According to local news...
People are complaining that the WWOHP is way too crowded and there is nothing to do but look around. Once people have ridden the new ride, they are just milling around.
Universal has taken steps to try to alleviate these problems.
They have stopped selling alcohol at Three Broomsticks.
They are forcing everyone to enter through the Jurassic Park adjacent entrance.
They are handing out tickets to people in line that must be given to the employees at the entrance of the ride in order to stop line jumping.
And my favorite....
Wait for it....
Day guests should arrive after 3pm. (This translates to "pay for a full day but only use it for a half day because the area is just too small)
Based on what people are saying who are actually IN the park, none of this is true.
They've stopped selling MIXED drinks and liquor, because it takes too long to mix and serve them. You can still get beer and wine. Hogs Head Brew (a beer) continues to be sold.
The "after 3pm" reference comes from a handy-dandy touring guide that Universal has printed up and is handing out both at the ticket booth and in the hotels. Due to the popularity of the WWOHP, they're recommending visitors check out the rest of the two parks during the morning (ie, Spiderman, the Mummy, the Simpsons, etc...) and save their visit to the WWOHP for the afternoon. Several recent visitors have commented that the crowds die down significantly in the late afternoon and evening, so this makes sense.
Helping people plan their visit so they can get the most out of it is good customer service. Universal is passing on common sense tips that you can get on any of these boards.
And frankly, if you can't come up with anything to do in two complete theme parks besides "mill around", you probably won't have a good time anywhere. It's not like there's anything preventing these folks from wandering over to Jurassic Park.
My son has been to WDW three times - twice with me, and once with his best friend's family. He says he likes travelling with me best. Why? Because we hit the park early, skip the lines, use fast passes, retreat to our hotel during the busiest times, and basically make the most of our day. When his friend's family went, they slept in, ate a leisurely breakfast, arrived at the parks around lunchtime, ate lunch in the park, and then wondered why they were neck-deep in other visitors and couldn't get on any rides other than the TTA. My son had a good time, but if that had been his only experience of Disney, he says he'd never want to go back.
For that matter, we'll never buy another ticket to Mickey's Christmas Party, as we didn't enjoy the crowds at all and didn't find that it was worth the extra cost.
As for how much of a success the WWOHP has been... Well, this year our family vacation money is going to Universal Studios, not Disney.
The way we see it, is that Disney will still be there in 5 or 6 years, or whenever we travel again. But for now we want to check out something new. In December. During the Value Season!
I couldn't wait 5 or 6 years until I visited Disney again. I get Disneyitis every year. (That's the desperate need to go to Disney that cannot be denied) Even when we spent our time at Universal we ended up at Epcot on an afternoon and it was great.
