Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[chargersmichael]

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

[Her0ofLime]

I am going to the park on July 6th, and I was wondering, I most likely have only one day to go, and this question only applies if there is a soft opening for Diagon Alley, but, should I go to IOA, Uni, or both in one day? I was thinking that one day definintly isn't enough to experience both parks, even if I'm only hitting the major rides like River Adventure, Hulk, Gringotts, etc. So, unless I can go over two days I'm stuck trying to decide which park to go to or even if I could have enough time to go through both in one day.

The date we're going has now shifted to July 8th, and we are only going to IOA, hoping that most of the crowd will be in USO trying to experience the new thing, with some Hogwarts express passengers in Hogsmeade, leaving the rest of the park nearly dead. Now, granted, it is a day in a major theme park in July, WITH the opening of an entirely new thing. So now I am asking a new question. What were the crowds in USO around the time of the opening of Hogsmeade? I think both of the openings have about the same audiences (obviously), so I'm wondering if anyone bothered to go to USO in the previous Harry potter opening, and if it'll work almost vice versa. (Yes, I am taking into account there is a link between the two parks now)

[necoastergp]

Search online for an image of opening day for the wwohp and you'll see how ridiculous it was a giant mass/line? of people flowing out the gate past the hard rock .

[OrlandoGuy]

I am going to the park on July 6th, and I was wondering, I most likely have only one day to go, and this question only applies if there is a soft opening for Diagon Alley, but, should I go to IOA, Uni, or both in one day? I was thinking that one day definintly isn't enough to experience both parks, even if I'm only hitting the major rides like River Adventure, Hulk, Gringotts, etc. So, unless I can go over two days I'm stuck trying to decide which park to go to or even if I could have enough time to go through both in one day.

The date we're going has now shifted to July 8th, and we are only going to IOA, hoping that most of the crowd will be in USO trying to experience the new thing, with some Hogwarts express passengers in Hogsmeade, leaving the rest of the park nearly dead. Now, granted, it is a day in a major theme park in July, WITH the opening of an entirely new thing. So now I am asking a new question. What were the crowds in USO around the time of the opening of Hogsmeade? I think both of the openings have about the same audiences (obviously), so I'm wondering if anyone bothered to go to USO in the previous Harry potter opening, and if it'll work almost vice versa. (Yes, I am taking into account there is a link between the two parks now)

 

USO was not that bad when the first Wizarding World was open...it was actually less busy than normal days if I remember correctly. Not sure if IOA will be the same way this year though, considering the train and their existing HP section

[hydra]

I was at the park on Friday afternoon on what I would consider a fairly busy day. So I decided to grab a beer at Hogsmeade and head to JP. While there, I decided to stroll down to the front of the Discovery Center and not surprisingly, there were no guests down there even though its arguably one of the prettiest areas of the park.

So I started thinking, why aren't they using this are for an attraction?! Especially considering the Triceratops Encounter is out for the count. The area they have to work with stretches from the previously mentioned site of the old Triceratop Encouter to the front of the Discovery Center and over to the Jurassic Park gate to Hogsmeade.

 

My concept is as follows:

(keep in mind this is probably just my sleep-deprived mind running out of control lol)

 

Just some ideas. Would be an awesome people eating attraction.

- So the queue could start in the Discovery building on the first floor. They could also do a pre-show room with the rotating theater like in the movie.

- The loading station would be in front of the building (outside facing the park entrance). Which would make it look JUST LIKE THE FREAKING MOVIE!

 

The loading station would be right in front of the Discovery Center, JUST LIKE THE MOVIE!

- The ride vehicle would move out of the station towards Hogsmeade where they could do a really cool outdoor section with some animatronics and some fun off-road hills/bumps/water pools. Then continue back in front of the Discovery building heading towards the Toon Lagoon side. This is where they could use the Triceratop encounter space for a show building (and knowing the magic that Universal Creative has shown us, I'm sure it could be spectacular!)

- The vehicles could return to the side of the Discovery Building and that's where the unloading platform would be. Maybe theme it to a vehicle maintenance shed, since maybe your vehicle was just attacked in the show building

 

So, if anyone at Universal Creative needs some ideas...please DO THIS! It would be much better than King Kong, which does not fit in Jurassic Park in my opinion.

[ahecht]

Do we know the manufacturer of HP: Escape from Gringotts yet?

 

Dynamic Attractions, the company behind Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, recently announced this very familiar-looking product:

 

http://www.blooloop.com/news/dynamic-attractions-unveil-new-sfx-coaster-at/28403#.U7FikPHD8m9

 

[CPSFMMCW]

^^ I like that Idea! Wasn't there suppose to be a rumor of a Jurassic park mine train/dark ride expansion to the park? I wonder what ever happened to that. I still hope it's in the books, cuz I agree, is much rather see that then King Kong.

[CoasterLover]

According to Universal's Facebook page, the Hogwarts Express is now open. To be specific, it says "boarding today" so not sure if this is just a quick soft opening today only or if it will be open regularly for the next week before the grand opening of Diagon Alley or, in true "soft opening" style, if it will be open on and off over the next week.

[alpengeist04]

^Yea, heard Hogwarts Express was cycling really well today. ... And while Gringotts was cycling, it still was having some issues.

[Philosoraptor]

^^ I like that Idea! Wasn't there suppose to be a rumor of a Jurassic park mine train/dark ride expansion to the park? I wonder what ever happened to that. I still hope it's in the books, cuz I agree, is much rather see that then King Kong.

 

Land has recently been cleared between the Jurassic Park River Adventure and Toon Lagoon area, the T-rex photo OP that was there has been moved closer to the Discovery center. Rumors that I have heard include a Jurassic Park coaster/dark ride and a new King Kong ride. By the location I would assume Jurassic Park something. The Disaster ride in the studios park is also rumored to be the next thing to go so that could possibly be the King Kong location.

 

The amount of money NBC is putting into these parks is pretty impressive.

[KBrylczyk]

...leaving the rest of the park nearly dead.

 

 

Just accept your fate, man. Everything will be full. Everything. Invest in a VIP tour.

[Her0ofLime]

...leaving the rest of the park nearly dead.

 

 

Just accept your fate, man. Everything will be full. Everything. Invest in a VIP tour.

Yeah, I probably should have seen that coming many, many, miles away, like from Japan to California the long way around.

What I will be doing is geting there opening time early, book it to Hogsmeade, do everything there that doesn't have a single rider line, then ABUSE the single rider lines. Like, abuse the single rider lines to the point where they're near dead.

[nickbuol]

My family of 5 (the "kids" are 15, 20, and 21 with the oldest actually being my 20 year old's boyfriend) are going Sunday July 27th until about 5:00 (meeting up at a resort with other family for a "reunion vacation" of sorts) then all day Monday and Tuesday, and probably the morning of that Wednesday. We always get there about an hour before the gates open, and we already know that there will be a decent crowd already by then.

 

Even so, I am trying to convince my family to do the single rider line, but they are reluctant. I told them "we are still going to spend 30, 60, 90 minutes in line able to talk to each other, and it is just the couple of minutes on a ride that we will get split up, but they aren't having it. I even told them that most rides don't accommodate families of 5 (targeted towards 4) and we aren't all going to sit together anyway... Ugh... I hate going during peak season.

[KBrylczyk]

^ Tell them they can waste their day in line for two, maybe three attractions. Then bail and ride everything yourself.

[chargersmichael]

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?

[jedimaster1227]

Before there was Diagon Alley, there was Amity Island where every day was the Fourth of July! Celebrate Independence Day with a detailed look back at the most patriotic shark encounter that ever existed!

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=78&linkid=11309

[cfc]

"I eat Yankee Doodle Dandies! Yankee Doodles mean good meat!"

[robbalvey]

Here is a link to some high res versions of the photos from our Diagon Alley Report:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=78&linkid=13971

[OrlandoGuy]

^^ I like that Idea! Wasn't there suppose to be a rumor of a Jurassic park mine train/dark ride expansion to the park? I wonder what ever happened to that. I still hope it's in the books, cuz I agree, is much rather see that then King Kong.

 

Land has recently been cleared between the Jurassic Park River Adventure and Toon Lagoon area, the T-rex photo OP that was there has been moved closer to the Discovery center. Rumors that I have heard include a Jurassic Park coaster/dark ride and a new King Kong ride. By the location I would assume Jurassic Park something. The Disaster ride in the studios park is also rumored to be the next thing to go so that could possibly be the King Kong location.

 

The amount of money NBC is putting into these parks is pretty impressive.

 

Kong has been pretty widely-accepted as a rumor for that plot thus far.

 

Also, Comcast is responsible for all this spending, not NBC

[HTF]

I was there for a few hours last night and loved it. Easily the greatest theme park expansion ever created (I haven't been to Japan FWIW) Here are just a few photos to gander at. I hope everyone gets to experience this soon. Also curious to hear what Rob thinks of the expansion. Not sure is he has visited yet since he's been around the world having fun and what not. Man I really need to do the Japan trip... Anyways its awesome and I highly recommend everyone gets there ASAP Potter fan or not!!

ALL ABOARD!! Next Stop London

Welcome to Diagon Alley

Fancy some ice cream?

Knockturn Alley

Standing guard...

FIRE!!!

Give me your money!

Massive canopy to keep the elements out and the registers still going

Did I mention fire?

Goodnight from Diagon Alley

[Garet]

^Those are some great pictures, judging by the first one I guess the train goes backwards in front of the guests when it leaves the station for the journey to Diagon alley and the next train that pulls in you would have seen just the back end of a carriage? I'd assumed it would since its a funicular railroad, but considering how picky JK Rowling can be with things and it being like the books, I would have thought that the train going in reverse for a journey would have been hidden from view.

 

You must get a great view from Dragons Challenge looking at the track if you go over when the train is in the station.

[The49er]

Hey! Just a heads-up: There's a computer virus circulating that has been found in a fake news article about a supposed roller coaster incident at Universal Studios Orlando, so don't try to check that out

[Jackdude101]

Wild unproven theory time: the manufacturer of the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts roller coaster is the Canadian company Dynamic Attractions and is the first of their SFX Coaster models to be built, which was coincidentally announced officially to the public on 18 June. A few posts back, someone mentioned that this same ride system could be used for a new ride in the Jurassic Park area in the future and it would not be surprising if Universal had a similar copy of the same ride in a neighboring park.

 

Here is the page where you can see video and a pic of a ride layout for the SFX Coaster: http://www.dynamicattractions.com/products/sfx-coaster/. I wonder if people lucky enough to have already ridden Escape from Gringotts see any similarities between it and the pic of the Dynamic Attractions SFX Coaster Layout.

 

Incidentally, these guys, in collaboration with British company RoboCoaster (using robotic arms manufactured by German company KUKA), are confirmed to have made the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride.

[HTF]

Wild unproven theory time: the manufacturer of the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts roller coaster is the Canadian company Dynamic Attractions and is the first of their SFX Coaster models to be built, which was coincidentally announced officially to the public on 18 June. A few posts back, someone mentioned that this same ride system could be used for a new ride in the Jurassic Park area in the future and it would not be surprising if Universal had a similar copy of the same ride in a neighboring park.

 

Here is the page where you can see video and a pic of a ride layout for the SFX Coaster: http://www.dynamicattractions.com/products/sfx-coaster/. I wonder if people lucky enough to have already ridden Escape from Gringotts see any similarities between it and the pic of the Dynamic Attractions SFX Coaster Layout.

 

Incidentally, these guys, in collaboration with British company RoboCoaster (using robotic arms manufactured by German company KUKA), are confirmed to have made the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride.

 

 

How's it going Jack? Gonna try to help you out with a few things here. Dynamic Structures built the ride system for FJ (Forbidden Journey) the RV bases, busbar track system, operating system, and so on. Kuka Robotics supplied the arms that attach to the RV and operate on the system Dynamic Structures put in place. Kuka also supplied the arms that animate the movement of the Dementors and Whomping Willow. Universal Creative wrote the program that Dynamics program controls.

 

Gringotts on the other hand is an even larger collaboration of companies including all the ones you listed plus Intamin. Gringotts is not a SFX Coaster from Dynamic Structures. It's an in house creation and executed through a massive collaboration of companies & engineers. Can't really get into Gringotts but trust me it's pretty advanced lol. If your interested I'm gonna and paste part of a write up I did on The Forbidden Journey last year. It includes a break down of an earlier version of the ride. Take care!

 

Gather ’round, my friends! It’s time to take another journey with me, a “Forbidden” journey; that is into the past, present, and future of Universals groundbreaking attraction “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey”.

 

For those who have been living under a rock for the past 4 years, the Forbidden Journey is a radical departure from your average dark ride. It utilizes a Kuka G2 Robocoaster RV System (a first of its kind) in partnership with a Dynamic Structures ride control system. The end result is a ride vehicle that is capable of 4 degrees of motion on a moving track, with a control system that would allow the RV to navigate passengers safely around obstructions and other motion-based control systems.

 

The most challenging aspect of the entire project was getting the RV to sync with other motion based ride systems. Most theme park attractions are synchronized with show systems of audio, visuals, and CGI; meaning the processes are managed in linear time measurements, such as “Frames per Second”. The G2 Robocoaster system found here however, are motion-based on “circle-to-point” motion patterns, meaning the automation for the ride had to be created so that it was not only time based, but also motion based. This challenge alone led to many changes in the actual attraction, which leads to here to this article.

 

This is a lot of info to share, so I’ll try to break it down by category to keep things in order and in the proper category. I also want to thank the several Bothans who died to bring me this intelligence.

 

History:

 

The Robocoaster system was first developed in the year 2000 (Conan fans rejoice!) with the first ten sold to Legoland in December 2001. In 2006, Universal approached Dynamic Structures and Robocoaster Ltd with interest of building a state-of-the-art attraction based off of the G2 Robocoaster system. Only thing was that Universal had interest in looking at a much bigger ride system package, taking the future attraction to the next level. Dynamic Structures pitched several concepts of what they could do with the system. Universal was so impressed, they signed an exclusive sales and development agreement for 10 years in March of 2007. Once the Potter rights were secured, the concepts began; and what we ended up with, although great, was far from what could have been.

 

FJ – Take 47:

 

During the initial design phase, the Forbidden Journey went through dozens upon dozens of changes and revisions. Everything from 3-D to the absence of screens were pitched by Universal Creative. To be honest, I write this article in fear that people might think I’m knocking the “Tour de Force” attraction and its creators; or give the pixie snorters a reason to complain about the attraction. Fact is, Journey’s budget was heavily slashed – and I mean heavily - slashed to the point where if I told you how much was actually spent (or in this case not spent) on the physical sets, you’d never believe me.

 

However, if we didn’t get those cuts, we wouldn’t have the Hogsmeade and Hogwarts Castle the way they are today. The massive budget shifted to the themeing of the land, and where the money was to be made. I can’t blame them for that. If the Wizarding World didn’t turn out the way it did, would we have all this expansion to drool over?

 

I truly respect the designers and engineers of Journey, what they were able to accomplish with the budget they were given is nothing short of amazing.

 

Tonight for the first time, I’m going to talk about a Forbidden Journey with a much larger budget. A Forbidden Journey that was pitched before the carousel domes were created and deemed a successful solution to large physical set costs…..

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, V. 2.1:

 

Upon passing through the elaborate queue, you pass the Sorting Hat on your way into the Room of Requirement. You load into your 4-passenger RV and begin the 50-second load process. Things look just like you’re accustomed to, but as the RV reaches the end of the belt and the Floo powder whisks us away, you begin to notice everything is different.

 

After the floo powder projections, you end up within the castle interior; glancing at passing faux hallways, set pieces, and more talking portraits. While in the castle interior, you’d encounter Nearly-Headless Nick on the ride path’s right hand side. This projected effect brought the headless character right up to the RV. Immediately after, you would pass a pair of moving staircases on the ride path’s left side, with one giving the effect of a near-miss. As we yank our feet up to avoid a most certain amputation, the RV swings to the right to reveal the RV is about to smash into a solid castle wall. Here, a Pepper’s ghost effect lends to the illusion of us smashing right through the wall, as we find ourselves outside and very much up high in the air.

 

After a long sweeping right-turn, we encounter a Chinese Fireball dragon sitting perched atop Hogwarts. As we pass between two castle turrets (with the dragon on our left and his wing just above our heads), the RV swings us right around and nearly crashes into a castle wall. The RV passes by the dragon one more time, with a blast to the face, before we fall through the bridge on our way into the Forbidden Forest. The transition scene here takes us from the castle, through the “dark” forest, then into the Spider scene. Aragog, on the RV’s left and with moving legs, actually lunges slightly towards the RV as numerous spiders hang from the ceiling around you.

 

After your encounter with Aragog, your RV swings to the right, almost at an 180-degree turn, to encounter your first Dementor. At this point, the ride time is now at 1:42, and this would offer your one and only look at Lord Voldemort, as a projected effect far away from the RV.

 

It was there intention to include Voldemort visually into the attraction but never really within the ride’s storyline. After getting a quick glance at Ol’ Voldy, the RV swings around to reveal you’re about to deal with a Dementor’s kiss. We escape with the help of Harry and find ourselves still within the caverns and upon the Chamber of Secrets. The Basilisk skeleton is on the left with a massive “dark mark” projection straight ahead. As the path continues out of the Chamber of Secrets, we bust through a projected wall and find ourselves outside the castle and on castle grounds. Before we have time to even breathe a sigh of relief, the massive Whomping Willow makes it’s presence known on the RV’s right and goes on the attack. This version of the Willow has 3 moving arms, 2 of which enter the actual RV’s path. Just as we think the final branch is about to hit us, the RV’s drops and swings around to its left to enter into a small empty plot of grass just out of reach of the Whomping Willow.

 

As you begin to gather yourselves, the Golden Snitch flies right in front of us and onto the first dome screen. Here, we enter into a Quidditch Match.

 

As we exit the dome screen, we enter into another dome screen showcasing a chase for the Snitch between Harry, Malfoy, and us. Before we can grab it, Dementors enter the field and our vehicle exits the dome screen and flies directly under physical bleachers while dodging Dementors. At the end of the bleachers, we reach our final dome screen where we capture the Golden Snitch and Harry says the Patronus charm. The Dementors disappear, and we win the match.

 

Upon exiting that final dome screen, we enter back into the castle via the floo powder and disembark the RV the exact same way we do now.

 

So there you have it!

 

A previous rendition of the one of the greatest dark rides in the world. Pretty crazy to think how many things changed, but its even crazier to think how much things get carried over from pitch-to-pitch and experience multiple changes; whether it be the location of the scene within the ride or even how the effect is executed.

 

On the Road to Opening Day:

 

Once the carousel domes were finally created and given the thumbs-up, numerous physical sets were eliminated in favor of digital ones; with light themeing to fill in the voids. So while our present day Journey did experience some serious budget cuts, there were still numerous effects that were sure to blow guests away. It’s too bad that many of these effects were either removed or scrapped during the construction; some were even cut as far as into initial testing of the ride. Yes. even our present day FJ isn’t exactly how it was supposed to turn out. There were numerous changes to the final product, all of which would have been a major plus to this amazing attraction.

 

The first major effect that was axed during the initial phases was the Dragon actually breathing fire. Yes, this dragon was supposed to be receded back a few feet; and the flame barrier (found by the guys at Parkscope) was indeed supposed to be positioned directly in front of us. The effect was dropped considering it would have to go off every 7 seconds, for up to 18 hours a day (and you thought the Jaws flames were a cost-nightmare). The next effect cut was the giant “Acromantula” with actual moving legs. The effect was to have the body stay stationary, but his legs were supposed to move in guests faces.

 

A major effect, and one that our very own Teebin plays near and dear to his heart, is the Whomping Willow. Outside of the cosmetic cuts he has referenced since 2010, the original version was going to have arms that intersected into the actual ride paths. Once this was deemed impossible, it was canned. The actual Willow arms themselves are really 2-axis Kuka Robotic Arms.

 

Now what about those Dementors? Well the Dementors had numerous issues and several aspects had to be cut. One of the major aspects that were cut were the Dementors arms. During installation, the equipment wasn’t positioned correctly. When testing began to make sure riders couldn’t touch any effects, the equipment on the RV came into contact with them and damaged each other. So in order to prevent any possibility of a future injury, all Dementor hands were removed.

 

Then there is that infamous Dementor attack that is just sitting there idle (and yes, it can be turned back on). The effect itself is a dozen static Dementors that were originally lit up by strobe effects just as the RV slows down for the Dementor’s Kiss. In addition to that, the final two moving Dementors had purple lighting effects that would engage as they approach your vehicle. All of this was abandoned by request of Warner Bros. due to it being “a terrifying experience.”

 

While unfortunate many of these scenes were cut, some couldn’t be helped. Even though I really enjoy the current iteration of the attraction, I wonder what could have been if they had left flame barrier as well as the “Dementor Attack” finale.

 

Operations:

 

Each Ride Vehicle is a custom-made 4-axis KUKA robotic arm sitting on a “transport.” The station is around 160 ft long and the main belt moves roughly 2 ft/sec with the ride vehicles in the station. At both ends of the platform, there are pressure mats underneath the belt that when stepped on will trigger an immediate ride stop that cues lights, and at the dispatch side there is a trip “plate” that when stepped on will disengage the drive motor for the belt and stops the ride until the fault is cleared. The transition belt or the feeder belt is around 15 feet long and moves 1/5 ft/sec with a trip plate and a swing gate that will automatically stop the ride if triggered.

 

The Ride Vehicle itself has several states. It either profiles, is in “keyhole” position, or Evac position. A keyhole position is a bench that is locked into a a disabled state and will move around the track, but will not change its axis movements; and upon reaching the station simply passes behind it. A keyhole position is either activated by techs during a significant downtime caused by a fault, when two operators tag a vehicle to disable it or when doing a “station evac”. Evac position is used during a track level evac when Ride Vehicles need to face either the “elevated platform” level behind a carousel, or either side of the track so that stairs can be pushed up to it.

 

A ride vehicle can only be disabled by two loaders on a platform, while a ride vehicle can only be enabled from the Ride Control System (RCS). The control booth features two stations: RCS, who is in charge of monitoring load platform cameras for safety situations, as well as the Track Map to give commands to RVs, interact with the ride, and to reset any faults that the ride encounters. The second position is RSS (Ride Show System) which is a surveillance position used to monitor over 50 cameras all throughout the ride track. There is a camera almost at every angle in the ride track. Both stations have the ability to activate individual stops while only RCS can reset. The only time RCS interacts with the ride is during a stop, to send a vehicle to secondary, to enable an RV, or to stop the ride. Everything is automated provided the loaders keep tagging benches.

 

During operations, ride operators must always wear a “Handpack” when on the belt, which is wireless communication device that is mostly used for mining or crane applications. The handpack has the ability to trigger a station stop for that station (either primary or secondary). There are a total of 8 handpacks. 6 on the primary platform. 2 on the secondary. Of those 3 are “Primary Handpacks” used to “Enable” the station for a restart. The Load and Unload handpicks must push the Enable button when the ride start spiel is played for the RCS to activate the ride. Secondary must also Enable in order for their station to reset. An operator also interacts with an RV by using a small RFID tag used to give the bench a “seat-selection” or to unlock harnesses. The Seat-Selection given is either Primary, Secondary, Disable, or Disable to Secondary. The last two are tags that require two loaders to activate because it requires two tags used at the same time. The tag spots are the top four corners of a bench.

 

The track switches for removing RV’s from the active system or moving them to secondary are the fastest switches in a theme park attraction. They can move in-between ride vehicles in less than 3 seconds. The force applied is enough to sever a limb. There is also a turn-table just before the dispatch (station exit) side of the station that allows vehicles to enter to/from the maintenance bay.

 

47 ride vehicles can be online at any time and have “cogs”, or specific number, for a zone they occupy. The dispatch interval is 7 seconds between benches. The max count for an hour is 2056, however that is never reached because of the empty seats caused by guest removals or other reasons. The ride has four modes. Evac. Start-Up. Maintenance. and Auto. Start-Up is used anytime an evac takes place and will keyhole benches, and force them to acquire a cog Number, and cause all the Domes to sync up with ride vehicles. They generally use the amount of disabled RVs to control the wait time and are instructed to try and keep the line within Dumbledore’s office.

 

Finally, maintenance takes place every night and during the day. Ride vehicles are frequently disassembled and rebuilt. If a vehicle encounters a serious fault, it usually ends up in keyhole position all day. If it’s REALLY serious or a position error, it generally ends up causing a downtime to remove the vehicle from the show loop into the maintenance bay. Universal does minor maintenance and vehicle inspections in the secondary platform during the day in order to hopefully restore the vehicle to show.

 

The Future Journey:

 

One thing that is planned for the future is more tweaks to the ride profile, as they nearly have it just where they want it. We should also expect to see more upgrades to lighting, as well as tweaks to avoid the bleeding of light into other scenes.

 

I’m also glad to share another upgrade that is currently testing behind the scenes on Journey. It’s a new effect that is being introduced to ride vehicles to minimize the effect of motion sickness, called air bladders. The air bladders that are being built onto the actual benches will blow continuous air into the riders faces to minimize the effects of motion sickness. We should expect a full roll out by Summer 2014.

 

The final bit of info I want to share is what’s to come elsewhere. With Hollywood and Osaka both constructing their versions of Journey, many have asked “Will they be clones?”. In a sense, yes, they will be clones; but they may offer unique ride experiences. Hollywood is getting the same Journey as Orlando, with the addition of several of the scenes I listed above. Apparently, Hollywood is aiming to get the flame barrier, Dementor arms, and moving legs on its Spider. I’ve also been told to expect something brand new in their version. As for Japan, we could also see several deleted effects make the cut, but what’s even more interesting is the fact that Japan may be testing a 3-D variation utilizing a new screen technology, but that’s just a rumor.

[chargersmichael]

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