Diagon Alley Officially Announced

[MizMissy]

Gringott's trains have started to cycle... With at least one making the full trip around the track... Also, a Hogwarts Express train has been running, slowly, from Gringott's to IOA and back... Testing and cycling of the system... Expect lots more testing, so if you are at the park, be on the look out for the Hogwarts train... of course, not open to guests to test...

Several weeks ago (or more? time flies...) when I showed my daughter the picture of the Hogwarts train arriving at Universal, she almost had tears in her eyes she was so excited. I'm really having to fight her over not returning this summer and having to wait until next summer to return to Universal. I may have to give in for a trip over fall break, October 2014.

This is such an exciting time at Universal and the future only looks brighter.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Several weeks ago (or more? time flies...) when I showed my daughter the picture of the Hogwarts train arriving at Universal, she almost had tears in her eyes she was so excited. I'm really having to fight her over not returning this summer and having to wait until next summer to return to Universal. I may have to give in for a trip over fall break, October 2014.

This is such an exciting time at Universal and the future only looks brighter.

Saw the trains in the parking lot while at HHN this year... They really didn't try to hide them LOL... It was amazing... And then seeing pictures yesterday of the full train on the tracks... Makes me want to go next year... But I think I may avoid 2014 and the crowds that will show up... 2015 may be better LOL... Then again, with all they are adding, maybe not...

[Middle of the Map]

EXACTLY! You took the words right out of my mouth. We had been Disney die hards for decades, but that has shifted considerably. During our last trip we were so tired of the ridiculous crowds at Disney, the jaded cast members, and the perception that we were not valued guests that we escaped back to Universal for the remainder of the week and let our Disney passes lapse... We are doing a Disney-free trip Memorial Day week and staying at Universal exclusively. I never would have dreamed that I would have become this person.

I, too, have escaped Disney for the first time in 23 years. Just got back from Universal/IOA and was blown out of my socks. The Royal Pacific Hotel was on par with the Polynesian and the staff was absolutely wonderful. The walk to the parks was awesome, or you could take the ferry that got you to the gates VERY quickly.

I was so impressed with the parks and the hotel, I will definitely be going back when they open the second part of Harry Potter's world in Universal.

Disney is going to have to play catch-up now.

[Gregandmel]

Disney may need to catch up to the amazing additions Universal has been doing...but they just dumped $1 Billion on the new Magic Bands and FP+ system. I'm afraid their time going forward is going to be spent refining something that wasn't really broken.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Leaky Cauldron confirmed but we already knew that...

[MizMissy]

Leaky Cauldron confirmed but we already knew that...

Any details? Just a bar? Or dining too?
I'm guessing "English Pub" but dingy?
Any other dining planned for Diagon Alley that you know of?

[DizneyFreak2002]

Any details? Just a bar? Or dining too?
I'm guessing "English Pub" but dingy?
Any other dining planned for Diagon Alley that you know of?

I'm trying to find if they released Leaky Cauldron details... So far I'm coming up short... I only find CityWalk announcements... Today's event was all about CityWalk...

I'm thinking it will be similar to the movie... English pub, dingy...

As for other dining, I think there will be a dedicated butterbeer store/snack bar... other than food, I'm not sure...

[MizMissy]

Universal is teasing with another Diagon Alley reveal tomorrow ... DF2002 ... Any scoop?

[DizneyFreak2002]

Universal is teasing with another Diagon Alley reveal tomorrow ... DF2002 ... Any scoop?

Nope... none... Honestly, first I am hearing about it... Been out of the loop a bit with Christmas next week, finishing up decorating, shopping, and working... Plus Christmas, sorry I mean holiday parties...

The one I was familiar with was the live webcast scheduled for January 23, 2014... Media outlets invited to the press event were given packages with Gringott vault keys... These keys are their passport to a website coming live in January... This site is supposed to give more detailed information regarding Diagon Alley... These same keys will be sold at Wiseacers...

As for tomorrow, I would expect some more information that hasn't been officially announced but nothing surprising... and probably nothing too big...

There is supposed to be some sort of interactive element built into the land... Wands which will interact with the surroundings will be sold... Some of the window displays will interact with the wands in some way... also, there is supposed to be some sort of show, but no idea what kind...

Borgin and Burkes will be a walk through in Knockturn Alley... The entire Knockturn Alley will be indoors, inside a large show building, so they can replicate the dark and dreary feel and look... Wouldn't work being outdoors...

Universal is also aiming to keep the parks open to 11:00 every night, with the Hogwarts Express stopping at 10:00 PM...

[MizMissy]

As for tomorrow, I would expect some more information that hasn't been officially announced but nothing surprising... and probably nothing too big...

..

It was even less than "nothing too big." All they posted was the first trailer for Diagon Alley and it revealed nothing at all.

Sigh.

[DizneyFreak2002]

It was even less than "nothing too big." All they posted was the first trailer for Diagon Alley and it revealed nothing at all.

Sigh.

Yea saw that... Didn't think it would be anything big since no one made a fuss about it... I'd look toward January 23 for more to be revealed...

[White Rose]

Does anyone know how this will work with ticketing? My friends and I have very tentative plans about doing a trip here while on our possible Disney trip in January 2015. I'm curious how the ticketing will work for two different parks if you can take the Hogwarts Express from one 'park' to the other.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Does anyone know how this will work with ticketing? My friends and I have very tentative plans about doing a trip here while on our possible Disney trip in January 2015. I'm curious how the ticketing will work for two different parks if you can take the Hogwarts Express from one 'park' to the other.

Universal hasn't officially said yet, however, it does appear you'll need to have a two parks one day ticket... If you have a one day ticket, you'll be able to ride but not enter the next park... On some of the plans, there appears to be ticketing windows/ticket booths being built, along with entrance gates... I will assume the ticketing windows are there for people with one park ticket who want to upgrade to 2 parks/1 day so they can enter IOA/Uni... if not, you'll make a U-turn and head back into the station and take the train back to your original park...

[MizMissy]

On one drawing, it appeared to show an elevated, enclosed walkway that runs along side of train.
To make it easy to "walk" to London from Hogsmeade?

[DizneyFreak2002]

On one drawing, it appeared to show an elevated, enclosed walkway that runs along side of train.
To make it easy to "walk" to London from Hogsmeade?

Walk? No... You'll take the Hogwarts Express... If there is a walkway, it is for maintenance, emergency evacuation, stuff like that...

They won't let you walk backstage...

[Roger's #1 Fan]

It will be interesting to see how Uni handles the HE dynamic with regards to entering Diagon Alley. It was hard enough managing entry into Hogsmeade during the original opening where they had to queue people up outside the entrance (as far back as Seuss and 2+ hour waits). How are they going to control the amount of people in DA when you have HE cycling with some people coming over from Hogsmeade while others will have one day passes and will take a round trip back to DA.

Given how narrow and complex some of these areas in London are, I can't imagine how they are going to keep this under control.
My only thought would be that they could force travelers on HE from IOA to exit into San Francisco and somehow queue up with others waiting to enter the London area.

In any case, I see a huge logjam coming.....

[DizneyFreak2002]

It will be interesting to see how Uni handles the HE dynamic with regards to entering Diagon Alley. It was hard enough managing entry into Hogsmeade during the original opening where they had to queue people up outside the entrance (as far back as Seuss and 2+ hour waits). How are they going to control the amount of people in DA when you have HE cycling with some people coming over from Hogsmeade while others will have one day passes and will take a round trip back to DA.

Given how narrow and complex some of these areas in London are, I can't imagine how they are going to keep this under control.
My only thought would be that they could force travelers on HE from IOA to exit into San Francisco and somehow queue up with others waiting to enter the London area.

In any case, I see a huge logjam coming.....

My understanding is this: you'll exit King's Cross on your return from IOA to Universal into London, not Diagon Alley... Round trippers will have to queue up again... It does seem like there could be some crowding issues, but the station is huge, and should be a people eater... My concern is crowding in Knockturn Alley since Knockturn Alley will be completely indoors...