I was lucky enough to get to experience all of WWOHP this morning. As you may know, they are currently running openings for resort guests only from 8am in the morning. Around 9:55am they let in a small group of non-resort guests, and I was fortunate to be in that group. I’m going to run through a few general observations, and then I’ll get onto some more detailed thoughts, but marked with a spoiler alert.
SPOILER-SAFE COMMENTS
Hogsmeade Village is beautiful to look at. No question there, it’s been very well done from a visual point-of-view, and any Potter fans will be sure to like what they see. Hogwarts looks wonderful looking on the horizon with the village in the foreground. It suffers a little with scale once you get close up, but from within the village area, it looks amazing. Being nit-picky, you can see some of the show building, which I really wish they would fully hide. It's very visible from the Jurrasic park side, but surprisingly is also visible from with Hogsmeade itself. When so much effort has gone into the details, it would seem hard for them to leave it like this.
The Village is not particularly big. It takes perhaps 3 or 4 minutes to walk from the entry archway to the end of the street. Something that is glaring obvious from these limited previews is that this place is going to seriously suffer once the crowds are in. With the few hundred guests in the area for the soft opening, it felt fairly busy, even with that small number. Once it’s open to all and you have potentially thousands of guests there, it’s going to be very crowded. I feel that some of the charm of the small village feel will be lost when full of guests, but we’ll see.
The queue for Forbidden Journey is probably the best queue for any attraction anywhere. The closest comparison for me would probably be Indiana Jones at DL. It certainly eclipses every queue at Universal Orlando. More on this in the spoiler section.
The ride itself is very good. I have to fall short of saying it’s the best, as I feel that Spiderman at IOA is superior, as are some Disney attractions. More on this in the spoiler section below.
The interiors of all the shops are tiny. Great when there are 5 or 10 people in the store, but you have to think that when this place is full, the shops will be unbearably crowded.
The 3 Broomsticks restaurant is very nicely done, with a good English-style menu, including a breakfast. Indoor and outdoor seating is available, but not particularly high capacity. I did notice that the Fish and Chips was served with wedges and not chips, minor point, but in a place seeking authenticity, this needs to be replaced with proper English-style chips.
Olivanders wand shop is a very neat show. Again, it depends on how busy it is. Capacity can be no more than around 20-25 guests. There is no queue area, so I really don’t see how this is going to work when it fully opens. Once inside, a beautifully detailed shop allows one guest to be selected, and then for a wand to ‘choose them’. It’s around a 5 minute show, and has some neat effects and charm. The actor shop owner was excellent.
The much talked about Butter Beer is sold in the middle of the street from a cart, and also inside the Three Broomsticks ($3.99 for 16oz). I tried the frozen variety. It’s interesting, but not something that I would get again – tastes vanilla-ry to me.
The two old coasters that have been integrated have been seen before, so I'm not going ot say a lot about them. The real interesting stuff is the new ride and the village itself.
WARNING!!
SPOILERS
I want to go into a few areas in a bit more detail, but before I do, this section will contain spoilers. So if you don’t want to know any of the specific details, stop reading now and head down to the OVERALL section at the bottom. You’ve been warned! I’d also point out that I am not a Harry Potter fanatic (just a theme park fanatic), so I’m not up on all the specifics of characters and storylines – you’ll have to visit yourself to take all that in!
The most anticipated part of this new land is the brand new Forbidden Journey ride. I’ll look at in some more details here, in two sections (queue and ride).
THE QUEUE
The queue to this attraction is for me the best anywhere. It begins as you approach Hogwarts, and take in the beautiful eye-candy. You enter the building into dimly lit cavern type rooms. At the beginning of the queue is the typical Universal locker setup (which I am not a fan of, but hey, that’s their thing). As you move through the buildings, you get a great feeling of immersion into the environment. The lighting is dim, but perfect. You get a real feel of being inside the Potter world. Each room is similar in style, but different. The portrait rooms are spectacular. The images on the pictures move and interact with each other in a very convincing way. It will be fun to see people notice they are moving for the first time.
The headmaster, Dumbledore, appears in his room via projection that is nicely done. It appears to be the same system used in Disaster over at Universal Studios, or similar to the Nemo projections at Epcot. (Looks to be a high quality projector using a mesh screen). The effect is fairly convincing, and helps to set the mood and story. The room he is in is spectacular – detail everywhere.
There is an exterior part of the queue, set in a greenhouse. It felt hot, and could be trouble in the summer, but it looked good, and was nicely distressed and aged. I did notice a convenient snack cart – so I’m sure when you are baking in the heat, a friendly Universal team member will be on hand to sell you some refreshments.
We then move into another interior room where the three stars of the movie introduce us to the story of the ride, and to begin our journey. They again use the same projection system, and it’s well executed. We even experienced a snow flurry (think Main Street USA at Magic Kingdom Christmas parties). More rooms follow, and are just as detailed. Something to note is that all of the rooms are FULLY realized. There are no exposed ceilings, no AC ducts, just top theming from floor to ceiling. Only the EXIT signs tell you that you may not really be there.
THE RIDE
The ride uses a brand new ride system involving Kuka Robot arms, mounted onto a track. Each robot arm carries an ‘Enchanted Bench’, each holding 4 guests, complete with overhead restraints and onboard audio. Each seat is separated with a dividing screen, similar to the setup on Mission Space at Epcot. The boarding area is very well executed, with a moving belt, aligned with the vehicles. It’s actually a very similar setup to Nemo at the Living Seas. The vehicles never stop moving, and you board as it moves along. The restraint is an overhead, rollercoaster style setup. Like Mission Space, the vehicle could be claustrophobic for some people, as you are in a confined space, but you do a have a clear view infront of you, and not an onboard screen. Something to note, there does appear to be weight limit. Outside of the ride entrance, there is a test vehicle where you can sit and see if you are within the weight limits. I don't have specifics of what that weight is, but I have heard suggestions it's in the 250lbs max area. If you don't try the test vehicle outside, there is also a test vehicle right before loading. I did see some guests directed into this area.
The ride vehicle moves along the track, and has a high degree of motion on the end of the robot arm. So think of Sum of All Thrills at Epcot (video at http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions/The-Sum-of-All-Thrills/Video.htm), on a moving track. This allows the vehicle to move through show scenes, and to carry out dynamic maneuvers, interacting with the environment.
The show scenes are of two types, real physical sets, and large movie screens. The large movie screens are similar in style to Soarin at Epcot. The vehicle is suspended in front of the screen, and the on screen movie gives the impression of flight. The screens are 2D, not very large (I estimate quarter size of Soarin), and are not as optically clear as Soarin. The physical set scenes reminded me slightly of ET, with cave style walls, and set pieces decorating the environment. The ride transitions between the movie screens and the real physical sets three or four times. For me, the most effective part of the ride by far was the real physical set scenes. I felt the movie scenes were not very well done, Soarin has clearer imagery, and a gives much better feeling of flight. The video was slightly blurry, and contained digital artifacts that were distracting. What made it worse was how close the vehicle was to the screen. The transition between the movie screens and the real sets was also very jarring. You are looking at what is an obvious screen, and then suddenly are swung into a real set. Unlike Spiderman, where I feel the movie and sets blend together very well, here, it’s very obvious you are moving between screen and set. 3D would seem to have been an obvious choice here, not sure why that was not done. I feel it may have helped a lot.
The motion of the vehicle is very cool. If you have been on Sum of All Thrill at Epcot you get the idea. The robot arm is capable of quick, sudden movements, and it can swing you around in all positions. The ride has no inversions, but there are parts where you are laying on your back, and close on being upside-down. This is a ride where you want to be real careful of anything in your pockets. There are no positive Gs to keep things pushed down, so anything in your pockets is likely to end up on the floor. The robot arm moves along a track, but it does so fairly slowly, so you don’t get a specific feeling of speed. The motion of the vehicle is so dynamic that you really don’t know that you are moving along a track. From this point of view, it really is unique. I imagine a lot of guests are going to have no idea what they have actually been on. It’s magic! In terms of physical motion, I think most guests will be comfortable with it. It’s not overly aggressive, so I would say the vast majority of people will be able to ride without issue.
The physical sets are well done. Lighting is good, a lot is happening, and you will need multiple rides to take it all in. There are some ‘in your face’ effects, including air blasts and water sprays – right in your face. There are no animatronics inside the actual ride. There are some animated figures that move, but nothing that could be called a real animatronic (think the spiders in Tough to be a Bug at Animal Kingdom). In the queue area there is a small animatronic ‘Sorting Hat’ that is very nicely done. One striking thing about the sets is how the ride vehicle puts you VERY close to things. You are not far away from being able to touch these things.
I found the storyline to be a bit hectic, and it’s probably best left for you to experience yourself. But in a nutshell, you take to the skies in a Quidditch match, and encounter some problems along the way. There is a lot of “avoid this”, “just missed that”, “over-here!” type things happening, and it’s largely non-stop action. The actual ride is approximately 4 minutes long, and I’m sure Harry Potter fans will get a lot more out of the story than someone not-familiar with it.
The audio, throughout both the queue and the ride, is in some places unintelligible. I notice this in a lot of Universal attractions, and it's a problem now, even with few guests in the building. The audio is echoy and levels are poorly set. This does not help with understanding the story fully, and you do feel like you are missing important dailog.
OVERALL
Overall, the ride is really well executed, and Universal deserves a lot of credit for trying such a unique ride system. The queue is absolutely top-notch – well worth seeing alone. On the actual ride, I don’t feel that the mix of movie screens and physical sets works as well as it might have if it had been in 3D, or if the screens had been not used at all. In terms of similar ride experiences (if you can make a comparison to anything else out there) I believe that Spiderman has a better overall ride experience, as does Indiana Jones at Disneyland. There is no doubt about it, this is a VERY solid addition to Islands of Adventure, and guests are going to flock to it. It doesn’t change the world of themed attractions as some commentators online have hyped it to do, but it does show that Universal are capable of creating top-tier themed environments and can harness innovative ride systems. I’m really looking forward to see what they do next!
If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to try answer them. Enjoy your visit when you get to experience it for yourself!
SPOILER-SAFE COMMENTS
Hogsmeade Village is beautiful to look at. No question there, it’s been very well done from a visual point-of-view, and any Potter fans will be sure to like what they see. Hogwarts looks wonderful looking on the horizon with the village in the foreground. It suffers a little with scale once you get close up, but from within the village area, it looks amazing. Being nit-picky, you can see some of the show building, which I really wish they would fully hide. It's very visible from the Jurrasic park side, but surprisingly is also visible from with Hogsmeade itself. When so much effort has gone into the details, it would seem hard for them to leave it like this.
The Village is not particularly big. It takes perhaps 3 or 4 minutes to walk from the entry archway to the end of the street. Something that is glaring obvious from these limited previews is that this place is going to seriously suffer once the crowds are in. With the few hundred guests in the area for the soft opening, it felt fairly busy, even with that small number. Once it’s open to all and you have potentially thousands of guests there, it’s going to be very crowded. I feel that some of the charm of the small village feel will be lost when full of guests, but we’ll see.
The queue for Forbidden Journey is probably the best queue for any attraction anywhere. The closest comparison for me would probably be Indiana Jones at DL. It certainly eclipses every queue at Universal Orlando. More on this in the spoiler section.
The ride itself is very good. I have to fall short of saying it’s the best, as I feel that Spiderman at IOA is superior, as are some Disney attractions. More on this in the spoiler section below.
The interiors of all the shops are tiny. Great when there are 5 or 10 people in the store, but you have to think that when this place is full, the shops will be unbearably crowded.
The 3 Broomsticks restaurant is very nicely done, with a good English-style menu, including a breakfast. Indoor and outdoor seating is available, but not particularly high capacity. I did notice that the Fish and Chips was served with wedges and not chips, minor point, but in a place seeking authenticity, this needs to be replaced with proper English-style chips.
Olivanders wand shop is a very neat show. Again, it depends on how busy it is. Capacity can be no more than around 20-25 guests. There is no queue area, so I really don’t see how this is going to work when it fully opens. Once inside, a beautifully detailed shop allows one guest to be selected, and then for a wand to ‘choose them’. It’s around a 5 minute show, and has some neat effects and charm. The actor shop owner was excellent.
The much talked about Butter Beer is sold in the middle of the street from a cart, and also inside the Three Broomsticks ($3.99 for 16oz). I tried the frozen variety. It’s interesting, but not something that I would get again – tastes vanilla-ry to me.
The two old coasters that have been integrated have been seen before, so I'm not going ot say a lot about them. The real interesting stuff is the new ride and the village itself.
WARNING!!
SPOILERS
I want to go into a few areas in a bit more detail, but before I do, this section will contain spoilers. So if you don’t want to know any of the specific details, stop reading now and head down to the OVERALL section at the bottom. You’ve been warned! I’d also point out that I am not a Harry Potter fanatic (just a theme park fanatic), so I’m not up on all the specifics of characters and storylines – you’ll have to visit yourself to take all that in!
The most anticipated part of this new land is the brand new Forbidden Journey ride. I’ll look at in some more details here, in two sections (queue and ride).
THE QUEUE
The queue to this attraction is for me the best anywhere. It begins as you approach Hogwarts, and take in the beautiful eye-candy. You enter the building into dimly lit cavern type rooms. At the beginning of the queue is the typical Universal locker setup (which I am not a fan of, but hey, that’s their thing). As you move through the buildings, you get a great feeling of immersion into the environment. The lighting is dim, but perfect. You get a real feel of being inside the Potter world. Each room is similar in style, but different. The portrait rooms are spectacular. The images on the pictures move and interact with each other in a very convincing way. It will be fun to see people notice they are moving for the first time.
The headmaster, Dumbledore, appears in his room via projection that is nicely done. It appears to be the same system used in Disaster over at Universal Studios, or similar to the Nemo projections at Epcot. (Looks to be a high quality projector using a mesh screen). The effect is fairly convincing, and helps to set the mood and story. The room he is in is spectacular – detail everywhere.
There is an exterior part of the queue, set in a greenhouse. It felt hot, and could be trouble in the summer, but it looked good, and was nicely distressed and aged. I did notice a convenient snack cart – so I’m sure when you are baking in the heat, a friendly Universal team member will be on hand to sell you some refreshments.
We then move into another interior room where the three stars of the movie introduce us to the story of the ride, and to begin our journey. They again use the same projection system, and it’s well executed. We even experienced a snow flurry (think Main Street USA at Magic Kingdom Christmas parties). More rooms follow, and are just as detailed. Something to note is that all of the rooms are FULLY realized. There are no exposed ceilings, no AC ducts, just top theming from floor to ceiling. Only the EXIT signs tell you that you may not really be there.
THE RIDE
The ride uses a brand new ride system involving Kuka Robot arms, mounted onto a track. Each robot arm carries an ‘Enchanted Bench’, each holding 4 guests, complete with overhead restraints and onboard audio. Each seat is separated with a dividing screen, similar to the setup on Mission Space at Epcot. The boarding area is very well executed, with a moving belt, aligned with the vehicles. It’s actually a very similar setup to Nemo at the Living Seas. The vehicles never stop moving, and you board as it moves along. The restraint is an overhead, rollercoaster style setup. Like Mission Space, the vehicle could be claustrophobic for some people, as you are in a confined space, but you do a have a clear view infront of you, and not an onboard screen. Something to note, there does appear to be weight limit. Outside of the ride entrance, there is a test vehicle where you can sit and see if you are within the weight limits. I don't have specifics of what that weight is, but I have heard suggestions it's in the 250lbs max area. If you don't try the test vehicle outside, there is also a test vehicle right before loading. I did see some guests directed into this area.
The ride vehicle moves along the track, and has a high degree of motion on the end of the robot arm. So think of Sum of All Thrills at Epcot (video at http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions/The-Sum-of-All-Thrills/Video.htm), on a moving track. This allows the vehicle to move through show scenes, and to carry out dynamic maneuvers, interacting with the environment.
The show scenes are of two types, real physical sets, and large movie screens. The large movie screens are similar in style to Soarin at Epcot. The vehicle is suspended in front of the screen, and the on screen movie gives the impression of flight. The screens are 2D, not very large (I estimate quarter size of Soarin), and are not as optically clear as Soarin. The physical set scenes reminded me slightly of ET, with cave style walls, and set pieces decorating the environment. The ride transitions between the movie screens and the real physical sets three or four times. For me, the most effective part of the ride by far was the real physical set scenes. I felt the movie scenes were not very well done, Soarin has clearer imagery, and a gives much better feeling of flight. The video was slightly blurry, and contained digital artifacts that were distracting. What made it worse was how close the vehicle was to the screen. The transition between the movie screens and the real sets was also very jarring. You are looking at what is an obvious screen, and then suddenly are swung into a real set. Unlike Spiderman, where I feel the movie and sets blend together very well, here, it’s very obvious you are moving between screen and set. 3D would seem to have been an obvious choice here, not sure why that was not done. I feel it may have helped a lot.
The motion of the vehicle is very cool. If you have been on Sum of All Thrill at Epcot you get the idea. The robot arm is capable of quick, sudden movements, and it can swing you around in all positions. The ride has no inversions, but there are parts where you are laying on your back, and close on being upside-down. This is a ride where you want to be real careful of anything in your pockets. There are no positive Gs to keep things pushed down, so anything in your pockets is likely to end up on the floor. The robot arm moves along a track, but it does so fairly slowly, so you don’t get a specific feeling of speed. The motion of the vehicle is so dynamic that you really don’t know that you are moving along a track. From this point of view, it really is unique. I imagine a lot of guests are going to have no idea what they have actually been on. It’s magic! In terms of physical motion, I think most guests will be comfortable with it. It’s not overly aggressive, so I would say the vast majority of people will be able to ride without issue.
The physical sets are well done. Lighting is good, a lot is happening, and you will need multiple rides to take it all in. There are some ‘in your face’ effects, including air blasts and water sprays – right in your face. There are no animatronics inside the actual ride. There are some animated figures that move, but nothing that could be called a real animatronic (think the spiders in Tough to be a Bug at Animal Kingdom). In the queue area there is a small animatronic ‘Sorting Hat’ that is very nicely done. One striking thing about the sets is how the ride vehicle puts you VERY close to things. You are not far away from being able to touch these things.
I found the storyline to be a bit hectic, and it’s probably best left for you to experience yourself. But in a nutshell, you take to the skies in a Quidditch match, and encounter some problems along the way. There is a lot of “avoid this”, “just missed that”, “over-here!” type things happening, and it’s largely non-stop action. The actual ride is approximately 4 minutes long, and I’m sure Harry Potter fans will get a lot more out of the story than someone not-familiar with it.
The audio, throughout both the queue and the ride, is in some places unintelligible. I notice this in a lot of Universal attractions, and it's a problem now, even with few guests in the building. The audio is echoy and levels are poorly set. This does not help with understanding the story fully, and you do feel like you are missing important dailog.
OVERALL
Overall, the ride is really well executed, and Universal deserves a lot of credit for trying such a unique ride system. The queue is absolutely top-notch – well worth seeing alone. On the actual ride, I don’t feel that the mix of movie screens and physical sets works as well as it might have if it had been in 3D, or if the screens had been not used at all. In terms of similar ride experiences (if you can make a comparison to anything else out there) I believe that Spiderman has a better overall ride experience, as does Indiana Jones at Disneyland. There is no doubt about it, this is a VERY solid addition to Islands of Adventure, and guests are going to flock to it. It doesn’t change the world of themed attractions as some commentators online have hyped it to do, but it does show that Universal are capable of creating top-tier themed environments and can harness innovative ride systems. I’m really looking forward to see what they do next!
If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to try answer them. Enjoy your visit when you get to experience it for yourself!
