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chargersmichael

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Posts posted by chargersmichael

  1. I'm a Potterfan but not someone who is overly obsessed with Harry Potter. With Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts...my mom has no clue about anything Harry Potter as she didn't see any of the movies and she absolutely loved the ride. The ride has so many unique elements to it. Also, for the coaster portion...it feels so much faster than it looks. You can hardly see the coaster track at all during the ride. Well maybe if you're in the front but still. This ride tops any ride I have been on. I was so fascinated by all of the effects. The transitions from scene to scene was spot on. The ride was very enjoyable and it was really cool to ride this new innovation. I thought the ride was simply...brilliant!

     

    Also, the butterbeer ice cream...it was delicious.

  2. As much as BGT is an "Africa"-themed park, it has a bunch of stuff that isn't African. I'm sure there are more, but the whole Jungala section isn't African (orangutans & tigers), plus you have the kangaroos & alligators, and then the elephants they have are Asian elephants--not African.

     

    Pantopia is another prime example, as is Walkabout Way.

     

    I spoke with Brian Morrow (Creative Director for SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment) about this earlier this year. He explained you'll see less and less emphasis on purely African theming moving forward, with more of a focus on world exploration, travel, and conservation as new attractions are added and areas are re-themed. It began with Jungala, and continues with Pantopia.

     

    I don't like this. I really wish Busch Gardens would stick with an African theme. I didn't get the overhaul with Pantopia and I guess it makes sense now. Ugh.

     

    What I think Busch Gardens needs is a complete redo of the Rhino Ralley to have a great adventure/storyline. Also, I feel like they need a new dark ride...not like Antarctica. They need one that is very good to draw attention to it.

  3. A few thoughts about Diagon Alley.

     

    1. Diagon, and ESPECIALLY Gringott's is the priority for nearly every single human visiting Universal this week. I've been opening day and twice since, and I've learned that the AREA is hitting capacity before park opening every day, which is nuts, and the only plus time to ride Gringott's is as early as possible. For anyone who CAN come during a lesser season (Early September??), probably a great idea.

     

    2. Getting into the area after 9:30 or so is pretty easy and usually quick even with return tickets, but Gringott's regular queue isn't going under 4 hours and is running at maybe 50 percent of its capability (I've heard 4 or even 5 trains out of seven, but just one station and FREQUENT breakdowns). Everything that is new-Harry Potter that is also not Gringott's has minimal wait times at worst.

     

    3. Everything at Studios other than Despicable has atypically light morning crowds. Only Rockit/Despicable/Transformers are getting even hour wait times in the afternoon. IOA is pretty light other than the water rides, I saw Forbidden Journey at 30 minutes at 2PM on Friday.

     

    4. As for the land itself...The most immersive themed environment in Orlando. It honestly feels like you walked into a foreign country. Rediculous amounts of artwork/detailing/animatronics/interactive elements/new food options. The shops are incredible fun, and are clearly upgraded all around from Hogsmeade. Not comparable to New Fantasyland, IMO it's just excessively better in representation of the property. Little details and fan service just oozing from every corner.

     

    5. As for the ride itself...MUCH clearer storyline than Forbidden Journey, and definitely has some new and interesting technical elements. Is it the clear world's best attraction I had hopes for? No, not really. It rides a LOT like transformers in the end, but again the theming is new-precedent-immersive which really propels the experience. It's certainly an A attraction, top 5 percent in Orlando.

     

    I went to Diagon Alley this past Saturday and made it right into the land at the park opening. Also, when I went Gringotts had both stations running and there was a very small break down in which I happened to be in the ride to break down. I went into single rider and I only waited 45 minutes right at the opening. The regular line was 150 minutes. When I came out at around 9, it was at 210 minutes. I had an amazing experience considering it was the weekend of the opening of the new land. The only thing I could say to fix is how you get to the land. They only opened one metal barricade to dart to the front of the yellow rope and everyone is pushing to get through that 4 foot of space to the yellow rope. Then you have the long walk of pushing to get to the land. Other than that, I thought Gringotts was an incredible experience and Diagon Alley itself really is the most immersive themed environment that any theme park has ever created.

  4. 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.

     

    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.

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    Arrived at 7am

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    Hello Universal!

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    We were told to go this way to a bunch of metal barricades.

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    Through the Brick Wall! Into the entrance of Diagon Alley!

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    Diagon Alley!

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    Dragon!

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    This was really neat to see

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    Fire!

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    Onto Kings Cross!

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    Hogwarts Express!

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    I had to post this. I took this of my sister. Thought it looked pretty cool!

  5. 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.

  6. ^^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.

    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.

  7. ^^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.

  8. 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!

  9. 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

  10. The racing slide seems like it would need jets on the uphill slope, and a quick way to evac people when they inevitably slide back.

     

    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.

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