WDW Fans: Will you go see Harry Potter?

[melly]

You must have missed my post that says I am going to see HP, so I will see what it's like..

No, I didnt miss it. It was pretty clear. Other than for Harry Potter you wouldnt even entertain going to Universal despite not knowing what it is like.

There are probably a bazillion places on planet Earth that I'd enjoy if I went there, but it's called a personal choice. For goodness sake, I'm 64 years old. I think I can make up my own mind about where I do or don't want to go for whatever reasons. ..

I wasnt denying your right to personal choice. What I was questioning is how you have formulated an opinion about Universal despite having never been there. Surely to know if you like it or not, and to have an opinion on it you need to experience it. You have basically said that other than for Harry Potter you have no interest in going to Universal however you feel qualified to comment on its merits or lack of. Your perfectly entightled to these opinions but likewise others are perfectly entightled to challenge them.

Yeah, I do actually know there's nowhere else like Disney. It's about the theme and the nostalgia connected to it.

Perhaps so, but that doesnt mean you cant go to other places and enjoy them too. What is there to lose? You go there and enjoy it and you have 2 great places to go. If you dont like it then you dont like it. It seems from the way you have wrote your post that you have already determined that you dont want to like it and ruled it out as a possibility.

 

[dburg30]

I'm curious:

For those of you who usually stay on-site at WDW and do not normally venture off property, how many of you plan to spend a day at Universal on your next vacation to check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter?

It will be interesting to see what impact (if any) it has on Central Florida theme park attendance and if it impacts WDW in any way.

Didnt read all 239 replies, but I'm sure I'll go and check it out at some point. Wont be on the next one, and probably wont be for a year or 2 after it opens. As far as theme park attendance I think it will boost it some for a short time, but it's not going to make a huge difference one way or the other. I'm curious to see how the new pricing at universal plays out more then anything.

 

[U2_rocks!]

We're going in October!

I like the Universal parks, though, and I've been before. At some point I would have taken the kids too, and I am happy that Wizarding World will be open in time for this year's trip. When WW was first announced, I decided then and there that we would wait and go to Florida again when it was open, and not before. We can't afford to go every year, so we had to time it right!

 

[dawgsgirl]

I travel in the summer with my cousin and her 14 year old daughter. We always go to Disney. We have been to Seaworld, but never Universal. Well, this year we are spending a whole week at Hard Rock. The 14 year old LOVES Harry Potter and is going through a phase where Disney is for babies. Whatever!! I got the cheapo Universal tickets last summer. For Hard Rock, I got the discount that saves you more the longer you stay. We drive down, so transportation is not a problem. We are all VERY excited. This will be a much more relaxing vacation than Disney and we are not worried about getting everything done. I am looking forward to going somewhere new and different!! We will always love Disney, but there's not much new going on there. So, Harry Potter, here we come!!!

Edited to add: I believe that a lot of summer visitors will be going to Universal and skipping Disney. This board is not a good barometer of how Disney will be affected. We are, after all, a bunch of Disney nuts!!

 

[lorraine31]

we are planning to spend a day at universal purely for the purpose of seeing HP world. We have been to Disney for the last 5 years and have never been to universal. We kept meaning to, but couldn't sacrifice a day of Disney to do it. Last year we went to the Universal City Walk and we found it awful. Nothing compared to Disney. So this year, it is really a big thing that we are actually going to go. It had better be worth it.

 

[JackandSally79]

YES! We will be getting APs.... just like we have for WDW.

 

[Tinkerbell21]

Oh I can't wait to go check out HP!!! I have never been to Universal in Florida so that isn't the only reason I will be going but I can't wait to see it all anyways!

 

[richmo]

Economically, it doesn't make sense to mix a Disney trip with a Universal trip because of the Disney ticket policy (basically any days beyond 3 are almost free).

But, we'll be in Orlando for a weekend this summer and we'll go to Universal to check out Harry instead of Disney.

I'm getting the feeling that Harry Potter is almost like a land in the Magic Kingdom and can be covered easily in less than half a day.

 

[ebtbmom]

We LOVE LOVE LOVE HP and can't wait to see it!

I will definetly take a day or two from Disney next time to visit it even though we have never done Universal in the past.

The only disappointing thing is that it is only a land of a park. Think about all the areas it could have, Privet Drive, St Mungo's, Forbidden Forest, Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, World Cup, the cave, the Ministry of Magic, man I could get really carried away.

I wish it was it's own park with it's own hotel, designed like Hogwarts. And they have towers for each of the 4 houses and your family has to be sorted to stay in one of the towers. I would totally do this, I would also run around talking in a fake British accent the entire time, probably wearing robes.

 

[Feralpeg]

We LOVE LOVE LOVE HP and can't wait to see it!

I will definetly take a day or two from Disney next time to visit it even though we have never done Universal in the past.

The only disappointing thing is that it is only a land of a park. Think about all the areas it could have, Privet Drive, St Mungo's, Forbidden Forest, Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, World Cup, the cave, the Ministry of Magic, man I could get really carried away.

I wish it was it's own park with it's own hotel, designed like Hogwarts. And they have towers for each of the 4 houses and your family has to be sorted to stay in one of the towers. I would totally do this, I would also run around talking in a fake British accent the entire time, probably wearing robes.

That would be very cool! Unfortunately, Universal is pretty land locked. They would really have to move it outside of the main parks in order to do something that large. They didn't buy the huge amount of land, at the beginning, like Disney. Too bad!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

We always do both Universal and Disney on our trips to Orlando and will definitely make sure to do both again on our upcoming trips

 

[lugnut33]

Have not read any of the Harold Potter books and have seen none of the movies. My kids are totally NOT interested. So, the answer here is no.

I wish they would have done a Carl Sagan themeland.

 

[Rip]

I think this is the best description that I've read of what WWHP is going to do for Universal.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35470948&postcount=1064

 

[preschoolmom]

Yes, Definitely! Not on this trip, but perhaps on our next one. I'd like to do 2-3 days at Universal/IoA - but when my kids are a touch older.

 

[clkelley]

I will spend a day and visit it sometime this year, but it will have to be really amazing for me to go back multiple times.

Back in 2004, we bought several 3-day nonexpiring two-park tickets to Universal through Shades of Green for a really good price. Our intent was to use them for that trip, but because of Hurricane Jeanne, we ended up with 1 totally unused ticket and about 4 of them with 2 days left on them. Over the years, we've used them one day at a time, spending one day at both parks on a weekday in December.

We have 1 day left, and we plan to use that exclusively to explore Harry Potter.

With their current pricing structure, it just kills me to pay for expiring tickets, when like I said, we only spend one day there per year.

We visit the Disney parks at least 5 - 6 times a year and keep APs.

So this new land will really have to blow me away.

 

[dizneedoll]

I love HP and definitely want to see WWoHP. Our next trip is in December but I'm taking a wait and see approach and to whether I'll go this trip or wait. I'm waiting to see what the guest reaction is, what kind of attractions they will have and how bad crowds will be. My DS is only 4 and he might not get enjoyment out of IOA and WWoHP just yet. I've never been to Universal and would really like to stay at one of their hotles for a couple of days and see both parks and some point.

 

[dizneedoll]

I think this is the best description that I've read of what WWHP is going to do for Universal.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35470948&postcount=1064

Thanks for that link, that was an awesome post! And very true too. That's one on my main reasons on holding back visiting, the massive influx of crowds all swarming straight to HP.

 

[heaven2dc]

Of course!! Are you kidding - we love Mickey and are devoted to him but we are so excited for this new venture over at Universal (I hear Mickey & Harry are great neighbors )

All kidding aside - we are going on our first family vacation in November 2010 and visiting WDW for 6 days and seeing the new Harry Potter attraction the following day. and

 

[Stefy]

We do venture off property to visit US and IoA or Seaworld, oh and also to shop

I am looking forward to seeing TWWoHP, it looks like they have done it really well. Just hope that it won't be too swamped in September/October.

Do we have an official date yet for opening?

 

[Cat0727]

We do venture off property to visit US and IoA or Seaworld, oh and also to shop

I am looking forward to seeing TWWoHP, it looks like they have done it really well. Just hope that it won't be too swamped in September/October.

Do we have an official date yet for opening?

Spring 2010, nothing more specific than that though.

I am wondering how crowded WWoHP will be in November- I am going to Disney and definitely want to set aside a day for Universal. I guess I'm just going to play it by what I read on the boards & make a decision later this year.