An Animal Kingdom State of Being with Cam and Fam COMPLETED 9/18 About This Page:

[mommapants]

Great update, I don't know how you manage with those crowds - insane!

[shnewell]

Whoa, that is quite a crowd! I have already tried to start preparing my family for how crowded it's going to be near Christmas. I think if we go into with our expectations in the right place, we'll be able to handle it better!

Love all of your wonderful photos and I hope to be able to check out some of the shops while we're there (if I can get those in our group with Y chromosomes to slow down long enough!).

[Nick and Ryans Mom]

I am loving your trip report - as I always do!!!

That parent swap setup sounds great.

[scrappyjae]

Dang those were some serious crowds. Reminds me of the crowds in the MK after the Christmas Parade filming ends...just a mess. Your pictures are awesome though. I think if I go there, definately will not be the Summer and a school day to boot. Hopefully then I would be able to explore and appreciate it more.

[islandgirl]

Great update! The crowds look crazy!

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by Missy71

Just got caught up. Loving the TR so far. I so want to go to HP, but need to wait awhile until DD gets a little taller. But she asks how long til we can go?

Waiting until she's tall enough to ride will make your DD much happier.

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

Looking at your pictures is getting me so excited to see WWoHP some day! I also love that some of your pictures capture you, Luke, or Stefanie i n the shop windows!

I noticed that in several of the shop windows, too!

Originally Posted by Pixar Pixie

I just had to chime in here, I am the same way! My DH has seen tons of movies and remembers lines and scenes from all of them. I, on the other hand, could tell you very little about a movie I saw a week ago. And if I saw it a year ago, I could probably watch it again and not even know I had seen it before, ha!

You are exactly the same as Luke! He thinks I'm too funny when I see just a few seconds and say, "We've already seen this."

Originally Posted by emilyandlogansmom

120 minutes?!?! I don't know that I'm a big enough fan of ANYTHING to wait in line that long!

Enjoying your TR and all the pictures! Can't wait for more!

That is why we did NOT get right into line. 2 Hours is a ridiculous wait!

Originally Posted by mcc0313

The pictures are great, I really love what they did with the theming, it looks like you are really there...but those crowds, can't believe the wait time at noon. Glad you were able to ride the ride early.

Staying a US resort and getting in an hour early made all the difference in what we were able to get done.

Originally Posted by Wolfy6688

I love tomato soup! I'm curious to see where you got it.

Those crowds are scary, I wouldn't wait 2 hours for a ride!

I think we've waited an hour for a ride, but not 2 hours. That would be so boring!

Originally Posted by stubekis

Those crowds look similar to when we visited the week of Thanksgiving. Insane! When we entered WWOHP I was actually getting kind of nervous as people were really pushing and shoving and they seemed to have no control over the crowd, and one person checking for people's "fastpasses" (they were giving them out due to the area being at capacity, all it really was was a slip of paper with a time written on it). I felt like their crowd control was lacking compared to Disney's.
I am a voracious reader and read very quickly, but then forget details. Therefore I was very happy I had re-read the HP series not long before we visited, making those details fresher in my mind and allowing me to better appreciate all the cool little touches they put in there!
Can't wait for more!

Luke was so sweet and just listened as I rattled on about every little thing and how it figured into the books.

[jennie622]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_X6riy1SOKu...y+Potter+3.jpg

Not sure if you've ever seen pics of opening day but lines stretched around both parks all the way to the entrance. I visited last October, two months after opening and it was still insane. I can't believe it's still crazy, maybe a combination of summer visitors and the last movie about to open.

I must agree, FJ is the best ride ever!!! WWoHP themeing is right up there with WDW.

[lazanya]

I can't believe how jam packed it was with the crowds.

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by chezp

Those crowds are crazy! It looks so beautifully themed in that area. I really would like to get there one day and see it for myself.

The theming is one of the strong points of this area of IoA! I really felt like I had arrived at Hogsmeade and then Hogwarts.

Originally Posted by Coop

Sounds like you had a blast at WWoHP. When we went, it was the Saturday after our Disney trip (read - tired and want to get on the road) and it was the day HP #7 part 1 came out. OMG - the crowds! We only got in one shop - Zonko's. We didn't get to ride anything OR even see the castle and use the chicken exit! We got butterbeer from a cart and got wands from a cart in front of the castle. When we got our chocolate frogs in Zonko's the CM's were downright rude! I had a Mickey t-shirt on and they said "Can't really say I like your shirt". This was after I had issues with getting the tickets in the first place! I was completely disappointed and angry. I felt like that was a total waste. I'm so glad you had a good time - I would hate to have anyone go through what we did.

I had heard that US/IoA TMs can have quite an attitude toward Disney. Must be an inferiority complex. But really it's just bad customer service as even if we love Disney better, we've paid quite a bit of money to "enjoy" their parks, too.

Originally Posted by jbd

Not sure I could handle the crowds, but I know for sure that I wouldn't be able to handle my shorts being on backwards. It would drive me batty!

I can understand how it took her so long to realize it.

Originally Posted by mousestruck

Wow, those are some big crowds!

They were, but most of them were not rude, which helped.

Originally Posted by OCEANGRLLG

Ol my gosh....a 120 min. wait!!! Yikes! That was a large crowd, but all in all sounds like a great day so far!

We really did have a great morning at WWoHP, crowd or not.

Originally Posted by Luvsun

all of the great pictures Cam! I knew you would take lots of pics!!
I think it is a really good idea that I don't take Allen during the summer! I am hoping that once school is back in session things will be a wee bit calmer! (but, then again....)
I am so glad that Stefanie was able to correct her shorts problem!
Now about that train conductor. What does he actually do? I mean, the train does not go anywhere, right?

It really helped that we didn't have to put the camera in a locker since we were doing the Child Swap.

The conductor stands around in the heat all day (and I mean all day as I'll illustrate later), and talks and poses with the guests. He is totally in character the whole time. Stefanie had questions about HP and the Hogwarts Express that he was very knowledgeable to answer.

Originally Posted by omd

WOW those are crazy crowds! I don't know if I could deal with all those people.
I just loved your pictures especially the one with Luke's reflection in the window that was such a great shot.

I get tired of crowds fairly quickly, but thankfully, there were small spaces you could move out of the crowds and feel less like a sardine.

Originally Posted by emvenable77

I was a bit behind but I am all caught up now. Your time in line seemed to go by quickly (at least while I was reading hehe). We will have to try to hit that park when Abby is a bit older.

Great update. Can't wait to read more.

The line did move constantly so it didn't feel so bad.

Originally Posted by mdobereiner

Yikes! That is a lot of people! I'm so nervous about the crowds for our trip! Tyler is going to be so excited when he sees the WWOHP and you know how it goes- excitement goes up, ears shut off.

Can't wait for your next update!
Mel

It would be very easy to get lost in the crowd that was there the day we were. Stefanie realized this and never got far from my side or had hold of my hand.

Originally Posted by PrincessSharon

Wow, those crowds are ! Glad you were able to get stuff done before it got too mad.

I'm still thankful that by being at RPR we could enter an hour early and head back to WWoHP or I don't know how we would have managed.

Originally Posted by BettyBeBop

You were so smart to head there early and get things done. Taking notes for when I finally make it there.

I got the tip on starting at Ollivander's here and it really did help as that line moved very slowly and got very long quickly.

Originally Posted by davishomeschool

The crowds looks awful. I would never be able to get my husband to stay in a park that looked like that.

Luke is super calm. I'm the one that crowds usually bother.

Originally Posted by B.M.

I can't believe how crowded it was!

Thank goodness, I knew it would be bad by reading some other TRs here. I do think that helped us to be prepared.

Originally Posted by mommapants

Great update, I don't know how you manage with those crowds - insane!

Really most of the folks were very kind. I don't remember any major pushing and shoving.

Originally Posted by shnewell

Whoa, that is quite a crowd! I have already tried to start preparing my family for how crowded it's going to be near Christmas. I think if we go into with our expectations in the right place, we'll be able to handle it better!

Love all of your wonderful photos and I hope to be able to check out some of the shops while we're there (if I can get those in our group with Y chromosomes to slow down long enough!).

I think you are right that knowing ahead of time it could be crowded will make you all better able to handle it.

Originally Posted by Nick and Ryans Mom

I am loving your trip report - as I always do!!!

That parent swap setup sounds great.

The Parent Swap was one of my favorite things.

Originally Posted by scrappyjae

Dang those were some serious crowds. Reminds me of the crowds in the MK after the Christmas Parade filming ends...just a mess. Your pictures are awesome though. I think if I go there, definately will not be the Summer and a school day to boot. Hopefully then I would be able to explore and appreciate it more.

Hopefully, you'll get to go at a time when the crowd is not so freaky large.

Originally Posted by islandgirl

Great update! The crowds look crazy!

The crowds were crazy, but we still had lots of fun.

[Coop]

Originally Posted by Cam22

I had heard that US/IoA TMs can have quite an attitude toward Disney. Must be an inferiority complex. But really it's just bad customer service as even if we love Disney better, we've paid quite a bit of money to "enjoy" their parks, too.

I agree with you. Bad customer service. DH said that he read somewhere that they are supposed to "make fun of the 'other' park". But they were just rude. And when we talked to a shuttle van driver at Disney about WWoHP - he was very pleasant and gave us tips. He even ran to catch up with us after he dropped us off just in order to "warn" us that IJ was "intense"!We did spend quite a bit to enjoy the park and we didn't have fun. It has left me with a really bad taste and even though I would love to see the WWoHP more in depth, I'm just not sure I want to give them my patronage. I am perfectly happy at the mouse house!

[DisneyLuv]

Wow! That Harry Potter ride (and the whole area!) looks AWESOME! Man, if anything was going to get me to wait 2 hours for a ride, this may well be it! Great pics!

[dwonderz]

Crazy Crowds! Haven't been to Universal since they installed WWoHP - it looks really nicely themed !

[Irenaroo]

Cam, you got so much done that day. Kudos to you. My DD was overwhelmed with the crowd and keeping her lil sis safe. They did buy Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts. The next day, back in our WDW bubbble, they wore those shirts. 9 y/o got sick and spent the day in the villa. Older DD was at downtown disney and the CM's asked her 2 times where thing 2 was. She told them she was sick in the room and they both wished her well and hoped she was better soon. Sorry to the other poster about the rude CM's at US. The CM's at Disney were cute.

[goofysdtr]

Those crowds are absolutely C-R-A-Z-Y! With so many fans of HP (and new ones every day, I'd imagine), I just wonder if the crowds will ever go down. Doesn't matter to me, someday I'm going!

[KMB733]

It looks like a sea of people!! And for Luke to be able to take pictures, he must have done it by magic!