Diagon Alley reviews thread

TalkingHead

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
Florean Fortescue's was letting guests sample the ice cream flavors tonight before they ordered. They weren't doing that the first time I visited.

An order of ice cream comes with two scoops, and they'll let you pick different flavors, if you want. Clotted cream was really good. I might've liked Earl Grey and Lavender better, but the flavor didn't go well with clotted cream.

The fizzy orange juice stuff was good too, as @71jason and some others had noted.

I had the shepherd's pie jacket potato from the Cabman's Shelter in London. For $7.99 I expected something more. It was a small baked potato with some shepherd's pie filling poured on top. Price aside, it's a challenge to eat unless you take it somewhere to sit down. (The fork and knife they serve it with should've been a clue.) For a few bucks more, you could eat at the Leaky Cauldron.

Weird, too, how AP discounts didn't apply at the Cabman's Shelter, but they do apply at the outdoor-counter service Hopping Pot.

Ever seen anyone dipping snuff (i.e. chewing tobacco) in the parks? Ever seen anyone spitting their tobacco juice on the ground in the parks? Want to know how convincing Knockturn Alley's outdoor effect is? I saw a guy spitting tobacco juice on the ground in there, because he was convinced it was outside. :rolleyes:
 
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K

KJC

Active Member
Timekeeper said:
Haven't park hopper tickets, for WDW and UOR, always been more expensive than single park tickets? Or did UOR offer single day hoppers at the same price as single day single park tickets before HE opened?

If hoppers were always more expensive, then any new feature that accommodates those hopper ticket holders is just a bonus feature and added incentive to opt for that ticketing option.

I think this horse is dead.
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Exactly. The argument that it's a cash grab would only work if Universal had increased the amount it costs to upgrade from one park to park hopper. Instead, they've added a special attraction for those who buy a park hopper ticket. Sure, more people will buy those tickets now. But it's not like they just drop them off and party's over. They get to explore an additional theme park for those forty dollars.

So not a crash grab at all. Just significantly added value for what we used to get for the same money without the Hogwarts Express.
 
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
Sometimes there is a girl paying violin in King's Cross instead of the sax player.

And the real cash grab ticketing option they were considering was to actually have ALL of Potter be a true "Theme Park Within A Theme Park". They considered having The Wizarding World be an add-on to your ticket. I don't think that there was an obvious easy answer to how to deal with the situation.
 
tahqa

tahqa

Well-Known Member
KJC said:
Exactly. The argument that it's a cash grab would only work if Universal had increased the amount it costs to upgrade from one park to park hopper. Instead, they've added a special attraction for those who buy a park hopper ticket. Sure, more people will buy those tickets now. But it's not like they just drop them off and party's over. They get to explore an additional theme park for those forty dollars.

So not a crash grab at all. Just significantly added value for what we used to get for the same money without the Hogwarts Express.
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I'm not saying that it's a cash grab, but Universal has increased the amount it costs to upgrade from one park to park hopper. In 2010 the one day park hopper had an increase of $30 over the base ticket price of $79. That's a bump of 38%. In 2013 it was a $36 dollar increase over the base ticket price of $92 for a bump of 39%. For this year the park hopper is an additional $40 over the $96 ticket which is a bump of 42%. So, yes, the cost of the hopper is definitely increasing.

The increase in a one day ticket from 2013 to 2014 was $4, or about 4%. The increase in the cost of a hopper was $4, again, or about %11.

Compare that to the cost of adding park hopping to a one day Disney ticket which only costs $20. Granted there's no special attraction for hopping there...
 
R

roodlesnouter

Active Member
So at Disney you can buy a park Hooper and hop between parks on a bus, a monorail or a boat.

At uni you can buy a park Hooper and hop between parks on the Hogwarts express.

Where is the difference? Other than Uni's mode of transport in a tad more elaborate.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
roodlesnouter said:
So at Disney you can buy a park Hooper and hop between parks on a bus, a monorail or a boat.

At uni you can buy a park Hooper and hop between parks on the Hogwarts express.

Where is the difference? Other than Uni's mode of transport in a tad more elaborate.
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The obvious difference is that the Hogwarts Express drops you off directly inside the other park from the inside of the other park. It's just a little more convenient than going outside the park to the bus/monorail station or boat dock. Plus it's just a 3 minute trip. Not saying Disney is horrible, just stating facts.
 
Ranch Dressing

Ranch Dressing

Well-Known Member
Having rode Gringrotts quite a few times now I can honestly say the ride just don't hold up like Spider-Man. The first time was great, but now I'll leave it for the tourists. That's when the ride is actually running.

Speaking of Spider-Man, has everyone seen the side by side video of Spider-Man and Transformers yet showing how its the rides mechanics are almost a carbon copy of each other? Pretty eye opening stuff.

As for the DA food offerings, I've tried a couple and most were terrible. I've personally only tried the lemonade, too much sugar. I don't even want to guess what kind of chemicals those drinks have in them, I would rather drink water.

The best thing in my opinion about DA is the rest of UO is pretty much dead. Please don't take this as negative, its not, its just that I wish there was more.
 
71jason

71jason

Well-Known Member
Ranch Dressing said:
As for the DA food offerings, I've tried a couple and most were terrible. I've personally only tried the lemonade, too much sugar. I don't even want to guess what kind of chemicals those drinks have in them, I would rather drink water.
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Not sure how you dismiss over a dozen things as terrible after only trying one, but ...

The fizzy orange drink is decent, tho like anything aimed at kids, on the sweet side. I found the Fish Ale sickly sweet, sugar overpowered any other flavors. The "eggs" were a cute touch, tho, make it more memorable.

The ice cream is quite good, the hard packed is premium quality, and both hard and soft offer unique flavors you just won't find at your local DQ.

I enjoyed the Dragon Scale beer; found the Wizard Brew a little sweet, which is not what I look for in a stout.
 
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
Ranch Dressing said:
Having rode Gringrotts quite a few times now I can honestly say the ride just don't hold up like Spider-Man. The first time was great, but now I'll leave it for the tourists. That's when the ride is actually running.

Speaking of Spider-Man, has everyone seen the side by side video of Spider-Man and Transformers yet showing how its the rides mechanics are almost a carbon copy of each other? Pretty eye opening stuff.

As for the DA food offerings, I've tried a couple and most were terrible. I've personally only tried the lemonade, too much sugar. I don't even want to guess what kind of chemicals those drinks have in them, I would rather drink water.

The best thing in my opinion about DA is the rest of UO is pretty much dead. Please don't take this as negative, its not, its just that I wish there was more.
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More? Really? 2 E-Tickets, 3 stage shows, Ollivander's, 30 interactive wand locations, a highly themed restaurant, 2 custom crafted beers and land specific food offerings, and a plethora of park only IP based merchandise. I am of the opinion that feels Universal swung for the fences on this one. But maybe it's just me.
 

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