Island of Adventure - closures and crowds About This Page:

[PatV]

Just finished our second day at Universal/Harry Potter. Island of Adventure opened at 8 am and by 9:15 am it had reached visitor capacity. Standby lines began (express pass not useful for admittance) with waits at 1+ hrs, then 2+ hrs wait for Forbidden Journey (again express pass not accepted). Return passes were being distributed for 3+ hrs later in the day.

Plan to head directly to Wizarding World of Harry Potter, if possible when it opens in the morning. Island of Adventure and Universal Studios Park are two separate entrance tickets, two separate opening/closing times.

Crowd control inside HP World is non-existant. Queue lines to get on every ride (express pass works for Dragon Challenge and Hippogriff), to get inside Ollivanders and Dervish & Banges, for Butterbeer both in the street and inside HogsHead and Three Broomsticks.

Shopping is very, very difficult within the shops of Hogsmeade. Some items are available outside HP World but not wands and broomsticks.

[HiddenMickey]

That's what it was like when we went two summers ago. We never did get into Ollivanders. But, by the late afternoon, lines were significantly smaller for Forbidden Journey.

[Thomhazel]

Wands and broomsticks were being sold outwith hogs mead this summer. the large shop at the entrance to IOa and the one at the exit of Us both sold most of the HP merchandise and definitely sold wands as we bought my sons there

[HiddenMickey]

Yeah, we were glad see examples of the different wands in the shop on the way out of the park.