Diagon adds apx. 8,000 capacity according to Seth K., plus Transformers & Springfield added capacity. I keep saying it, but that's a heck of a lot more people the Studios can hold that it couldn't in the past.
Yeah but in theory that increase in capacity should be negligible because the additions are supposed to attract more. Yeah, your idea works if Universal sees no increase in capacity and the same crowds from the last few years are spread out over more area. But Universal HAS increased attendance. Look at California Adventure, who added a ton of capacity but saw MORE crowding. That's what, theoretically, is supposed to happen here. And, for the last two days, it certainly has. Because the parks were still packed despite the new additions. For some reason, the beginning of the season was seemingly slow but the last couple of days took care of that.
And, yes, the Diagon people are hidden from view. So there could be a huge attendance increase in the "Studios" on a day and no one, except for the executives who have the real attendance info, would actually know.
Yesterday Universal hit 48,000…don't ask me how I know, but I'm not an executive……yet:sneaky:
And I also think some of the DCA effect is working here and IOA may be getting a basically flat increase while the Studios is getting the double digit percentage increase. But IOA should be back in the good when Kong opens. And I'd think the Hogwart's Express helps IOA to retain attendance since so many people are probably park hopping,especially between the two Potter areas.
Yeah, this is probably definitely true. Even though park-hopping was pretty easy before the Express, people who otherwise wouldn't be inclined to switch parks now do because the HE is a big-ticket attraction. Interesting to note is that when the lines on each side aren't even, the IOA side seems longer than the Universal side...
And I still believe added hotel rooms will increase evening attendance. You need to think like a tourist and not a local. Tourists like to go back to the rooms and pools to relax and stay out of the hot uncomfortable Florida afternoons. Once a local comes he or she will stay till its time for them to leave for the day.
Yeah, I'm still gonna disagree with you here
The hotel guests have the luxury of more time and convenience. There's no need for them to be in the park all the way until 11 o'clock at night. Yeah, I'll give you that they probably go in the morning, come back for a break, and then head back out, but for most people
on vacation 11 PM is still late to be out and about. Plus, for the hotels that don't have Express Pass (and even for those that do who love Potter), early entry is the name of the game and that's pretty dang early--7 AM on peak days. I don't know about you, but my idea of vacation is not to get to sleep around midnight and wake up before 7 AM the next day, and I have a feeling most tourists would be with me on that one. I would say the longer hours are more beneficial to off-site guests or one-day trippers who need to see everything in one day.