Fast & Furious- Supercharged details officially released

[Casper Gutman]

Like I said, I'll withhold judgement till I see the final product. I'm not expecting E-ticket theming, far from it. I may be surprised though

I think the goal for this project was to get rid of the Dragon Challenge eyesore, not to create anything of great substance. But we shall see. I've yet to be impressed by Universal since Diagon, and since Warner thought Hippogrith was worthy, I don't see anything changing here.

Again, Diagon was less then four years ago. Since then, Springfield and Kong (even if you don’t like the ride, the queue is great) have been strong additions.

Nothing Uni has done related to HP has been anything less then very very good.

If Uni had only wanted to get rid of DD, they could have followed the Disney model and simply torn it down and let the space molder for a decade or two.

 

[Stripes]

Again, Diagon was less then four years ago. Since then, Springfield and Kong (even if you don’t like the ride, the queue is great) have been strong additions.

Nothing Uni has done related to HP has been anything less then very very good.

If Uni had only wanted to get rid of DD, they could have followed the Disney model and simply torn it down and let the space molder for a decade or two.

Hippogrith kinda stinks. I get that it was rethemed from Unicorn, but then they copied it in Hollywood and Japan, which says a lot.

DC pulled in a lot of capacity that they can't just bail on, they have to replace it with something. I've been let down by Universal too many times recently to get my hopes up for this project.

Btw, I'm very obsessive, and a massive Potter fan. I could give you a list of the number of things in Diagon Alley that aren't authentic, things that most people just glance over are very important to me. Don't get me wrong they got almost everything right, but it's the little things.

Kong queue is great except for the ceiling. It screams cheap.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Again, Diagon was less then four years ago. Since then, Springfield and Kong (even if you don’t like the ride, the queue is great) have been strong additions.

Springfield came before Diagon... 2013. It's also pretty weak, not that I expected or would want them to do something elaborate for it.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Hippogrith kinda stinks. I get that it was rethemed from Unicorn, but then they copied it in Hollywood and Japan, which says a lot.

Yeah... I get leaving it in for the Orlando version, but copying it two more times instead of something better is typical Universal laziness. Kind of like how in the other two versions they copied it so close that they even left the archway entrance for Dragon Challenge in the final design.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Springfield came before Diagon... 2013. It's also pretty weak, not that I expected or would want them to do something elaborate for it.

Springfield is a wonderful retheming of what had been a lousy area of the park. It was done quickly, effectively, and wasn’t ballyhooed by the PR department as an earth-shattering new attraction. Uni saw a problem and fixed the problem. It’s exactly what high end theme parks should do.

Hippogrif is a fine C-ticket counterpart to FJ. It’s cute and not visually obtrusive, thus not breaking the theming of the area. It’s akin to one of the Cars Land flat rides - on its own it would be lackluster, but it fits well into the whole of Hogsmeade.

This idea about “Uni laziness” is an insane narrative. Of course theme park chains with multiple locations try to reuse rides and even lands to save money - Disney is doing that RIGHT NOW with Star Wars. I wish they did it less within the US, but acting as though it’s unique to Uni is disingenuous. Uni has been building EXTREMELY aggressively, and it has had significantly more hits then misses. It has also recently opened two of the best themed lands in the world. FaF is garbage, but there’s a real desire here to rip that ride out of historical context and brandish it as representative of Uni’s overall recent quality.

 

[Musicman20]

Isn't Hippogrith meant to just be a light entertainment ride for the younger generation? I went a few years back with my sisters kids and they couldn't wait to go on.

 

[JT3000]

Like I said, I'll withhold judgement till I see the final product. I'm not expecting E-ticket theming, far from it. I may be surprised though

I think the goal for this project was to get rid of the Dragon Challenge eyesore, not to create anything of great substance. But we shall see. I've yet to be impressed by Universal since Diagon, and since Warner thought Hippogrith was worthy, I don't see anything changing here.

You're not expecting E-ticket level theming on an E-ticket? A Potter E-ticket!? Have you not seen everything else they've done with this IP? This isn't at all comparable to Hippogriff, which is actually well (re)themed for a kiddie coaster. Was it worth cloning? Maybe not, but that doesn't tell us anything about a new, built-from-scratch *major* attraction's quality. They're two completely different situations.

Isn't Hippogrith meant to just be a light entertainment ride for the younger generation? I went a few years back with my sisters kids and they couldn't wait to go on.

It was originally built as simple filler a year after the park opened (along with Storm Force in Marvel.) They had a little corner with nothing in it, so they put something that would fit there. They didn't know it would become part of the park's most popular area.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Okay, I take back what I said about Hippogriff.

Springfield is a wonderful retheming of what had been a lousy area of the park.

But it really isn't that great. It's more of a collection of recognizable things from The Simpsons meant for photo ops than something that is in any way immersive. I do agree that it's a huge improvement over what was there, however, and I wouldn't want them to waste money on an immersive Simpsons area. I say that as a former huge fan of the show, but it's been bad for almost 20 years now and for some reason it's still going.

FaF is garbage, but there’s a real desire here to rip that ride out of historical context and brandish it as representative of Uni’s overall recent quality.

UOR's previous two attractions have been more in line with F&F than WWoHP. In all honesty, to me WWoHP stands out as the clear exception (up to this point and of the better part of the last decade and change) in which Universal was willing to go the full distance to create something great.

 

[lazyboy97o]

My worry with the new coaster is that it ends up too much just going rather directly from scene to scene.

 

[cheezbat]

Hippogrith kinda stinks. I get that it was rethemed from Unicorn, but then they copied it in Hollywood and Japan, which says a lot.
.

I feel the same way with the Barnstormer at Magic Kingdom. That 'temporary' land got axed for the Fantasyland expansion, yet when the expansion debuted, there the same basic ride stood...along with the same ugly tents. The expansion would have been a perfect opportunity to build something of substance. Seems to me both companies love to be cheap at times.

 

[MisterPenguin]

My worry with the new coaster is that it ends up too much just going rather directly from scene to scene.

Just make sure it doesn't come to a full stop at any of the scenes, or else, it can't properly be called a 'ride.'

Source...

Nope. Having the ride vehicle stop to tell the story is an example of WDI being incapable of telling a story.

Stopping to look at something isn't a ride. You need to have continual motion unless the story calls for you to stop. This can be your ride vehicle is frozen, the ride vehicle "breaks down," etc. But you can't have the ride vehicle stop without reason and call it a ride. The Carousel of Progress is not a ride, it's a show.

 

[TROR]

You're misunderstanding my original point but I'm a plane so I can't defend it

 

[Bairstow]

... I'm a plane ...

Well that would certainly explain why you are distrustful of things that temporarily stop or slow down.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I think more accurately, a thrill ride shouldn’t be composed primarily of show stops. Gringotts is a letdown for this reason. It starts out with a really great roller coaster element, only to be proceeded with show stop, show stop, show stop.

If the new coaster is anything like this it’s gonna be a huge letdown.

 

[Eckert]

I think more accurately, a thrill ride shouldn’t be composed primarily of show stops. Gringotts is a letdown for this reason. It starts out with a really great roller coaster element, only to be proceeded with show stop, show stop, show stop.

If the new coaster is anything like this it’s gonna be a huge letdown.

I've always thought the launch should've been first and the drop at the end. The first scene builds up so much expectation right off the bat that...

 

[OG Runner]

I feel the same way with the Barnstormer at Magic Kingdom. That 'temporary' land got axed for the Fantasyland expansion, yet when the expansion debuted, there the same basic ride stood...along with the same ugly tents. The expansion would have been a perfect opportunity to build something of substance. Seems to me both companies love to be cheap at times.

Do you know how the seating is on the Hippogriff? The seats on the Barnstormer seem sized for children. I am not very tall
and felt like my legs were crunched in the Barnstormer.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I've always thought the launch should've been first and the drop at the end. The first scene builds up so much expectation right off the bat that...

It's possible that for the rest of the ride's scenes to be as rapidfire as they are, the tilting track had to be the first element. But yeah, it really does set things off on a really high note, only to never be met again. Even the second launch only has you spin around a corner and then it's over immediately.

Pacing has always been one of Universal's biggest flaws in their attraction design. Spider-Man is an example of where they got it right - things gradually get crazier and more out of control as the ride goes on, culminating with being raised into the air and flying around. Too often they just immediately amp the chaos up to 11 and never let off the throttle.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Do you know how the seating is on the Hippogriff? The seats on the Barnstormer seem sized for children. I am not very tall
and felt like my legs were crunched in the Barnstormer.

They’re both Vekoma Junior Coasters.

 

[Bairstow]

It's possible that for the rest of the ride's scenes to be as rapidfire as they are, the tilting track had to be the first element. But yeah, it really does set things off on a really high note, only to never be met again. Even the second launch only has you spin around a corner and then it's over immediately.

Pacing has always been one of Universal's biggest flaws in their attraction design. Spider-Man is an example of where they got it right - things gradually get crazier and more out of control as the ride goes on, culminating with being raised into the air and flying around. Too often they just immediately amp the chaos up to 11 and never let off the throttle.

That's more of a recent issue with their rides, though.

Things like Mummy, Men in Black, Jurassic Park, and even Jaws had/have excellent pacing.

Along those lines, Gringotts was a moderate disappointment for me because the coaster has exactly one good trick up its sleeve and does it right away. That and it desperately needed at least half a minute of actual speed through practical sets, none of which needed to be that elaborate or big. Not having ride vehicle trains pass within sight of each other was a huge missed opportunity too.

 

[JoeCamel]

I think more accurately, a thrill ride shouldn’t be composed primarily of show stops. Gringotts is a letdown for this reason. It starts out with a really great roller coaster element, only to be proceeded with show stop, show stop, show stop.

If the new coaster is anything like this it’s gonna be a huge letdown.

Gringotts was supposed to be a thrill ride?