Just back- loved it!

[Lucky4me]

We went to UO Sunday Nov. 7th and again Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Stayed off site.
Harry Potter on Sunday was crazy busy. Monday and Tuesday we got to go on FJ multiple times with little wait. Friday was crazy busy again.
If this is off season, I would hate to see what WWOHP looks like in peak season. It seemed like wall to wall people at all times.
Except for Friday, the rest of both parks were very manageable. We walked on many popular rides like Spiderman, Hollywood rip ride rock it, Hulk, Mummy, etc.
Everything was a long wait on Friday afternoon/early evening.
I don't think there is any way to predict accurate crowd levels while WWOHP is so new.

I suggest single rider line for FJ. I lost track how many times we rode it single rider and most of the time we were able to sit two side by side. The single rider entrance is so dark, I don't think I would have ever known it was there had I not known from this board.
I loved the ride, except for a couple of very minor things.
I thought the spiders were pretty cheesy looking and I feel they over did the dementors. I would have liked to see more of Harry and friends instead. More Hagrid! I loved the quidditch (sp) match the best.
I did not feel the least bit queasy on this ride. I could have stayed on it all day! I was concerned about getting sick on it, but I lucked out.
The lockers were not in the best place and people were so confused by them. We had to wait fifteen minutes after one ride to retrieve our stuff because one person messed up. It was not pleasant waiting while a TM was found and while they tried to fix it, but couldn't. A crowd was stuck in there and no one was happy about it. They finally had to open all the lockers and question everyone about what they had in their locker before they'd let you take it out.
My best advice is to have a non rider hold your things, or carry everything in a waist pack or cargo pockets.

Frozen Butterbeer was great once, not so great the second time. I think the second time it was watered down or something. We would have taken it back, but we were walking out when we got it and no one wanted to go back into the crowd.

We will go back again for sure, maybe stay on site next time for even shorter waits for rides!

 

[momblanch]

Lucky4me:

Glad to hear you had a great trip! We were there the week prior (staying off-site also) and had a great time. Our weather was very cool, so we spent most of our time at the parks. Most days, as you said, were quite manageable. Friday was definitely the most crowded for us. As a matter of fact, we milled around a bit, and left for an early dinner because of the long lines. (Margaritaville...highly recommend the grilled grouper...yum!) Our last day was Sun 11/7, we arrived in WWoHP around 4-4:30 and found it to be quiet. Ollivander's in 30 mins, FJ pretty much a walk on and the shops the most empty we had seen them since Wed. We ate at Three Broomsticks with no wait and got to experince the castle at dark. Talk about magical!! It was fabulous!!

I will echo your tips and permit me to add some of mine:

-Go to HP mid week if possible, but Sunday evening was fine

-Dont carry anything that needs to go in a locker (I had trouble all week with the fingerprint scanner at the turnstile. The one time we did use a locker, a TM had to open it for me cause it would not recognize my print. It was on MIB with no lines, but still...fanny-packs from that point on!!

-Butterbeer...frozen...good...but one was definitely enough

-Ollivanders...cute show if you are a fan and only have to wait 30min or less. Make friends in line, it helps pass the time.

-FJ...Did not make me motion-sick at all, either!!! After reading some reports, I was really worried. We never had to do single rider but I can see where it would be great. Actually we never seemed to have ENOUGH time in the que! Felt like a kid again flying throught the quiddich pitch and the castle!

-Use your AAA card at all the shops...def saved us $$. Also, check out the US stores at the entrances, they carry the popular HP merchandise and are generally less crowded.

-We ate at CityWalk and were not disappointed. (Generally not a fan of chain type restaurants, been spoiled with great dining all my life living in the NJ/NY area.) Enjoyed our meals, the service and the atmosphere. We let our kids (18,17 and 12) pick the restaurants. (HardRock, Margaritaville, and BubbaGump. BG was my least fav, but the kids are big fans of the movie)

-Biggest tip...go informed, dont stress the little things and have FUN!!
Thanks for letting me add my 2cents!

 

[Planogirl]

Thanks for the reports. We saw lots of confusion around the FJ lockers and I was so grateful that we opted to not carry anything. Hopefully Universal will sort all of that out eventually.

The Butterbeer was routinely good when we had it and we bought three! We shared though with me having to demand a bit from my son (who was completely smitten with the stuff) but we never tried the regular. I usually drank this wonderful berry tea that was sold on the outdoor carts. I LOVED that stuff.

 

[dlberney]

I have a question....what is butterbeer? My 10 yr old DS has heard of it and wants to try it when we go to Universal next summer. What is in it? Thanks!

 

[the Dark Marauder]

I have a question....what is butterbeer? My 10 yr old DS has heard of it and wants to try it when we go to Universal next summer. What is in it? Thanks!

Ingredients in butter beer: delicious and yum.

It's basically cream soda + butterscotch & shortbread flavored topping. At least, that's what it tastes like to me.

 

[momblanch]

I have a question....what is butterbeer? My 10 yr old DS has heard of it and wants to try it when we go to Universal next summer. What is in it? Thanks!

Butterbeer, a creation of JK Rowling, is a popular beverage among the characters of the Harry Potter series. It is sold at WWoHP either as a cold or frozen non-alcoholic drink. We tried the frozen. It was pretty sweet and tasted to us like a blended concoction of cream soda and vanilla ice cream with a hint of caramel.

I dont know the exact ingredients, but you could do a search. HTH!

 

[Lucky4me]

Thanks for the reports. We saw lots of confusion around the FJ lockers and I was so grateful that we opted to not carry anything. Hopefully Universal will sort all of that out eventually.

The Butterbeer was routinely good when we had it and we bought three! We shared though with me having to demand a bit from my son (who was completely smitten with the stuff) but we never tried the regular. I usually drank this wonderful berry tea that was sold on the outdoor carts. I LOVED that stuff.

The frozen butterbeer was amazing, well, at least the first time we had it. I wonder if JKR will ever allow an alcohol version? dd makes a mean frozen butterbeer. It has this big punch missing in Universal's version. Butterscotch vodka.

I really think the problem with the lockers is lack of space for the number of people using them. It's just too small and dark and not enough signs or TM's telling people where to go. The whole area gave me a headache. Good thing the ride was so incredible!

One time in line we saw an elderly couple ready to get on and I was they had to be at least 80. The woman had two big purses with her. The TM's gently turned them back to stow the purses and they were not happy. That is one long que to have to go all the way back to the beginning.
I hope I'm that spry when I'm 80.

One thing I took note of was at the end of every night, bathrooms at Universal were cleaner than the ones at Disney. I was shocked. Universal has really changed for the better the past few years. I have no clue what was going on at Disney. Bad nights or are they slipping...

 

[damo]

The frozen butterbeer was amazing, well, at least the first time we had it. I wonder if JKR will ever allow an alcohol version? dd makes a mean frozen butterbeer. It has this big punch missing in Universal's version. Butterscotch vodka.

I really think the problem with the lockers is lack of space for the number of people using them. It's just too small and dark and not enough signs or TM's telling people where to go. The whole area gave me a headache. Good thing the ride was so incredible!

One time in line we saw an elderly couple ready to get on and I was they had to be at least 80. The woman had two big purses with her. The TM's gently turned them back to stow the purses and they were not happy. That is one long que to have to go all the way back to the beginning.
I hope I'm that spry when I'm 80.

One thing I took note of was at the end of every night, bathrooms at Universal were cleaner than the ones at Disney. I was shocked. Universal has really changed for the better the past few years. I have no clue what was going on at Disney. Bad nights or are they slipping...

Usually if you get turned back to put stuff in a locker after waiting in line, you are given a pass to move to the front of the line once you go down to the locker.

 

[dlberney]

Ingredients in butter beer: delicious and yum.

It's basically cream soda + butterscotch & shortbread flavored topping. At least, that's what it tastes like to me.

Butterbeer, a creation of JK Rowling, is a popular beverage among the characters of the Harry Potter series. It is sold at WWoHP either as a cold or frozen non-alcoholic drink. We tried the frozen. It was pretty sweet and tasted to us like a blended concoction of cream soda and vanilla ice cream with a hint of caramel.

I dont know the exact ingredients, but you could do a search. HTH!

Thank you both so much- can't wait to try it next June!

 

[momblanch]

You guys are right! Not caramel.....Butterscotch! Duh...
Hmmmm....butterscotch vodka....yum. Sounds like dessert!

The locker area for FJ was insane, even on a slow day. Very confusing.
Glad we knew to come empty handed and avoid that line altogether!

 

[Planogirl]

What's weird is that I normally don't like butterscoth but I like this stuff. It's really unique IMO.

 

[Judy in Texas]

Ollivanders...cute show if you are a fan and only have to wait 30min or less. Make friends in line, it helps pass the time.

We were at WWOHP on 11/10. We went straight to Ollivanders and it took us well over an hour to get in. The problem was lack of control over the queue. Seems like most families had one person standing in line holding places for their entire group. When the person in line was almost to the front, everyone else materialized. It was quite frustrating.

 

[Owlpost23]

So glad you had a terrific time.I am so tired of hearing the nitpicking about US/IOA and HP-we had such a wonderful time and were so impressed by everything.Not our first trip,and certainly won't be our last.!

 

[brenda1966]

I keep reading that Butterbeer is so sweet, so I expected something sickeningly sweet. I was quite suprised at how good a frozen one was. I'd call it cream soda light! I thought it had a very light sweetness to it. I'm a sweets lover overall. But if you compare butterbeer to something that really is sweet, like a mountain dew, it's not overly sweet at all.

Now, do tell me about this berry tea!!! Where do I find that. I'm a tea lover and drank the sweet Gold peak tea from all the various counter service.

 

[Planogirl]

Now, do tell me about this berry tea!!! Where do I find that. I'm a tea lover and drank the sweet Gold peak tea from all the various counter service.

It's a bottled tea sold from the outdoor carts in WWoHP. I don't normally care for bottled tea but I found this one to be very refreshing.

 

[brenda1966]

Thanks! I didn't even notice it! Bought a bottle of pumpkin juice and brought it home with us. I figure we can all try a swig on Thanksgiving.

 

[Lucky4me]

Be careful screwing the top back on the Pumpkin juice!
My friend doused her daughter by accident when she didn't put it on right.
Poor thing. She was so soaked with orange, someone had to take her back to the resort for a shower and change of clothes. I think we had been at the park for 20 minutes when it happened. The TM at the cart said she saw it happen before and offered a free juice.

 

[yeahdisney]

Just wanted to add a quick yippee, not take over thread. We went that week too. We picked Sunday Nov 7 over Veteran's Day this board suggested Sunday the best day-thanks. We got into the park around 9:30AM, went straight to the castle. The posted wait was 30 minutes-it took a little less. We actually wanted to go into the single rider line and was sent into the family line. Then we just took the castle tour by ourselves! DS walked onto dueling dragons, twice. The line for the O store was always really long. The crowd by 10AM was people to people, most of the time we walked single file. Waittime was over an hour then for FJ. I believe we hit 3 broomsticks before 11:30AM, sat down right away-another tip from this board go early. DH picked the shepards pie, he was still hungry, he did like it. I got a kids size fish and chips which was too much for me-good. Enjoyed the butterbeer DH ordered frozen but got the unfrozen on accident. I tried it before he realized he got the wrong one. Kids and I liked unfrozen best. All the antlers on the wall made us laugh. Got one wand from a cart and a chocolate frog-bought from the left side on the store-no line. The right side had a line almost to the door, this board stated go to the left side of the store.
Hulk- DS walked on and got to go single rider into the front car, he was thrilled -finally tall enough to ride and the front car. Pretty much everything else had 10 minutes wait at the most, except that Pteranodon flyer 45 minutes.
Late afternoon made it back over to FJ, went into single rider line, that time I did get nausated from the ride-meclizine had worn off. Single rider time less that 10 minutes for 3 of us. I think the other time was still an hour. DH did the ride because he had heard everyone saying that was the best ride, it is now my favorite. He did not get sick and he enjoyed the ride. DS reported the spiders freaked him out so once he saw the spiders he kept his eyes shut. DD chickened out. Thanks to the Disers who shared their tips, we enjoyed our day.