Child swap would be great if I were traveling with another adult. Its just me and the kiddosI worry about even getting in the queue though. Time will tell!
I suspect they know that crowds will be massive once Potterland opens and are thinking by letting hotel guests in early, even if they don't have HP open early, they'll spread out the early morning crowds a bit. Otherwise, the minute the ropes drop every single guest will be heading straight for HP making early morning lines two hours long from the word go.
I've been on several theme park fan sites recently, and I've noticed that there are a lot of people who don't fully appreciate how crazy this place is going to be in a few months. You can't judge what crowds are going to be like by looking at crowd patterns when other theme park lands and rides opened. This isn't going to be anything like when Disney opened Toy Mania, or Universal opened RRR, and the crowds for those areas swelled with locals and theme park junkies wanting to try out the newest attraction.
Yes, there will be the influx of park junkies and locals, but there will be a new and more terrifying beast that will take over IOA later this year: The die-hard geeky Harry Potter fans who rarely step foot in theme parks. And there are thousands of them.
The Potter franchise has millions of fans worldwide. And one of the reasons for its mass appeal is that people want to live in Harry's world. That's why so many of them dress up in costume for movie and book releases, have themed parties, etc. Until now, there have been few places they can go to experience even a piece of Harry's world; there a traveling museum (which is fairly new), a studio tour of props at the WB lot in Hollywood, a store in LA ( www.whimsicalley.com ), and the annual fan events (which are taking place at the park this summer by the way).
So a warning to you muggles out there, whatever the crowds at Universal would normally be like for the season and for an opening, double it, triple it!!!! Expect hour waits in Express lines during off season. Expect to be surrounded by clueless tourists who will stop and gape at the castle right in front of your path. Expect them to queue up at anything and everything, singing Potter Puppet Pals songs about a guy named Snape, and waving sticks in your face. They will happily wait for hours to have a wand choose them and then pay $50 to walk out of the store with it. They will happily wait in line for a tiny, expensive glass of nauseating Butterbeer and excliam it the tastiest drink they've ever imbided. They'll be the ones standing in 100 degree weather wearing brightly colored red and yellow wool scarves. And they'll be very upset if they hear any muggles in line with them complain about anything, especially about their presence, (watch out for Avada Kedavra's).
So, if this sounds like your worst nightmare scenario, you may want to wait until things calm down a bit....like 2012.
signed: Die-hard, geeky Harry Potter freak.
I forgot about Puppet Pals...please don't remind my boys about them...or another other disturbing videos on you tube (like Snape singing "I'm too sexy for my shirt!") I can't wait to be there! and it sounds like you hit the nail right on the head!I suspect they know that crowds will be massive once Potterland opens and are thinking by letting hotel guests in early, even if they don't have HP open early, they'll spread out the early morning crowds a bit. Otherwise, the minute the ropes drop every single guest will be heading straight for HP making early morning lines two hours long from the word go.
I've been on several theme park fan sites recently, and I've noticed that there are a lot of people who don't fully appreciate how crazy this place is going to be in a few months. You can't judge what crowds are going to be like by looking at crowd patterns when other theme park lands and rides opened. This isn't going to be anything like when Disney opened Toy Mania, or Universal opened RRR, and the crowds for those areas swelled with locals and theme park junkies wanting to try out the newest attraction.
Yes, there will be the influx of park junkies and locals, but there will be a new and more terrifying beast that will take over IOA later this year: The die-hard geeky Harry Potter fans who rarely step foot in theme parks. And there are thousands of them.
The Potter franchise has millions of fans worldwide. And one of the reasons for its mass appeal is that people want to live in Harry's world. That's why so many of them dress up in costume for movie and book releases, have themed parties, etc. Until now, there have been few places they can go to experience even a piece of Harry's world; there a traveling museum (which is fairly new), a studio tour of props at the WB lot in Hollywood, a store in LA ( www.whimsicalley.com ), and the annual fan events (which are taking place at the park this summer by the way).
So a warning to you muggles out there, whatever the crowds at Universal would normally be like for the season and for an opening, double it, triple it!!!! Expect hour waits in Express lines during off season. Expect to be surrounded by clueless tourists who will stop and gape at the castle right in front of your path. Expect them to queue up at anything and everything, singing Potter Puppet Pals songs about a guy named Snape, and waving sticks in your face. They will happily wait for hours to have a wand choose them and then pay $50 to walk out of the store with it. They will happily wait in line for a tiny, expensive glass of nauseating Butterbeer and excliam it the tastiest drink they've ever imbided. They'll be the ones standing in 100 degree weather wearing brightly colored red and yellow wool scarves. And they'll be very upset if they hear any muggles in line with them complain about anything, especially about their presence, (watch out for Avada Kedavra's).
So, if this sounds like your worst nightmare scenario, you may want to wait until things calm down a bit....like 2012.
signed: Die-hard, geeky Harry Potter freak.
Just noticed this on the Universal AP discounts page
It's expected. Between the wand shop, joke shop, etc., Wizarding World of Harry Potter is going to make spending money an attraction in itself. They should add a wand-activated ATM machine!
(that's my money going up in smoke!)
I just know my DDs are going to absolutely need a wand each - I was hoping for the usual 10%, Universal aren;t daft
