A concern about Harry Potter land

cdub, I friend at work just got back from Universal on sunday, i'll try and get some info from her on how her trip was there. Just from what I heard so far, it was really, really crowded.

Good question. You're right that that part of the park was easier to get in/out of because it was in the back.

I think that as long as Harry Potter land is new, it's going to be packed. And from what I've seen, it's too small to hold all that many people. I think we're going to try it out in October, but we're steadying ourselves for some crowd management.

I expect TWWOFHP to be jam packed for at least a year..but by then the new movies will be out..so maybe that will prolong the craziness. I can't wait to go but I think we won't try to make it down there for at least a year!

Okay people, I talked to my friend at work yesterday for a bit about Harry Potters World yesterday. She was at Universal last week. They had a 15 minute wait to get into universal and once they got in there, there was a 3 1/2 hour wait to get into Harry Potter World. She said the line was over half way around the inside of the park. People in the lines that had been in before said the store at times had over 2 hour waits to get into them.

The good news is that she talked to an employee and they told her to wait till after noon to go in and the line is only about 15 minutes or less to get into Harry's World. She is not really a Potter fan, never saw the movies or read the books, but said the HP ride was really good. Wait for Butter beer was to long and not worth waiting for so she didn't try it. I'm going to try to get some pictures from her.

Oh my good heavens!!!!!!! That flips my thinking completely. I would have guessed that you should go in the morning to beat the crowds. Thanks for the news, MrHub.

You have GOT to be kidding! Who would stand for 3 1/2 hours to get into a theme park area (not even on a ride)! That's seems un-doable to me.

I can't even shop for 3 1/2 hours.

Universal have posted thier first rise in visitor numbers last month for quite a while. It's being attributed to Harry Potter.

I believe that! I'd need an extra "lounging in the pool day" after that!

The stuff I'm seeing makes it sound like its downright bedlam. Who has a guess on how long before all this dies down a little?

I went to the wwohp in June about 5 days after it opened to the public. I arrived after 3pm and walked straight to the back of the park. I spent about 7 hours in wwohp. I rode forbidden journey twice ( 1 time single rider). I spent about 3 hours in line total for forbidden journey. I walked right onto dragon challenge. I did not wait for Ollivanders nor did I eat in Hogsmeade. It is beautiful and for the most part well themed. The queue for forbidden journey was my favorite. I actually liked it better than the actual ride. However as a HP fan I think I was expecting more. It is certainly not a stand alone park.

Do you think it could be a stand-alone park with some expansion, or will it never rise to that level?

Thanks for your insights!!

IMO it would need a lot more to be a stand alone park. There are only 3 actual rides and of those only 1 is new.

In past wdw trips we would go to universal every other year or so and even then it would only be one day. I think I was hoping wwohp would make universal an every trip kinda place. It didn't and I was disappointed in that. I did love it however I wanted more.

What's the third ride? There are the two coasters and...

Apart from the main Harry Potter ride, there's the Dragon Challenge (rethemed from Dueling Dragons) and a kiddie coaster called Flight of the Hippogryf which is also an old ride rethemed.

Good review, shelley. I think this might be the overall feeling from a lot of people about Harry Potter Land. There was such hype, and when Disney has hype like that, the result is usually pretty spectacular; I guess it's that Disney/Universal difference. I wonder what Disney would have done with a Harry Potter Land...

Nope there's an all new ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, that aparently uses extra motion ride cars and 3D effects. Think Island of Adventure's Spiderman ride and then up the ante a bit.

Thanks! I was totally in the dark about that!

I'd really like to go on Oct. 2 -- we're staying on I-Drive that night before checking into CBR on the 3rd -- but:

1) We'd be driving 9 hours straight down that morning, then we would go straight to the park, so I'm afraid I would be exhausted, bitchy and not fun.

2) IoA is only open until 7 p.m. that night -- and as it is, I'm afraid we would only get there by noon at the earliest. And what I'm interested in is the Forbidden Journey ride, butterbeer, and Ollivander's -- the things with the most wait.

3) I refuse to pay $82 per person for one day of admission anywhere. Not at Universal, not at WDW, not anywhere.

A better option might be to go Oct. 9 when we check out of WDW and go to IoA before our journey home -- but we'll still have an day's admission to use at WDW that day, and I see myself using it instead. I just cannot justify $165+ for one day of waiting around. Even though I love HP dearly!

le sigh.

Wow $82?!? I thought Universal tickets were cheaper than that.

Yep! One day, one-park access, $82. http://www.universalorlando.com/Tickets/tickets_2.aspx

Imagine how long you'd have to wait to get into the shops in HP if it were cheaper! Sheesh!

One-day, one-park admission is $82 for WDW too. But who the heck buys just that for WDW? The value gets so much better as you add on the days and options, or upgrade to AP.

Meanwhile, Universal also charges $82 for one day, but their annual pass is only $139. That just seems so out of whack to me. It' like they are acknowledging that you don't get as much with them. And it makes me feel like they know that most people are only going to buy a 1 or 2-day ticket, so they gouge those people, and reward those who opt for APs.

FYI -- I just saw Dewayne Bevil (Orlando sentinel) mention that the lines are shorter since Labor Day is over. Hopefully that holds true...