Potter Crowds after Grand Opening?

[HalfGlass]

I was there the day of the grand opening, but how were the days that followed in comparison? I remember the line just to get into the area was about 8 hours that day, but I'm curious had you gone the following day if it would have been as bad?

Also, do you predict Diagon Alley will be as crowded this go around?

I think it will definitely be packed on opening day, but not like WWoHP since that was pretty much revolutionary for "Potter-ites" at the time. I knew many people who had never been to Universal go for the first time in 2010 because of WWoHP. I'm not sure it'll draw quite the same opening crowds, though I do think all of the expansions to the parks in the long run will show much greater attendance.

Thoughts? :wave:

 

[Felipe]

I don't know that it'll be less crowded, since there might also be a huge group of people who just waited for this one to open before they came over. Also Universal just keep growing and growing in popularity, which is incredible and awesome! Though many locals (and maybe even some tourists) will be staying far away knowing what Phase 1 opening looked like, so who knows? I guess we gotta wait and see! Myself? I'm definitely gonna try to go during soft openings and avoid the opening insanity... but I might just go crazy and try to brave it, just for the hell of it :shrug: ... but most likely not

One thing's for sure: Uni now knows what they're dealing with now (I think they WAY underestimated the hugeness of Potter for Phase 1) and they probably learned their lesson, so things should go smoother than back in 2010

 

[HalfGlass]

Hmmm it will be interesting to see how they compensate this go around. I remember the line last time that started in Seuss Landing was very messy.

 

[ralphoutloud]

Easy solution to this. Go as late in the day as possible, I did this a couple days after Phase 1 opened while staying on-site, they kept the HP section open (minus Three Broomsticks, but Butterbeer and Hog's Head and all shops were still open, Unicorn and Dragon Challenge also closed but FJ remained open the whole time) until almost 1AM like every night I was there, cooler temps, less crowds and it'll look better at night anyway.

 

[Disneyhead]

I am very curious as to how the popularity of this is going to play out. Will it be more or less popular than phase 1? Will we see the massive crowd that we saw for the Grand Opening of Phase 1 or will it come in waves after the Grand Opening? There doesn't seem to be quite as much hype and anticipation this time around.

Al I can say is I'm pretty darned excited to see what UniCreative has in store for us!

 

[Shadow Carelli]

But do as many people know about it as they did this time of year when phase 1 was opening??? Whenever I pass that construction wall, I still hear people say:
"I wonder what they're building there?"
"Oh they have JAWS, Jurassic Park, TRANSFORMERS, and Back to the Future posters up, so they must be building more rides for those movies..."
"Oh... That's stupid... Those movies are SO old..."
Then I can't take it any longer and have to tell them that those posters are just for the augmented reality app and that what they're really building is Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express train to travel there to Hogsmeade.
"Oh..." Then they walk away unimpressed.

I think it's because they started marketing extremely early last time, and now there are really no commercials besides the 2 spots they released earlier which don't give much away...

 

[rhino4evr]

I'm putting money on "insane" crowds. Although it may be better orgnazied this time.

 

[Skipper Justin]

I remember waiting all the way at Seuss the first time I went. 2 hour wait just to get into Hogsmeade.

 

[HalfGlass]

I remember waiting all the way at Seuss the first time I went. 2 hour wait just to get into Hogsmeade.

Was that on opening day or another day?

 

[Skipper Justin]

I believe three weeks after opening.

 

[HalfGlass]

I believe three weeks after opening.

WOW! That's crazy. I thought that line only existed on opening day, or at least how long it was.

 

[TylerDurden]

WOW! That's crazy. I thought that line only existed on opening day, or at least how long it was.

2 hours is actually lucky. Last Christmas (two and a half years after opening) it sometimes took 2 and a half hours to get into Hogsmeade.

 

[HalfGlass]

2 hours is actually lucky. Last Christmas (two and a half years after opening) it sometimes took 2 and a half hours to get into Hogsmeade.

That's actually more believable to me solely because of the Xmas to New Years craziness....but still that says a lot about the marketability of HP. Love that Uni is getting the love it deserves!

 

[darkridelover]

I'm gonna go with crazy busy! We're gonna have huge announcements around the Harry Potter celebration in a couple weeks which will be followed closely by Harry Potter fans even if they're not in Orlando. Then my guess is there will be a Commercial on the Superbowl that will be the start of the main marketing push. With Today show spots, Ellen Segments, and any other NBC network or cable show that they can get to cover it. I'm sure the goal will be to drown out any Seven Dwarfs announcements and to tamp down Festival of Fantasy parade excitement.

 

[GAcoaster]

This time they have the experience of the previous opening to go by, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them setup a HUGE queue area at the Fear Factor stadium just to handle the crowd.

 

[BamaToTheBone]

I'm going in August, and I'm going to use the opening of Diagon Alley to explore and enjoy Hogsmeade a bit more. Crowds should be less there than usual with everyone flocking to Diagon. But that's just me. I went the week between Christmas and New Years in 2010 and it was absolutely insane. They actually had to shut the doors of the parks around 2:00 for three straight days, which wasn't happening with any Universal parks at the time. I just don't see Diagon being quite that crazy.

 

[HalfGlass]

I'm going in August, and I'm going to use the opening of Diagon Alley to explore and enjoy Hogsmeade a bit more. Crowds should be less there than usual with everyone flocking to Diagon. But that's just me. I went the week between Christmas and New Years in 2010 and it was absolutely insane. They actually had to shut the doors of the parks around 2:00 for three straight days, which wasn't happening with any Universal parks at the time. I just don't see Diagon being quite that crazy.

I agree. I really feel like the crowds will be more progressive over the next couple of years rather than a bombardment during the first year it is opened. Unless Uni has a crazy marketing plan in place.

The thing is that, as someone else mentioned, people knew about WWoHP for a couple of years prior to opening. It was almost marketed as its own "theme park". In fact, I remember many people who had no knowledge of Universal calling it just that, and despite loving what they had, ended up being disappointed it wasn't a full day attraction. Many of my friends waited to go to Florida for a year or two just to hold out for the grand opening.

 

[ReelJustice]

SeaWorld doesn't think that Diagon Alley will have the same impact as Phase 1. lol.
http://t.co/ENizzcU7kR

 

[Disneyhead]

I agree that I don't believe that it's going to be as insanely popular as Phase 1. But I do think it's going to be extremely popular.

 

[rhino4evr]

it will be insanely popular, will it be as large of an increase in Merchandise and attendance? Probably not. That's doesn't mean they won't sell a crap load of merchandise and see record crowds. I just think the percentage increase overall will not be as staggering. It will increase attendance and merchandise though, no doubt.