People Waiting at WDW for Harry Potter?!

[peter11435]

Do you have receipts for that?

not my money...

 

[marypoppins68]

Well, to get back to the original question. I was on a bus at Fort Wilderness Monday night and this family behind us was talking about how they had visited "Harry Potter land" that day and how neat everything was. They really liked it and talked about all the shops and the different stuff you could buy. Another family asked them if it was expensive and the woman said it was, but, "this is Disney so what are you gonna do?" :hammer: So, after enjoying it and raving about it, this woman was going around telling people Harry Potter was at Disney World. I felt sad for Universal at that moment. :lol:

 

[RobGraves]

not my money...

then how can you argue that you are exactly right. things go over budget and budgets change.

 

[Testtrack321]

As someone who knows several people who were working there... those reports are not true. secondly the wait did die down to 10 hours by about noon... mind you storms and heat caused some to leave but it stayed pretty steady for most of the day and there was still a decent line until close. Yes, the majority of the wait was to get into the potter section, it has a capacity and once reached people cannot come in till others leave, this helps maintain a good guest experience. Try to downplay it all you want... name one time you have seen a line like that at disney... name just one... i dare you. ill give you 20 years to work with

http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=35993&start=1690

"The line started at the Jurassic Park River Adventure entrance. The line moved pretty good, I think I waited about 20 minutes and we were in. While waiting, I talked to people in the line and all had tried to get in all day, with no luck. One lady was at the parking garage at 5:30 this morning, Another family had waited about 3 hours to get into the land but gave up. I was glad we all got in. Rode Forbidden Journey tonight one time. The single riders line was closed as of 9:30, so I stuck it out and waited the 90 minute wait."

Call me sheeple, or look at my posts which have been "wow this is amazing but they're going to have some problems with advertising incorrectly and capacity", it's up to you. But to tell me guests waited 16 hours to get into a land, when the park isn't open for 16 hours, that's ________________.

Now, if we're talking about 530am till when they got in, we're looking at something more reasonable. but that's not your original claim.

 

[RobGraves]

http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=35993&start=1690

"The line started at the Jurassic Park River Adventure entrance. The line moved pretty good, I think I waited about 20 minutes and we were in. While waiting, I talked to people in the line and all had tried to get in all day, with no luck. One lady was at the parking garage at 5:30 this morning, Another family had waited about 3 hours to get into the land but gave up. I was glad we all got in. Rode Forbidden Journey tonight one time. The single riders line was closed as of 9:30, so I stuck it out and waited the 90 minute wait."

Call me sheeple, or look at my posts which have been "wow this is amazing but they're going to have some problems with advertising incorrectly and capacity", it's up to you. But to tell me guests waited 16 hours to get into a land, when the park isn't open for 16 hours, that's ________________.

Now, if we're talking about 530am till when they got in, we're looking at something more reasonable. but that's not your original claim.

as i said, some people left due to storms and heat etc....

I never said that people waited 16hours, i said the line was 16hours long.... if people leave that line, it gets shorter.

A friend of mine who braved the crowd got there at 4am, waited.. was the one who took the pic of being in line in marvel... he waited 7.5 hours... people who got there later obviously waited longer.

 

[mrbghd]

then how can you argue that you are exactly right. things go over budget and budgets change.

How can you question an argument someone makes. All you have done in this thread is make statements on how this is a game changer and the like. When asked for how you can be so sure or to prove your statements with facts and reason you do not. My advice to you is to go get in a 16 hour line somewhere.

 

[Testtrack321]

as i said, some people left due to storms and heat etc....

I never said that people waited 16hours, i said the line was 16hours long.... if people leave that line, it gets shorter.

If the park isn't open 16 hours then you cannot have a 16 hour line. If that's correct then I've had a 10 year wait for Test Track once when we were ushered out and given passes to come back later.

 

[RobGraves]

If the park isn't open 16 hours then you cannot have a 16 hour line. If that's correct then I've had a 10 year wait for Test Track once when we were ushered out and given passes to come back later.

Apparently youve never had to stay at work 2.5 hours past park close because there was still a 2.5 hour line at close.... Guess what... I have.

Hey, by your logic they would never have opened the park to start letting people line up through the park 3 hours early like they did on Fri either... and the should have cut everything off at closing and said "sorry you arent getting in..."

you realize that isnt how Uni or Disney operates... right?

 

[Duckberg]

We're going down next week and I would have loved to check this out, and I have never read one of the books or seen one of the movies. But lines like that make it much easier for me to stay on Disney property. I used to have an annual pass to UO but now haven't been back for almost 8 years. Just nothing interesting enough to get me to leave Disney!

Have a GOOD trip to WDW! Like yourself I've read none of the books & only seen a few minutes of one of the movies. Just couldn't handle massive crowds or mega wait times for ANY kind of attraction. Duckberg

 

[peter11435]

then how can you argue that you are exactly right. things go over budget and budgets change.

I didn't argue anything. I simply stated something... there is a difference. I am well aware that budgets change and are often exceeded but that is irrelevent in this matter. I simple stated that the $700 million figure posted was incorrect and that the $200 million figure was for the entire project.

 

[RobGraves]

I didn't argue anything. I simply stated something... there is a difference. I am well aware that budgets change and are often exceeded but that is irrelevent in this matter. I simple stated that the $700 million figure posted was incorrect and that the $200 million figure was for the entire project.

It finished closer to 5

 

[MiklCraw4d]

You guys are all zombies.. if it was Disney you would be saying how awesome it is...

Delude yourself all you want, but this will have an impact.

Also when those people got to the end of those lines... they were spending a LOT of money at the bars restraunts and shops in Hogsmeade. Ive heard very clearly that UO made more money this weekend than they typically do this whole month...

This will be a major game changer here, and it will continue to draw crowds.. there are already expansion and addition plans to keep it fresh through the next few years.

I wish I could give this post an award. You said it perfectly.

Disney WISHES they had this problem. I can't even conceive that people can delude themselves that having tens of thousands of people willing to wait 10 hours in the burning sun to get into a new attraction is anything but good for Universal.

The most Universal could do in this case was to provide a clearly defined, organized line, which is exactly what they did. If people wait to wait, that's up to them. For the most part, is seems that people were content to do just that. I'm sure that the number of people in that line far exceeded that park's average daily attendance.

Most importantly, this is bringing attention to IOA and Uni Orlando, and any publicity will start to help distinguish the park from Disney in the uninformed public's mindset.

I just can't believe that anyone would try and paint this as some sort of failure or disappointment on Universal's part. I'm as die-hard a Disney fan as can be, but I guarantee you the Uni execs are going to be dancing around the office on Monday.

When did WDW last add something that people were willing to wait this long to ride?

 

[MiklCraw4d]

Im not one to call "photoshop" when I see an unbelievable picture, but come on... I would have had to seen this with my own eyes to believe that CBS would have run this. Nothing against danlb_2000 nor am I insinuating that you did this, but I just cant believe this one is legit.

I took the screencap myself. It's real.

 

[MiklCraw4d]

While they may have spent that on the MS ride, overall the MS ride is somewhat of a failure. The reason I say this is because the vast majority of people don't or can't ride it, they've had readjust the ride so others could ride and if you look at the ride now, there is rarely any sort of heavy wait time like Testtrack or Soarin. It's not the ride Disney anticipated it being at all, so while they spent all that money, the question comes to mind was that money well spent?

Exactly. I remember a few years ago when the Fastpass machines at other attractions were giving out free "bonus" FPs for M:S...

 

[misterID]

Yeah, I don't see UNI/IOA ever topping Disney in numbers, but that's not really the point of how cool this is and how it could effect Disney.

I'll admit that I want UNI to succeed. I really, really, want this to inspire TDO to take WDI off their leashes and make something truly fantastic.

 

[Captain Chaos]

I can give you one way to skewer the numbers and wait time.. No Express Pass option for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey... Kind of forces people to wait in one line, causing want times to be somewhat exaggerated, doesn't it?

Not saying this is the case the first day, the pictures speak for themselves... But, to say WOW WHEN DID DISNEY CREATE SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE STOOD IN LONE FOR 4 HOURS WAITING FOR? Is not a good argument when people can't even skip the queue like in some of the biggest and most popular Disney rides... And, if I am not mistaken, wasn't wait times for Toy Story Midway Mania in excess of 3 or 4 hours the first few months of being open???

 

[JohnLocke]

I can give you one way to skewer the numbers and wait time.. No Express Pass option for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey... Kind of forces people to wait in one line, causing want times to be somewhat exaggerated, doesn't it?

Not saying this is the case the first day, the pictures speak for themselves... But, to say WOW WHEN DID DISNEY CREATE SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE STOOD IN LONE FOR 4 HOURS WAITING FOR? Is not a good argument when people can't even skip the queue like in some of the biggest and most popular Disney rides... And, if I am not mistaken, wasn't wait times for Toy Story Midway Mania in excess of 3 or 4 hours the first few months of being open???

Toy Story Midway Mania and other Disney rides have had over 4 hour wait times at some point, but I don't think any has had people waiting outside the park and stretching pretty far away from the park gates.

 

[unkadug]

The BBC got it wrong too!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10359859.stm

Thousands flock to opening of Harry Potter theme park

Thousands queued for the opening of the Harry Potter theme park, where they were greeted by the films' stars, including Daniel Radcliffe.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at the Universal Orlando Resort in Florida on Friday.

Universal Orlando spokesman Tom Schroder said 5,000 people were waiting to get in before the park opened.

Radcliffe said the park, based on JK Rowling's hugely successful novels, was the "next part of the Potter legacy".

Aerial photos showed thousands of people waiting to enter the park for the first time. On Twitter and other forums, they joked that the park had become "Harry Potter and the Endless Line".

The 20-acre site includes rides, shops and reproductions of the fictitious village of Hogsmeade, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the Hogwarts Express train.

"What Universal Orlando has done with Harry Potter is really, really fantastic," said Radcliffe, who plays the schoolboy wizard, at the opening ceremony.

"We're all kind of very grateful that the next part of the Harry Potter legacy has been so well done and so well made."

Radcliffe was joined at the opening by fellow Potter actors Rupert Grint (who plays Ron Weasley), Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore), Warwick Davis (Filius Flitwick), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) and James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley).

The park has two roller coasters and a ride which takes guests on a flight through Harry's life, including encounters with Dementors and a dragon and projections of characters from the film.

Bill Davis, president of Universal Orlando Resort, said: "We have brought to life a cultural phenomenon that has captured the hearts and minds of millions of people around the world."

 

[Captain Chaos]

Toy Story Midway Mania and other Disney rides have had over 4 hour wait times at some point, but I don't think any has had people waiting outside the park and stretching pretty far away from the park gates.

Maybe not, but it cannot be argued that Disney has never created rides that didn't have long wait times.. Nonetheless, 5,000 people on opening day, I guess is a good nimber for a park that gets that amount in a day anyway... :lol:

 

[Captain Chaos]

The BBC got it wrong too!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10359859.stm

This is going to be a problem with uninformed guests, I predict right now... There have been several people I work with who have asked me, "Hey, did you hear about the Harry Potter theme park Disney is opening???" I ask them to tell me about it... And not one person even describes what the LAND in UNIVERSAL even consists of...