chargersmichael

I hope that Gwazi will be removed, the entrance to the park will be renovated as it can get crowded and is a little confusing, and that it could be along the lines of something like Skyrush.

Here are some pictures from my trip to Diagon Alley on 7/12/2014. I know the pictures aren't the best of quality as my camera is getting pretty old. Arrived at 7am Hello Universal! We were told to go this way to a bunch of metal barricades. Through the Brick Wall! Into the entrance of Diagon Alley! Diagon Alley! Dragon! This was really neat to see Fire! Onto Kings Cross! Hogwarts Express! I had to post this. I took this of my sister. Thought it looked pretty cool!

I would like to share my amazing experience at Diagon Alley yesterday! First off, my family and I got to the park at about 6:55 and then headed straight for Universal Studios. The ticketing gates were already opened and we were put into a holding area in the Hollywood section of the park. They had metal barricades lining the streets. We went on the sidewalk and waited as we thought they would open every single barricade. At 7:30 they announced to us that we will be following workers with a tiny yellow rope into the Diagon Alley area. They also announced that they were opening only one barricade, the single middle one...and we were on the sidewalk. Once they opened it, I never felt so uncomfortable being pushed around and having so many people touching me. Anyway, we managed our make our way up towards the front of the yellow rope by sneaking around...a lot. They took us through Springfield and through MIB just to get in line. Then they said to us to get into single file line! With all of the people pushing, there was no way that was happening. Then we were led through the queue lines to get into Diagon Alley. We then finally made it and we ran into the land and right into line for Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts! However, the line was already at 150 minutes. We darted for Single Rider. We waited only 45 minutes in Single Rider to ride but that line filled pretty quickly! Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts 11/10 My family and I ended up riding in the same cart just all different rows. My sister was in the front right, my mom middle right, and me back right. I didn't know what to expect from the ride as I didn't read any reviews to ruin any spoilers. All I can say is WOW! I was blown away from the innovation and the whole ride experience itself! It is probably my new favorite ride Universal and maybe my new favorite ride EVER! It was so creative and was amazing! The sets were huge and the ride was so cool with many different effects. It is truly a combination of basically every ride at Universal. However, the ride broke down with one scene left. We were the first break down of the day. The train was brought back to the station and we exited the ride. However, we got to ride right back on because of the break down...and we all got to ride together! I didn't mind riding again! We were in the 2nd row this time and it was even better (since we finished the ride lol). It was amazing! We got out of the ride at about 9:10 and the ride wait was at 240 minutes! We managed to basically get 2 rides in an hour. Now it was time to check out all of the shops. I personally bought an interactive Elder Wand and played around in the whole area with. Some of the spells I couldn't get and needed assistance with but most of them I got! There was an employee at each wand station helping out if needed. All of the shops were very well! I also had some Butterbeer Ice Cream! It was amazing! Knockturn Alley was pretty cool and again all of the employees were completely in character. For instance, at one of the wand stations in Diagon Alley, the employee asked if we went to Gringotts and opened an account. We told them we tried but then we ran into issues. I said we encountered Bellatrix and "The name that shall not be said." The employee started to freak out! Haha. After we experienced every shop, we left at about 10:00. 2 hours in the new land and we basically did everything there! Hogwarts Express 11/10 We went to the Hogwarts Express which had a 10 minute wait. It wasn't even 10 minutes. It was like a 5 minute walk and then just a small wait for the next train to arrive. When we scanned out annual passes, I had my wand out. The worker said, "That's a weird looking stick!" I just laughed as she is portraying a Muggle! It was these experiences that made Diagon Alley even more of an incredible addition to Universal. I completely missed the Platform 9 3/4 effect as we continued to walk. I got a glimpse as we just kept walking but I didn't realize when or where the effect would be. Again, I refused to look up anything of the ride. But it was still neat to see! The whole experience had many neat effects that I didn't know how they did at all! It was so cool! I wish I could go back. What an amazing day it was! I'll post pictures later on and I am still uploading them to my computer. Please excuse me as I watch Harry Potter Weekend on ABC Family haha.

This actually brings up a VERY interesting point. To someone who is a "casual" Potter fan (maybe seen some of the movies, but not all, etc...) who maybe likes it enough to check out the lands, but not enough to, let's say buy a wand, and has never been to Universal before, not knowing that all those rides in Hogsmede were there before Potter, does Diagon Alley all of a sudden seem "light" on things to do? Just throwing that out there and thinking about things from your "average" guest perspective, not your die-hard Potter fan. Thoughts? I certainly agree with you on the "average" guest perspective. I believe that Universal was simply trying to create the ultimate Harry Potter experience as the characters lived and breathed in the films. I feel with Diagon Alley, which does host one mind-blowing new ride system which I am sure cost a lot, Universal stuck with creating the land as it was in the movies rather than adding a bunch of rides themed to Harry Potter. There were some posts a long way back when someone stated how Universal could have added a ton of rides with not much theming and just slap the Harry Potter name in it and it would be a hit. Universal, however, focused on bringing the movie series to life to experience. Thus allowing the creation of the new ride systems as what the characters actually experienced in the film (Forbidden Journey, Hogwarts Express, Diagon Alley), creating new shops to buy what the characters bought, bring in new food items like the characters had, and actually believe that you are in Harry Potter. So while Universal didn't add a lot of rides to Diagon Alley, I simply think it is better that they didn't. We now have Gringotts and many world-class additions that I think Universal did a great job in bringing the movies to life.

^^With the expansion of the Wizarding World, we are seeing a new innovative ride from the Escape of Gringotts that I am almost certain has a ride building bigger than that of the Forbidden Journey. Also, we have the new inclusion of the Hogwarts Express. This with many different shops and interactive experiences in the world, I wouldn't say that it lacks in rides. The Hogsmeade area already had Dragon Challenge (Dueling Dragons before) and Flight of the Hippogriff (Flying Unicorn). They just received the Harry Potter theme. Diagon Alley is most certainly bigger, with more detail and greater experiences. So while there are more rides in the Hogsmeade area, Diagon Alley definitely doesn't lack at all.

Haven't heard too much about Hogwarts Express! How have the lines been for that today? Also, Universal opened the park (well allowed guests to line outside of the Diagon Alley entrance) at 5:30 this morning to probably reduce the crowds waiting to get inside the park. Also, I imagine that Universal wanted to let as many people into Diagon Alley but still be enjoyable. That's probably why the shops weren't shoulder to shoulder walking and maneuvering. I think Universal handled the opening pretty well but wow the wait time for Gringotts! Is it just a ride with not much capacity or was that many people in line!

I really wish I was at the opening of Diagon Alley today Hope the opening goes well today! I'm sure it will be extremely crowded

So apparently there is a massive paint job going on with Falcon's Fury. Were they originally going to paint the tower before it was supposed to open May 1st or leave it as it was?

Are the interactive wands now for sale in the Hogsmeade area? Under the #Potterwatch, there are pictures of people using interactive wands in Hogsmeade. I'm guessing that they're for sale now?

Aquatica Trip Report 6/30/2014 Hello all! I thought I would share my experience at Aquatica Orlando with you! I haven't been since March of 2008. Of course I was one of the first cars in the parking lot and one of the first people to be at the rope/chain drop. When the park opened, my family and I threw our belongings on some lounge chairs and headed straight for Ihu's Breakaway Falls. I'll post my review of every slide below but we left the park at 12:00 as the FL rain came and we finished every slide. The trees and scenery really have grown in over the year and the park looks really nice. Theming is great and had a great experience. 1) Ihu's Breakaway Falls 10/10 I've never done a drop box slide before and I was the first rider of the day. I was really nervous and climbing all of those stairs didn't help to try and keep me calm. I chose the Green first not knowing the differences between all three and I was blown away! What an experience! We went back up the tower and there were about 15 people in front of us. It took about 10 minutes until it was my turn as there was only one person working the entire tower. I did the blue next and that seemed to have a longer drop and was a bit more intense. Due to the lines being long, I didn't get to try the Orange but did manage to do the Purple later. That was really intense and should not be counted out at all! 2) Omaka Rocka 10/10 This was also new to me and I was also really shocked by it! This slide was just fun. We did both blue and purple and managed to re-slide later in the day. I thought the Blue was a bit better. The last turn at the end was a surprise and very quick. I loved those funnels! Very fun slide! 3) Whanau Way 10/10 These slides are really really really FAST! The ones with the double dip at the end...I rode with my cousin and I was in front. I left my seat on the second dip and got a lot of airtime! It was just insane. We rode all four. The line was actually shorter later on in the day! 4) Tassie's Twisters 8/10 I think they replaced some parts on the blue slide because they didn't have the streaming jets throughout the bowl. I prefer the Proslide ones just because you don't ever get stuck on those. A fun slide nonetheless but not the greatest. 5) Walhalla Wave 9/10 I forgot how fast this slide was! In 2008, I thought it was just mediocre but even with two people, you really shoot up the sides of the slides! Pretty fun slide. The line for the slide was at the bottom of the entire staircase when I left. 6) HooRoo Run 8/10 This is a fun and quick slide but I think BubbaTub at Wet N Wild was a lot better because it seemed faster and steeper there. This slide has really faded too. It was pretty fun with some slight airtime. 7) Taumata Racer 10/10 I haven't been on too many different types of mat racers but this is the best one I've rode! The drop at the end makes it the best! Lots of fun! My fastest time was 7.55 seconds to the bottom! We rode 4 times to try every color, not every slide. This is a really great mat slide. 8) Roa's Rapids 10/10 Simply stated...one of the best lazy rivers ever! Really fast and lots of fun! 9) Dolphin's Plunge 6/10 I don't get this slide. You can't see like anything for the split second you are underwater with the dolphins. I think if it was a slower slide and you were under the water for more than like 1 second, I would think this slide would be worth it. It just isn't. 10) Walkabout Waters 10/10 Love dumping big buckets on not only the kids...but the adults! I was hanging around at one bucket for about 15 minutes in there! I think I covered all of the slides. It was a really fun day! Got pretty crowded later on in the day and it seemed as if the lifeguards weren't ready for the park to open as there was only like one person for all of Ihu's Breakaway Falls. Lots of trees grew in which I liked to see! Overall a very fun day at Aquatica! I still think the overall atmosphere at the Disney water parks are a lot better though

^It really would be though! It would attract lots of crowds and families! You could do so much with the Nickelodeon peeps.

^Yes sorry! I meant that there are no water rides at Universal Studios. Jaws was the closest thing to a water ride at Universal Studios and now they don't have anything

At Nashville Shores, when they opened the Music City Racer, it had only 2 drops but really large ones. It had the uphill after the first drop and many people got stuck. You needed to be like at least 100 pounds to ride and people still got stuck. They reprofiled the ride and now it is just a large straight section before the bigger drop at the end.

A SpongeBob area could be very well at Universal! I think that they could replace E.T. with a water ride just because there isn't any real water ride at Universal.

I'm heading to Aquatica on Monday. I'll be there early in the morning as I always do for parks. What order should I ride for the slides now that the new Breakaway Falls opened?

A POV of Verruckt has been posted by Schlitterbahn! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W7YPDU6nrg

Any updates on Falcon's Fury?

I'm hoping that Passholder Previews will take place...I will be at the park so fast (I'll be driving at the speed limit however) but you know what I mean! I have been hearing $45 for the interactive wands. Is that the official price?

I guess this opened! The web site says it is Now Open!

I don't think it is too much Harry Potter as there are some really cool experiences to pull from these two lands such as the Forbidden Journey, Escape from Gringotts, Hogwarts Express, the new gifts from the shops, and the new food and drink creations. This just shows what Universal is capable of doing. They did add Despicable Me and Transformers in the past two years. They are building something new at Islands of Adventure over by Jurassic Park as well probably something for 2016. Universal keeps on expanding and adding one of a kind experiences.

^I know!!! It will be so depressing. Oh well though. It will still be incredible to experience and the ride itself will probably be just brilliant! I can't wait!

I am really hoping that there will be Passholder Previews for Diagon Alley. Also, how long is Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts? How does it compare to the Forbidden Journey?

WOW! I am really hoping there will be Passholder Previews because I don't want to wait any longer!!! Does anyone know how much the interactive wands will cost? The regular wands cost like $30 so I can only imagine how much I will be spending at this new world

Just announced from Today Show...opening is July 8th!! FB Page:

I saw Jimmy Fallon last night and am even more excited for the new Diagon Alley at Universal. There is a new youtube video that shows the magic windows and casting spells! I will be at the park tomorrow. I'm sure they will announce the opening day later this week but do you think there will be any passholder previews like they did for Transformers?? The detail in this new land is incredible and can't wait any longer for it to open! Here is the video with the magic windows and cast spelling! Here is information about the new interactive wands! http://blog.universalorlando.com/whats-new/interactive-wands-the-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter/?social_id=social_20140617_26141036