I thought this would be a good thread to have for guests visiting over this busy Summer period. I have family travelling from the UK on Friday and, as the resident Theme Park (Cali based) member, they are wanting some help.
They are planning to visit on Saturday - as well as various times during the rest of their 3 week vacation - and with a favourable time difference were planning to head there at around 6:30/7am for opening at 8am. Does this sound like a plausible time to arrive? Their plan is to ride Gringotts on Saturday, followed by Hogwarts Express and general wanderings in the weeks that follow. Does anyone have any experiences over the last few days - or from phase one - with any advice?
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Some advice regarding Gringott's: Always follow the direction of Universal operations personnel as you evacuate the ride after it breaks down.
Seriously, does anyone remember the problems they had with Jaws? That plot of land is cursed!
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Diagon Alley is like playing the lottery at this point. If you hit a "hot streak" when Gringotts is running well for a few hours, without breaking down, you'll have reasonable wait times. All you can do for visiting is plan to arrive early enough to be among the first through the gates in the morning (I'd say be at the parking garage by 7am for an 8am open), then go directly to Diagon Alley. Go to Gringotts first then, as they say, you takes your chances.
There's no advantage to waiting until later in the day to visit, at this point, as crowds are not diminishing and many later arrivals aren't able to get on Gringotts.
Besides Gringotts, this is all pretty much smooth sailing. Visit the shops and restaurants and shows at your leisure before exiting DA to ride the Hogwarts Express to IoA. Wait times for other elements at Diagon Alley seem to range from walk-on to no more than 30 minutes at worst, based on reports from the past two days. Hogwarts Express times have been under an hour.