Just back from 10/16 to 10/19 trip

[Alynw]

I got say, it was alot more enjoyable than I expected. I thought for sure I'd hate wearing the mask all day but once ur there and having fun, the mask doesn't seem to be an issue at all. I dont wear glasses though. As far as everyone else, 99% of the folks all wore their masks properly, I might've saw a couple people with noses not covered but it was long before an employee asked them to cover both mouth and nose. Hand sanitizer was not only available but was also applied to u from a cast member before u got on the ride, almost mandatory. Spacing in lines and rides were also very good. Saturday the park did get really busy and they did sell out of express passes but what I noticed was that although the wait times appeared to be high according to the app, they were not even close to the posted times once u got in line. I went on several rides that had a 80min wait time posted but was only in line for maybe 30min, not sure why this is happening, maybe their just trying to sell express passes to help with revenue but I highly recommend getting in line and don't let wait times scare u. As far as eating, I never reserved any dining at all, Saturday was definitely crowded and we still got in and ate at chocolate factory with about 5min wait around noon and then at Hard Rock at 7pm with no wait, walk straight in. Sunday was Margaritaville at noon with no wait and then Leake Coldrin at 6pm with no wait. My opinion, well worth going and we had a blast and would go again. I must say, this was my first time seeing the new Jason Bourne Stunt Show and wow, was absolutely amazing, def a must see. Almost forgot, Sunday was not crowded at all and since I get a discount I decided to buy express passes and we basically walked on every single ride, literally no wait in express lines, I think 10min was max at Kong. Even standby was not bad at all.

 

[cfoxga]

Glad to hear that you had fun. We're scheduled to go over Thanksgiving, so the weather should be a little better for masks. My only concern is UO increasing the park attendance, due to the relaxed restrictions in Florida.

I'm really looking forward to the Bourne show. We did enjoy the old Terminator show, but it was not a must-see on every trip...

 

[Alynw]

On Saturday we got there 1hr after opening and the traffic to get in the park was really starting to backup and the actual line to get through screening and into the park was horrible, while waiting in line to enter park I could see the traffic was now backed all the way back to the exit off I4, so I either suggest getting there really early or wait a few hours after opening. Sunday we got there 2hr after opening and there was no traffic and no line to get in.

 

[Alynw]

One more suggestion, do not forget about the virtual lines. Hagrids was virtual line only both Saturday and Sunday and if u dont get there early and choose a time slot, u probably won't get one. I actually forgot about this and by 11:30am Saturday there were no more times available for Hagrids and none ever came available. Sunday I did get a time but then by noon they were gone again. Also know, except for Hagrids, there were about 5 other rides that were virtual lines but u could still go through express pass. Like Minions for example, went to virtual line only and no times were available at all but we were still able to ride with little wait with express pass. Hope this helps someone.

 

[nessz79]

One more suggestion, do not forget about the virtual lines. Hagrids was virtual line only both Saturday and Sunday and if u dont get there early and choose a time slot, u probably won't get one. I actually forgot about this and by 11:30am Saturday there were no more times available for Hagrids and none ever came available. Sunday I did get a time but then by noon they were gone again. Also know, except for Hagrids, there were about 5 other rides that were virtual lines but u could still go through express pass. Like Minions for example, went to virtual line only and no times were available at all but we were still able to ride with little wait with express pass. Hope this helps someone.

Does Hagrids have a regular line at early entry and then go to virtual? I was planning to rope drop Hagrids at early admission, but wouldn't be worth it if it was virtual anyway and I can get a virtual line while in the other park (also early entry that day).

 

[jdrum3]

Does Hagrids have a regular line at early entry and then go to virtual? I was planning to rope drop Hagrids at early admission, but wouldn't be worth it if it was virtual anyway and I can get a virtual line while in the other park (also early entry that day).

Most of the time, they do not go virtual until official park opening. It feels like they changed the early park hours at some point during last week for the weekend and bumped it up to 8am. I got there shortly after 8, no line to get in to IOA. I hit Hagrid's first thing and the line was way shorter than Wed/Thrs midweek. I probably waited 30 min. We were there all week and although wait time in the week got to 120min, they are not offering virtual during the week at all for some reason. We got to the line to get into IOA 30 min prior to early park admission Wed and Thrs, the line was back into CityWalk, waited about 35-40 min for Hagrid. It was a weird crowd situation, but I would definitely shoot for early park admission if you want to ride Hagrid and not even fool with virtual, use that to focus on the Mummy!

 

[nessz79]

Most of the time, they do not go virtual until official park opening. It feels like they changed the early park hours at some point during last week for the weekend and bumped it up to 8am. I got there shortly after 8, no line to get in to IOA. I hit Hagrid's first thing and the line was way shorter than Wed/Thrs midweek. I probably waited 30 min. We were there all week and although wait time in the week got to 120min, they are not offering virtual during the week at all for some reason. We got to the line to get into IOA 30 min prior to early park admission Wed and Thrs, the line was back into CityWalk, waited about 35-40 min for Hagrid. It was a weird crowd situation, but I would definitely shoot for early park admission if you want to ride Hagrid and not even fool with virtual, use that to focus on the Mummy!

Perfect!! Thank you!

 

[Alynw]

Does Hagrids have a regular line at early entry and then go to virtual? I was planning to rope drop Hagrids at early admission, but wouldn't be worth it if it was virtual anyway and I can get a virtual line while in the other park (also early entry that day).

We didn't get there before official opening but I can say, Hagrids was virtual only 1hr after official opening so I can assume it was virtual line only from official park opening.