Hogwarts Robes from WWoHP

[tarma7]

This may have been covered elsewhere, but I looked and couldn't find anything on it. If it was, I apologize.

I am going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in a little over a week, and while there I will be looking into buying a set of the Hogwarts robes sold there. I thought I read somewhere that they were crappy quality and not worth the money, but I can't seem to find that again so I figured this would be the place to clear up the confusion.
Has anybody bought them/tried them on/seen them and what are your thoughts? Should I skip them and just buy from somewhere like Whimsic Alley? I'm going for movie-accurate here, because the robes are for my costume for the Deathly Hallows Part 1 midnight showing.

Thanks!

 

[jcoffman99]

Went there in August. (Awesome place) and all I saw where they cheap robes. Didn't see anything fancy or screen acurate.

 

[Zenman]

Went there back in July of this year. Its a great remake of Hogwarts and everything. Now we went about 3 weeks after the grand opening and let me tell you the place was a madhouse. I cant tell you much about the robes but I will offer some advice. Go to WWoHP first. The lines for the shops to purchase anything are extremely long, we waited two hours to get into the wand shop alone, it was wall to wall peole inside and trying to look at merchandise is just impossible. The HP stuff is only sold in WWoHP, the props and things like that, the other stores throughout the park have a small supply of odds and ends but all the HP stuff is in his section. It may be different now that a couple of months have gone by but just in case.

 

[jcoffman99]

Went there back in July of this year. Its a great remake of Hogwarts and everything. Now we went about 3 weeks after the grand opening and let me tell you the place was a madhouse. I cant tell you much about the robes but I will offer some advice. Go to WWoHP first. The lines for the shops to purchase anything are extremely long, we waited two hours to get into the wand shop alone, it was wall to wall peole inside and trying to look at merchandise is just impossible. The HP stuff is only sold in WWoHP, the props and things like that, the other stores throughout the park have a small supply of odds and ends but all the HP stuff is in his section. It may be different now that a couple of months have gone by but just in case.

I couldn't believe how small the shops were. We went in August you could not move in them.

I second the get there early sentiment. Universal may not open till 9 or 10 (I forget which) but you can still get in the parks and get in line before they open. If you want Butterbeer, which is awesome, get it first thing too. Sunday is the day to shoot for. There are typically not too many people there at all. Monday is a little busier, and Tuesday was nuts. Also when doing the big HP ride don't take any bags with you. There is a locker room that everyone HAS to go through to put their stuff in. They have employees checking the line for people without bags to go right in. We weren't even to the 75 minutes from here sign when the girl told us to go through a seperate entrance that bypasses the locker room. It only took us about 20 minutes then.

The first day we went (Monday we were able to get into the HP area and walk around. On Tuesday we had to wait an hour just to get into that area. (You go through Jurrasic Park to get there.)

I have some pics on Facebook if you'd like to see the place.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=78047&id=1361946647

 

[tarma7]

Went there in August. (Awesome place) and all I saw where they cheap robes. Didn't see anything fancy or screen acurate.

Dang. I was afraid of that. Ah well, I'll just have to get them elsewhere. Anyone know anything about Whimsic Alley's robes?

Went there back in July of this year. Its a great remake of Hogwarts and everything. Now we went about 3 weeks after the grand opening and let me tell you the place was a madhouse. I cant tell you much about the robes but I will offer some advice. Go to WWoHP first. The lines for the shops to purchase anything are extremely long, we waited two hours to get into the wand shop alone, it was wall to wall peole inside and trying to look at merchandise is just impossible. The HP stuff is only sold in WWoHP, the props and things like that, the other stores throughout the park have a small supply of odds and ends but all the HP stuff is in his section. It may be different now that a couple of months have gone by but just in case.

I couldn't believe how small the shops were. We went in August you could not move in them.

I second the get there early sentiment. Universal may not open till 9 or 10 (I forget which) but you can still get in the parks and get in line before they open. If you want Butterbeer, which is awesome, get it first thing too. Sunday is the day to shoot for. There are typically not too many people there at all. Monday is a little busier, and Tuesday was nuts. Also when doing the big HP ride don't take any bags with you. There is a locker room that everyone HAS to go through to put their stuff in. They have employees checking the line for people without bags to go right in. We weren't even to the 75 minutes from here sign when the girl told us to go through a seperate entrance that bypasses the locker room. It only took us about 20 minutes then.

The first day we went (Monday we were able to get into the HP area and walk around. On Tuesday we had to wait an hour just to get into that area. (You go through Jurrasic Park to get there.)

I have some pics on Facebook if you'd like to see the place.
Welcome to Facebook

Thanks for the advice! Yeah, I'll definitely be heading there first thing in an effort to beat the crowds (also because I'm too excited to wait haha). My hope is that since school has now started the lines will be shorter. :confused I think we're going on a Monday and a Wednesday.

(PS: Those pics are great! )

 

[arivin923]

I have a set of the Whimsic Alley robes, and love them. Highly recommended! (They don't come with the house patches though, that has to be added separate- something I'm still looking into for mine)

 

[tarma7]

Awesome! That seems to be the route to go, then. I don't know what I would do without this place to answer all my questions lol.

I can help with the patch, I think. I found this site while searching the forum for suggestions on robes: Harry Potter Patches, Pins, Shirts, Costume Patch Accessories and more at SciFiGeeks.com - Patches, Pins, Shirts, Costume Patch Accessories and more at SciFiGeeks.com

I don't know about the other houses, but I compared the one labelled Ravenclaw Robe and it was accurate except that the real one had a black backing. Hope this helps.

 

[Zenman]

I had to chime in about the butterbeer. The stuff is like crack, once you drink one you'll be hooked. And yes the shops are insanely small. Also a sidenote about the Hogwarts ride, if you have a camera or recorder that can fit into a pocket(I had cargo shorts) do yourself a favor and dont stick it in the lockers. I'm not going to spoil it but theres a bunch of stuff I wish I had taken my camera and camcorder into the line for pictures and video.

 

[tarma7]

So I got back a couple of weeks ago and all I can say is OMG. It was the most amazing experience ever. And everything everyone ever told me about it was true. Just SO AMAZING! And the butterbeer was SO GOOD. I also have a recommendation, if anyone reading this is planning on going soon...definitely eat at the Three Broomsticks, it was the best meal we had the whole trip, hands down. The food is absolutely delicious. XD

But back to the OT lol...I bought some Whimsic Alley robes and they shipped today! I'm so excited!!

About the patch though, I bought the Ravenclaw one from the site above and even though the picture on the site exactly matched the one seen here on Cho Chang's robes: http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090725204214/harrypotter/images/e/e1/Cho.jpg
the colors on the one I received were totally the wrong shades. Do not order from this website if you are going for extreme accuracy. The blues especially were messed up.

 

[tubachris85x]

Since going to Universal every year since I was born, I highly reccomend going during a regular work week if you can. Anytime around summer and winter, thats when you'll deal with the most traffic. Right now for example will be really busy due to halloween horror nights. But like I said, if possible, go to the park during the week on an off season. Your not going to get a whole lot of people if you do.

 

[kessa]

I know you've just got yours but in case it helps anyone else reading this post, you could drop "JediFran" on here a PM as she's made some movie accurate robes*:

http://www.therpf.com/f24/harry-potter-cosplaying-85379/

(*you just need the smaller badge if you can find one but they're like hens teeth so the only other option would be to get a high res scan, and take it to an embroidery shop. Also, it depends which house you want to do)

Anyway, Fran's lovely and I'm sure she'd be happy to help

 

[Labrynth]

I have both WA and Alivan's robes. In the end it all seems to be what you want. WA robes are heavy robes with polyester both inside and out. They hand nicely and have a pointed style hood on them. But if you live someplace warm they are HOT. Alivan's are a much lighter weight. Cotton outside and satin inside (I think it's cotton outside, I could be wrong). Rounded hood. Both are well made and both come with wand pockets, tho Alivan's rides lower, which works better for longer wands. I like the position of Alivan's wand pocket a LOT better.

There has been a lot of chatter on the LJ HP costuming boards and if I recall correctly, they were comparing the quality of the WWoHP robes with that of WA. I know several folks said the employees were saying to buy the robe you want if they had it because they were selling like crazy. It's possible they also have a cheaper "costume" type robe as well that the quality might be lower on, but I don't know that for sure. I know someone bought a Time Turner there and was very happy with the quality as well.

 

[tarma7]

I can't comment on Alivan's because I've never seen them, but I've been comparing my WA to my friends' WWoHP ones and this is what I found:
The WWoHP robes wrinkle FAR more easily on the inside (the colored parts are made of a much crappier fabric, not sure what it is), have even more frustrating wand pockets (one of my friends even had a hole in hers so that she'd put the wand in the pocket and it would fall into the space in between the colored inner part and the black outer part of the robe, all the way down to the hem of the robe), and the hoods are much longer and much pointier (and therefore less screen-accurate). Also, the colors on the WWoHP don't go all the way around. I don't know if that's how they are in the "actual" wizarding world or not so I don't know which is more SA, but WA's robes are colored on the entire inside.
on the other hand, WWoHP's are also at least $20 cheaper (unless you buy the child's WA robes in which case they are the same price). also, the WWoHP robes have actual pockets on the outside (they are hidden along the seam quite nicely, actually. you wouldn't know they were there unless looking) in addition to the wand pocket on the inside. WA's robes don't have that.
hope this helps people trying to make a decision.

 

[Jayn]

Museum Replicas is coming out with a Harry Potter line too

Harry Potter Costumes & Collectibles - MuseumReplicas.com