Diagon Crowd Concerns

[kapeman]

What about those staying on property? Will the boats be running early and is there a different line for early access?

 

[MrRoamer]

Probably be better off walking on the Hard Rock or Portofino side then trying to do the boats.

I wonder if the express entrance for resort guests will be open. Speaking of which, side question would people staying at Cabana Bay be able to use the express entrance in general?

 

[kimlovesfl]

Cabana Bay does not have express pass privileges.

 

[MrRoamer]

I'm talking about the hotel guests only lines to get into the parks, like the line furthest to the right at USF

 

[Skubersky]

FYI I just booked a hotel for 7/7-10 and the fine print on Early Entry has changed, and not for the better.

As of 2 days ago, the website said:
"†Early Park Admission begins one (1) hour prior to regular scheduled park opening to one (1) Universal Orlando theme park as determined by Universal Orlando. Valid at select attractions at each park. Universal Orlando Resort reserves the right to open alternative attractions in the event that a technical problem arises or an attraction opening is delayed."

As of today, it now says:
"†Paid theme park admission required. Early Park Admission begins one (1) hour prior to Universal’s Islands of Adventure regular scheduled park opening for on-site hotel guests and is valid 7 days a week for travel through 12/31/14; valid only at select Islands of Adventure attractions: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™, Flight of the Hippogriff™, Dragon Challenge™ and Caro-Seuss-el™. "

The hotel reps I talked to have no idea what will actually happen, they have no clue which guests get into which park on what day, and won't until after 7/8. All they can say is "all benefits are subject to change."

 

[Teebin]

FYI I just booked a hotel for 7/7-10 and the fine print on Early Entry has changed, and not for the better.

My goodness. I wonder if this might be because reservations have gone through the roof or simply Gringotts just ain't ready.

 

[AK-Jake]

I went to Potter Phase 1 twice back in 2010; the first time was 5 days after Potter opened. When I got to the park around 2:30pm, I was denied entrance into IOA due to "capacity," and told to go to USF instead (which was VERY quiet). I got into IOA (and eventually Potter) a few hours later, but it was so busy you could barely move. Literally. The Forbidden Journey line was 4 hours long. I used the Single Riders entrance to get one ride in, grabbed a glass of butterbeer and left the area. My second visit was in mid-late October, 2010 and I had no problems walking into Hogsmeade first thing when the park opened (and there were lots of people already ahead of me when I went in and ALL were making a bee-line for WWOHP). The line for FJ was 45-60 minutes all day long. I believe I stood in line twice to experience the queue before switching to the single rider line. Using the single rider queue (and getting chummy with one of the cute female ride ops who just let me keep going directly from offload to onload) got me between 40-50 rides in during the first day of my visit. General park crowds at that time were quiet during the day and PACKED at USF at night during HHN. Hell, even the HHN Express lines were 45+ min! But during the day, not bad at all. Most of the folks were from Britain on holiday.

I'm going back in early-mid October this year for Diagon Alley and I'm hoping for similar crowds.

 

[UK-Trigg]

FYI I just booked a hotel for 7/7-10 and the fine print on Early Entry has changed, and not for the better.

As of 2 days ago, the website said:
"†Early Park Admission begins one (1) hour prior to regular scheduled park opening to one (1) Universal Orlando theme park as determined by Universal Orlando. Valid at select attractions at each park. Universal Orlando Resort reserves the right to open alternative attractions in the event that a technical problem arises or an attraction opening is delayed."

As of today, it now says:
"†Paid theme park admission required. Early Park Admission begins one (1) hour prior to Universal’s Islands of Adventure regular scheduled park opening for on-site hotel guests and is valid 7 days a week for travel through 12/31/14; valid only at select Islands of Adventure attractions: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™, Flight of the Hippogriff™, Dragon Challenge™ and Caro-Seuss-el™. "

The hotel reps I talked to have no idea what will actually happen, they have no clue which guests get into which park on what day, and won't until after 7/8. All they can say is "all benefits are subject to change."

Hmmm, will be keeping a close eye on this one. Thanks for the info Seth :thumbs:

 

[Skubersky]

Hmmm, will be keeping a close eye on this one. Thanks for the info Seth :thumbs:

Here's the latest direct from Tom Schroder @ Uni PR:
"We will be offering our on-site guests Early Park Admission to both Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure beginning July 9."

 

[adjjb]

Wonder how 1 hour early is going to work at Diagon on the 9th and onwards. They'll line up outside Diagon for that hour or they'll let the guests line up in the lines for the HE or Gringotts.

 

[DanB89]

Wonder how 1 hour early is going to work at Diagon on the 9th and onwards. They'll line up outside Diagon for that hour or they'll let the guests line up in the lines for the HE or Gringotts.

If they are advertising that early admission applies to both park I would assume that they will at least open HE and DA. Whether or not they open up Gringotts will probably depend on how much they can improve the reliability by that point.

 

[natespf]

If they are advertising that early admission applies to both park I would assume that they will at least open HE and DA. Whether or not they open up Gringotts will probably depend on how much they can improve the reliability by that point.

The wording is open for another switcharoo. Both parks could have early admission without the guest being able to choose which one they want.


Also it looks like Seth mixed up the fine print while copy&pasting it, or I am not reading it right. The one that says "one (1) Universal Orlando theme park as determined by Universal Orlando" is the latest.

 

[UK-Trigg]

Here's the latest direct from Tom Schroder @ Uni PR:
"We will be offering our on-site guests Early Park Admission to both Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure beginning July 9."

Thanks Seth, sounds a little better will be watching to see how this plays out. Have CBBR for 5 nights Sept, guess much could/will change before now and then.

 

[Skubersky]

Also it looks like Seth mixed up the fine print while copy&pasting it, or I am not reading it right. The one that says "one (1) Universal Orlando theme park as determined by Universal Orlando" is the latest.

That wording has been on the site for a while, but "IOA ONLY" was on the newest confirmation I got on my 7/7-10 CBBR stay.

 

[UK-Trigg]

That wording has been on the site for a while, but "IOA ONLY" was on the newest confirmation I got on my 7/7-10 CBBR stay.

Hope this changes before September, worse case scenario hit up Hogsmeade and be in line for HE for first train of the day and hope to beat the crowds into Diagon.

 

[DanB89]

That wording has been on the site for a while, but "IOA ONLY" was on the newest confirmation I got on my 7/7-10 CBBR stay.

Hm, that's odd. The fine print on the confirmation email for my 7/11-12 stay still had the "park of Universal's choosing" wording. I'm really starting to wish we could get one official statement on this.

 

[UK-Trigg]

Hm, that's odd. The fine print on the confirmation email for my 7/11-12 stay still had the "park of Universal's choosing" wording. I'm really starting to wish we could get one official statement on this.

I would guess that they are unsure themselves and the situation is fluid, we will soon see how it is going to pan out.

 

[Rtboh]

:focus: Went in to Diagon Alley during today's event. Totally empty (yet Gringotts still had issues...). However hundreds at the fences upon my exit. Seeing the pictures on twitter just for the soft opening, can guarantee they'll be doing the ticket system from 2010 just to enter the area because of capacity problems. Hogwarts Express will certainly be busy but wouldn't imagine it'd be TOO bad at King's Cross since people won't really want to leave the new area.

 

[RonaldsModernLife]

I saw on Twitter that one of the issues is people standing in the middle of the walkway taking pictures of the dragon, especially when it shoots fire. That's to be expected, of course, but since it's pretty narrow, it's becoming a bit of a problem for some people.

 

[rinacee]

Anyone planning on going to the Grand Opening? Friends and I are planning on getting there around 3 or 3:30.