Orlando November 2010

Who is this Harry Potter guy? Well whoever he is he's caught both people's imagination and attention that was more than apparent when I went to Universal Studios, Orlando along with tens of thousands of other people during July and August 2010.

 

In the 10 years of visiting Universal Studios, in Orlando, I had never seen it so busy. From the minute you step off the moving walkway, and proceed towards the area where visitors choose to turn right towards Universal Studios or walk straight on towards Islands Of Adventure, it was obvious which of these two great theme parks held the biggest attraction. Islands Of Adventure and that kid in the ridiculous school uniform Harry Potter.

 

But it was though some of the visitors actually thought they where going to school, dressed in full or part Hogwarts uniform, it was surreal to hear then reciting lines and spells from the film, and then there were the children. Typically hyper with excitement at the thought of not only going to Universal Studios, but seeing their icon and hero Harry Potter, many sported small tattoos above there right eye, perhaps they had cut themselves on the round rimmed glasses?

 

Entering Islands Of Adventure, those of us who had arrived well before the official 9AM opening time for guests not staying at one of the resort hotels, were shepherded around to the left, passed the amazing Hulk ride and onwards to Potter Land. It was though nothing else in the park mattered, as visitors ignored the opportunity to ride some of Orlando's best roller coasters and thrill rides without the need to queue.

 

Entering The Jurassic Park area, it become apparent that just getting into the Potter Land, was going to require some serious time, and so at 8.45AM, I began the wait.

 

It was then that Universal Studio's marketing strategy kicked in, as employees began walking the long line of people offering their over priced Express Tickets for sale, and understandably faced with a lengthy wait in the ever increasing heat, they began to sell and sell and sell.

 

So whilst the 'ordinary' queue reduced in length, little did those just arriving know of the other queue for those with the Express Tickets. And resort hotel guests who had also been given priority, and rightly so.

 

Crossing the bridge into this unbelievably popular Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, the visual effect of this mini metropolis was simply amazing. People were walking around mouths open and heads up, so was the visual impact.

 

Complete with 5 individually themed shops, 1 restaurant and 3 very different rides, the best way to describe its size is compact, and the star attraction? Well all of it really there were queues for everything from the shops, to the rides and even the small hand carts used to sell Potter's favourite tipple Butter Beer!

 

Those with small impressionable children prepare for a financial shock; the prices of many items of Potter merchandise are out of this world, and appear to have been made up just like the film!

 

Unfortunately however this was not the only downside to this the busiest theme park in Orlando, no the normally spotless surroundings and facilities had been affected too. The toilets both male and female were quite simply disgusting. Now I know that this is as a result of those who use them, however Universal in the past has managed to maintain these areas very well. Perhaps there cleaning staff were part of the extra staff used to manage the lines outside and within Potter Land, I don't know.

 

For some reason, and I believe it was due to its popularity, the car parking fees at Universal this year were higher than any other major theme park in Orlando. Yes Disney was a whole dollar better value for money.

 

So my advice is this, get there early or don't bother till around 4PM. However due to the sheer number of Express Tickets sold, the remaining ride times were high, as an example the normally 30 minute or so wait time for Dudley Do Right Rip Saw Falls, rocketed to 110 minutes!