DA? and not necessarily Gringottts?

Also, we have never seen anything at Universal, what are the crowds like at Hogsmead now that DA is open?

We are going to have 2 days there, and hope to see everything (maybe not Gringotts because of the wait time), will that be long enough?

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

That is exactly what I wanted to hear. We will be there August 1,2,3 and I was hoping we could at least get in to walk around and see the shops. We have 3 full days so if we can't get on Gringott's then at least we can see DA.

 

[xApril]

Im sure this is a stupid question but, How hard is it to get into just DA? and not necessarily Gringottts?

Also, we have never seen anything at Universal, what are the crowds like at Hogsmead now that DA is open?

We are going to have 2 days there, and hope to see everything (maybe not Gringotts because of the wait time), will that be long enough?

Was there today around 4pm and they were allowing people to walk right in.

 

[Barry Browning]

Can I digress abit.WE are going on a cruise while we are in Orlandur choice here is a day at Universal or a day in Atlantis.Believe it or not both are expensive.Which would you choose knowing how hot and crowded Universal will be here on Aug 1. I mean thats a lot of $$$ for rides at IOA and Universal that appear to be packed.

 

[RedSox68]

How hard was it to get into Leaky Cauldron? When we went to Hogsmeade in 2011 it had already been open a year, so we walked right into everthing, including Three Broomsticks. But we are going in December, so not sure how much the crowds and kinks will have died down by then?

 

[Lynzer4]

How hard was it to get into Leaky Cauldron? When we went to Hogsmeade in 2011 it had already been open a year, so we walked right into everthing, including Three Broomsticks. But we are going in December, so not sure how much the crowds and kinks will have died down by then?

We walked right into breakfast this morning at 7:10am. We where one of the first 100 people on Gringotts and once done went to eat. Their was maybe 15 other people in there.

Not sure about lunch/dinner

 

[bumbershoot]

Can I digress abit.WE are going on a cruise while we are in Orlandur choice here is a day at Universal or a day in Atlantis.Believe it or not both are expensive.Which would you choose knowing how hot and crowded Universal will be here on Aug 1. I mean thats a lot of $$$ for rides at IOA and Universal that appear to be packed.

What sort of enjoyment would you have for an excursion type of day in Atlantis during the cruise vs what I assume would be a full day at Universal (after/before the cruise)? What would you do at Atlantis? What are you interested in at Universal.

I'm not usually into going someplace first (otherwise I would be at Universal this month!) but I'd hit Uni in August over Atlantis. Seems like casino, some sea creatures, and waterslides to me? Though if I were going to go to Atlantis I would do it the "rent a room at the Comfort Suites" way. I'm sure you can read about that on cruisecritic's Bahamas forum!

How hard was it to get into Leaky Cauldron? When we went to Hogsmeade in 2011 it had already been open a year, so we walked right into everthing, including Three Broomsticks. But we are going in December, so not sure how much the crowds and kinks will have died down by then?

I went to Universal the first time December 2010, so that same year it opened. And it was much quieter by December, even as crowds started to come in for the holidays, than I had read about it being earlier.