The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hollywood

[Wesker69]

Don't worry about it dude, my source confirmed Feb 8th-11th for employees, and Feb 12th for softs the other day. Even though when I suggested before having it confirmed, it was shot down. -shrugs-

Of course I'm also NOT expecting Potter to be soft open all day...

When Hogwarts Express soft opened in Orlando, it wasn't until almost noon..

Now Transformers in Orlando soft opened later in the day for about the last 2-4 hours before the park closed. It gradually opened earlier each day, to the point where they opened it from park open to close, but you never knew when it would breakdown for whatever reason (mostly due to the VTUs).

We'll see what happens next week though.

 

[raven24]

They've already been letting team members see the land, use the interactive wands, taste the butterbeer, etc. My sister got to do that stuff yesterday.

 

[Ryan]

Some may want to start keeping tabs on Universal Plaza to see if they're testing temp queue construction.

 

[HalfGlass]

I'm sorry, am I understanding that it sounds like it will only be the 12th and 17th? Or is there a chance it will open that Sat-Mon for President's Day?

 

[Ryan]

Very.

 

[HalfGlass]

Very.

Very great chance?

 

[12th Man]

They've already been letting team members see the land, use the interactive wands, taste the butterbeer, etc. My sister got to do that stuff yesterday.

Do you know how she accessed the land? Walter's Gate or is there a way inside the park. Then do you just show your badge? Thanks.

 

[Davidisallright]

Will we be getting different interactive sites than Florida's version of Hogsmeasde?

 

[chris.g]

^ As far as I'm concerned, we'll get (rumored) an additional one or two site but other than that... no. 

 

[WhyDoYouHateFun?]

My wife and I will be at USH all day on Sunday, since neither one of us care  about Superbowl. Unfortunately it looks like softs aren't going to work out in our favor, we can give one last Hurrah before our passes expire on the 11th. We are going to renew them later this year, and hoping options may be a little more friendly towards us fans. We've been going the last three years and still have faith, So anyways......will be watching these boards for all the good news lol.

 

[USHInsider]

lol I saw team members near the kiosks. They were very protective of what was seen. One of them kept on saying kewlgli or something like that. All I heard was something about 1000 tickets in each kiosk and the screen looked crimson red. Tried to get pics but I saw 2 balder guys get flat out denied by a guy waring a red cap too so I just ignored it

 

[Opie]

I've been thinking about the Hogsmeade capacity a little bit. Looking closer:

• Assume Forbidden Journey can process 1,000 riders per hour (I've heard anywhere from 750-2,000). Let's assume there is enough queue room for 150 min wait. That means that conservatively 2,500 people are in line during peak periods.
• Assume Flight of the Hippogriff can process 500 per hour, 90 min queue at peak, so another 750. 
• Hogsmeade standing room: 1,500 (assuming this includes stores and Three Broomsticks)

That suggests you can get almost 5,000 people in Hogsmeade. If they can turn over 2,000 per hour, that means in a fourteen hour day they can pour 31,000 people through there. That doesn't account for those that return, but it makes me wonder how many return tickets they plan to pump out on a busy day! How many machines do they have?

 

[William]

How many machines do they have?

There are 6 ticketing machines. Doesn't seem to me like it'll suffice, but I suppose that's because they only want a certain amount of people in the land at a time anyway.

 

[Jonathan]

There are 6 ticketing machines. Doesn't seem to me like it'll suffice, but I suppose that's because they only want a certain amount of people in the land at a time anyway.

As of now there are 12 machines. 6 on each side.

 

[William]

As of now there are 12 machines. 6 on each side.

Thanks for the correction, didn't know they added more. Do you mean there are now 2 rows of 6 machines lined up back-to-back?

 

[Jonathan]

Thanks for the correction, didn't know they added more. Do you mean there are now 2 rows of 6 machines lined up back-to-back?

There's 6 on one side to the left of Plaza Grill and 6 to the right of Snack Bar at Universal Plaza.

 

[Tyler Crouch]

Tried taking pictures of the team members with the kiosks today and I got some very angry looks. From what I could see you select how many people are in your party, up to ten. Then it will print out your return times. They actually had some internet cable out early this morning by the kiosks, I was thinking they must have been doing some last minute hook-ups. 

 

[Wesker69]

They didn't add more William. There has always been twelve. Here is the pic I shared back in December when I was there for Grinchmas. Look closely at the background & far end, you will see the top pic is looking towards the left (plaza tower side) & the bottom pic is looking towards the right (plaza grill side). The entrance into the Universal Plaza on the Shrek side is between each set of 6

Seeing this pic again reminds me that I need a day off from work so I can go to the park again. Although I still like this pic best because..... well... Dementors..

 

[12th Man]

One of my friends, that works for NBC, was lucky enough to visit Hogsmeade today. SOOOOO JEALOUS!!!

(EDIT: Took the photo down just for safety)

My friend did hear that there will be soft openings next week, so cross your fingers for Monday.

(Notice the cup doesn't say "At Universal Studios Hollywood" but Orlando's cups do)

 

[Tyler Crouch]

At this point I would expect the Orlando cups and merch to lose the Orlando tags so they can make it all interchangeable between parks. Much like how Disney now has a Disney Parks brand.