Harry Potter IS making a difference!!

[thelookingglass]

My problem with IOA is that what they offer doesn't justify the price. Their lineup is the same as a mid pack six flags park or what great adventure offered in the late 70's. uni management let ioa just sit stagnate for almost a decade until they added forbidden journey; with the wwhp expansion they went the cheap route by retheming 2/3 of the rides.

Really? Because roller coasters like Hulk and Dueling Dragons did not exist in the 70s. A Six Flags type park in the 70's was lucky to have a crappy Arrow corkscrew, a mine train, and a wooden coaster.

If you say that rides like Jurassic Park, Dudley-Do-Right, Popeye, etc, are just "Six Flags rides with theming", well, you can say the same thing about Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, Everest, etc.

The thing about IOA and "sitting" for a decade is that it didn't necessarily need the additions to avoid being stale, because when it opened it was so "fresh." Even in 2009, before Harry Potter, I never thought of IOA as feeling stale.

And WWoHP was NOT cheap, with a price tag of over 200 million dollars.

I get the feeling nothing we say is going to sway your ignorant comments, however.

 

[ChrisFL]

My family is down in Orlando for the holidays and we went over to Universal yesterday to see the new Harry Potter area.
We all left totally underwhelmed.
The Harry Potter ride that had been so highly touted was not worth the seventy minute wait. The images on the screen were poor in quality and the jerky nature of the ride felt like a cross between Spiderman (which I think is the worst ride I have ever been on in my life) and your local Halloween house of terror. There was so much more that could have been done with that ride. What a waist.
The theme of the Harry Potter land and the overall look of the buildings was neat but Universal seemed put very little thought into crowd control. Those who were not there at the opening found themselves force to stand in a holding pattern (for two hours) just to get into the Harry Potter area of the park. Once inside the area it was then over a two hour wait for the ride and over an hour wait to get into the wand store which appears to have been designed with no more than 400 square feet of floor space. It was another 45 minutes to get into the general Harry Potter gift shop and thirty minutes to see the candy shop.
Luckily we were there at the rope drop, but it still proved to be an overcrowded mess. Lines crossed over each other and some visitors seemed to join lines without even knowing what they were waiting for.
The area is just too small for the number of people wanting to visit it right now and the staff at Universal did not seem able to handle the crowd control needed.
This is one Disney family who will not be going back to Universal. We have traveled all over the world visiting amusement parks and I have never been so disappointed in a park experience. In my opinion, it was a complete waste of time and money for the entertainment provided.

The shops and area of the Wizarding World were specifically designed to be the size, per specific request of J.K. Rowling.

So in other words, if it was built at Disney, they would have had the same size issues.

As for the rides, I'll just disagree with you, especially Spiderman

 

[flavious27]

It also has, the best theme park restaurant in the world, a few highly themed shows (Poseidon's Fury and Sinbad), a great dark ride in The Cat in the Hat, incredibly well themed Seuss Landing.

You also didn't mention Spiderman, the previous best dark ride in the world by many accounts, before Forbidden Journey

what 3d dark ride with a 1 minute queue video that loops and loops and loops did you think I was mentioning?

 

[flavious27]

The shops and area of the Wizarding World were specifically designed to be the size, per specific request of J.K. Rowling.

So in other words, if it was built at Disney, they would have had the same size issues.

As for the rides, I'll just disagree with you, especially Spiderman

If they were built by disney, they would have been bigger to accommodate the crowds of people that would be in them. This might one of the reason that disney wasn't able to reach an agreement with the three brick tapper's vision.

 

[flavious27]

Really? Because roller coasters like Hulk and Dueling Dragons did not exist in the 70s. A Six Flags type park in the 70's was lucky to have a crappy Arrow corkscrew, a mine train, and a wooden coaster.

If you say that rides like Jurassic Park, Dudley-Do-Right, Popeye, etc, are just "Six Flags rides with theming", well, you can say the same thing about Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, Everest, etc.

The thing about IOA and "sitting" for a decade is that it didn't necessarily need the additions to avoid being stale, because when it opened it was so "fresh." Even in 2009, before Harry Potter, I never thought of IOA as feeling stale.

And WWoHP was NOT cheap, with a price tag of over 200 million dollars.

I get the feeling nothing we say is going to sway your ignorant comments, however.

Cheap as in cheapens the experience. When sunset blvd was built, did they just retheme some existing rides?

And I talked about the lineup, as in the amount of comparable ride types; obviously the ride systems for hulk and dueling were not around in the 70's.

I feel that you are not getting what I am saying, if any other large theme park was treated the way uni did to ioa, the management would have been turned over.

 

[flavious27]

To be honest, I think the only thing that Disney could actually gain steam with is a new park, because the rest doesn't seem to measure up in the eyes of the public to HPW.

In the eyes of the public; when they announce a 5th park, there will be a hundred threads trashing it for not being the vision they wanted it to be.

 

[flavious27]

It also has, the best theme park restaurant in the world, a few highly themed shows (Poseidon's Fury and Sinbad), a great dark ride in The Cat in the Hat, incredibly well themed Seuss Landing.

You also didn't mention Spiderman, the previous best dark ride in the world by many accounts, before Forbidden Journey

I thought the best theme park restaurant was Pizza Planet at DHS, tell me more about this better place. Riding on The Cat in the Hat seemed like I was on some kind of trip, it has to scare some kids.

 

[marni1971]

The park with 3 coasters, 2 log flumes, a drop tower and a river rapids with some kiddie rides oh and the 3d dark ride with a 1 minute queue video that loops and loops and loops.

Yep - and for the most part incredibly themed.

Guess I won`t see you there

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

We have some serious contenders for fan boy of 2011 already or has someone got two log ins....mmmmmmm

 

[flavious27]

Yep - and for the most part incredibly themed.

Guess I won`t see you there

So you won't hold my spot in line for forbidden journey? Where is the love man?

 

[flavious27]

We have some serious contenders for fan boy of 2011 already or has someone got two log ins....mmmmmmm

I hope you don't mean me, a true fan boy sounds almost like a troll and won't give even the tiniest inch. See Apple and twilight fans.

 

[marni1971]

So you won't hold my spot in line for forbidden journey? Where is the love man?

Only if you let me take you around IOA to show you some of the great detail, theming and ride technology.

Then we can have dinner in the MK

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I am an expert on Twilight fans and am well aware they make even the most ardent Disney fanboy look lightweight.

But lets be Frank, or Edna if thats how you roll at weekends, you do seem to be having a bit of a hard time accepting that since it has stabilised its ownership issues Uni has upped its game, as have most of the Florida based attractions, while Disney has basked in its former glories and been willing to trade on nostalgia and good will.

Disney management loves much cheapness, and it would appear that in an unequalled bout of corporate loyalty some folk are willing to excuse and ignore many things that had it been another company, would have had them screaming from the roof tops.

 

[redshoesrock]

:fork:I always liked Disney's dark rides. Disney is BIG on dark rides, musical shows, and (most importantly) GOOD FOOD!

You know, if you like good theme park food, I highly recommend Sea World. All of their restaurants, counter-service and sit-down, are top notch.

 

[comics101]

The shops and area of the Wizarding World were specifically designed to be the size, per specific request of J.K. Rowling.

So in other words, if it was built at Disney, they would have had the same size issues.

As for the rides, I'll just disagree with you, especially Spiderman

Isn't that the reason Disney dropped Potter? I mean, I really don't know, I was just always under that impression...

As for the the poster you quoted, I completely agree with everything he said, and I'm far from a Universal basher. The Forbidden Journey was either too dark, jerky, etc. And I was soooo disapointed by the effects...The Dementors litterally looked like a stick with a styrafoam head and a black sheet drapped over it, the tree branch barely swung at all (if it did it was so dark it was barely visable), and the spiders were like, something from a Party City.

I understand the ride uses breakthrough technology and I think that's awesome, but there's no comparison to Spiderman, or even Jurassic Park (which may be my all time favorite Uni ride) when it comes to the fun level. Yes it's important to innovate, but I think it's more important to create memorable, fun experiences for the whole family. Potter was not that...well, it was memorable. I guess the concept was cool, but...imo Uni could've did better, and I hope the phase II that was mentioned on this thread turns out a little better.

As for the shops and crowd levels, I couldn't take it. I was litterally getting closturphobic. If Rowling really did request everything be that size then I hope she realizes her mistake...On paper, it does sound totally awesome to be able to visit Harry Potter's world exactly the way it should be, but executed in a theme park, it just doesn't work...I mean, WWoHP made Pixar Place or Sunset Blvd seem empty!

 

[Jrn14]

My family is down in Orlando for the holidays and we went over to Universal yesterday to see the new Harry Potter area.
We all left totally underwhelmed.
The Harry Potter ride that had been so highly touted was not worth the seventy minute wait. The images on the screen were poor in quality and the jerky nature of the ride felt like a cross between Spiderman (which I think is the worst ride I have ever been on in my life) and your local Halloween house of terror. There was so much more that could have been done with that ride. What a waist.
The theme of the Harry Potter land and the overall look of the buildings was neat but Universal seemed put very little thought into crowd control. Those who were not there at the opening found themselves force to stand in a holding pattern (for two hours) just to get into the Harry Potter area of the park. Once inside the area it was then over a two hour wait for the ride and over an hour wait to get into the wand store which appears to have been designed with no more than 400 square feet of floor space. It was another 45 minutes to get into the general Harry Potter gift shop and thirty minutes to see the candy shop.
Luckily we were there at the rope drop, but it still proved to be an overcrowded mess. Lines crossed over each other and some visitors seemed to join lines without even knowing what they were waiting for.
The area is just too small for the number of people wanting to visit it right now and the staff at Universal did not seem able to handle the crowd control needed.
This is one Disney family who will not be going back to Universal. We have traveled all over the world visiting amusement parks and I have never been so disappointed in a park experience. In my opinion, it was a complete waste of time and money for the entertainment provided.

I'm pretty much speechless... for someone who has traveled the world visiting amusement parks you think the "worst ride you've ever ridden" is one of the most highly admired rides from fans and industry experts alike... You complain about the effects on potter... have you seen some of the rides at Disney lately. I'm sorry you had your mind made up long before you stepped foot in the park... and I can't take your opinion seriously..> I can understand being dissappointed or let down.. .but claiming it was horrible and a complete waste of time and that spiderman is the worst ride you've ever ridden... come on... stop drinking the kool-aid.

 

[T-1MILLION]

As for the shops and crowd levels, I couldn't take it. I was litterally getting closturphobic. If Rowling really did request everything be that size then I hope she realizes her mistake...On paper, it does sound totally awesome to be able to visit Harry Potter's world exactly the way it should be, but executed in a theme park, it just doesn't work...I mean, WWoHP made Pixar Place or Sunset Blvd seem empty!

Considering Disney's flat attendance from previous figures and Universal's vast rising attendance figures I would agree.


The shops are packed now but in the future it will also make more business and show sense since you can go form shop to shop to get different things. They will be able to cut back on how many attendants the stores have years from now when the demand is lower. And since eventually everything fades out from the mainstreem it will last because of each store not being a huge undetaking to keep open. The stores are really not THAT tiny. They don't have a ride, show or an attraction exit into them either with the exception of Olivanders going into Dervish and Banges, which is the biggest store next to Filtch's which does have Forbidden Journey's filter.


Many of Disney's stores in the Hollywood Studios are just as small...its the demand right now that is different.

 

[fosse76]

Many of Disney's stores in the Hollywood Studios are just as small...its the demand right now that is different.

This. The shops at WWoHP aren't, generally, any smaller than many of the shops at WDW and any other theme/amusement park.

 

[powlessfamily4]

Reality vs Fanatics

I'm pretty much speechless... for someone who has traveled the world visiting amusement parks you think the "worst ride you've ever ridden" is one of the most highly admired rides from fans and industry experts alike... You complain about the effects on potter... have you seen some of the rides at Disney lately. I'm sorry you had your mind made up long before you stepped foot in the park... and I can't take your opinion seriously..> I can understand being dissappointed or let down.. .but claiming it was horrible and a complete waste of time and that spiderman is the worst ride you've ever ridden... come on... stop drinking the kool-aid.

I have often wondered if the ride is really that over the top, or if the fanatical attachment to the book and movies are what causes people to love it so much.
For instance - if you never read the Twighlight books or hung with people who did (and talked nonstop about them) - how great would you think the movies were? I saw the movie and frankly found the whole charade laughable.

I have never been into the Potter thing. I can honestly say I have never read the books and fell asleep during the one movie I tried to watch.

Now a great ride I love, I do not really care what the theme behind it is. I think on my next jaunt down to FL I am going to check it out. It will be interesting to see if it is a great ride, or just a great fanatical experience.

I am in no way trying to criticize the ride or those who love it. Nor am I coming our against the other park. (Universal used to be my favorite park back in the 90's)

I would just like to hear from someone who has not followed Potter and just tried the ride.

 

[Monsterfan99]

I have often wondered if the ride is really that over the top, or if the fanatical attachment to the book and movies are what causes people to love it so much.

I would just like to hear from someone who has not followed Potter and just tried the ride.

That would be me. My entire Potter exposure to the books and movies is basically the trailers. With that said, the land and ride are amazing. The attention to detail is something Disney had not touched in years here in FL. Even the bathrooms have theme to them, which stuns me to no end. The ride itself is a technological breakthrough for the standard dark ride the likes of which could change the theme park industry. This is one of the few cases where a dark ride could have zero story and it would be amazing.

The biggest problem in not being a Potter fan is much of the theme and ride make little sense. The attention to detail is it's own worst enemy here for making new fans. The ride needs more set-up in the massive queue to explain the story/elements to non-fans. My first ride I had no clue what was jumping out at me or why. However, once the major things are explained, it does make the ride more enjoyable.