Official Opening Date for Diagon Alley

[DizneyFreak2002]

Still not running at full capacity, but they have gotten it up to 5 cars now... 240 minute wait time this afternoon dropped to 120 once they got another car on the tracks... This thing is a people eater and wait times will continue to diminish as they get the other cars synched correctly...

[pixiesmimi]

We got there before park opening Saturday morning. They opened the park about 10 minutes early and the crowd wasn't that bad. It was about a 2 mile sprint to the line for Diagon Alley. We waited in this line that was constantly moving about 15 minutes. It was in the shade and they had big fans blowing which was nice. We got right into Diagon Alley and Gringot's. Whoa! The line after getting in was unreal! But it was covered and fans blowing. We were in this line for about an hour and a half. I heard that the people that came after us and were standing out in the sun before getting to the covered area had a 4 hour wait. Once you were inside it was about another hour wait but part of that was because something broke down on the ride and we had to stand/sit on the lift for about 20 min. They waited until we were inside Gringot's to have those of us that needed lockers leave the line and go to the lockers. We had to have tickets to get out and back in and had to fight our way around the other line to get back in and find our other family. I almost missed the main part of the inside scenery because the line was moving along. Why would they not just have you go to the lockers first? I guess because of the long wait. They kept saying at the front "lockers later". But this was very disruptive. I just lucked out and was able to meet DH just before we passed the "bookkeepers"/tellers. We enjoyed the ride! Total time was about 3 hours. We had a short wait for the Hogswort train to the other side and about a 55 minutes wait to the Forbidden Journey. All in all not a bad morning. We saw and rode everything on both Harry Potter areas in about 5 hours.

[pixiesmimi]

I was very disappointed that most of the "shops" in Diagon Alley were faux fronts that were interactive wand places. I had hoped to get to go into a lot of the shops. The Leaky Cauldron is a good place to eat. Bangers and Mash and Cottage Pie was very good!

I also have to say Disney just does it better on all fronts.

[cer]

All in all not a bad morning. We saw and rode everything on both Harry Potter areas in about 5 hours.

So glad that you got to do everything you wanted to. I thought about you this weekend. Did you enjoy the train?

[joonyer]

I was very disappointed that most of the "shops" in Diagon Alley were faux fronts that were interactive wand places. I had hoped to get to go into a lot of the shops. . . . . .

I also have to say Disney just does it better on all fronts.

You mean like all the shops with faux fronts on Main Street USA, that open into the same big souvenir store?

[pixiesmimi]

So glad that you got to do everything you wanted to. I thought about you this weekend. Did you enjoy the train?

Loved the train! I wanted to ride it both ways but we didn't get to. Loved when the dementers came aboard.

[pixiesmimi]

You mean like all the shops with faux fronts on Main Street USA, that open into the same big souvenir store?

No, there was no main souvenir store. Most of the buildings are faux fronts with window displays that are interactive with the wands if you buy an interactive one. The special show where the wand selects a wizard was cool! If you buy an interactive wand (no matter where in the park) they are only interactive in Diagon Alley. The displays in the windows do different things. This is cool but it would be nice to get to go into some of the little shops like in the movie. Butter Beer is good though, especially the frozen one.

[MizMissy]

We enjoyed the ride! Total time was about 3 hours.

Can you describe the ride in more detail? Was it like the Forbidden Journey ride or Spiderman/Transformers? Or does it feel more like a coaster?

[DizneyFreak2002]

In other Potter news, Wizarding World opened in Japan... Record breaking attendance for the Universal park on opening day...

[pixiesmimi]

Can you describe the ride in more detail? Was it like the Forbidden Journey ride or Spiderman/Transformers? Or does it feel more like a coaster?

I don't want to put too much on here about it because it would be a spoiler for those who haven't ridden. It is a lot like the Forbidden Journey but the Forbidden Journey is a lot more intense. My DH said he liked Forbidden Journey better. Of course he flies and is used to simulators so it was fun to him. There is a lot of twisting, turning, spinning around and some drops but it isn't near as rough as Forbidden Journey. To me, all the rides in Universal except the coasters are a lot alike. I don't usually ride these kind of rides and took my Dramamine but was pleasantly surprised that Gringot's wasn't that bad. The line was long and the queue was cool inside but the delays due to problems with the ride need to be addressed. I guess having to handle as many people as they have had since the opening has something to do with the ride breaking down. Maybe that will settle down once the lines get shorter.

[DizneyFreak2002]

In just one month, Hogwarts Express has passed the one million rider mark... holy smokes!

[pixiesmimi]

I think the train was my favorite part of the whole thing!