Huge crowds greet Wizarding World’s opening day, entrance wait times upward of 8 hours

by · June 18, 2010

In case you haven’t heard, Universal Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park had its public Grand Opening this morning.  See video I shot of the opening here on YouTube.

Thousands of people turned out for the big day.  At around 9 AM, Universal estimated that 5,000 had descended on the park.  They were letting people enter the Wizarding World in groups of 200 or so at a time (though that number is just our estimate and may change).

Thanks to some attendees who also are fans of MuggleNet, we know that people who were towards the back of the line were told they’d have to wait for as long as 6 – 8 hours before they could even enter the Wizarding World area.  Some have even been told that they may not get in at all today.

There is some good news: as of 2 PM ET, the wait time for Forbidden Journey is only 45 minutes.  See the most up-to-date wait time at this link.

You can bet that crowds will continue to be huge through the weekend, and likely even the next few weeks.  If you are attending soon, we hope you get in quickly and have a great time!