Universal's Site

[vital]

Is anyone else having problems with the site this morning? I click on one thing and it takes me to a Wizarding World of Harry Potter themed page first. Well, now that I type this it's probably advertising for the opening of Diagon Alley. Sheesh, it's a good thing I can laugh at myself.

 

[atricks]

Is anyone else having problems with the site this morning? I click on one thing and it takes me to a Wizarding World of Harry Potter themed page first. Well, now that I type this it's probably advertising for the opening of Diagon Alley. Sheesh, it's a good thing I can laugh at myself.

Yeah today is the day of the big Diagon Alley announcement, which will probably be reflected by them changing the website.

A webcast about it https://www.universalorlando.com/ck1128bma09/index.html?s=gs starts at 10:30 AM today (Very Very soon)

 

[Planogirl]

I was wondering if anyone here was planning to watch the webcast. Just a few minutes left to go!

 

[ADP]

I'm watching.....Says "Live webcast will start momentarily".

 

[xie]

I was wondering if anyone here was planning to watch the webcast. Just a few minutes left to go!

I am!! They must be running late, it still says beginning shortly.

We are going for a week in September. We have only been to Universal twice, once in the 90s and once just to IoA for one day in 2012 to see Hogsmeade. We have never stayed onsite before, having made our 2012 visit as a day trip from WDW property. So we are pretty excited!

 

[Planogirl]

I am!! They must be running late, it still says beginning shortly.

We are going for a week in September. We have only been to Universal twice, once in the 90s and once just to IoA for one day in 2012 to see Hogsmeade. We have never stayed onsite before, having made our 2012 visit as a day trip from WDW property. So we are pretty excited!

Onsite is very nice and I'd like to stay there again myself.

I must say that the new addition sounds impressive. Am I wacky for being more interested in the shops than anything else?

 

[xie]

Onsite is very nice and I'd like to stay there again myself.

I must say that the new addition sounds impressive. Am I wacky for being more interested in the shops than anything else?

We have a lot of friends who have been staying onsite at Universal in recent years and they really like the hotels there a lot. All good things to say. We're staying at Hard Rock as the boys are most interested in it.

And no... you are not crazy! The shops sound great. Honestly I remember thinking when we went to Hogsmeade that they really missed the boat with merchandise - there was some, but could have been more, and what shops they had were so small it was hard to get around inside them (of course we were there peak season which didn't help). It sounds like they are going to remedy that in Diagon and Knockturn Alleys and even go back and enlarge the candy store in Hogsmeade, which is good.

We liked the Three Broomsticks (had lunch there), looking forward to both the Leaky Cauldron and Fortesque's too!

The only thing that seemed a tiny worrisome is that they seem to only have 2 rides, the Hogwarts Express and the Gringott's Bank ride. It sounds like they are adding an Ollivander's on the London side that can hopefully hold more people. They really could use 1 or 2 more rides on the London side. I hope they plan to add them.

ETA: The new website is very cute too, although it keeps crashing on me when I try to click the alleys. Probably too many people!

 

[Planogirl]

We have a lot of friends who have been staying onsite at Universal in recent years and they really like the hotels there a lot. All good things to say. We're staying at Hard Rock as the boys are most interested in it.

And no... you are not crazy! The shops sound great. Honestly I remember thinking when we went to Hogsmeade that they really missed the boat with merchandise - there was some, but could have been more, and what shops they had were so small it was hard to get around inside them (of course we were there peak season which didn't help). It sounds like they are going to remedy that in Diagon and Knockturn Alleys and even go back and enlarge the candy store in Hogsmeade, which is good.

We liked the Three Broomsticks (had lunch there), looking forward to both the Leaky Cauldron and Fortesque's too!

The only thing that seemed a tiny worrisome is that they seem to only have 2 rides, the Hogwarts Express and the Gringott's Bank ride. It sounds like they are adding an Ollivander's on the London side that can hopefully hold more people. They really could use 1 or 2 more rides on the London side. I hope they plan to add them.

ETA: The new website is very cute too, although it keeps crashing on me when I try to click the alleys. Probably too many people!

I think that Universal's biggest problem is space. It looks like Gringotts will be big plus supposedly the shops have to be small for authenticity and others say that Rowling's demands include keeping things compact. I suspect that that is true because what themepark operator wouldn't build the biggest gift shops that they could get away with?

Anyway, if you have the time and energy, be sure to pool hop when you stay at the Hard Rock. My guys had fun doing that one day.

 

[vital]

I guess I'll wait until tomorrow to complete my researching of tickets/room for the last week of May. I wasn't able to listen to the webcast. Did they say anything about Diagon Alley opening before June? I'd like to avoid those crowds if at all possible.

 

[atricks]

Normal Universal site:

https://www.universalorlando.com/Theme-Park-Tickets/General-Admission.aspx?intcmp=buytixnav

They are sticking to Summer 2014, likely to avoid any potential problems if any construction issues come up. Most reasonable guess is still mid-late June.

 

[xie]

I guess I'll wait until tomorrow to complete my researching of tickets/room for the last week of May. I wasn't able to listen to the webcast. Did they say anything about Diagon Alley opening before June? I'd like to avoid those crowds if at all possible.

No they didn't provide a date. Simply said "Summer 2014".

 

[ADP]

I don't know gang.....I liked the webcast, but I was hoping for more substance. We got all of the information about the shops. We also got information about the park to park ticket needed to ride the Hogwarts Express.
Very little information about Grongotts Bank and what we'll see when riding the Hogwarts Express. Also, I was really hoping for one more minor attraction for Diagon Alley....It just seems like such a big area and we're left with Gringotts and the Hogwarts Express which is sort of an attraction between both lands.

I checked out the new website. It shows a lot of Diagon Alley and what it will like from the guest perspective. The one thing I noticed from the website that wasn't really mentioned in the webcast is that the Hogwarts Express appears to be a very winding ride between Diagon and Hogsmede. It's not a direct shot....I assume the winding around between lands will create a longer ride on the Hogswarts Express.

 

[xie]

I think that Universal's biggest problem is space. It looks like Gringotts will be big plus supposedly the shops have to be small for authenticity and others say that Rowling's demands include keeping things compact. I suspect that that is true because what themepark operator wouldn't build the biggest gift shops that they could get away with?

Anyway, if you have the time and energy, be sure to pool hop when you stay at the Hard Rock. My guys had fun doing that one day.

Yes I heard she was specific about the scale of things - however, it seems like they could easily keep the "scale" the same, and still make the shops a bit bigger. Like they said, they are going to pull all the toys from the candy shop and move them to London, and expand the candy shop selections and sales counter into the area where the toys are now. Which makes perfect sense, will allow them to serve more customers and won't change the "scale" of the shop.

I get where she's coming from, you don't want 20 foot ceilings and 8 foot wide aisles in these shops as it doesn't fit the theming, but they can still be bigger without doing those things.

 

[vital]

Normal Universal site:

https://www.universalorlando.com/Theme-Park-Tickets/General-Admission.aspx?intcmp=buytixnav

They are sticking to Summer 2014, likely to avoid any potential problems if any construction issues come up. Most reasonable guess is still mid-late June.

Thank you! I must be crazy because even when I click on that link it takes me to the Harry Potter page. At first I was on the ticket page, but when I clicked to see how much they would cost it directed me to Harry Potter. HA!

 

[atricks]

I don't know gang.....I liked the webcast, but I was hoping for more substance. We got all of the information about the shops. We also got information about the park to park ticket needed to ride the Hogwarts Express.
Very little information about Grongotts Bank and what we'll see when riding the Hogwarts Express. Also, I was really hoping for one more minor attraction for Diagon Alley....It just seems like such a big area and we're left with Gringotts and the Hogwarts Express which is sort of an attraction between both lands.

I checked out the new website. It shows a lot of Diagon Alley and what it will like from the guest perspective. The one thing I noticed from the website that wasn't really mentioned in the webcast is that the Hogwarts Express appears to be a very winding ride between Diagon and Hogsmede. It's not a direct shot....I assume the winding around between lands will create a longer ride on the Hogswarts Express.

The Hogwart's Express interior was the biggest new information, as well as some of the shops. Things like the Knight Bus, and the rumored interactive wand experience, and details about Knockturn Alley (B&B is going to be more than just a shop) were left out, as well as the show, and maybe one or two other surprises. That will likely come later, probably when they are ready to announce a date.

Also they left out something huge, the second street running parallel called Carkitt Market (All created by Rowling) based on Leadenhall Market but in the Wizarding World.

 

[moose615]

Watched the webcast, cannot wait for our Sept. trip even more so now.

 

[damo]

The Carkitt Market sounds cool. I wondered what they were going to put in there. I like the looks of Knockturn Alley...spooky. From what we know about the concept art from Hogsmeade, it is pretty true to form. I think it looks fantastic! Can't wait to ride the new rides and see the new sites and eat the new nom nom noms!

www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter

ADP, as to the Hogwarts Express.... the route is actually pretty direct. I just imagine it will be a slow trip so that the entire virtual experience can be had. You won't actually see outside the train, it will all be contained.

Here's a link to the new concept art: http://orlandounited.com/universal-...wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-diagon-alley/