Hi we were at Universal today. What a great ride FJ is! We were there for rope drop at 7 20- park opened at 8 am. 7 am for on site people. We stayed off site. Used reg. valet (got our car back within 7 min btw).
We went right to FJ. We did not take any bags in, so we did not have to use the lockers. My teens were making fun of me (in a loving way) when I was explaining all about not using a bag. But they told me I was right when we saw people who were ahead of us at RD far behind us in line.
The wait was 75 minutes when we got to the line. We only waited about 50- the line was moving very fast-don't know if that's normal. When we exited about 9 ish the wait was 120 min! The Ollivanders line was very long by then- not sure how it was on my way in. My kids opted not to do it...we might on Friday.
We then split up- my older kids went to Dueling Dragons..and my younger son and I went to Flight of the Hyppogriff. We did have Express for both. My 9 yo and I walked around Honeydukes and it was very crowded. We opted not to wait in the long line and get some candy. He was upset at that point that he couldn't do the dueling dragons or Hulk...he missed it by 1 in! I felt bad that I didn't research that more and prepare him..anyway...
we got some Butterbeer- that was delish! Like a cross of cream soda and vanilla soft serve. The line was very long, but a waitress came up and said she could get us some..we took her up on it- and she wouldn't take a tip, so it was the same price. We left WWoHP by 10- so happy we had done everything we wanted to. We did not walk around in the other shops because my kids weren't interested. However we are going back Friday evening and if the crowds aren't bad, we might then. They really just wanted to get out to the rest of the park and ride some other things. We ended up going over to US and riding the RRR...because we checked an app on my husband's phone and the wait was only 15 min. and it was not included in the express passes. And we stayed there and did the Simpsons- our favorite after FJ and Hulk...and my kids knew nothing about the Simpsons going in- although dh and I loved it in the 90s- the kids all ended up loving it, even the 13 yo who is afraid of clowns!
another note...I will say this-for us, the express for this busy week ended up being worth it. We live near Six Flags NE and we never get the express. We have had season passes some years, where we go a lot or at least a few times over the summer. Some years, we only go once or twice w/coupons on one of our teens annual passes. And we never get there early- so we either wait, or go later in the day. We lived near Hershey park when we had toddlers and babies, and I never even researched anything, like getting there early...there probably weren't even boards then, so we just always waited.
Today we got to FJ, and RRR all before 11. Then we didn't have to sweat about long waits on any other rides. DD was about 70 min, in the am. Hulk was 100 min, Spiderman was 60-which I don't think is bad.. and I can't remember the rest, but they were all long and it was a hot hot day (at least for someone from New England). By 2 pm, Dudley Do Right was 140 min. WWoHp was a 50 min standby wait to get in that section of the park, and the ticket re-entry thing was 6pm. We were planning on leaving by 4 ish, since we were there since 7 30 am..and knew we were going back a second day, later in the day. So for us, the express was a great option for today, on a very busy week, the only week of the year we could get here.
We ended up staying in US until after lunch and went to Spiderman when we got back to IOA. When we were on Spiderman, we were talking to a family of 4. They heard us talking about FJ. They were so upset because they got to WWoHP at noon and they could not even get into that section the park. They were staying IN THE PARK and they missed the early entry hours-didn't think they would have to get up that early on vacation! They said it was the only reason they came to Universal. They were shocked how crowded it was. They said they learned their lesson and were going to be there at 7 the next morning. As I was telling them not to bring any backpacks (although I admitted, I didn't know if that was an issue for on site guests, but it is a busy week) and some other tips, my 15 yo son said- she knows all about this stuff from this website she goes on- and she's been right every time! Ha ha! respect!
So that is my crowd/trip report. Sorry I got carried away on a few other things..not sure if this is the right place to post it all..but I just sat down with a glass of wine and so loved US (and shhhhh....I think my kids liked it better than you-know-where.maybe because they are older?....will be interesting to hear their insights later on this week) Sorry this is so long... I hope it helps someone
MJ