Wizarding World - Diagon Alley Discussion - Part 3

[IzzyB]

the thing is, is that most the people that are already inside DA, have little to nothing requesting them to leave. They could all literally stay in there all day. Meaning the folks that are outside waiting to get in will probably be waiting a very long time.

They will leave, to ride HE.

 

[Dasilvaasd]

8am? :yikes: wow! Was it as good as Hogsmeade opening? Anyone know if there's a video of the official opening available yet? Can't find one on YT :embarassed:

It was a very short speech from resort president Bill Davis and some fireworks. Nothing to write home about

I thought it was kinda neat to see.

Here is a video put out by WESH :

http://livewire.wesh.com/Event/Live_updates_Diagon_Alley_opens_at_Universal/121067484

 

[Teebin]

This was a very special view for those that were first through the wall:

 

[HalfGlass]

the thing is, is that most the people that are already inside DA, have little to nothing requesting them to leave. They could all literally stay in there all day. Meaning the folks that are outside waiting to get in will probably be waiting a very long time.

This is very true. I also saw a tweet that said the streets of Diagon are pretty empty now (by Hogsmeade opening standards) and most people are going into Gringotts. Many people probably haven't even taken the time to see the land yet because they've been held up in the line for the ride.

 

[rhino4evr]

Honestly, think that most people will want to stay inside DA as long as possible, mostly because they know that once they leave they arent coming back in. I would imagine Hogsmede is dead right now..if I were late, I would just go there in hopes that a bunch of people would eventually leave DA to go to IOA via HE at the end of the day.

 

[JungleSkip]

Honestly, think that most people will want to stay inside DA as long as possible, mostly because they know that once they leave they arent coming back in. I would imagine Hogsmede is dead right now..if I were late, I would just go there in hopes that a bunch of people would eventually leave DA to go to IOA via HE at the end of the day.

IoA is quite crowded today as well. But yea, if you want to enjoy some potter stuff today, I'd be in Hogsmeade.

 

[adjjb]

IOA is really crowded, 90 for Transformers, 80 for Despicable Me, etc. Everything is over an hour. I wonder if people are bypassing the Diagon line and going to do the rest of the park first hoping to do Diagon at the end of the day. Or they're just saying forget it all together and going to the rest of the park.

 

[HalfGlass]

IOA is really crowded, 90 for Transformers, 80 for Despicable Me, etc. Everything is over an hour. I wonder if people are bypassing the Diagon line and going to do the rest of the park first hoping to do Diagon at the end of the day. Or they're just saying forget it all together and going to the rest of the park.

Waiting until the end of the day seems like the best bet. Or trying to hit it up around dinner time. There's not true barometer during a grand opening of what crowds will do though.

 

[l-m-f-a-o]

This was a very special view for those that were first through the wall:

That was so neat & exciting running through the confettii to gringotts! I didn't expect that! Great way to welcome the first couple guest.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Universal really planned this opening to minimize crazy lines in CityWalk.

1.) Tuesday opening, not Friday.
2.) Announced opening date three weeks out, not three months.
3.) No celebrities in attendance.
4.) Opened the gates to USF at 545AM, not later like at IoA. This single handedly, IMHO, prevented the CityWalk disaster. This prevented the bottle necks to get into the park by getting all the people there early in.
5.) USF had queues set up next to FFL, in the MiB extended queue,and behind MiB. Besides queues through Springfield this kept guests out of pedestrian areas.
6.) Diagon Alley has higher capacity than Hogsmeade.

 

[TylerDurden]

Universal really planned this opening to minimize crazy lines in CityWalk.

2.) Announced opening date three weeks out, not three months.

That wasnt planning . That was just because Gringotts couldnt get its act together. If you were to look at attendance projections and F&B/merch budgets from the last couple of weeks, you would realize that DA was definitely supposed to be open a while ago.

 

[DanB89]

Haven't seen this anywhere yet, but is anyone reporting on the waits for Florean's, Leaky Cauldron, or the shops? Or is everyone under the sun going straight to the black-hole-of-no-return that is the current Gringotts queue?

 

[hildyp0824]

Haven't seen this anywhere yet, but is anyone reporting on the waits for Florean's, Leaky Cauldron, or the shops? Or is everyone under the sun going straight to the black-hole-of-no-return that is the current Gringotts queue?

Somebody on Twitter posted a picture of a pretty empty Florean's. My guess is everyone is in the 7 hour queue

 

[SpatulaShack]

On the plus side, despite operating at reduced capacity it appears Gringotts has at least been continuously operating since opening with only minor down time. That's kind of a surprise to me.

 

[Milla4Prez66]

I'm just laughing at these wait times. I'm so happy I got to see DA with no wait times and no crowds. But I guess some people just think it's cool to be a part of the "grand opening."

 

[adjjb]

I think Gringotts has beat the Anna & Elsa wait times. 450 minutes! And I thought the Anna and Elsa waits were record breaking.

I wonder what it will be like for the hotel guests starting tomorrow with their 1 hour extra at 7am-8am. If they don't wake up in time, they're in trouble once they open the park. Also all the hotel guests will probably be up and leaving for shuttles as soon as they start to start their own line at the park.

 

[freediverdude]

I don't understand, if there is a 6 hour wait to get into Diagon, and then a 450 minute queue for Gringotts, I don't see how anyone now entering the park would be able to ride it by the end of the day, lol.

 

[UNIrd]

On the plus side, despite operating at reduced capacity it appears Gringotts has at least been continuously operating since opening with only minor down time. That's kind of a surprise to me.

That's a hugely pleasant surprise. I hope it keeps up.

 

[HalfGlass]

I don't understand, if there is a 6 hour wait to get into Diagon, and then a 450 minute queue for Gringotts, I don't see how anyone now entering the park would be able to ride it by the end of the day, lol.

I think once you're in line for Gringotts, you're safe (provided it doesn't breakdown on a major scale). In fact, I would argue they will start to turn people away from entering Gringotts around 9 but no earlier. Staff will be there super late tonight. Keep in mind, this is all speculation.

 

[adjjb]

They will have to stop people from entering the Grigotts line or people will still be in line when the park opens for hotel guests at 7am.