WillMontu Posted June 18, 2010 Posted June 18, 2010 So after the first unsuccessful attempt at exploring WWHP at IOA two weeks ago, arriving to find that there were technical problems, Erik Johnson and I tried again last Sunday with better results. As mentioned several times before, knowledge of the Harry Potter universe is necessary to truly appreciate some of of the details in the new section. Even for the soft opening, the area was crowded, especially all the small stores. The rides, however, handled the crowds without any difficulties. Dueling Dragons/Dragon Challenge and Flying Unicorn/Flight of the Hippogriff both had a less than five minute wait, while Forbidden Journey rarely peaked above 20 minutes (even less for the single rider line) Since I am aware that TPR is already saturated with PTRs from WWHP, I will concentrating on some of the finer details. Although nothing compared to Europe (in 2006, I remember seeing a pub at Victoria Station advertising that they were a "World Cup Free Zone"), there is a small amount of World Cup fever in the US. In the space of less than a week, this new screen went up showing scenes from the Harry Potter movies I'm not what charm they are using, as this snowman does not seem to mind the scorching Florida heat Inside the Hog's Head pub There was a video shoot going on. I'm not sure what it was for though. Something to keep in mind It appears that Gringotts has adopted a piece of muggle technology. You would think that they would have reconsidered after that break-in Are these the Hogs from Hogwarts? It looks like some pigs do fly... ...and some people can too. Must be a levitation charm There are shows every fifteen minutes, alternating between the Tri-Wizard display and the Frog Chorus. More of the Tri-Wizarding show The Frog Chorus Ribbit The Three Broomsticks menu. For amusement park food, the servings sizes are not too bad for the price. The drink selection Three Broomsticks interior Occasionally shadows, sometimes depicting various scenes, are projected onto the walls Are these for sale? Seen outside of Honeydukes sweet shop Inside the post office, one of the more crowded of the stores The Monster Book of Monsters, required reading in the second book in the series. It does bite Good to know... More expensive than conventional brooms, but cheaper than a Cessna A look inside one of the "closed" shops A quidditch set. The large red ball is the Quaffle, which is used to score goals, and the two smaller metal balls are Bludgers and are intended to knock people off their flying brooms. The Bludgers in the display were shaking, as if they were attempting to break free. Books by Gilderoy Lockhart, a character in the series who has an inflated ego and later suffers from memory loss Flying Unicorn is now Flight of the Hippogriff I believe that the ride is themed to a "training" version of the Hippogriff, hence the wicker cars. There is, however, a "real" Hippogriff at the bottom of the lift. Riders must bow to it, otherwise they get a Vekoma quality bashing. This was the longest wait of the day of around 20-25 minutes in the hot sun, as it only takes a dozen or so people at a time. The Ollivander's shop is a short demo of matching a wand to a wizard as mentioned in the first book. After the presentation, the "attraction" empties out into an already crowded gift store. An overview of the crowds during the day. I will soon be posting pictures from Forbidden Journey, especially the queue and a quick look at Dragon Challenge
Lenaapple1974 Posted June 19, 2010 Posted June 19, 2010 What an AMAZING PTR!!! Thank you for the detail! There is so much that went into making this part of the park. I hope when I get there finally, that I can take the time to absorb it all.
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