The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hollywood

[Jonathan]

How many places in a 72 hours window give you a wide range of emotions? They went from confusion to anger to frustrated to amazement. Only one place can give you all those emotions in a three day period. That place is Universal Studios Hollywood.

 

[Byzantinefire]

How many places in a 72 hours window give you a wide range of emotions? They went from confusion to anger to frustrated to amazement. Only one place can give you all those emotions in a three day period. That place is Universal Studios Hollywood.

LOL.

 

[icarusunbound]

Lastly, does anyone know if the exclusive limited edition grand opening merchandise will be around all weekend?  Is there any idea how much they have in stock or how quickly it's depleting?  I'm kinda tempted to get some more if it's still around.

I asked a TM at the cart outside Filch's if it was being sold for just that day or a specific time period and she said they should be selling the merch until it sells out. There didn't seem to be too many people purchasing items when I purchased my pin that afternoon.

 

[eivega]

Cool.  I bought the April 7 dated pin and t-shirt but now I'm kinda tempted to get some of the other items that only said 2016.  Maybe the tote and coin?  I don't remember everything that was available?

 

[TCox91]

Cool.  I bought the April 7 dated pin and t-shirt but now I'm kinda tempted to get some of the other items that only said 2016.  Maybe the tote and coin?  I don't remember everything that was available?

For the April 7th merch, there's the shirt, pin, and mug.  For the 2016 stuff (with Hogwarts on it), there's the shirt, pin, tote, and coin.  And then there's also the limited edition opening day print, which is $199 (edition size of 250 according to a Team Member I spoke with).  Just as a head's up, the April 7th pin is sold out.  Bought a few of them yesterday and went to go buy a couple more at park closing, and all shops were sold out of it (checked Filch's, both Studio Stores, and Feature Presentation- all of them had had it in stock earlier in the day).  Also saw that some stores were sold out of the April 7th shirts in certain sizes (for example, Filch's was out of small and had maybe one medium left at park closing last night).


So if you see something you want, get it immediately!  The TMs in Feature Presentation confirmed that the merch is limited edition and will be sold until it's all gone.

 

[Rideguy70]

I just have to take a quick moment to thank everyone here at the board and the staff of IU and their twitter updates.  Because of all this hard work getting the latest info out there quickly, we were able to be there at the first public soft opening back on February 12.  We have visited well over a dozen times between then and now, and probably have accumulated 50+ rides on FJ.  Thanks for all your help, and glad to be a part of this community!  Looking forward to the next projects (Walking Dead, and Diagon Alley, anyone?).

 

[Opie]

From the videos posted it looks like it was an amazing premiere and opening. Well done! The projections on the castle with the orchestra were stunning and I LOVED the reveal from behind the steam of Hogwarts coming to life, particularly with all the characters appearing. I think this is the future of immersive theme park attractions -- not just the detail in the land itself but particularly the creative involvement of cast members. Disney has made it sound like they plan to take a similar approach with Star Wars Land (they'd better). However, the Harry Potter franchise is perhaps a once in a generation type IP that Universal did well to jump in. That's not to say that there isn't other great stuff out there, but this property is unique suited for this purpose like little else -- just as JK envisioned.


Can I assume there were no other press releases or announcements made this week? If not, was that a surprise to any of you insiders?

 

[k_peek_2000]

Can I assume there were no other press releases or announcements made this week? If not, was that a surprise to any of you insiders?

While I don't consider myself an insider, this was WWoHP's time to shine and nothing else. So it does not surprise me that no announcements were made. 

 

[WelcomeToJurassicPark]

I'm kind of concerned with the crowd levels of this week. Looking at Wait Times online, the longest wait is twenty minutes throughout the park, even Forbidden Journey. 


I was expecting 4 hour waits and more, but 20 minutes is practically nothing, especially for a Saturday. It just seems bizarre. 

 

[Jon Fu]

I'm kind of concerned with the crowd levels of this week. Looking at Wait Times online, the longest wait is twenty minutes throughout the park, even Forbidden Journey. 


I was expecting 4 hour waits and more, but 20 minutes is practically nothing, especially for a Saturday. It just seems bizarre. 

The land is packed for what it's worth, though I'm not sure why wait times are so low.


Rain, perhaps?

 

[k_peek_2000]

The land is packed for what it's worth, though I'm not sure why wait times are so low.


Rain, perhaps?

When people see the line for FJ the most common assumption is that the outdoor portion is the majority of the queue so in the rain people will skip. Same goes for hippogriff, mostly outdoor queue = no go for most peeps.

 

[Rideguy70]

Something else to consider for "low wait times"... the ride is practically designed to get people on very, very quickly. When it's working optimally, it's a continuous stream of people boarding. So theoretically, the line is never supposed to be that long, even with crowds.

The main delays in the line usually come from the guests themselves, typically by taking tons of pictures inside the queue (though certainly understandably so), checking guest sizes/parent swaps, and the occasional breakdown.

 

[eivega]

Yeah, I'm also surprised by the low wait times listed online but it makes me wonder if everyone is stuck in line for Ollivander's or The Three Broomsticks or Honeydukes or any of the shops.  We can't monitor that without people on the ground reporting it.  The weather is probably also a factor for the casual pass holder.  After going practically every weekend before the opening I figured I'd sit this one out for the crowds, but it's going to be mild I may visit again sooner rather than later.  My biggest surprise right now is that the Wait Times isn't offering Timed Tickets, so that really makes me curious how manageable the lines are?

 

[Lori]

I was very dissapointed with how many people camped out. I was thinking there were going to be lots more. There was a whole bunch of barriers they began putting away at like 2 am when people did not come. But in the park the first day there were so many people. The line to get into Honeydukes was wrapped around the building three times. I definitely think that there are many people waiting for the stores that are not being accounted for by the wait times listed.

 

[eivega]

I was debating camping out but not really feeling it.  I kept monitoring the crowds and it never seemed too bad so I decided to stay home and sleep instead.  I went for 4am instead of staying overnight.  I was pleasantly surprised it was still good enough to enjoy a nice view of the opening ceremony and have immediately entry with all the fanfare and confetti. 

 

[Park Man]

So, did anyone stop by today, Saturday? I'd be curious to hear how crowded the first Saturday was since I'll be heading there next Saturday...

 

[chris.g]

^ 10 mins for FJ and FotH according to friends. Olivanders commanded around 25-30 all day.  

 

[Jonathan]

I was at the park today and FJ was at 40 min until around 1:00pm then dropped to 10-15 for the rest of the day. Olivanders was very consistent at 50 min while I was there in the land which was from 11:00am to 4:00pm. Shops were busy and Three Broomsticks was using the outdoor queue. Honeyduke's had the outdoor queue set up as well.

 

[Freak]

I also just got back from the park. There were short waits for EVERYTHING during the evening. FJ and Hippogriff were all walk-ons after seven. It was a great night to go. 


Mph, and the fire alarm went off inside Flitch's at ten. They had everyone walk the other way. 

 

[Ryan]

I was at the park today and FJ was at 40 min until around 1:00pm then dropped to 10-15 for the rest of the day. Olivanders was very consistent at 50 min while I was there in the land which was from 11:00am to 4:00pm. Shops were busy and Three Broomsticks was using the outdoor queue. Honeyduke's had the outdoor queue set up as well.

How rainy was it? It's pouring buckets here.


If the rains were strong, that would be a factor. Also time of year, and quite possibly the local factor and crowd control may just be doing the trick Universal wants.