In this cute box contained our bands to get into the 'World'. We didn't get passes to the four parks in advance the only thing on our bands was our room access. Its a little odd they send these to you in advance, what if we forgot them? Im sure it wouldn't be a big deal but Id be upset, these bands have your names on the inside and the color you wanted, who wouldn't want to show them off?
We didn't wear them until we got to our resort. It was no ones business what we were doing and so we kept them in our bags, I didn't take the box just the bands. As DVC members we got these tabs that slip into the band. My youngest with a small wrist had to have hers modified, theres this gray removable part to fit her wrist a little easier. It helped a lot.
When we arrived we decided to get season passes to the waterparks/Disney Quest. This combination pass was only obtainable at the 'World'. You can usually get passes/dining in advance and placed on your band before arriving. Guest relations in downtown assisted us with the purchase and put the passes on our bands, they even gave us 'cards' just in case. We hit the water park daily and quest on the rainy days. It was fun to pass the time. I gotta be honest Disney Quest isn't as exciting as it used to be. The waterparks were fantastic as always, there was one day it rained in the middle of the day and we just waited it out. Turned out to be a fantastic day.
There was one day we decided to go to Diagon Ally and well we didn't wear our bands while we were there, whats the point? People if you are not at the park or resort why are you wearing the bands?
On Tuesday was the opening day of Diagon Ally in Universal Studios and well I had to go! Call me a nerd but I had to experience it. We got there early or least I thought it was early. 9AM, yea that didn't work. We were treated like cattle, following an endless line with grouchy/sticky people.. What the heck was I thinking.
Well while in line I checked the wait time into the area:
Yea thats a 6 hour wait!
Not counting the line we were already on waiting to get into Diagon Ally!
We waited about two hours, maybe more just to get in!
Finally got in and i gotta say it was SMALL!
Loved this thing, it blew fire every so often. It was hot a hell in there and the wait for the ride just got longer and longer, we had no intention of waiting another 6 hours to get on the ride. It was insane cause it kept going down and the line was emptied. Once it was available again the line got long again. You weren't allowed to take anything so the lockers had a wait it self, just crazy. So we walked around and went into the many stores. I honestly wasn't impressed with the stores but the ambiance was completely amazing. We loved the experience at Olivanders wand shop. The kid they selected just didn't get it and almost killed it for us, but again it was crazy to go opening day I know. We were there an hour at the most. I wasn't happy that I wasted 2 hours for that.
So we tried the Hogwarts express.
Yet another long line to wait in. The train is on the outside of Diagon Ally so you didn't have to go thru it to get on the train. This line was super long too, but at least there was AC in the waiting area. Once we finally got on the train we weren't allowed to take photos. It was just a fun experience. We went to Island of Adventure for a while and returned to Universal later that day via the train. You have take the train in each way for the full experience. Unfortunally they put a lot of people into the 'cabin' and on the return trip we were with another large family and they hogged the seats on both sides instead of sitting together, I was seated right onto of the door and didn't really get to see the 'door' effects.
I would still recommend going but maybe not in a summer month.
