Hey Everyone..Im finally back from my first visit to Potter. Here are my opinions.
First off, we got to the park at 9am..checked our stuff in the lockers and headed over. At that point Journey was a 45 min wait..but was actually more like 25. Someone (Teebin?) said that the wait outside was much longer then then one in. That was true for me too. Once we were inside the castle we were moving very quickly.
Thoughts on the ride...I thought it was a lot of fun, but to be perfectly honest, I have NO idea what the hell was going on. Now please keep in mind, Ive only seen each movie once or twice and never read the books, so while I recognized some things, I coudlnt figure out if there was a story or not. It was extremely chaotic, and the ride itself was a blast, just didnt come away with anything else except..well that was fun! My wife who hasnt seen or read any of the material, enjoyed it as well, but came away the same...clueless to what was happening. I did think it was rather scary, especially for kids. I jumped a few times.
Thoughts on the park...REALLY impressive amounts of detail..I mean REALLY impressive. My wife is a graphic designer, and was really impressed how every inch of the area was themed. The aged beer taps? awesome. We both loved the stores, although we didnt hit Olivanders, I refused to wait in line for that. The toy shop Zonkos? was my favorite. We bought a Pygmy Puff (?) for my 9 month old daughter, and she squealed when she saw it. LOL.
Other stuff you folks may find interesting...
The longest wait I saw for Potter was 60 mins. There were quite a few people dressed in Potter gear.
The rest of the park was pretty much dead, all the water rides were walk ons...and the Hulk and Spidey were 30 min waits. Some of these rides need a lot of TLC..espically after seeing how great Potter area looked. On Cat in the Hat, my wife says "this ride is really dirty" you could see the dust collecting on the rides. Gross.