Nintendo partnering with Universal to make attractions.

[lazyboy97o]

Ride envelope is not the only coaster or area safety.

Again, ask yourself why they would stop for that one wall the ride goes by when trees and scenic are right before and after?
I was there constantly for installations and then comissionig. I don't care if you underatand it or not but you are not going to passively call me a liar.

Understand what? You haven’t made any specific statements. You’re still misdescribing the space. There isn’t just one space where trees and scenery stop. Except under and at the entry tunnel the bulk of the building is devoid of any scenic treatment. The main volume is surrounded by a walkway on three sides, negating any claim of proximity to the building being the driving issue. The part under the building before entry is a great example of scenic elements being much closer to the track than the rest of the helix is to the show building. Being to close to the track can’t be the issue when the track closest to the building has a scenic treatment.

 

[celluloid]

Understand what? You haven’t made any specific statements. You’re still misdescribing the space. There isn’t just one space where trees and scenery stop. Except under and at the entry tunnel the bulk of the building is devoid of any scenic treatment. The main volume is surrounded by a walkway on three sides, negating any claim of proximity to the building being the driving issue. The part under the building before entry is a great example of scenic elements being much closer to the track than the rest of the helix is to the show building. Being to close to the track can’t be the issue when the track closest to the building has a scenic treatment.

Think about low points and how launch coasters work...or don't.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Think about low points and how launch coasters work...or don't.

So again with more [and different] wishy washy vagueness… The helix isn’t a low point nor does it have a launch. The walkway providing access to the spike launch doesn’t disallow anything else because it already goes under the building with immediately adjacent scenic elements.

There could be scenic overhead of the walkway. The scenic wall could have continued from beyond beneath the building. The helix could have just been in the building. There were a variety of options available and allowable by code. The decision, which you’ve already admitted, was made to focus resources elsewhere. That’s it. It wasn’t something forced by technicalities. It was a compromise that you’d absolutely be giving Disney crap about and this attraction had Disney-scale resources at its disposal.

 

[celluloid]

So again with more [and different] wishy washy vagueness… The helix isn’t a low point nor does it have a launch. The walkway providing access to the spike launch doesn’t disallow anything else because it already goes under the building with immediately adjacent scenic elements.

You are getting warmer.

 

[JT3000]

Gringotts' outdoor queue is used almost daily as the interior queue can only hold about 30-45 minutes' worth. The Smuggler's Run extended queue is something only done on busiest days of the year.

I've been riding Gringott's since it was brand new and I've been sent outside once, maybe twice. Otherwise it's always straight into the bank foyer (which, I might add, is also largely empty most of the time), so I find it really hard to believe it's being used "almost daily."

There are plenty of lousy views from the exterior covered queue at Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. You don’t have to get all the way to the extended queue to see those views. The covered queue is regularly used but even at slower times they’ll often send people down and back up, which means they’re getting the part where it’s easiest to see out to the backstage areas because you’re elevated.

That entire outdoor area they set up to the left of the building is the extended queue. I don't think it makes any difference whether you're still under the awning (not that I've ever seen the line long enough to leave it, or even use the entire thing.)

 

[Tom Morrow]

Yes, if it is used much the wait is beyond 3-4 hours.

Wait, does Gringotts have an additional extended queue outside somewhere that I don't know about? I am referring to the covered area you would enter by turning left once inside the main entrance rotunda to get to, before returning back to the big lobby. This outdoor queue is mostly covered but sections of it aren't if the whole thing fills up. They regularly use this queue, sometimes even just one or two switchbacks, because the interior queue again can only hold about 30-45 minutes worth. It's not the worst queue ever, but it's very basic and is the only immersion-breaking moment in Diagon Alley because you can see lots of backstage infrastructure beyond the fences that surround it and it's clear that you're no longer in a magical city.

Many recent? Or only recent? We can cite The Djsney Decade and prior bht we know that is not reality anymore. Tastes and endeavors change.

I don't think Toy Story Land and Mickey and Minnie's really commit to the bit better than Hagrids and certainly not Diagon

Galaxy's Edge was a direct committed greenlight due to Diagon Alley.

There are plenty of parts of IOA that were excellent and superior to many of Disney's more recent attempts.
All have areas and choices, but your never was quickly shut down and bias called out.

I didn't say recent, I just said that overall Disney does have a lot of examples of going all in and Universal has, excluding whatever Epic will give us, only Diagon Alley. I'm not suggesting that they do it all the time.

 

[celluloid]

Wait, does Gringotts have an additional extended queue outside somewhere that I don't know about? I am referring to the covered area you would enter by turning left once inside the main entrance rotunda to get to, before returning back to the big lobby. This outdoor queue is mostly covered but sections of it aren't if the whole thing fills up. They regularly use this queue, sometimes even just one or two switchbacks, because the interior queue again can only hold about 30-45 minutes worth. It's not the worst queue ever, but it's very basic and is the only immersion-breaking moment in Diagon Alley because you can see lots of backstage infrastructure beyond the fences that surround it and it's clear that you're no longer in a magical city.

I didn't say recent, I just said that overall Disney does have a lot of examples of going all in and Universal has, excluding whatever Epic will give us, only Diagon Alley. I'm not denying that they do it all the time.

So what you are saying is Universal is going towards doing this more often while Disney is getting harder to find recent examples?
We already acknowledge that Galaxy's Edge and Diagon are similar.

Listen, you said earlier when there is a will there is a way, but there is a other old addage that the one thing they don't make more of is real estate.

Universal has an extended cover area that was designed to only be used when the wait nears 3 hours. You might walk through it due to bad operations, but that is a different topic altogether.

Universal is a resort best at fitting and willing a way to limited real estate. They have much more cause to squeeze efficiency of curtesy and safety. They also habe half the resources or less in general.

Yet as soon as they got land, they are filling most of it with immersion lands. Three pretty solid ones. And others that are still esthetically greater than most oher resorts.

I don't see them not going 100 percent all in on anything. Particularly when over 200 tree forest was made to.ckver whenever they can. It is not like they left tje show building as is or go away green.

Ever ride the WDW RR or walk the Tomorrowland path? No excuses for plenty of things at WDW.
I would even say the umberella extended queue at Guardians of The Galaxy fits into that.
So let's not act like it is worlds better in current philosophy over at WDW.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Okay so here's what we're discussing. They couldn't put any kind of physical texture on this wall to make it not look like a painted building because...?

Red = in clear view while on the ride. Purple = less important but viewable from the queue. The other parts of the building you can't see from the queue or you're facing away from it, but these two sections have always been baffling to me.

 

[celluloid]

Because of room it was a creative choice to go with a tromper. A backdrop illusion to create more distance. It is not a facade but a backdrop to continue a large forest. This is common in the industry.

Energy Pavilion, ET and the Grand Canyon at DL come to mind as does old Omnimover attractions.
Front row on ride this is what you see but it is fairly quick.

 

[sedati]

When this was under construction, I always assumed the spike would be a tree with a spider hanging down over us as we reversed.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Wait, does Gringotts have an additional extended queue outside somewhere that I don't know about? I am referring to the covered area you would enter by turning left once inside the main entrance rotunda to get to, before returning back to the big lobby. This outdoor queue is mostly covered but sections of it aren't if the whole thing fills up.

The extended queue is technically just the furthest uncovered portions of the outdoor queue.

When this was under construction, I always assumed the spike would be a tree with a spider hanging down over us as we reversed.

Show scenes around the spike were cut.

 

[bwr827]

I’ve ridden Hagrid’s a bunch; which part is the “spike”? Not familiar with the term.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I’ve ridden Hagrid’s a bunch; which part is the “spike”? Not familiar with the term.

The part where you go up and then come down in reverse.

 

[DonniePeverley]

Got to say the ride length for the Donkey Kong attraction is pitiful.

Why cut corners on length when you are looking at an attraction that would last 30 plus years. Build an attraction properly.

Just bizarre how the mindnset of these operations work.

 

[andre85]

Got to say the ride length for the Donkey Kong attraction is pitiful.

well, it is certainly full of pits

 

[ToTBellHop]

Heavily used? I've never seen them use Gringott's extended queue.

I went through it Christmas week a couple years back.

 

[JT3000]

I went through it Christmas week a couple years back.

I can't imagine why.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I can't imagine why.

Just pointing out this isn’t as black-and-white as some suggest. It’s neither used all the time nor used never. It’s used some of the time.

I actually didn’t think it was awful for an extended queue.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I know this debate will just go in circles, buuut one last time:

So what you are saying is Universal is going towards doing thus more often while Disney is getting harder to find recent examples?
We already acknowledge that Galaxy's Edge and Diagon are similar.

No, I'm not saying this at all. Universal has ONLY ever once gone all in, and it's with Diagon Alley (Gringotts extended queue aside). Disney has many recent examples and many decades-old examples as well. Universal has a lot to prove with Epic but with the shortcuts taken with the DK coaster, as well as Mario Kart also missing the mark as an attraction that delivers what people want out of the IP, I believe we should anticipate Epic with cautious optimism rather than blind praise that it will be the most immersive and amazing theme park ever.

Universal has an extended cover area that was designed to only be used when the wait nears 3 hours. You might walk through it due to bad operations, but that is a different topic altogether.

Not sure why you guys keep suggesting this area is rarely used. The indoor queue only holds 30-45 minutes worth. I have been through at least a little bit of this outdoor queue about half of all the times I've ever ridden Gringotts.

Universal is a resort best at fitting and willing a way to limited real estate. They have much more cause to squeeze efficiency of curtesy and safety. They also habe half the resources or less in general.

Enclosing that extended queue to make it an extension of the bank building would have taken up the same amount of space. This is exactly why Universal receives this kind of criticism. To go all-in on immersion for a land but not do the sliiiightest bit more to ensure the immersion isn't broken with backstage infrastructure views in half of the land's main attraction's queue is just odd.

Not sure where you’re getting “half the resources” from?

Yet as soon as they got land, they are filling most of it with immersion lands. Three pretty solid ones. And others that are still esthetically greater than most oher resorts.

It's undoubtedly going to be a very nice looking park. But if the DK Coaster having several obvious weaknesses is any indication, we should at least anticipate there being more "hmm, why didn't they do a little more here?" moments around the park

I don't see them not going 100 percent all in on anything. Particularly when over 200 tree forest was made to.ckver whenever they can. It is not like they left tje show building as is or go away green.

So why not do a little more? A little bit more would have put Hagrid's on the thematic immersive coaster level of the all-time greats like Big Thunder Mountain. Why not do it? At that price tag, how much more would some actual thematic touches on the building have really added to the budget?

Ever ride the WDW RR or walk the Tomorrowland path? No excuses for plenty of things at WDW.
I would even say the umberella extended queue at Guardians of The Galaxy fits into that.
So let's not act like it is worlds better in current philosophy over at WDW.

Again, Disney is not free of this criticism but they have far more examples of doing it completely right throughout their history.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Got to say the ride length for the Donkey Kong attraction is pitiful.

Why cut corners on length when you are looking at an attraction that would last 30 plus years. Build an attraction properly.

Just bizarre how the mindnset of these operations work.

Time-wise, it's about the same as Tron. But there just aren't that many elements packed into it. It doesn't do a whole lot and much of the ride time is spent on lifts and blocks.