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Diagon Crowd Concerns

Oct 22, 2012
122
7
Okay, so I'm making this thread to announce my concerns/questions for the Grand Opening of Diagon Alley and it's affects on the park after that. I'm sorry if i shouldn't be starting a whole new thread for this but I just feel like I keep asking this question and would like more opinions and also because I think there might be others who have similar questions as I do...
So here goes nothing...
Okay, so I know I keep asking this question so I apologize in advance. I just watched like 3 different videos of the lines on Grand Opening of Phase 1 and I was just overwhelmed. I was planning to go this summer(not on opening day) and now I'm not even sure about that anymore. Like I've said when I previously asked this question, I am not expecting super short lines or anything. What I'm worried about is having to wait in those INSANE lines just to get INSIDE the park itself. I understand there are some people who are willing to endure that type of wait but as a person who plans on going with family on a vacation I know anything like that is out of the question. So I'm pretty much stressing on what to do now because the people I plan on going with are now asking me when they should take off work to go and Uni hasn't even released an Opening Date. So the way I see this all going down is in two ways(correct me if I'm wrong): 1. DA opens one weekend in mid-June. General public isn't too aware of it so crowds won't be as insane as anticipated. 2. Crowds are insane and there isn't even a point in going so August is now a consideration for traveling to Uni. Crowds are much calmer as kids go back to school. Only problem is that I'd have to wait until the end of Summer to go and I have been waiting for this since we first saw it going vertical! I probably sound dumb and and inconsiderate but at this point I just need to make a decision. What do you guys think I should do? Do you think the public is aware of this project? Will the Monday after opening be a good day to go or should I wait until August...or even September? I know some of you might even suggest going three years from now but I really would just like to go to this during this summer. Help?! Tips?! ANYTHING?!
 
I went the November after Phase 1 openend and had no probably seeing the area and getting on the ride in the morning. By 2 or 3 though it was crazy busy. If you are gonna go anytime this summer, go just after school starts again. That's usually a pretty safe bet. October used to be a good month, but HHN ruined all that. Of course if you go on a weekday you'll be in much better shape. If advise not to go opening weekend though. Trust me...there are a lot of people that know and their will be a definite media blitz before the grand opening particularly for locals.
 
I'm no expert but here's what I would expect over the summer.

-Late May/early June, soft openings will be the best opportunity to experience the land with reasonable wait times.
-Mid June, the land officially opens to massive opening day/week crowds, crowd control creates a waiting period to enter Diagon. Expect to wait hours before seeing even a queue for a ride.
-All summer crowds create a wait to enter the land, 3-4 hour wait for the new rides, and lines to enter most shops and eateries.
-September, Orlando traffic dissipates leaving relatively reasonable (Still 2 hour) waits for the rides.

Just my uneducated expectations.
 
First off, the insane lines to just get into the park will only be opening week. After that getting into the park won't be an issue, but getting into the land will still be an issue. They will do crowd control with return tickets making it easier. Lines will be pretty long for every ride within HP and also for major E-tickets like transformers. I would suggest late August or September. I think you are really stressing about this because you are seeing opening day stuff and opening day did not happen every day in phase 1.
 
I was @ Grand opening they let us in @ 5:30 AM to sit in front of JPRA.till 9:30 or 10:00 when it opened was one of the first 1000 or so in rode FJ twice before line got too long.checked everything out by 12:00 and went back to hotel.
 
@Hedwig201 I understand you are very excited to get there but holding off after the crowded summer season (if you have that possibility) will give you a much better experience with less waiting time and more fun time to enjoy the new expansion.
If you go during soft opening there is a big chance you won't be able to ride the rides if technical difficulties occur.
Universal learned it's lessons during fase 1 and started to hand out return tickets making it able for you to relax in the park to enter at a predetermined time but expect it inside to be insanely busy.
I myself go in December to Orlando and expect to go to Universal after the first week in January. There are no waiting times then and the weather is much more enjoyable. The team members are routinely and rides had their first tweaks. I can brows the shops with room to breath and soak in every inch of this expansion without killing someone in my scootmobile.
 
If I were you, I would go after labor day in September as that is when most kids go back to school and it is before the HHN crowds come in. It is also close enough to the summer that you won't have to wait too long.
 
With all this interest for Diagon Alley, what do you all think wait times will be for everything else?
I have a power pass so USF is blocked out over the summer, but hopefully IOA won't get too crazy.
 
With all this interest for Diagon Alley, what do you all think wait times will be for everything else?
I have a power pass so USF is blocked out over the summer, but hopefully IOA won't get too crazy.

I think it will be almost equally crowded in IOA, as many guests haven't experience Hogsmeade yet.
 
We went the third week of August the year Phase 1 opened and were able to get in no problem. There was a day or two that had lines back to JP just to get into Hogsmeade and those were the days we didn't go in, we just did the rest of the park.
 
I can understand concern, and its valid.

The only way to give yourself a better chance, and I'm not sure, is if UO is giving the early entry to Diagon for on site hotel guests. If thats the case, go anytime in the summer, just book on site and you should be good to go.
 
I AM an expert on this, having worked opening day of phase 1, and every single busy season since, and I was there for the insane crowds that first summer.

We are definitely more prepared for phase 2 than we were for phase 1, because we absolutely did not expect those kinds of crowds, and flew by the seat of our pants the first year or so. Do I expect it to be terribly crowded this summer? Yes. Will opening day have lines lined up through CityWalk, just waiting to get in the park? Probably, who knows, we are expecting it. In summer of 2010, people sometimes waited longer to get in the stores than they did to get on the rides, or into the land. That would not surprise me at all for Diagon Alley.

My suggestion is the same as everyone else's-wait until mid- to late-August, or September, to visit. The crowds died down on phase 1 by mid-August, as the crowds do every summer no matter what, because the kids go back to school. After Labor Day, about the only people around are locals and folks with no kids, who can vacation whenever they want.
 
As I don't think it will be bad as Phase I..I do think it will be pretty bad this summer..but strategically you can still make the best of it...just don't expect Potter to has reasonable waits for a while...Phase I seems to have JUST settled and it has been many years..I would imagine after about 3 or so the crowds will thin out in many areas of the park..or when the summer rain storm hits
 
I was @ Grand opening they let us in @ 5:30 AM to sit in front of JPRA.till 9:30 or 10:00 when it opened was one of the first 1000 or so in rode FJ twice before line got too long.checked everything out by 12:00 and went back to hotel.

Same here! My brother and I got in line at 5:30, right around JP like you (probably a bit behind you since I didn't get in til 11:00AM). We went on everything (DC twice) and went to every shop including Ollivanders. We left the land at around 5:00 PM and left the park at 6:00. I plan to get there even earlier this time. If I can play it like Phase I grand opening, it should be just fine if we get there early enough.
 
You can go at anytime honestly....just save Diagon/Hogsmeade for last...the crowds really falter after 7-8PM. And I don't know if they will do it for Diagon, but when I went to HP Phase 1 opening week, Hogsmeade stayed open a few hours later than the rest of IOA (just FJ, all shops and Butterbeer cart), so that everyone was sure to see it who came those days.

I imagine Diagon and Gringotts will be open later as the rest of the Studios close up.
 
Same here! My brother and I got in line at 5:30, right around JP like you (probably a bit behind you since I didn't get in til 11:00AM). We went on everything (DC twice) and went to every shop including Ollivanders. We left the land at around 5:00 PM and left the park at 6:00. I plan to get there even earlier this time. If I can play it like Phase I grand opening, it should be just fine if we get there early enough.

When everyone stood up and they let the opening up people in we ended up in front of Discovery Center .
My son and I went in Discovery Center (to use restroom) and took elevator down and exited out back.
We were in the first group in after the opening ceremonies.

My name is Kevin and I am a line jumper.
 
^ That's awesome. I don't know how you guys waited in line that long. I watched it on TV and went a few weeks later. Hogsmeade is awesome but Diagon looks like it's going to blow it out of the water. Comcast has been good to Universal.
 
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