CedarPoint6
Hyper Poster
Hey guys! It's been a little while. I've done a ton of park trips lately, but thought a few hours at Harry Potter might be worth a report. This was written a little more for non-coaster enthusiasts, but hopefully you'll enjoy that and some of the pictures!
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Easily the biggest theme park news of the year, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened a few weeks ago to massive crowds. Universal had a winner before the area even opened, with the Harry Potter name drawing interest from people who might not even be interested in theme parks. The millions of dollars Universal put into the section were well spent, and the quality of the section is apparent. So here’s a review of Islands of Adventure’s newest area from someone who is not terribly well versed in the Harry Potter cult.
The Wizarding World has two areas—the town of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. Hogsmeade makes up the majority of the section with lots of shop, the Three Broomsticks restaurant, and Dragon’s Challenge, the rethemed version of Dueling Dragons. As you might expect, the village gets packed with people. There’s quite a bit to look at, especially for the Harry Potter fan. All the shops have window displays and there are many photo ops around the alley from characters to exhibits. Be prepared for some lines, of course. One failing is that the shops are much too small and feel very cramped. If you want to get into Ollivanders Wand Shop, you’ll have to wait as they only allow a certain amount of people in at one time. The architecture of the area looks fantastic. I’ll go ahead and assume it’s like the books or movies since it seems many of the Potter fans are impressed as well. Universal’s attention to detail is apparent everywhere… although there is still a distinct lack of seating areas and shade. We can hope this will change soon as it can make Hogsmeade very unpleasant, especially when it’s packed with people! But that said, the village looks great and is very convincing.
Those who have been to Islands of Adventure before are sure to remember, Dueling Dragons- the dueling B&M inverted coasters with several near misses along the ride. Another of the highlights was the expansive queue line that was essentially an attraction within itself. With the conversion into the Harry Potter area, there came good news and bad news. The good news is that the ride got a nice rehab and renewed interested. The bad news is that the awesome queue line is no more. Part of the conversion to Dragon’s Challenge dictated the gutting of the wonderful queue line. Although there’s still fantastic theming all the way through, it’s not the same by any means. The ride itself still runs great and the dueling effect can’t be beaten. They’re still the top coaster(s) in this park.
For me, the real draw to this section is the new ride: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. This ride is located in the Hogwarts castle at the back of the section. The castle itself is gorgeous and uses forced perspective to make it seem a whole lot larger than it really is. On this particular trip, the queue was 90 minutes long; an unfortunately long wait, although one which ended up being very much worth it. The queue line is very well themed at the beginning and the end, although the middle is oddly simple and features mostly cattlepen type waiting areas that would be great with a little extra scenery. Once the crowds lighten up, this area should pass by without having to wait in this area. Once inside the caslte, the queue winds through many different rooms themed to the Harry Potter world as the story is explained. I won’t try and cover the story since I’m sure a lot of it passed over my un-Harry-Potter-educated head. The queue is very extensive, but eventually you’ll reach the loading area, lit by hundreds of candles hanging from above.
***Caution: this next part talks about the mechanics of the ride and some of the things it does. No story spoilers, however. Don’t read it if you want a complete and total surprise.***
HP&TFJ is the first ride of its type in the world. 4 seats in a row are mounted to a robotic arm that is mounted to a track. The cars run one right after another around the layout while the arms move and spin the seats. It makes for a potentially disorienting ride. Thankfully, it’s not overly intense or crazy—just a pretty solid ride in general. I’ll be honest in that I didn’t follow the story to all the details they shoved in there. I was more interested in the technology of the ride itself. The robot arms allow for a huge range of motion on both the ride vehicles and several of the animatronics that are also mounted to arms. HP&TFJ uses a combination of movie screens and animatronics that are integrated seamlessly together and create a unique experience that differentiates it from the Spiderman ride next door. The video screen segments of the ride are some of the best I’ve experienced as I didn’t notice any screen edges and the motion was all very fluid. They spent a ton of money, and it shows. The proximity to many of the animatronics and scenes is almost uncomfortably close, an exciting change from other rides of similar intent. And thankfully, the ride’s cycle is quite long—making things a little more worthwhile for everybody who just waited over an hour to ride.
All in all, the Wizarding World is a solid addition to Islands of Adventure. Although it’s cramped, and the crowds can be incredibly unpleasant, Universal definitely put the money where it needed to go. The architecture is incredible and the Forbidden Journey is a much needed addition to the park’s ride lineup. Harry Potter fans will love the area and people who don’t know Harry Potter so well (like me) will also be very impressed. As long as the Harry Potter franchise continues to be popular, this section will do very well.
--------------------
Easily the biggest theme park news of the year, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened a few weeks ago to massive crowds. Universal had a winner before the area even opened, with the Harry Potter name drawing interest from people who might not even be interested in theme parks. The millions of dollars Universal put into the section were well spent, and the quality of the section is apparent. So here’s a review of Islands of Adventure’s newest area from someone who is not terribly well versed in the Harry Potter cult.
The Wizarding World has two areas—the town of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. Hogsmeade makes up the majority of the section with lots of shop, the Three Broomsticks restaurant, and Dragon’s Challenge, the rethemed version of Dueling Dragons. As you might expect, the village gets packed with people. There’s quite a bit to look at, especially for the Harry Potter fan. All the shops have window displays and there are many photo ops around the alley from characters to exhibits. Be prepared for some lines, of course. One failing is that the shops are much too small and feel very cramped. If you want to get into Ollivanders Wand Shop, you’ll have to wait as they only allow a certain amount of people in at one time. The architecture of the area looks fantastic. I’ll go ahead and assume it’s like the books or movies since it seems many of the Potter fans are impressed as well. Universal’s attention to detail is apparent everywhere… although there is still a distinct lack of seating areas and shade. We can hope this will change soon as it can make Hogsmeade very unpleasant, especially when it’s packed with people! But that said, the village looks great and is very convincing.
Those who have been to Islands of Adventure before are sure to remember, Dueling Dragons- the dueling B&M inverted coasters with several near misses along the ride. Another of the highlights was the expansive queue line that was essentially an attraction within itself. With the conversion into the Harry Potter area, there came good news and bad news. The good news is that the ride got a nice rehab and renewed interested. The bad news is that the awesome queue line is no more. Part of the conversion to Dragon’s Challenge dictated the gutting of the wonderful queue line. Although there’s still fantastic theming all the way through, it’s not the same by any means. The ride itself still runs great and the dueling effect can’t be beaten. They’re still the top coaster(s) in this park.
For me, the real draw to this section is the new ride: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. This ride is located in the Hogwarts castle at the back of the section. The castle itself is gorgeous and uses forced perspective to make it seem a whole lot larger than it really is. On this particular trip, the queue was 90 minutes long; an unfortunately long wait, although one which ended up being very much worth it. The queue line is very well themed at the beginning and the end, although the middle is oddly simple and features mostly cattlepen type waiting areas that would be great with a little extra scenery. Once the crowds lighten up, this area should pass by without having to wait in this area. Once inside the caslte, the queue winds through many different rooms themed to the Harry Potter world as the story is explained. I won’t try and cover the story since I’m sure a lot of it passed over my un-Harry-Potter-educated head. The queue is very extensive, but eventually you’ll reach the loading area, lit by hundreds of candles hanging from above.
***Caution: this next part talks about the mechanics of the ride and some of the things it does. No story spoilers, however. Don’t read it if you want a complete and total surprise.***
HP&TFJ is the first ride of its type in the world. 4 seats in a row are mounted to a robotic arm that is mounted to a track. The cars run one right after another around the layout while the arms move and spin the seats. It makes for a potentially disorienting ride. Thankfully, it’s not overly intense or crazy—just a pretty solid ride in general. I’ll be honest in that I didn’t follow the story to all the details they shoved in there. I was more interested in the technology of the ride itself. The robot arms allow for a huge range of motion on both the ride vehicles and several of the animatronics that are also mounted to arms. HP&TFJ uses a combination of movie screens and animatronics that are integrated seamlessly together and create a unique experience that differentiates it from the Spiderman ride next door. The video screen segments of the ride are some of the best I’ve experienced as I didn’t notice any screen edges and the motion was all very fluid. They spent a ton of money, and it shows. The proximity to many of the animatronics and scenes is almost uncomfortably close, an exciting change from other rides of similar intent. And thankfully, the ride’s cycle is quite long—making things a little more worthwhile for everybody who just waited over an hour to ride.
All in all, the Wizarding World is a solid addition to Islands of Adventure. Although it’s cramped, and the crowds can be incredibly unpleasant, Universal definitely put the money where it needed to go. The architecture is incredible and the Forbidden Journey is a much needed addition to the park’s ride lineup. Harry Potter fans will love the area and people who don’t know Harry Potter so well (like me) will also be very impressed. As long as the Harry Potter franchise continues to be popular, this section will do very well.
