Diagon Alley early entry for hotel guests experiences so far?!!!

[PrincessV]

I'm back from a couple days at Cabana Bay and Diagon Alley, so thought I'd share my experiences!

First, the walls at CBR are paper-thin; seems to be NO noise abatement at all. Which made for very poor sleep. Which meant there was no way we were getting up to attempt EE at 6am.

We went to Diagon around 5pm and walked right in - no line or wait. It was busy, but totally manageable. No wait at 5pm to eat at Leaky Cauldron. Short wait for ice cream at Florean Fortescue's. Same thing the next night. I'm giving evening/nighttime touring a big

Both morning and night we had little wait - 15 mins max - for Hogwart's Express.

Gringott's was insane the entire time and they've been shutting down the line at 7pm. We never rode it; totally unwilling to stand in line for more than an hour, so it'll wait for another visit. Wait times seemed to be around 150 mins both evenings.

Other rides had low wait times of 20 mins or less, excepting Despicable Me, which ran at 45-60mins the entire time, and Transformers, which ran about 60 mins most of the day, down to 10 just before closing.

 

[zebsterama]

Staying at HRH from July 23 to July 31 ... here now ... leaving tomorrow.

EE -- has been easy/great to go and ride all of Hogsmead attractions - FJ etc.

Hogwarts express -- we have gone many times -- wait times have been posted in the 10min range -- truth be told, it has never taken more than 20mins to get on --- many experiences have been a walk on.

Did Gringotts on the 26th and 27th --- both times we were in line to get in line --- 5:45am on the 26th ... we rode it twice before 7:18am ... 27th, was in line at 5:25am ... a crazy day at the parks - rode GG once.

I would suggest going early in the am, and having the rest of the day at the parks -- once you get off of Gringotts in the am -- there is almost NO ONE in the shops, Olivanders etc etc.

We did Leaky Cauldron for breakfast today -- walk in, no problem at 9:45am -- was seated right away.

Never had to line up to get into London or DA.

Did have to line up to get into the DA ice-cream shop one night .... for about 10mins. Well worth it -- really loved the Strawberry and Cream, as well as the Butterbeer ice-cream ... great stuff. Wife wasn't too impressed with the PeanutButter and Jelly (would have liked more peanut butter taste).

DA in the evenings -- a must!! It's a magical place .... wouldn't want to wait in line for GG when the sun goes down --- IMO.

Hope that helps!! You won't be disappointed with DA ... for sure!!!!! Our family - not big HP fans (fans but not diehards by any stretch) --- this trip may have changed that.

 

[damo]

So, for those of you who have used Early Admission lately, is it a worthwhile perk or is it useless as some seem to be suggesting but haven't actually been yet?

 

[zebsterama]

So, for those of you who have used Early Admission lately, is it a worthwhile perk or is it useless as some seem to be suggesting but haven't actually been yet?

I would say it's a perk because it's made my IOA HP experience all the better and it provided some great access to DA.

That being said there are two problems with my statement above:

1. My perspective is limited because this was my first trip. Someone who has used EE prior to Cabana Bay and prior to Uni selling EE to other local hotel chains would be better to comment on its current value, once they come back and try EE in its current state.

2. Right now the Gringotts line is a mile long by 7am. As I have seen first hand --- it's not uncommon to see 180min posted wait time as early as 7:25 am. When the shine dies down, with the other hotels on board now, I wonder if both HP areas at IOA and US are that much busier for EE. For example, it's possible that EE is still a perk right now, because Gringotts is sucking traffic from all of the other HP attractions.

I think it's fair to say we'll know more next summer.

For me, I would have been much happier had they:

a) Did alternate EE dates for different hotels.

b) Universal really needs to consider opening up ALL areas/attractions for EE ... not just HP areas. With new hotels on board --- they need to start pulling people in different directions to make EE more valuable.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Cheesehead9]

Excellent trip report and insight Zebsterama. It looks like EPA can still be beneficial, but mostly for HM and people who line up well before EPA opens.

You mentioned DA is a must at night. Do you have any idea what time the lights get turned on relative to sunset? We're going end of August and sunset is only 30 mins before park closing. We love the lights, and are disappointed Uni recently moved up closing time from 9pm to 830.

 

[maclondon]

It's not just hotels - we get 2 EE passes from virgin holidays. we're staying at disney and then a villa.

That said i'm thinking of booking one night in the HRH to get unlimited passes for all the other attractions - i HATE queueing and wouldn't mind a night there - esp if i have to get up at 6am!!

I'm not going until next may so hopefully the madness will be over by then

 

[zebsterama]

Excellent trip report and insight Zebsterama. It looks like EPA can still be beneficial, but mostly for HM and people who line up well before EPA opens.

You mentioned DA is a must at night. Do you have any idea what time the lights get turned on relative to sunset? We're going end of August and sunset is only 30 mins before park closing. We love the lights, and are disappointed Uni recently moved up closing time from 9pm to 830.

If I remember correctly, there is little lightning going on - say from street lamps or other lights used specifically to light the streets. The lightning is primarily ambient light coming from the shops and exhibits. They do light up the stage areas for the musical numbers and the play retelling the story of the three brothers ..... a must IMO.

In short come back a little before dusk.

Maybe I've spent too much time at Disneyworld; why the early closings are beyond my comprehension .......... ???????

 

[pigletto]

We've booked to stay at the HRH for early December. Hoping things have calmed down a bit by then but I am certainly not counting on it. This will be our first two days of vacation so I guess if we have to get up at 4:30 am to be able to get in line at 5:15 it's better to get that part over with at the start of our 10 day trip. We can always head back over to the Hardrock in the afternoon for lunch and a nap.

 

[peaches00]

I remember we stayed at pbh in sept 2010 after Fj opened and was at EPA every morning at 8am. I never waited more than 1/2 an hour and it was def a perk. I cannot imagine waking up at 5. It's not a vacation. If current crowds continue and I get there right at 8 am for EPA and there's a two hour wait...yeah, that's not a perk. It seems like cabana bay is def responsible and I don't understand why no one is admitting it. There was talk they would offset cb with cutting partner hotel but hasn't happened.

 

[bkny]

If I remember correctly, there is little lightning going on - say from street lamps or other lights used specifically to light the streets. The lightning is primarily ambient light coming from the shops and exhibits. They do light up the stage areas for the musical numbers and the play retelling the story of the three brothers ..... a must IMO.

In short come back a little before dusk.

Maybe I've spent too much time at Disneyworld; why the early closings are beyond my comprehension .......... ???????

I am with you on this. The park should be open to at least 10pm.

 

[Go Vols]

I am with you on this. The park should be open to at least 10pm.

I agree...don't understand why they close so early. Although, many nights corporations reserve the parks for events.

 

[imajinable]

Has any1 been thru the single riders queue? Im traveling solo and i was wondering if you still get to walk thru the bank and all of that. I dont want to miss all the cool stuff..

 

[damo]

I remember we stayed at pbh in sept 2010 after Fj opened and was at EPA every morning at 8am. I never waited more than 1/2 an hour and it was def a perk. I cannot imagine waking up at 5. It's not a vacation. If current crowds continue and I get there right at 8 am for EPA and there's a two hour wait...yeah, that's not a perk. It seems like cabana bay is def responsible and I don't understand why no one is admitting it. There was talk they would offset cb with cutting partner hotel but hasn't happened.

FJ has a huge capacity. Gringotts doesn't have nearly that capacity and never will. Rumours are that it is well under 1000/hour right now. Even without Cabana Bay, there would be a long wait. FJ capacity is over 2000/hr.

 

[Cheesehead9]

FJ has a huge capacity. Gringotts doesn't have nearly that capacity and never will. Rumours are that it is well under 1000/hour right now. Even without Cabana Bay, there would be a long wait. FJ capacity is over 2000/hr.

Between breakdowns and only running half the cars, it's true capacity is awful. However, if you're not in the first flock of people to Gringotts, EPA people are seeing waits which are often double that of what is seen at 3pm. EPA waits should not be among the longest of the day. Without CB, I doubt that'd happen.

By the way - has Universal made ANY progress on this ride since media week in June? I haven't seen or heard anything to give us hope it will improve anytime soon.

 

[RMulieri]

Has any1 been thru the single riders queue? Im traveling solo and i was wondering if you still get to walk thru the bank and all of that. I dont want to miss all the cool stuff..

from what I have read, Single riders misses alot of the cool stuff

 

[damo]

Between breakdowns and only running half the cars, it's true capacity is awful. However, if you're not in the first flock of people to Gringotts, EPA people are seeing waits which are often double that of what is seen at 3pm. EPA waits should not be among the longest of the day. Without CB, I doubt that'd happen.

By the way - has Universal made ANY progress on this ride since media week in June? I haven't seen or heard anything to give us hope it will improve anytime soon.

Yes, they are running both sides now. Just not running all vehicles yet.

They're not going to take away early admission from Cabana Bay. Most likely once the heavy crowds disappear, the ride wait will go way down. Just like it always does.

 

[disneywithfive]

We recently stayed at Cabana Bay and never took advantage of early entry so to say that CB is the problem really isn't completely true. There were many people leaving from the hotel when we did. And we did get to ride Gringotts with only a 110 minute wait. My daughter (not a HP fan) expected a ride more like FJ. She said that if I had gotten her up and in line by 6am, she would have been really upset. I, on the other hand, loved it. Even without express, we got to ride everything we wanted to while we were there. Now, we didn't ride multiple times like usual but that was ok too.

 

[Kcross3625]

We stayed at Portofino last night for EE to Studios this morning. Park opened at 9 am so EE was 8am. We grabbed a boat to CityWalk at about 6:30am. They were running a lot of boats, probably one every 2-4 minutes. We hit Studios and was in line behind the turnstiles at 6:45. We were let into the park at 7:25am. We walked to Diagon Alley and hit Gringotts at 7:45am for a 15 min wait. When we came off the ride, the wait time was 90 minutes. Boats started running at the hotel at 6am

Kim

 

[Blue32]

We stayed at Portofino last night for EE to Studios this morning. Park opened at 9 am so EE was 8am. We grabbed a boat to CityWalk at about 6:30am. They were running a lot of boats, probably one every 2-4 minutes. We hit Studios and was in line behind the turnstiles at 6:45. We were let into the park at 7:25am. We walked to Diagon Alley and hit Gringotts at 7:45am for a 15 min wait. When we came off the ride, the wait time was 90 minutes. Boats started running at the hotel at 6am

Kim

Wow! They really start running the boats at 6 with an 8 am EE? Are there a lot of people headed over that early?

 

[macraven]

you'll get guests that take the hotel water taxi to the city walk dock and then go on another hotel water taxi.
quite a few hit the hotels for breakfast.
Island Dining Room opens at 7:00 am.


once the summer season is over, i doubt that the water taxis will still be running at 6:00.