We went to Hogsmeade when it first opened and there were only 3 rides...there were the 2 coasters and then the Forbidden Journey. At the time, I didn't think I could do FJ, I just wanted to shop and I wanted to do the Olivander's experience. But the wait for the Olivander's experience was 90 minutes, Forbidden Journey was 360 minutes, and just to get into the main gift shop where they sell the wands was 45-60 minutes. The shortest wait was to get into Honeydukes: 15 minutes. There wasn't room to swing a kneazle and we left disappointed, having not gotten to do anything. We went at 9:30 in the morning and couldn't even get into the WWoHP....they had already reached capacity. So they told us to try around 3 or 4 in the afternoon when people started leaving the area. That's what we did, and we were able to get in, but the wait times were just insane. We went into Honeydukes/zonkos, which are attached to eachother, bought a few treats, then my friend and I got in line for the bigger store while our husbands and my kids sat on a bench for an hour and a half to wait for us. Almost an hour later, it was our turn in the shop, but it was SO busy you could hardly walk through, and there was a HUGE crowd around the wall with the wands. All I wanted was a wand, and I couldn't even get up to the wall to see what wands they had. Every time someone would get their wand and step out of the way, there were 3 more jumping into that spot to look, and someone literally jumped up and reached over my head, clobbering me on the way down, to reach a wand that was up higher on the wall. I gave up after about 10 minutes and left empty-handed. But that was when it had only been opened for a month, so I'm betting it's kind of like FOP at AK....now it's been opened for 8 years, it SHOULDN'T be as packed. On the up side, I was so disappointed, my friend's husband contacted Universal and complained, explaining I had come all the way from the Netherlands and hadn't even been able to get to the wands. So they gave me a free one. So now I'm looking forward to actually getting to do Olivander's and look through the shops....I need a new Ravenclaw hoodie as mine is falling apart. I'd LIKE to do Forbidden Journey, but if I can't, I want to at least go through the queue to see the theming. But I'm not particularly fussed about whether I get to go on a coaster or not...I'm really only there for the theming.
