The most obvious effect of the modern cell phone (and accompanying social media) has been the rise of the selfie, which has impacted what scare-zones even are. But another clear effect is what we might call "Trader Sam's Syndrome"--you know, the bar that had 5-hour waits the day it opened, but is now often just half-full. Simply put, people who follow theme parks on social media feel the need to be first.
I'm wondering how much of that affected the crowd last night. Because that was the worst pre-October crowd I've ever seen (friend who's gone since '98 agreed). If this is the new normal, then a 9th house and Diagon aren't enough. But if things calm down a bit next weekend, probably unfair to judge the event off of last night.