Hilltopper39

Logistically the train transportation isn't the easiest thing in the world to construct but I think that Universal can make it work if they really want to. Themeatically having a train transport you from London (The Studios Park) to Hogwarts (IOA) is exactly in in line with the stories and I think with the use of video screen windows inside the train could not only work but be one of the coolest theme park experiences around. I mean it really isn't that far between the parks, no farther than concourse transportation systems at most major airports, and I could see a very similar operation in place at Universal. An elevated monorail type train with the Hogwarts express steam engine facade on each end that runs back and forth every 10-15 minutes. I'm somewhat optimistic about the concept of linking the two parks via train simply because the idea seems so far fetched and illogical that the only way it became a rumor was because there actually might be some truth to it. The past couple of times I've been to the Studios park it has been completely dead, and with Potter as popular as it is currently maybe the best way to get guests over to the Studios is to offer some type of Potter themed section or attraction. I also wonder what the sales numbers for single park vs multipark tickets are since Potter opened. If multipark ticket sales are way down this may be a way to sell more of those tickets and packages, which also happen to be more expensive than the single park options.

I'm excited about these Walhalla Wave style slides. I like the tornado funnel slides slides but after the first vertical pass it's kind of boring floating back and forth until you eventually stop, but this slides looks like it's the first initial vertical pass then off into the rest of the slide. Should be a lot of fun.

As much as I dislike the BCS, they really haven't gotten it wrong for the past 10 years or so. Every year the best team in the country has won the National Title, they may not have always played who I thought was the second best team, but the best team always has ultimately won. I'm a little bitter towards the Bowl system this year because my alma mater, Western Kentucky, out of 72 teams bowl eligible for 70 bowl bids we were one of 2 bowl eligible teams (the other being Ball State) that got left out of a bowl game. We went 7-5 and finished 2nd outright overall in our conference but were left out, when the 1st 3rd and 4th place teams in our conference all received bowl bids. On top of that twelve teams that went 6-6, one team that went 6-7, and three teams that have already fired their coaching staff all received bowl bids. The bowl system isn't about the players, or the schools, or rewarding success, it's all about making money and who can sell the most tickets and hotel rooms.

Twilight sucks....... but I've always thought a True Blood HHN maze could be kinda cool.

Some of the more successful rides and attractions at Universal (and Disney and other parks for that matter) have been based on movies that weren't necessarily huge long lasting successes as films.... The Mummy, Men in Black, King Kong, Twilight Zone, even the Bill and Ted movies are the basis for a 20 year long running live Theme Park show and those haven't been popular for years! Splash Mountain is based on a Disney movie that I've never fully seen and I don't even think they sell anymore. My point is that a movie doesn't have be a huge commercial success for multiple decades to make a decent intellectual property for a theme park attraction. I got a feeling Harry Potter AND Avatar, if executed properly, will be just fine in the long run.

With Potter and Transformers opening at USH, I have an excuse to head out west again an d rack up some missed credits. Will be interesting to see how this expansion unfolds and what the similarities and differences are compared to Orlando's version. I wonder if there are any issues with the ride in Orlando that they have encountered since opening that will be addressed with the new version in Hollywood. I mentioned this in the Orlando thread but i wonder once the details for this are finalized, if the Potter section will be incorporated into (or completely excluded) from HHN Hollywood. I'm not a huge Potter fan, but TONS of people seem to love it, and more people visiting parks and spending money has to be a good thing right?

Thanks for the details Robb, interested to see what the details and time table is for the Orlando phase 2 expansion is.

That would be a big negative. If she will not allow coke products in the existing Potter World, there is no way in hell she is going to allow HHN to use those sections. Change HHN's sponsor from Coke to Butter Beer, duh!

I remember hearing a fairly elaborate rumor about the Gringots Banks coaster being thrown around when the original Wizarding World was in development. If this turns out to be what all the rumors are speculating (new section in 2nd park with transportation between the two) if your a Potter fan or not you have to commend Universal for attempting such an elaborate concept that (to my knowledge) hasn't been attempted at any other theme park resorts to date. Just a side thought, I wonder if this expansion happens if they will attempt to use the new section during Halloween Horror Nights. Since IOA is usually closed during HHN you could conceivably transport guests of HHN to IOA where there is a Halloweened out Potter section with some additional Potter HHN Mazes maybe..... who knows.

Roads? Where the new Harry Potter section is going we don't need Roads....

That is kind of what I thought but thanks for confirming it, I appreciate it!

Some friends of mine are taking their kids to Disney next week and I'm usually the resident Disney expert who gets all the trip planning questions. They wanted to know how to get their kids into the Jedi Training academy at Hollywood Studios, which happens to be an attraction I actually know next to nothing about. As far as I know the Training Academy is just a show that happens several times a day that features some interaction with the kids, but does anyone have any insight on how to get your kids selected to actually participate in the show? Any other information about the show in general would be helpful. "Help me TPR Star Wars nerds, you'r my only Hope"

^yeah that thing looks awesome, I could see something very similar working at Universal if they do decide to go with a two park accessible Potter attraction of some sort. I think the biggest issue would be capacity, and making sure they have enough trains or whatever to run consistently enough to transfer guests when they need.

^Or a Toy Story Mania ride in one park, and a Buzz Lightyear ride in another park......

^I wish they would hurry up and finish R&D on the teleportation technology, teleporting combined with RFID tickets could really make this project a success!

Like Rafiki's Planet Watch in AK? That worked so well, it isn't even that popular and has capacity issues. Now just Potterize it and they will have to have a full circuit system to keep up with capacity! Exactly like Rafiki's planet watch except with a higher capacity more efficient transportation system and an attraction people would actually be interested in visiting. The Planet watch is just dumb, but put a E-Ticket attraction back there and it would work.

^ I think Manta is a fairly boring ride other than the pretzel loop and first drop, and i also think Manta is almost identical to the Superman clones just with a few extra turns and better themeing. Tatsu looks pretty good, but otherwise I've been fairly unimpressed with B&M's flying coaster designs to date, hopefully the new custom flyer in China gets good reviews and they start getting a little more creative with their future installations.

I went to the campfire sing along and movie night once when they were showing Marry Poppins and it was a lot of fun, and your right truly one of the best hidden secrets at WDW resort! I would highly recommend this to anyone.

Not at all, the rumor is that they'll run whatever the hell the special magical train is called between the two lands. I highly doubt this, although I highly doubt it will be ANYTHING Potter just based on distance. As stated above by another poster, I believe also that the rest of LC will become Potter and we will see something brand new for Amity. Just look at the distance between the two lands.. It's approx half a mile between them and to say they will run the Magical Train Express thingy between them would be pretty difficult considering the limited access roads they already have. ^If they really wanted to have a train between the two lands they could find a way to make it work. While I'm not a huge Potter fan, the concept of having a form of transportation between two themed sections is pretty cool and I'd love to see how they execute it. I thought the idea of having some type of transportation to and from Pandora for the Avatar section at Animal Kingdom would have been really cool. Have the land be somewhat isolated from the park with a themed "space travel" train of some sorts in between the two, same concept here. It would also be interesting logistically to see how they would operate two sections in separate parks, would both sections be accessible from each park on the same ticket? Would you be able to ride to the studios section but not be allowed into the studios park and vice versa? I don't know but it would be interesting to how they executed the whole thing.

^^I kinda doubt they'll get rid of the Fear Factor theater since they use it for Bill and Ted show during HHN but I could be wrong. I like Jaws, but it seems like the only time I ride it anymore is during HHN. If they remove it and install something new and awesome I probably won't miss it that much. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I do admire Universal for not being afraid to remove fairly old dated attractions that are still fairly popular in exchange for something new. I wish Disney would do the same at times, I feel like there are about 5 or 6 rides at Disney they should just completely remove, free up the space, and start from scratch, but they never seem to do that.

^yeah I don't think any of the B&M Hyper coasters are really that good compared to some of the other older model B&M's. I guess Goliath is my favorite B&M hyper but it's not close to the same level of intensity as Kumba or Raptor or Montu or most Intamin hypers (besides Millenium Force) for that matter. Even though I'm not a huge fan of them they are reliable capacity machines that the general non enthusiasts public seem to love that are fairly easy to market and promote, so I see why so many have been getting built.

I actually really like Goliath at Six Flags over Georgia that opened in 2006. It's after the 2002 year you stated but is in my opinion considerably better then Diamondback or Intimadator or anything else opened around that time.

Wild Eagle We'll see how it turns out, I know the location is going to be beautiful and all, but i think Wild Eagle will be a really big forceless floating smooth fun coaster, but not thrilling at all. Not that it won't be a good coaster, I'm sure it will be perfect for Dollywood, but I got a feeling that when 2012 is over everyone will be raving about Verbolten, Skyrush, and my dark horse contender Manta, but not Wild Eagle.

I wonder if they do decide to install a version of the forbidden Journey ride if they would basically clone the exact ride or try to improve the original a little bit. Any new addition is ultimately better than no new addition at all i guess.

It's funny that that Coaster Works only built 2 coasters, one was more of a family coaster and the other was a fairly well reviewed full sized woodie. If I remember correctly Coaster Works was also the company that had the LIM launched woodie advertised on their website at one point.