Huge Harry Potter Crowds Cause Changes at Universal

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL Fox 35 News) - Less than one month since opening, crowds are so large at the new Harry Potter attraction at Universal Orlando that the park is telling guests to stay away until later in the day.

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Along with park maps, a new one page insert is being handed out at the parks entrance titled: Plan Your Day. In order to minimize wait times, Universal encourages you to experience other areas of Universals Islands of Adventure earlier in the day, and plan on visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter after 3:00 p.m.

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The flyer just showed up this weekend. Two families visiting from Europe who were in the park Friday didn’t get one. A family from Ireland says the wait was too long for the headline attraction Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey that they left and will try again another day. Another family from England was on their way to the park after 5 p.m.

“We’re going back now, hopefully the crowds wont be as busy,” said Debbie Carter.

To control the crowds, Universal is issuing paper tickets for guests waiting to get into the Wizarding World and to prevent cutting in line. Extra merchandise and drink cart areas are also being added to ease some of the congestion inside the shops. Liquor sales have also been suspended inside the Hogs Head Tavern to speed up the serving of the popular non-alcoholic Butter Beer.