The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

[Planogirl]

We have been here since Saturday, and it has been a real pleasure. Do not let the reports of crowds put you off (though all bets are off come the 18th) we really did not experience that and were there first thing every day but today. Got right on to the main ride each day and even went a second time right away on the singles ride. Both of us walked off the first time feeling rather ill, and barely got to enjoy the ride, but the next day when we tried again and knew what to expect the ride was much more enjoyable and the details started to emerge. We saw new things we had missed each time we went on. The line as has been said is amazing and the detail wonderful throughout. Ate at the three broomsticks one time, sharing a smoked salmon and eggs which was very good and of course a butterbeer and a real beer (Guiness) both also really good. The talking hog was gone though from the bar until the 18th for some reason. We bought my nephew a wand and a rugby like shirt, and they stamp postcards you bought there with the hogsmeade owl post stamp and mail them for you so sent a lot of those. The wands were suprisingly affordable for the quality and the boxes well done as well. You get a AAA discount of 10% on all the purchases so do not forget that if you have it. Dining has been wonderful, one that stood out was the chef's table at Emeril's. The amount of food was just obscene but amazing food. We took four of the five full deserts they gave the two of us back to the hotel with us. They served me three big portions of different kind of fish, the GF different main courses, salad with smoked salmon and a watermellon carmelized similar to a creme brule on top, one and on.

Great trip and no complaints at all, even when the ride broke down now and then we got to ride it as much as we would have want to and everything else was magical.

Thanks for the review even though your review of Emeril's made me hungry.

 

[Planogirl]

I think that they have only been opening here and there to test the ride. A Guest Services rep said to me that the area isn't officially open until they get the kinks worked out so of course they will deny any openings.

Maybe they are getting to where they are satisfied and they want to test with bigger crowds? Cool.

 

[choirchic]

Here is a thread that may shed some light on "larger riders" ... I think it all depends on the proportions of your body ...

Thank you for sharing! I'm trying not to get bummed...Hubby and I have collectively lost more then 100lbs and are still working on it, but it sounds like we might still be in for a disappointment!

 

[damo]

They let a hoard of GP in today. It is really amazing how many people Hogwarts just eats up. We watched and watched the people go past us and they just disappeared into the castle.

Letting the GP in all seems to depend on how FJ is running. On Monday, it was running beautifully and the GP was let in. On Tuesday they couldn't get it running until about 10:30. They opened it for the guests and package holders and kept it open for quite a while but the GP was NOT let in. Today, it was running beautifully again and the GP was let in again.

 

[Lou Holtz]

I wonder how much HP has added to IOA's capacity. If it was 35,000 before, I wonder what it is now? Another 5k?

 

[bumbershoot]

Awesome, thank you. Does it work the same way for Dueling Dragons and Flight of the Hippogriff?

I *believe* it's that way for all of the Universal/IOA rides...love it!

 

[kbelle8995]

When I was there it didn't look like they had people at the other attraction. Why should they. Every single guest who was there were making a beeline for HP. Except the one guy in line who said he didn't care for HP. I did wonder why he was standing at the gates before 8. Guess his friends made him.

 

[glocon]

We were hotel ressies only, and got in everyday from friday the 4th to weds the 9th. The FJ was not working one of those days, but everything else was open and running every day. DC was a 5 min wait everyday, as was FotH. Olivanders always had long lines, with a less than 5 min show for a wand to pick a wizard, but you can go into the owlry and buy one. The stores are VERY VERY small, so I cannot imagine what it will be like when it's open to all. I feel SO very lucky to have gotten in for the past week with limited crowds, even for just a short time period. Two days we even rode FJ twice, and probably could have done a 3rd time if we didn't want to shop and eat. My husband is not really Pooh sized, but muscular and a little bulky. He had to ride in a special seat,(looked the same to me as all the others), but he fit. He did not want to ride again because he said it was very uncomfortable, and he could barely breathe ( and it is a long ride). It does not seem too unreasonable to make a few magical benches just for the larger folk so everyone can enjoy!

 

[colmat]

Hi we are ap holders and have a room only ressie for july 11th , I have read as many posts as I can but still unsure whether we will be allowed early entry or if anyone even knows?

 

[damo]

Hi we are ap holders and have a room only ressie for july 11th , I have read as many posts as I can but still unsure whether we will be allowed early entry or if anyone even knows?

Yes. Be at the gates around 7:30 am for an 8:00 am entry. We did exactly that for the past three days.

 

[colmat]

Hi we are ap holders and have a room only ressie for july 11th , I have read as many posts as I can but still unsure whether we will be allowed early entry or if anyone even knows?

 

[Magnetic]

We were at Universal the past three days, and both on Tuesday and yesterday, in line by 7am to go into the park at 8. On Tuesday, FJ didn't run for the first three hours we were in the Harry Potter area -- we waited inside the castle for just under an hour and a half to try to ride. We left the area just after 10am and later read here that they opened FJ minutes after that.

So yesterday, we were determined to try again -- we were second in line at the gate in the morning (as everyone has said here, there are secondary ticket check-in gates on carts set up next to the permanent ones to handle the crowd flow.) Power-walked (they won't let you run!) back to Harry Potter and were on FJ within about ten minutes. VERY, very happy to finally have ridden it.

The entire land is absolutely breathtaking and you'll be tempted to stop in your tracks and stare as soon as you set foot in Hogsmeade.

 

[tedmundson]

A quick question for those on-site hotel guests who have been to WWoHP. Is the 8 a.m. opening just for HP package holders or all on-site hotel guests? What is the procedure for admission? What time should you get to line-up? What do you need for admission - I assume just park tickets and room keys?

We are arriving Saturday afternoon and plan to be at IOA gates first thing Sunday morning.

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[damo]

A quick question for those on-site hotel guests who have been to WWoHP. Is the 8 a.m. opening just for HP package holders or all on-site hotel guests? What is the procedure for admission? What time should you get to line-up? What do you need for admission - I assume just park tickets and room keys?

We are arriving Saturday afternoon and plan to be at IOA gates first thing Sunday morning.

Thanks in advance for any input.

All on-site guests can go in at 8 am. Get there around 7:30. They check your room key and they scan your ticket and have about 12 lines going.

 

[Darkestsong]

Fabulous to know the AAA discount work at WWOHP!

This Chef's table sounds wonderful. Is there a link to get more info? I would like to know menu, price, kids ok, etc. Thanks!

Sorry been tied up with the Park so no responses until now. We return home tomorrow. Emeril's chef table costs $50 - $60 per person. They set up a white linen table cloth table in the kitchen and everyone including the main chef interracts with you. The Main Chef designs the meal for you individually after talking to you, likes, dislikes etc. It is an amazing experience especially for one who loves fine food or who loves to cook and wants to see how the real pros do it, and not that much more than just eating there. The only bad thing at all was that you are in the kitchen, so while an amazing experience it is hotter there than in the restaurant. The first course was a smoked salmon over a salad with I believe feta cheese, carmalized watermelon and toasted pecans in a vinagarette dressing, Three fishes followed, as that was my personal preference, each pretty generous, though the Gf got bison as her last course and it changed her mind about bison. She always found bison to be tough and dry, this was the exact opposite she said. Finally the five full deserts including three sorbets (that was one desert and a big portion of it) banana creme pie, three other pies and cakes. Soda/coffee was included though you could pair wines with each course for an additional cost (we did not do that). The total came to $151 for two (they tack a 20% gratuity on and I gave them an even $160 as it warrented the extra). Well worth it for a special event.

Pastamore (another citiwalk restaurant) also has a chef's table experience for similar pricing and we are going tonight.

They both require 48 hour advance notice for the chef's table and buy things just for you.

As for WWoHP today, it was broken for as long as we stayed. Being there all week we went elsewhere about 11:30 or so and were happy with our fill of Harry Potter and not upset. In fact going out there was a crowd of GP waiting that must have been 40 deep that we had to wade through so people are getting more and more excited. To be honest those shops are so small, the whole area is so small, that i cringe to think what it is going to be like after this week. Does not seem like it will be pleasant at all.

We did eat at the Three Broomsticks, and it was nice.

And a reminder again, use that AAA card. 10% discount on everything including three broomsticks and shops, but not alcohol. Oh yes, at least currently if you use your american express at a number of restaurants, Mythos, Lombards, Finnegans in the parks, Pastamore, Latin Quarter come to mind on City walk you get a free appetiser or desert. Nice deal and Latin Quarter especially was wonderful, we got a tableside made from scratch Guacomole (sp?) plus chips as the appetiser, and the food was amazing.

That's about all for now.

 

[mum4jenn]

Oh...AAA is NOT good for HP Collectors items. THe brooms and the map I know for sure will not take the AAA card. We bought them anyway but it would have been nice for a discount!!

 

[mum4jenn]

All on-site guests can go in at 8 am. Get there around 7:30. They check your room key and they scan your ticket and have about 12 lines going.

ALso one day they checked drivers license as well once you got to the area near Lost Continent.

 

[Magnetic]

Other little things/observations from yesterday's visit too:

When we (finally!) got to ride FJ and were some of the very first in line to board, we did a child swap as we have young children too. While my daughter was riding, a man at the ride exit struck up a conversation with me. He's one of the engineers who designed FJ (basically an "Imagineer" for Universal, though he confessed they have no special name like that.) He said they started work on this ride over six years ago, long before Harry Potter was even in the works, but when Universal got that contract, Harry seemed like a "perfect fit" for it.

He said he was really enjoying watching people's reactions as they got off the ride to hear what they had to say & discussed some of the technology behind the ride (Kuka arms, etc.) It was a really nice, memorable little way to spend the child-swap wait.

But during that conversation, he also said "the entire cast" would be visiting over the next week (I'm assuming technically a week-and-a-half from now) for the grand opening - no JK Rowling though, who has also not yet seen or walked through WWOHP in person.

Also, yesterday morning they had computer terminals set up to the right of the exit of WWOHP with 5-minute surveys asking what you thought of the world, FJ ride, castle tour (questions such as, is it too dark, lighting just right, etc) and asking where you'd rank it in comparison to many Universal rides and Disney rides.

 

[scottmel]

Other little things/observations from yesterday's visit too:

When we (finally!) got to ride FJ and were some of the very first in line to board, we did a child swap as we have young children too. While my daughter was riding, a man at the ride exit struck up a conversation with me. He's one of the engineers who designed FJ (basically an "Imagineer" for Universal, though he confessed they have no special name like that.) He said they started work on this ride over six years ago, long before Harry Potter was even in the works, but when Universal got that contract, Harry seemed like a "perfect fit" for it.

He said he was really enjoying watching people's reactions as they got off the ride to hear what they had to say & discussed some of the technology behind the ride (Kuka arms, etc.) It was a really nice, memorable little way to spend the child-swap wait.

But during that conversation, he also said "the entire cast" would be visiting over the next week (I'm assuming technically a week-and-a-half from now) for the grand opening - no JK Rowling though, who has also not yet seen or walked through WWOHP in person.

Also, yesterday morning they had computer terminals set up to the right of the exit of WWOHP with 5-minute surveys asking what you thought of the world, FJ ride, castle tour (questions such as, is it too dark, lighting just right, etc) and asking where you'd rank it in comparison to many Universal rides and Disney rides.

Thanks for theinfo! Can you help me determine if the ride is too rough? i have a bad hip/back and while i can do Everest at AK or Big thunder mountain at MK, I would never do space mountain or anything that would whip me around too much..any thoughts on FJ?

 

[kbelle8995]

Thanks for theinfo! Can you help me determine if the ride is too rough? i have a bad hip/back and while i can do Everest at AK or Big thunder mountain at MK, I would never do space mountain or anything that would whip me around too much..any thoughts on FJ?

It is a intense ride smooth but you do get thrown around a bit. There is a reason for the bar being there.