The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade (Orlando): Part 2

[Buzz Lightbeer]

Truly a nightmare. Thank goodness I have yet to attend. And word has it that they have little product inventory...
Interesting that although many describe the entire park very detailed, I have not heard mentioned any one particular part of the park that contains a mind blowing effect; a tour de force of modern magic.

This may be one of the stupidest things I've ever read.

For someone who has invested so much time into talking about it, you haven't even gone? Don't you work at UO? Just go! What are you waiting for? Go at night, it's not that bad. You're really strange. :ears:

 

[rewster]

Just thought I'd share a couple pics my stepfather sent me in an e-mail......

He works for an international shipping company up on the coast of Georgia (Brunswick), and they were responsible for importing & exporting the Harry Potter Knight Bus to/from England for the grand opening at WWoHP. They currently still have the bus on their lot in Brunswick, and will be shipping it off soon.

Obviously the bus appears to be stripped and re-assembled as needed, kinda interesting.

 

[emily7793]

Just thought I'd share a couple pics my stepfather sent me in an e-mail......

He works for an international shipping company up on the coast of Georgia (Brunswick), and they were responsible for importing & exporting the Harry Potter Knight Bus to/from England for the grand opening at WWoHP. They currently still have the bus on their lot in Brunswick, and will be shipping it off soon.

Whoa, awesome! It's pretty cool when connections work well in your favor

 

[Hatetofly]

I had a friend who was at Wizarding World thursday and they said that inventory was very low. This was in every shop. I don't think they even saw Chocolate frogs.

I was there Thursday night and while the shops were real low they did still seem to have almost everything in stock at Honeydukes and Zonkos including chocolate frogs. Now Dervish and Banges on the over hand...

 

[Teebin]

You're really strange. :ears:

To quote a line from the movie "Reversal of Fortune": "You have no idea..."
meaning, how very strange I am....

and no, I do not work for UO, or have any affiliation with any company or subcontracting company that worked on the WW project. And that is the absolute truth.

Do I work for the Walt Disney Company? I will not answer that one.

:wave:

Just thought I'd share a couple pics my stepfather sent me in an e-mail...

I hope your stepfather knows a good witness protection attorney! WB and JKR and Uni must be crapping their pants to see this classic prop posted in its dismantled state. Really joking here as I doubt anyone cares at this point. great pics... cool to know it really was the real deal sent over just for the event!

 

[bigian573]

Quick question, do any of you know if Florida schools have a week off in February? My high school in GA has Winter Break every year, and I'm planning on going to the WWHoP with some friends. I just want to have an idea of what to expect in terms of crowds.

 

[Tbad556]

Quick question, do any of you know if Florida schools have a week off in February? My high school in GA has Winter Break every year, and I'm planning on going to the WWHoP with some friends. I just want to have an idea of what to expect in terms of crowds.

Florida schools do not have a week off of school in February this year. Our winter break is from December to January. February is usually one of the best times of the year to visit the parks, crowd wise.

 

[bigian573]

Florida schools do not have a week off of school in February this year. Our winter break is from December to January. February is usually one of the best times of the year to visit the parks, crowd wise.

Perfect! Yeah our schools have a break during Christmas/New Years and then we have a week off in February. Thanks!

 

[merfox612]

just got home from my weekend at WWOHP! i'm so tired, so this is gonna be quick. i had an AMAZING time! all three days i visited the park (fri, sat, sun) FJ was up and running very smoothly every time i rode it. it blew me away (my ride photos consisted of my mouth wide open in awe). first time i waited for it i wanted to get on with my friends and of course go through the whole beautiful castle, and that ended up only taking about an hour and a half which was perfect. every other time we rode single and were was on within 15-25 minutes each time. the crowds were of course crazy, but i spent so much time stopping, shopping, and admiring everything that they didn't even bother me at all. ollivander's was unreal, i had a blast there. be prepared to wait in that line forever but it is well worth it. and all of the shops seemed to be pretty stocked up on everything. i was so glad to finally taste butterbeer and pumpkin juice too. i had a fabulous time and i can't wait to get back there in a couple of months! i also must mention i met a ton of potter fans from all over which was a great experience, and everyone was so happy and i spent WAY too much money haha. sorry this is so short, just thought i would share my little two cents!

 

[Hatetofly]

just got home from my weekend at WWOHP! i'm so tired, so this is gonna be quick. i had an AMAZING time! all three days i visited the park (fri, sat, sun) FJ was up and running very smoothly every time i rode it. it blew me away (my ride photos consisted of my mouth wide open in awe). first time i waited for it i wanted to get on with my friends and of course go through the whole beautiful castle, and that ended up only taking about an hour and a half which was perfect. every other time we rode single and were was on within 15-25 minutes each time. the crowds were of course crazy, but i spent so much time stopping, shopping, and admiring everything that they didn't even bother me at all. ollivander's was unreal, i had a blast there. be prepared to wait in that line forever but it is well worth it. and all of the shops seemed to be pretty stocked up on everything. i was so glad to finally taste butterbeer and pumpkin juice too. i had a fabulous time and i can't wait to get back there in a couple of months! i also must mention i met a ton of potter fans from all over which was a great experience, and everyone was so happy and i spent WAY too much money haha. sorry this is so short, just thought i would share my little two cents!

Glad to hear you had a great time, couple of things though.

Butterbeer-Frozen or Regular, did you eat at the Three Broomsticks, and was there waits to get into the land?

 

[TSSD]

Oh my god. I just got back. I'll post a full review later, but for now all I can say is OMG!!!!!! BTW frozen from HH is awesome.

--- Update ---

I went to the Infinitus event, and since it's semi-related to this, I'll tell you guys about it:

The event started at 10, and we were taken to the eighth Voyage of Sinbad theater. We were supposed to be getting a presentation, and while we were waiting there was a bit of an informal show going on with people dressed up as HP characters reanacting certain scenes. This turned out to be better than the actual presentation. A lady who I guess was high-up in Universal came and talked about WWoHP and showed us a video covering all the grand opening stuff. That was nice, but we were all still waiting for the good stuff. They ended up playing the NBC special, and at that point, I felt a bit cheated. It was supposed to be a presention by the 'brains of WWoHP'. I eventually left, and a good thing too, because I was in the front of the crowd to get in. The outside of the theater filled up fast, and they didn't let us in until 11:30. Everyone was pretty peeved especially since it was so hot and crowded behind the rope keeping us out. It was set to end at 1:30.

So they finally let us in, and it was pretty fun. They were handing out free butterbeer in smaller cups than usual ('cept you could just get back in line and get more). I headed straight to Ollivanders and then FJ. I rode FJ for my third time total, and it was as great as usual (only a 20 minute wait). After I got off the ride, I thought of going on it again, but it was closed. And their was still about an hour or a little less left of the event. I headed over to Dragon Challenge, but we couldn't rent lockers. It said they were all full even though we saw many people emptying their lockers. We didn't have anything to do with our wands, so we couldn't ride it. We went to ride Hippogriff (no wait) then headed off back to Dragon Challenge to see if the issue has been resolved. But, with 30 minutes still left in the event, they closed DC. So I just shopped with what little money I had left and got some butterbeer for the rest of the time.

Overall, it was fun, but I think many attendees felt a bit cheated because it was implied that we would have more time in the park, and the presentation would be exclusive and interesting, not something we can just watch on YouTube.

I have to agree with you about being peeved about the making of thing. It was still awesome though. I don't think I'll ever see the 3 broomstick workers dancing to Thriller again.

--- Update ---

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1uqoub5UEc

omg, its super,duper packed!!!! Thats why Im gonna wait until November to go because this is crazy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL, check this out. Snape dancing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vus2yNo6mvs

I was litteraly right in front of snape.

--- Update ---

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1uqoub5UEc

omg, its super,duper packed!!!! Thats why Im gonna wait until November to go because this is crazy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL, check this out. Snape dancing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vus2yNo6mvs

I was litteraly right in front of snape. The attendees were much better than the real presentation.

 

[brodeurr]

I just got back from my WWOHP vacation and I had such a blast! I could not tell you one thing I was disappointed in. The frozen butterbeer was delicious, the shops were amazing. I went on Forbidden Journey 8 times. Yes, I said 8. My mouth was open in shock at how awesome it was the whole time I was on it.

I give the WWOHP a 12 out of 10!!!

 

[merfox612]

Glad to hear you had a great time, couple of things though.

Butterbeer-Frozen or Regular, did you eat at the Three Broomsticks, and was there waits to get into the land?

Butterbeer = FROZEN! They need to add it to the menu at Starbucks or something, I don't know how I'm gonna be able to live without it until the next time I visit WWOHP.

Three Broomsticks was wayyy too crowded for my liking, so sadly I didn't get to eat there Next time I go it'll have to be my first stop.

And no waits to get into the land! It was packed but we walked right in. And barely a wait for FJ if you ride single (19 times, not bad for three days!)

 

[TSSD]

Okay, heres a quikie review. Friday morning I came in to the WWoHP at 8:30 using express, got a butterbeer which is AMAZING, and tasted a bit of Frozen which is EVEN BETTER!!!!!! Rode Fireball and then Horntail (BTW when I went on Horntail it looked like Fireball was down and people were stuck on it just outside the station, anyone hear of anything like that?). Rode FJ. My one complaint is that the workers backed us up in the greenhouse and then when we got inside they rushed us through yelling at anyone who took pictures or stopped to listen to Dumbledore or the trio. FJ was easily the best ride I've ever ridden. When I got out I watched the Frog choir a little and then rode Hippogrif. I got another butterbeer and went to see the rest of IOA.

I have to go now, when I have the chance I'll write about everything else.

 

[Callum]

I really hope that when I go I get to experience the full que in FJ, not saying I would like to wait anything near 2 hours but I want to be able to get to see Dumbledore's office and hear the trio speak etc.

 

[Vyrus]

I don't care what the TM's tell me, I will stand off to the side, let people pass me cause I'm staying to hear the whole spiel and see all the details, period.

If they have a problem with that, then I will get their names and go and complain as an annual pass holder, I'm not holding up the line, I'm just enjoying the details.

 

[TheDecemberists]

Yeah, that's what I did. I stood in a corner and let people pass who wanted to. At one point during my stay at Universal the ride broke down for about 10 minutes; this was actually my favorite time waiting in the queue, because I actually had time to take pictures.

My only complaint about my visit is Dragon Challenge. Running only one train on either side made the line painfully slow. (I'm sure they added more later on, but still... considering two trains can fit in the loading station, why's it such a big deal to only run 1 in the morning?!)

 

[merfox612]

I really hope that when I go I get to experience the full que in FJ, not saying I would like to wait anything near 2 hours but I want to be able to get to see Dumbledore's office and hear the trio speak etc.

You will No one listens to the TM's when they say move it, lots of people just stay and experience everything (me being one of those people haha) while others rush around to get to the ride.

 

[TheDecemberists]

Picture is related.

I just died!

 

[Mr MudFish]

Picture is related.

I just died!

hahaha, weegee you never let me down

is there anyway you can tell you have the handicapped bench on FJ?