Please tell me about Ollivander's

[glassslipper2004]

I am having trouble understanding what the attraction is all about - is it just a store, with a quick wand ceremony where someone else's kid gets to have a wand choose him? How long is the "show"? What's the rest of it about - just souveniers? We experienced a wand ceremony before going into the HP move exhibit in a nearby city a while back, and don't want to wait in a long line just to do it again, if that's all it is. Please let me know why everyone waits!

 

[fairyprincess88]

Ollivanders is not a store, it is a actually more of a show room. Basically they let in 20-25 people at one time and one of those people are chosen by the wandmaker to go through the process of having a wand choose them. It takes about 15 minutes or so. It is not only for children, as adults are often picked too(I was, as well as my friend later in the trip).

Ollivanders pretty much recreates the scene in Philospher's Stone where Harry gets his wand. Each chosen person gets asked questions, is sometimes measured and then the wandmakers chooses wands from various places on his shelves. With each wand he hands you, you are asked to do a certain spell, such as summon a ladder, water a flower, float a wand box ect. The first two wands have the opposite effect of what you wanted to happen, such as when you try to accio the ladder the ladder wobbles and causes the walls to shake ect. The when your wand finds you, the music from the first film plays, the lights glow and wind blows. You are then told about your wand, and why it chose you and all about the wood, length and core.

After the wand finds the chosen person, everyone is ushered into the Owl Post where there are wands available for purchase (there are people there to help find the wand that best matches you). The person who was selected in Ollivanders has the option to buy their wand or not.

 

[mesaboy2]

It is a small room where the scene in Ollivander's from HP1 is recreated with one, and more rarely two, guests. About 25 people are let in at a time, at about 10 minute intervals.

It's just a show, wands can't be bought there. That's done in the next room called the Owl Post. The person chosen by the wand does not get to keep it.

 

[mb187143]

Here's the info - if you have young children, be prepared for possible disappointment. The way it's advertised would lead you to believe that everyone gets a chance to have a wand select them. Not the case. In each group of 20-25 people allowed to cram into this incredibly small space, 1 or 2 children (2 if they're siblings) are allowed to participate, with everyone else watching. From there, you are funneled into the Owl Post, where you can buy whatever character or regular wands you wish, provided you can step over or around the other 300 guests crowded into yet another incredibly small space.

That said, the actors who play Ollivander do a pretty good job, and the experience is definitely organic to the story. I didn't care for the experience and the overcrowding of the stores definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. I have been a huge Harry Potter fan from the beginning, so I really just had a hard time with the way Wizarding World is set up. If you're prepared, you should be fine.

 

[MichelleXL]

The person chosen by the wand does not get to keep it.

They do, they just have to purchase it


If you're interested in buying a wand without all the show-y stuff and Ollivander dust, it would be best to just visit the Owl Post.

 

[glassslipper2004]

Thanks, this is just the information I was looking for.

Follow-up question: can you bypass Olivander's and just go to the Owl Post store?

 

[fairyprincess88]

Thanks, this is just the information I was looking for.

Follow-up question: can you bypass Olivander's and just go to the Owl Post store?

Yep. To enter the Owl Post, you just enter through Dervish and Bangs. The entrance is behind the Owlery. Sometimes if it is very slow you can enter through the side door of D&B but in busier times there is usually a line to get into those stores and the line is at the back entrance.

 

[mesaboy2]

They do, they just have to purchase it


If you're interested in buying a wand without all the show-y stuff and Ollivander dust, it would be best to just visit the Owl Post.

Well...yeah. Many people assume it's free, though.

 

[teachingmyown]

Plus, there are wands and other HP items for sale at the larger souvenir shops located in other areas of the park. So, if you leave WWOHP and later decide you need to make a HP purchase know that it will not be necessary to return all the way back to WWOHP.

 

[mesaboy2]

Plus, there are wands and other HP items for sale at the larger souvenir shops located in other areas of the park. So, if you leave WWOHP and later decide you need to make a HP purchase know that it will not be necessary to return all the way back to WWOHP.

Maybe. I believe there are quite a few things in WWoHP exclusively. Certainly the widest selection of HP merch is there.

 

[Best Aunt]

I hate to be negative, but I thought it was really lame. The child who was picked looked scared and excited, but the experience was not magical at all for the rest of us. I seem to recall 3 special effects. If you've seen the first movie, you will remember that there is a "right" wand and some "wrong" wands tried out.

I think it was more like 5 minutes rather than 15, but maybe someone else has timed it.

I'm sure if it had been my child, my reaction would have been different. But for me, it was an extremely long wait for a dull performance. I was expecting the wait, but I thought the performance would have been more exciting.

(And yes, I'm a Harry Potter fan. I was actually there for a Harry Potter conference.)

 

[mesaboy2]

I hate to be negative, but I thought it was really lame. The child who was picked looked scared and excited, but the experience was not magical at all for the rest of us. I seem to recall 3 special effects. If you've seen the first movie, you will remember that there is a "right" wand and some "wrong" wands tried out.

I think it was more like 5 minutes rather than 15, but maybe someone else has timed it.

I'm sure if it had been my child, my reaction would have been different. But for me, it was an extremely long wait for a dull performance. I was expecting the wait, but I thought the performance would have been more exciting.

(And yes, I'm a Harry Potter fan. I was actually there for a Harry Potter conference.)

When asked about it, I think most of the veterans on here are careful to say that Ollivander's is merely a cute show, but not a headline attraction by any stretch.

 

[czycropper]

I think it was more like 5 minutes rather than 15, but maybe someone else has timed it.

It was about 7 minutes - yep, I timed it when we were there!

I'm sure if it had been my child, my reaction would have been different. But for me, it was an extremely long wait for a dull performance. I was expecting the wait, but I thought the performance would have been more exciting.

It definitely IS a completely different reaction when it's your child - my DD11 got choosen. All I had done since the day we started planning the trip to WWoHP was tell her that only one person gets choosen and not to be disappointed if it wasn't her. So, of course, she gets choosen AND, of course, we bought the wand! :rotfl The wand is now very prominently displayed on her dresser along side the photo I took when "the wand" chose her!

 

[Kallisti]

I thought it was a cute show but then again I went the Sunday before last when the park seemed empty for some reason - FJ was only a 25 minute wait. We only queued about 15 mins for Olivanders.

My only criticism was that there seemed to be a bit of a high-pressure sale on the want that 'chose the kid' in our group. I'd not have appreciated that if it had been my kids!

 

[jpeppers]

I might have thought it was lame except that my 10 year old daughter was picked, couldn't believe how her eyes lit up. She was scared but I think way more excited. We had already bought her wand so I wasn't happy that I had to buy another one but there was no way I was going to tell her she couldn't have the wand that chose her. I would have to say it is a good show and since my daughter was picked it was the highlight of our trip!

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

We just got back from our first visit to WWoHP. DD and I waited an hour and a half to get in.

For months ahead of time I had prepped her for a long wait and to realize that the chances of her being picked were very very small.

We were the first ones let in for our group and ended up standing right at the base of the stair case. "Ollivader's helper" walked down and started talking directly to her. Neither one of us could believe she was the one chosen!!

The show was much more fun for us frankly because she had been picked.

I think I still would have enjoyed it since I am a huge fan but, in all honestly dd probably would not have if she had not been picked.

Initially she had wanted to buy Snapes wand but she ended up buying the wand that choose her. There was no way she was leaving without it.

 

[snowy76]

DD waited an hour to get into Ollivander's last week. She is a HUGE HP fan and she said the show was completely not worth the wait (keep in mind it was in the 90s by mid-morning, too, so if the weather's better maybe it doesn't seem so bad!).

She also said something about the Owl Post being so crowded that Team Members were not letting folks in until other people left. So if you're trying to get in from the Dervish and Banges side without doing the Ollivander's show, you may not be allowed in if it's especially busy.

DD bought her wand from a cart over by the Hippogriff coaster, across from Flich's. She said the shop had a few other wands not available at the cart, and some other merchandise she hadn't seen in Filch's or Zonko's, but the cart had the wand(s) she was looking for. Later on, she spotted the items she saw at the Owl Post in the main gift shop at Universal Studios (it's on the left as you enter the park just before you hit Jimmy Neutron).

 

[blessdmommy]

What's a general price range on these wands?

 

[qtsugarangl]

What's a general price range on these wands?

I'd like to know this as well. We are planning on going for a day in October and have talked about getting wands.

 

[mesaboy2]

What's a general price range on these wands?

I'd like to know this as well. We are planning on going for a day in October and have talked about getting wands.

$29.95 or something very close. Sorry we missed your earlier post, blessdmommy.

I overheard a TM telling someone the price was $7000 this past week, but then he helpfully pointed out he was wearing Slytherin robes and couldn't be completely trusted.