Universal Orlando officially announces Harry Potter expansion

[bumbershoot]

I was wary about pumpkin juice. Is that any good?

Live in the present judging no one by his or her past nor expecting less for his or her future.-alm

I did not much care for the pumpkin juice in the bottle. However they have a fizz, or something like that, that's pumpkin-based, that I've gotten at the Hogshead, and that was tastier to me. A bit lighter and more refreshing.

It's hard to beat the butterbeer (frozen for me, please), though. Butterbeer and a rock cake while sitting in the sunshine behind 3 Broomsticks is just about the best combo in the world to me! Although I was convinced to have a coffee instead of the Butterbeer one morning when a TM told me that was HER fave combo, and it came very very close to being the best combo. If I had had room I would have had all 3, LOL.

Ah great, now I want a rock cake.



We have enjoyed the 3 Broomsticks, though to make sure you know the sort of items we order, we get the vegetarian options. The potato leek soup has been (and hopefully still is) vegetarian, but once when I got it it was really really OFF. I talked with a TM about it, and she went back to make sure they hadn't used the wrong stock (she was vegetarian too, and it was her go-to food there) but they said it was the veggie stock. No one knew what went wrong that day, and she replaced my soup with other food for me. We tried the soup last time and it was fine, but I'm still nervous about getting something gross again.

The potatoes are really good though.


And we saw one of the feasts at a table; actually they had enough people at their table I believe they had THREE orders. SO MUCH FOOD. They left quite a lot of it, even though they were having a very relaxed and long meal that lasted at least an hour. They seemed to enjoy it, though!

 

[ChrisFL]

The single biggest issue with this expansion is going to be the fact that there is absolutely no way that universal is going to accurately determine just how overwhelming the traffic/lines/waits for the hog warts express are going to be. That aspect of this is going to be awesome, but a cluster.... As well. Mainly because they'll be scanning tickets, there's the stroller issue....

But most likely they're also not smart enough to realize that there will be a ton of people who will use that a the main access between parks, since the trek between from potter to potter is so far.

If they were smart, they'd have a walking path and back gate exit/entry there too, for people who want to bypass the train.

But that train is gonna be a pain.

That's an interesting point. I wonder what the train capacity will be. Also, they'll have 2 trains total, and they'll be running back and forth probably every 10 minutes.

I don't think capacity will be that horrible.

 

[hermionesnape]

The single biggest issue with this expansion is going to be the fact that there is absolutely no way that universal is going to accurately determine just how overwhelming the traffic/lines/waits for the hog warts express are going to be. That aspect of this is going to be awesome, but a cluster.... As well. Mainly because they'll be scanning tickets, there's the stroller issue....

But most likely they're also not smart enough to realize that there will be a ton of people who will use that a the main access between parks, since the trek between from potter to potter is so far.

If they were smart, they'd have a walking path and back gate exit/entry there too, for people who want to bypass the train.

But that train is gonna be a pain.

I think that they will do the best job possible for crowd control.

I booked the harry potter vacation package back in 08 the day the popped up to buy. The packages started in May about 2 weeks before Memorial Day and went through the summer. At the time of booking opening day had yet to be announced but the package guaranteed Hogmead Village would be open to package holders during our visit. We booked the week of June 13-19th. We happened to be there for opening day at the very end of our trip.

The wait on opening day just to get into the wizarding world was about 7 hours long if you got in line when the park. On top of that all of the rides and Ollivanders lines were between 2 and 3 hours long. So most people had to wait 10+ hours in line that day to just ride FJ.

IOA staff did an amazing job. They had angry guest yelling at them all day because of the wait which was no ones fault. They stayed open well into the wee hours of the morning so that every guest that got in line before regular closing hours got to have time in the Wizarding World. They gave out free day tickets left and right to anyone who complained.

So long story short if you are crowd phobic then plan not to come to the new park until at least the first non peak season after opening or book the HP package if they offer it again and enjoy the new hp stuff in the hour early for package holders and on site guest.

 

[tchrchgo]

I think that they will do the best job possible for crowd control.

I booked the harry potter vacation package back in 08 the day the popped up to buy. The packages started in May about 2 weeks before Memorial Day and went through the summer. At the time of booking opening day had yet to be announced but the package guaranteed Hogmead Village would be open to package holders during our visit. We booked the week of June 13-19th. We happened to be there for opening day at the very end of our trip.

The wait on opening day just to get into the wizarding world was about 7 hours long if you got in line when the park. On top of that all of the rides and Ollivanders lines were between 2 and 3 hours long. So most people had to wait 10+ hours in line that day to just ride FJ.

IOA staff did an amazing job. They had angry guest yelling at them all day because of the wait which was no ones fault. They stayed open well into the wee hours of the morning so that every guest that got in line before regular closing hours got to have time in the Wizarding World. They gave out free day tickets left and right to anyone who complained.

So long story short if you are crowd phobic then plan not to come to the new park until at least the first non peak season after opening or book the HP package if they offer it again and enjoy the new hp stuff in the hour early for package holders and on site guest.

7-10 hour wait???? Unless I got to actually ride a real hippogriff I'd never wait that long!

 

[ChrisFL]

for anyone who hasn't seen it...here's one of the crowd pics from opening day of the original Wizarding World section:

That crowd was basically going from IOA, all the way to the entrace of USF, back toward the parking garage.

 

[hermionesnape]

for anyone who hasn't seen it...here's one of the crowd pics from opening day of the original Wizarding World section:

That crowd was basically going from IOA, all the way to the entrance of USF, back toward the parking garage.

That was just part of the line.

Don't forget that is just outside the park. Inside it went all the way around the park. It snaked through the entrance, over thorough the superhero section and comic section, then out a back employee entrance, snaked around the back lot a bit, back inside another employee entrance in the Jurassic section, finally ending at the end of the bridge that connects Jurassic to the entrance of the Wizarding World next to Mythos.

I did NOT wait as I had early access through the Wizarding World package and had already experienced that part of the park three previous times that week. I did walk the line of people waiting and talk to a few fans while riding the other rides in the park (which lines were a ghost town)

 

[bumbershoot]

for anyone who hasn't seen it...here's one of the crowd pics from opening day of the original Wizarding World section:

That crowd was basically going from IOA, all the way to the entrace of USF, back toward the parking garage.

Now that I've been there a few times, I have much more context for that picture, thanks for posting it! I remember seeing the coverage of the opening, and knew it was big, but didn't really understand what I was seeing at the time.

 

[Bluer101]

Now that I've been there a few times, I have much more context for that picture, thanks for posting it! I remember seeing the coverage of the opening, and knew it was big, but didn't really understand what I was seeing at the time.

I watched the grand opening on NBC and was amazed at the crowds.

 

[Metro West]

IOA staff did an amazing job. They had angry guest yelling at them all day because of the wait which was no ones fault. They stayed open well into the wee hours of the morning so that every guest that got in line before regular closing hours got to have time in the Wizarding World. They gave out free day tickets left and right to anyone who complained.

I actually took the day off from work to try and be in that crowd but I never made it into the garage. Anyway...the thing that irritated me with all the crowd complaints was the fact everyone seemed to know how to control the crowds if they were in charge. They complained about the heat, no water, no shade, the line moving slowly, blah blah blah. I got sick of it really quickly. I'm sure Universal will handle it differently knowing the type of crowds they should expect when HP2 opens next summer.

 

[RMulieri]

I actually took the day off from work to try and be in that crowd but I never made it into the garage. Anyway...the thing that irritated me with all the crowd complaints was the fact everyone seemed to know how to control the crowds if they were in charge. They complained about the heat, no water, no shade, the line moving slowly, blah blah blah. I got sick of it really quickly. I'm sure Universal will handle it differently knowing the type of crowds they should expect when HP2 opens next summer.

What I get SUPER annoyed at is that I know 2 different families that went for the opening of WWoHP and ALL THEY DO NOW is COMPLAIN about how horrid Universal is as a place , How HOT and HUMID it was and that they will never go back( especially since they know we are going again this summer)..Well MAYBE, just maybe , if you did your research and knew that it was the most eagerly awaited themepark event in history you would have known it was going to be long ,long , long waits in the Florida Sun and short tempers..Not to mention is was JUNE in Florida, so heat and humidity are kind of expected..

I am booking another trip for late Jan 2015 ,and I have braced for the fact ( depending WHEN in 2014 the expansion opens) that it could very well still be epic-sized crowds.

 

[ChrisFL]

I actually took the day off from work to try and be in that crowd but I never made it into the garage. Anyway...the thing that irritated me with all the crowd complaints was the fact everyone seemed to know how to control the crowds if they were in charge. They complained about the heat, no water, no shade, the line moving slowly, blah blah blah. I got sick of it really quickly. I'm sure Universal will handle it differently knowing the type of crowds they should expect when HP2 opens next summer.

Agreed, I heard the same things. Universal definitely didn't expect those crowds, I wonder, looking back what they even could have done differently besides make more water bottles available, etc.

 

[AlexandNessa]

All I want to know is....how will the expansion affect HHN? Priorities!

 

[Metro West]

All I want to know is....how will the expansion affect HHN? Priorities!

Don't know yet although I expect it won't be open during HHN...just like at IoA. But maybe Universal will negotiate something. Only time will tell.

 

[DOOM1001]

Well last year HHN dropped to 7 houses as they lost the space for the house over by Jaws,however I do remember they had a house several years ago,Vampyr Bloodbath I think that was located on Delancey street and this location wasn't used this year,probably due to the Transformers construction so in the end even if they can't do anything for Horror Nights in the Potter area I'm sure they can find spaces for the houses.Even so having this area lost for HHN will affect the HHN experience.

 

[agavegirl1]

I just received an email from Theme Park Insider that next-gen interactive experiences are being planned for Diagon Alley. Anyone else hear about these?

 

[damo]

I just received an email from Theme Park Insider that next-gen interactive experiences are being planned for Diagon Alley. Anyone else hear about these?

An experience similar to MagiQuest has been rumoured.

 

[agavegirl1]

According to Robert Niles on today's post on Theme Park Insideriagon Alley's Interactive and Animated Elements

"Here's where we get to the fresh stuff! The experience will begin even before visitors step into Diagon Alley, as the Knight Bus, which will be parked on the London promenade outside the land, will feature interactive talking heads.

We already know about the giant fire-breathing dragon that will inhabit the top of the Gringotts bank tower. This dragon really will breathe fire (if all goes well in construction, of course), and it represents the largest of the many animated elements planned for Diagon Alley.

It might be worth taking another look at the Weasley Wizard Wheezes scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for some clues as to the additional interactive and animated elements Universal's planning for its version of that iconic joke shop.

Elsewhere in the new land, be on the lookout for suits of armor that fall apart then rebuild themselves, as well as self-stirring cauldrons and some skeletons that perform with a surprising effect that my sources refuse to tell me about in more detail. And goblins, too!

The most cryptic clue I've heard, though, concerns the wands. There's a huge time crush, obviously, to finish this land by June 2014 (for a planned July opening), but I keep hearing hints that Universal's got something planned that involves wands. One's imagination runs wild."

He also mentions that Hogsmeade (the original WWoHP) is likely to be re-furbed to include interactive elements.

Food for thought.

 

[LUVIOA]

I'm going to guess that "involves wands" will be guest interactive similar to GreatWolfLodge's MagiQuest. Purchased wands pointed at different objects cause things to move. Could be great fun!

 

[glocon]

I guess we will be buying new wands since our old one is just plain plastic or whatever- no electronics or magical elements built in...

One for each of us- including my grumpy DH.

 

[wookiebeck]

That's what I'm thinking too. It will definitely steal Disney's thunder when they open the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train coaster in fall of 2014.

And WDW started building that in January 2010! USO wins my award for "most aggressive construction".