Harry Potter madness to return with the opening of Diagon Alley?
Remember June 2010? Remember the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opening?
It was utter mayhem and that madness is about to return to Universal Orlando as Diagon Alley is about to open.
Press invites for a preview of the Diagon Alley expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter have been sent out and the event is set to take place over four days, June 17-20, 2014.
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily indicate an official opening date as Universal is declining to divulge any information at this time of writing. They are, in fact, calling this press event a preview.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter officially opened on 18th June 2010 to absolute chaos as guests lined up outside the theme park for hours to get a first glimpse of the newly created area. We don’t expect it to be any different this time and if you are planning to be in Orlando during this time, our advice would be to give Universal a wide berth. If your idea of spending vacation time is in huge lines waiting to get a short ride on the latest attraction, then have at it, but for mere mortals, who enjoy relaxing and having some quality time together, you may just want to take up one of the many other options our area has to offer.
Make no mistake, when the Wizarding World opened it was utter misery for thousands of people. Hot Summer weather beating down as crowds lined up all over Universal Orlando just to get into the park. Then once they had achieved that, it was still six or seven hours waiting time just to get a glimpse of the new area.
Take our advice and wait. Plan your trip to see the Hogwarts Express and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts for some other time when the lines will be easier to manage. Yes, we understand the emotion of actually being able to say you were there on the very first day, but seriously, you can still get the same (or even a better) experience by saving it for another day.
Our earlier visits to Universal this year have shown that Diagon Alley is going to be another superb addition to Orlando’s theme parks and the attention to detail that has been given to the new area is incredible. If you take our advice and go at another time, you’ll be able to take it all in in a far more relaxed manner. If you do go and are fortunate enough to get anywhere near the new area, it’s highly likely that in all the chaos and mayhem that goes on at opening day that you’ll miss a whole lot of the experience. Theme park admission is expensive these days and it simply makes more sense to get the most out of your day.
We’re all excited to see the new area of Universal Orlando but remember, it’s highly likely to be here for quite a few years!
