Never go on Opening Day

[Pegasus928]

You're basically saying that internet forums should be required reading for a family holiday which I feel is asking a lot of the average person. This isn't some backwater B&B you're looking for reviews on but a respectable themepark franchise, it's not unreasonable for people to come to a conclusion about the scale of WWoHP and really who can blame them for that.

You mean there are people out there who spend £,ooos on the holiday or trip of a lifetime who don't actually go onto the internet and do a bit of research before they leave. I'm sorry but I find that almost impossible to believe.
And to say that Universal has in some way acted dishonestly by hoodwinking the press into believing that WWoHP was going to be bigger than it actually was is a bit of a bizarre statement. Yes the press releases would have been based on information provided by Universal, but we are talking about an industry here that is capable of finding out that the president had an affair with his office staff so I am sure they could have figured out just how big WWoHP was based on the aerial photos and videos the rest of us have been watching for the last 6 months.
I agree with practically everything else said in the previous posts in that if I turned up to go into IOA and saw that the queue went back as far as US then I would turn around and go to one of the other parks (based on the fact they would be empty as everyone else is in that queue )
And those that decided to stand and wait - especially those with small kids who had no choice - don't fall into the 'rocket scientist' category as far as I am concerned.

 

[tinks_1989]

oh gosh! im planning to go to hhn opening night i hope it wont be that busy

 

[tinks_1989]

You mean there are people out there who spend £,ooos on the holiday or trip of a lifetime who don't actually go onto the internet and do a bit of research before they leave. I'm sorry but I find that almost impossible to believe.

I didnt look at any forum about WDW or Universal till my 8th visit it never even crossed my mind before!

 

[Pegasus928]

oh gosh! im planning to go to hhn opening night i hope it wont be that busy

HHN opening is always busy as it is an eagerly anticipated event - especially for the locals and regulars.
We went last year at about the 3rd week in October and found it quite busy - with queues for the houses running at about 90 minutes each. Luckily we had bought the fast passes so managed to get through them all - without it we would have only have got to see a few of them and not much of anything else.

 

[tinks_1989]

HHN opening is always busy as it is an eagerly anticipated event - especially for the locals and regulars.
We went last year at about the 3rd week in October and found it quite busy - with queues for the houses running at about 90 minutes each. Luckily we had bought the fast passes so managed to get through them all - without it we would have only have got to see a few of them and not much of anything else.

i did ask on the universal forum they said friday opening is quieter then 1st saturday thats the only choice we have we will deff get the que jumper

 

[Pegasus928]

I didnt look at any forum about WDW or Universal till my 8th visit it never even crossed my mind before!

But I was speaking about now-a-days to be honest.
I see you joined this forum in 2007 - about the same time as me - and I had had a number of trips before I joined here too.

I do believe though that access to forums like this is considerably easier than it used to be. Add that to things like youtube, google earth and facebook and I dont think anyone who was in that queue could genuinley turn around and say they didn't know how big WWoHP was compared to the rest of the park.

 

[Pegasus928]

i did ask on the universal forum they said friday opening is quieter then 1st saturday thats the only choice we have we will deff get the que jumper

You will love it regardless of how busy it is - in fact maybe even more so as the CMs will find it easier to mingle with the guests and 'surprise' you
The express pass is worth it's weight in gold in my opinion. Makes the night so much easier.

 

[buzz for boys]

Omg that is madness I certaintly wouldnt be joining that line !! 8 hours just to get to see wwohp I think NOT !!

The thing that amused me on the youtube video was the universal staff selling water and snacks to the queue - how considerate of them lol

 

[scojos]

Omg that is madness I certaintly wouldnt be joining that line !! 8 hours just to get to see wwohp I think NOT !!

The thing that amused me on the youtube video was the universal staff selling water and snacks to the queue - how considerate of them lol

yeah, i bet they made a killing, you d have to drink a lot of water in that heat, as for snakcing, not alot else to do

 

[T16GEM]

I wonder what the line was like for TSM? I think I would be there instead! I am looking forward to seeing WWOHP but honestly I think we will be waiting a year or so, personally I would not subject my family to that, I cannot believe there were people with kids in strollers. Shocking.

 

[Disneymad]

You mean there are people out there who spend £,ooos on the holiday or trip of a lifetime who don't actually go onto the internet and do a bit of research before they leave. I'm sorry but I find that almost impossible to believe.

Well first off, I never said no internet research. The BBC and Orlando Sentinal links I gave came up in a simple google for WWoHP and both give the impression of it being 'theme park like'. Isn't there a thread someone on these very forums discussing Dis'ers helping their friends in real life and deciding most times not to bother because said friends aren't actually interested in all that pre-planning aspect? Not everyone is interested in forums and people like us are not the gauge for 'normal'.

Secondly, at the time of very first trip to WDW my connection consisted of a weenie little dial up modem and the internet was 'ooh shiny' and mysterious. It was a package holiday through Virgin - 2 weeks CBR with LoS tickets and I had nothing but a (in hindsight) rubbish little Birnabaum's (which is the WDW authorized guild book) - and yes, it cost a couple of grand. I had no idea about bargains and discounts or special things. We didn't have ADR's or itineraries - we basically turned up and did stuff and guess what, our world did not implode, we had a blast and did just fine. However did we manage before the internet?

I have to say, I still don't really understand why people are so ready to chew me up for suggesting Universal may have embellished the truth a further than they should. It's not like anyone has anything to gain if it's true, least of all Universal who potentially is making their guest's experience and unpleasant one for months to come...guests who if there expectations was well managed would likely come back for future trips and who if they have a bad one will possibly never return.

I'm also certainly not the first person to suggest Universal have done this. Do you ever listen to the DisUnplugged? Pete has been commenting about it long before WWoHP even opened. So...while you find it impossible to believe at least 2 people can find it quite possible to believe Still, not like Pete has any knowledge of the travel industry or anything eh?

Also for the record, it's not me that currently has the problem with Universal - the conversation started due to me making a comment about there being a very long line of people complaining.

Tell me, if you went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and they told you it was full but your ticket would get you in to EPCOT instead, would you go? Perhaps - because it's not fun to wait for hours and hours. Would you be happy and complain that you didn't get the experience you came for? I think you would. Telling people they can just go elsewhere is hardly a solution when people are after a particular experience they've been promised.

Still, clearly we will have to agree to disagree here

 

[PudseyChancer]

I'm also certainly not the first person to suggest Universal have done this. Do you ever listen to the DisUnplugged? Pete has been commenting about it long before WWoHP even opened. So...while you find it impossible to believe at least 2 people can find it quite possible to believe Still, not like Pete has any knowledge of the travel industry or anything eh?

I'm glad you made that point because I kind of guessed from your post that you had listened to the WWOHP special podcast. I was going to ask if you'd been to WWOHP yourself but was afraid that it might come across confrontational, so I didn't bother.

I've listened to the Podcasts from day one and it was not a surprise that Universal got slated for their opening day, the podcasts prior to the WWOHP special were all doubting whether Universal would be able to handle it, and the impression I got was that whatever Universal did, it wasn't going to be good enough to escape without a roasting. All the criticisms were done with the disclaimer that Pete was a 'Universal fan', so that any questioning of the validity of his claims were negated. As an aside, Pete is a funny, entertaining and likeable individual, but I wouldn't hold him up as a paragon of virtue for the travel industry!

Bearing in mind that the new Harry Potter ride was criticised for not being 'ground breaking', I decided to take their review and criticisms with a pinch of salt, and will make my own mind up when I go in September.

I don't doubt he raised some valid points about the way that Universal management handled the huge crowds on the day, but to suggest that they intentionally mislead the public as to what they were getting in the first instance, is quite frankly, ridiculous.

 

[Disneymad]

So you think it's accurate to call it a 'theme park within a theme park'?

I do also think it's worth checking out the Universal forum right here on the DIS. The huge crowds are still going strong today. Someone got there at 7am and got in at 7.30 (not too bad I guess), another got there at 8:10 and got in at 9.30. Obviously when I say they 'get in', I mean this is when they reached the entrance to WWoHP. To quote her:-

I never got into ANY of the shops because the lines were freaking crazy. Well, I did get into Filch's. I would recommend people try to make many purchases at Filch's because it's the easiest to get into.

So while the pictures shown from opening day were obviously crazy, it's by no means miraculously ok now.

It's curious though, you was going to ask if I'd been to WWoHP yet all I've actually been commenting on is that there was a sizeable number of complaints from guests (information that didn't come from Pete by the way ) who were present. Yet the people 'defending' it also haven't been there either, right?

And nah, don't worry about sounding confrontational - there's nothing wrong with healthy debate

 

[Howellsy]

I don't think non-HP fans can quite understand why people were prepared to wait this long. It's the chance to visit a place that you've been waiting up to 13 years to see. Queueing 7 hours isn't going to seem that long compared with what you see when you get inside

I do think it's stupid people brought young children though, that's just plain cruel in that heat!

 

[xox_Violet_xox]

I don't think non-HP fans can quite understand why people were prepared to wait this long. It's the chance to visit a place that you've been waiting up to 13 years to see. Queueing 7 hours isn't going to seem that long compared with what you see when you get inside

I'll openly admit that I'm an avid HP fan since it first came out, yet I still would rather saw off my own leg than go on opening day and wait in a queue for 7 hours.
I just think about the amount of things I manage to do in 7 hours, whether it be on holiday or at home, and the thought of wasting 7 hours in a queue makes me feel ill.

I'll be perfectly happy to give it a bash when the queues have died down

 

[team harris]

I'll openly admit that I'm an avid HP fan since it first came out, yet I still would rather saw off my own leg than go on opening day and wait in a queue for 7 hours.
I just think about the amount of things I manage to do in 7 hours, whether it be on holiday or at home, and the thought of wasting 7 hours in a queue makes me feel ill.

I'll be perfectly happy to give it a bash when the queues have died down

We are with you on this one! Can't really get bigger HP fans than in our house, but come on, no way!

 

[Howellsy]

I used to queue up for four hours to be the first person to get the books at midnight and I'm friends with people who've waited 12 hours at the premieres to meet the cast of the films. It doesn't sound that outlandish to me

 

[Funky_dino]

HHN opening is always busy as it is an eagerly anticipated event - especially for the locals and regulars.
We went last year at about the 3rd week in October and found it quite busy - with queues for the houses running at about 90 minutes each. Luckily we had bought the fast passes so managed to get through them all - without it we would have only have got to see a few of them and not much of anything else.

We went in the second week of OCT and practically walked straight into houses with the exception of SAW, which sucked lol

 

[Funky_dino]

I used to queue up for four hours to be the first person to get the books at midnight and I'm friends with people who've waited 12 hours at the premieres to meet the cast of the films. It doesn't sound that outlandish to me

I had do work one night for when the final book was released, it was great so many people queueing up. We had two massive cages of books, one adult and one childrens cover, and most people took one of each. It took over an hour and a half to get through the whole queue lol