Diagon Alley early entry for hotel guests experiences so far?!!!

[kmc]

ok so over 40 other hotels have the POTENTIAL of EE.
according to this site. It says you HAVE to buy a universal package so not straight forward but still a lot of potential extra people allowed EE.

*********************************/universal/early-park-admission/

woops sorry wont let me post link must be ban site my bad

I honestly thought that once Cabana Bay opened Universal would stop offering early entry to their partner hotels to keep it an actual "perk"

 

[Karkor]

I honestly thought that once Cabana Bay opened Universal would stop offering early entry to their partner hotels to keep it an actual "perk"

This...

I read ages ago that Uni were going to STOP allowing other hotels the EE perk once CB opened. It seems they they are being greedy now.
I know not all of the CB wil use EE. Yet if they did it could be something like an extra 4000 guests for EE from CB. Say only 2000 of them used it. that is still a HUGE number of extra guests allowed in just from CB.
I think Uni will at some point do something unless they become more greedy. Yet they cannot take a perk off CB as they already do not get EP.

 

[kingken]

staying at royal pacific mid august for 2 weeks does early entry still apply to us for universal, heard so many differant stories, thanks

 

[damo]

staying at royal pacific mid august for 2 weeks does early entry still apply to us for universal, heard so many differant stories, thanks

Yes it does. All of the onsite hotels have early admission.

 

[kingken]

Yes it does. All of the onsite hotels have early admission.

any thanks, dont think it is going to make much differance reading posts about it, hopefully wont be as bad late august

 

[wendyt_ca]

We are going in Sept and plan to do early entry on Sept 7th (if they have Diagon Alley that day). If not we will prob go before we leave on Sept 8th. I am hoping the waits are not this outrageous then :S We stayed on site to get the benefit of EE and EP and I am not really crazy about the idea of waiting in line for 3-4 hours...

 

[Nonsuch]

...around by MIB...
...This is what is wrong with the public, me first take no expense to get there...

A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it.

 

[pigletto]

While I am saddened to read this isn't being handled well, it is helping me make some decisions, so I do appreciate everyones experiences. We are going to Orlando in December. We have a Disney package booked. DD17 and I are huge Potter fans but ds10 is just reading the books and is enthralled. I have promised him if he finishes all of them, we will go to Universal on this trip too. We've been before but he was younger and not really into the Potter stuff.

That being said, it will be a considerable expense on top of our tight vacation budget that will take some serious saving. The tickets will also be our big Christmas present (just early). I can't and won't be going if it's still a zoo. I don't expect no crowds, I do expect waiting in lines. But if it is still everyone and their dog being let in for EE and disorganization then we simply won't be going this year. We did Hogsmeade a year after opening and maybe we simply have to wait until next trip for these kinks to be worked out as well.

I still have some time to decide and will be reading with interest. It's just sounding like it might be a better idea to see if he's willing to wait and do it in the future.

 

[Bluer101]

A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it.

It's just sad though.

 

[xcell]

Do you think then the older Harry Potter area would be less crowded? ?

 

[Dashzap]

We want to ride the Hogwarts Express. Any word on the lines for it?

We'll be there 7/24 and 25 to see the HP stuff. We can't ride roller coasters, so no Gringotts for us.

How crowded is Hogsmead now?

 

[cgattis]

Somebody help me; I think I'm confused....I thought Cabana Bay was NOT going to have EE? Is the CB EE right now just for packages? Or will it always have EE, just not EP? Stayed RPR last time (and loved it); kinda wanted to try CB this time, but DA is a priority. Should I stay where I am? Want to make sure I understand what I'm getting for the difference in $$. The website is practically useless; I think they subbed their IT out to Disney LOL

 

[RMulieri]

Somebody help me; I think I'm confused....I thought Cabana Bay was NOT going to have EE? Is the CB EE right now just for packages? Or will it always have EE, just not EP? Stayed RPR last time (and loved it); kinda wanted to try CB this time, but DA is a priority. Should I stay where I am? Want to make sure I understand what I'm getting for the difference in $$. The website is practically useless; I think they subbed their IT out to Disney LOL

Cabana BAy always has early entry.How it will work later on after the summer with Diagon alley has not been decided( they may alternate between IOA and the Studios) ..They do NOT get express passes, priority seating at restaurants

 

[jerseygirl82]

Our EE experience today (7/15) was awesome! Walked up to the gate of USO at 6 and we got off Gringotts at 8:30. Would have been done at 7:30 if not for a technical issue that caused the ride to go down for an hour. I posted a comprehensive review in my trip report

 

[cgattis]

Sweet!! I'd go read it, but I hate spoilers! Glad to hear it was a good experience. Maybe by my trip in October, crowds will settle a tiny bit and the kinks will be getting worked out. Thanks!

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Could someone please walk me from PBH over to Gringott's?

We prefer to walk over taking the boat, especially since it doesn't start until 6:15 and we will leave the hotel before that.

 

[glamdring269]

I'm not even convinced the amount of people at EE is the main problem here. Sounds like the ride itself is having quite a bit of difficulty. Once they get the kinks worked out with the ride this will likely become a non-issue. We're not visiting until October so plenty of time for improvement between now and then!

 

[damo]

Could someone please walk me from PBH over to Gringott's?

We prefer to walk over taking the boat, especially since it doesn't start until 6:15 and we will leave the hotel before that.

Take the path that goes along near the boat launch but when you get to the fork in the path where part heads along the waterway and part heads along the road, take the part along the road. Stay on this path until you've crossed the main road and reach the Hard Rock parking lot. Go into the parking lot and keep walking towards the park and parallel to the road that runs alongside it. Eventually you will reach the end of the parking lot. At that point you can just cross the roadway to the sidewalk and keep on going. You will run into the park entrance security guy who will check your bag. It is just a few steps further and you are at the Universal gate.

 

[ZuZugal]

Stayed at PB and did Gringotts on the 16th. EE into park before 7am, ride "broke down" twice but we were in bank lobby by then so comfortable waiting. I looked at phone when we got off of ride, which was 10:05am so really 3 hours including riding the ride. It was incredible yes; imagination to create such things still amazes me!

 

[BeccaA]

We want to ride the Hogwarts Express. Any word on the lines for it?

We'll be there 7/24 and 25 to see the HP stuff. We can't ride roller coasters, so no Gringotts for us.

How crowded is Hogsmead now?

The Hogwarts Express never had a line except for once when we rode it at noon. A storm was coming and I think that had a lot to do with it. We basically walked on five times and waited an hour that one time. Hogsmeade is dead in the morning, but the crowds really pick up around 10:00. Get there before then and you will be good. Have a great trip!