What to know about opening day at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood on Thursday is likely to draw huge crowds, including adults who grew up reading the books by J.K. Rowling and teens who watched the eight movies that followed.

If you plan to brave the Potterfest, here are some things to know.

The bulk of the tickets available for Thursday were offered online and have already sold out. The park will still have some tickets for sale at the gate, for $115, but those will probably sell out quickly.

The gates will open to the general public at 8 a.m.

If you bought a ticket online, you get to enter the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction at 6:30 a.m. But you will want to show up earlier for a brief opening ceremony at 6:15 a.m.

The park won’t say how many people the six-acre attraction will hold but Universal Studios Hollywood has announced that it plans to deploy several kiosks that will be used when the attraction reaches capacity.

Visitors can use the kiosks to arrange appointments to enter the attraction later in the day when the crowds thin out. The kiosks works like Disneyland’s FastPass.

The attraction features two rides, eight retail shops, a restaurant and a pub that sells real beer and spirits, plus street stands that sell nonalcoholic Butterbeer.

The shop windows will also act as an attraction. If you buy an interactive wand at Ollivander wand shop ($47.95), you can use it to cast enchantments on the displays at 11 shop windows. If you wave the wands in the prescribed motions, the technology in the wands will make the objects in the windows move and dance.

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