Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[dragonskeep]

I was out at the park last night, pretty sad to see the area back by DD. The Enchanted Oak was one of my favorite areas in any park. Even though I knew it was going to go , it was still shocking. When I heard J.K. Rowling was impressed by it I held out some hope it would just be changed a little.

[Lenaapple1974]

Yeah, I was at the park Tues & today. They were ripping it down, and I found myself saying... what was that? Glad my questions were answered, because I was going to tear through past pictures once I got home tomorrow night.

 

 

P.S. Fire, Ice and Hulk are FINALLY under my belt!! (remember I was chicken for EVER!)

Final shot. You ever notice how they make the fences JUST out of the cameras reach?

So, these are the after shots

Thursday 7/31

It's so weird seeing this happen but I still can't wait to see the outcome!

Behind the fence

Different angles...

So, this would be the before shots

Tuesday 7/29

[King_K.]

And here's the successor to the Enchanted Oak, this was posted up by the Universal Media site today.

 

The Three Broomsticks

 

[/img]

[Wes]

Anyone familiar with the books/movies want to explain what The Three Broomsticks is, and anything we should be looking forward to?

[CoasterEricHP]

I will miss you Alchemy Bar!!

 

It does suck that the Enchanted Oak is gone. Although I'm sure the whole Hogsmeade/Potter area will be nothing short of amazing.

 

From what I remember from reading the books the Three Broomsticks is a restaurant/bar type place in Hogsmeade. I didn't read the books closely enough to have a whole lot of details other than that! I'm sure someone else will.

 

That concept art looks pretty cool though.

 

I'm still wondering how Hogwarts will be done. I hope they figure out a way to recreate the Great Hall with the ceiling!

[King_K.]

Anyone familiar with the books/movies want to explain what The Three Broomsticks is, and anything we should be looking forward to?

I've read the books but it's hard to describe.

 

 

 

A wiki on Potter did it better:

 

The Three Broomsticks

 

A well-known inn and a frequent haunt of Hogwarts students. It's warm and comfortable, is packed every time Harry goes in, and is a great spot to drink butterbeer, although they also serve firewhisky, gillywater, mulled mead, red currant rum, and even cherry syrup and soda with ice and an umbrella. The owner of the bar is Madam Rosmerta, who Ron enjoys watching, at least when she's not under an Imperius Curse.

 

It's pretty much a Pub and Inn. Universal said it'll be a restaurant and pub for the Island. I've made butterbeer before it's very, very delicious. Especially chilled.

 

Butterbeer Ingredients:

 

*

 

Root Beer or cream soda

*

 

Butter

*

 

Cream

*

 

Butterscotch (chips, sauce or both!)

[TheHulk]

And down goes the Enchanted Oak Restaurant.

 

 

This would be a picture from Jurassic Park looking into LC. All that's left are the "roots" from the back.

 

 

I really liked that resturant. I could understand tearing it down for something that's worthwhile, but I don't think a Harry Potter park is worth anything in my opinion. I've never really liked the story, and I'm disappointed that Universal's IOA is doing this. The lost continent was fine how it was, now when I go back there to ride Dueling Dragons, I have to see some stupid Harry Potter themed stuff.

[thecoasterkid]

^ You're in the minority when you say that you don't like Harry Potter. IMO it's a great business decision for IOA. Never before would someone have visited the park JUST to experience the Lost Continent. I can guarantee they'll be getting some Disney regulars stopping by now specifically to check out the new Harry Potter land.

 

Universal is looking to steal alot of Disney's thunder in the coming years with this addition as well as Rockit at the Studios. Disney I'm sure will be picking up their socks soon and making some new attractions to keep guests in their parks. We really are the ones winning in this heated battle!

[NINCUB]

^ You make a great point. I would love to check out the new HP area at IOA when it opens..., but think of all the readers and fans of HP... you KNOW they will ALL be making a trek down to Orlando! IOA will probably see some record attendance after HP opens.... that makes me want to wait a year to two to visit.... I have seen IOA on wicked busy days.... I could imaging IOA on a wicked HP busy day! LOL..... Could you imagine the lines!?

[coastered]

When will this Harry Potter land be fully operational??

 

I really like Harry Potter and want to see and ride everything when I am going to visit Florida in september/oktober 2009.

I really hate it when rides like Dueling Dragons are closed when I visit the park.

 

Things like that allready happend in 2006 when I was in So-Cal in september.

X (SFMM), Ghostrider and Perilous Plunge (KBF) were closed.

[alpengeist04]

I really like Harry Potter and want to see and ride everything when I am going to visit Florida in september/oktober 2009.

I really hate it when rides like Dueling Dragons are closed when I visit the park.

 

September/October of 09' is not looking good, but you never know.

[sugart]

^ You're in the minority when you say that you don't like Harry Potter. IMO it's a great business decision for IOA. Never before would someone have visited the park JUST to experience the Lost Continent. I can guarantee they'll be getting some Disney regulars stopping by now specifically to check out the new Harry Potter land.

 

Universal is looking to steal alot of Disney's thunder in the coming years with this addition as well as Rockit at the Studios. Disney I'm sure will be picking up their socks soon and making some new attractions to keep guests in their parks. We really are the ones winning in this heated battle!

 

Couldnt have said it better myself. What Universal is doing is fantastic, but I cant help getting excited to see what Disney is going to do. You just know they wont sit back and watch their guests leave to a different park.

 

Coasterd- Potterland wont be open to 2010.

[coastered]

What rides do you guys think will be closed during construction in 2009??

[JT3000]

Dueling Dragons and Flying Unicorn.

[kraken613]

I odnt like Harry Potter either. I think that awhile down the road they are going to find themselves in a position of where Harry Potter isnt as big as it is now and then they will have to change it....

 

Im sad to the this area go....

[Wes]

^ I dunno, the park has a land themed around Jurassic Park (which hardly has any relevance anymore) and cartoon characters that very few people know of firsthand. I think HP is going to be a lot more enduring than Jurassic or Dudley Do Right.

[NewsPlusNotes]

^ That's true but I doubt that our fascination with Dinosaurs will ever end... so in that regard Jurassic will always be relevant, even if the movies are forgotten.

 

The old comic book characters ... not so much. Dudely is done in a way where back stories aren't totally necessary so it can stand on its own (classic hero saves the girl from bad guy) and Popeye is somewhat the same but slightly more involved in story line.

 

Regardless, that area won't last the test of time IMO.

 

I've never read any of the Potter books and never seen any of the movies (OMG!!!11) so when I see something like new art for Three Broomsticks I just thought it looked like a well themed place to eat, and not much more. (which Enchanted Oak was as well) You have to wonder if in 15 years there will be more people like me and less fans who can tell you all about Three Broomsticks and what they serve. So my point is that does it really matter what's relevant now, won't it all essentially be the same after x number of years?

 

I know that Terminator is back on TV and a movie is coming out, but last time I was at Universal and was in Terminator all the kids around me had no clue at all what the thing was about. It's just a big cycle, I suppose.

 

Mike

[kraken613]

I know alot more people who have read or watched Jurassic Park than who care about Harry Potter....

 

I have no appeal for Harry Potter. I wouldnt care so much if they just built its own area but its taken over one of my favorite areas and rides of IOA which is Dueling Dragons. They better not change one thing inside that wait!

[alpengeist04]

^ That's true but I doubt that our fascination with Dinosaurs will ever end... so in that regard Jurassic will always be relevant, even if the movies are forgotten.Mike

 

The same could be said with magic. People have been fascinated with magic for thousands of years.

 

^ Regardless, that area won't last the test of time IMO.

 

 

 

Mike

I guess time will tell. ...I'm betting that it will.

 

They better not change one thing inside that wait!

You do understand that they are re-theming the whole queue line of DD. They might keep some things, but there will definitely be many changes.

[NewsPlusNotes]

^ Oh yes indeed, magic will always be loved by all.

 

But... Isn't the Harry Potter dark ride supposed to be highly themed to the stories of the books? That concept art that was leaked showed all stuff that is story specific to the Potter series.

 

That said... the Jurassic Park River Adventure is only tied to the Jurassic books/movie plot lines in the fact that there are dinos and something goes wrong. So people can always relate to 'Ooo pretty dinos, ahh! scary bad dinos! then big drop and splash' once the movies are forgotten.

 

But I'm not sure the same can be said for Potter. Yeah, magic will always be loved it just seems they are going very, very story specific with the Potter stuff. That'll make it amazing, but also date quickly.

 

Mike

[TheHulk]

I odnt like Harry Potter either. I think that awhile down the road they are going to find themselves in a position of where Harry Potter isnt as big as it is now and then they will have to change it....

 

Im sad to the this area go....

 

Amen to that. I really hope they don't change the theme of Dueling Dragons to some Harry Potter junk.

[BeemerBoy]

I'm not a Potter fan by any means, but the more I think about this, the more I'm just happy to see something big and new happening to the park.

[Immelman]

^^Agreed. I really like the lost continent section of the park and wish they could add something without getting rid of something, but IOA really needs something new and there wasn't a whole lot of unused space available.

[Jew]

I personally don't care at all for Harry Potter, but I even I can recognize how popular a franchise it is. It's the Lord of the Rings of this generation.

 

Harry Potter movies are currently the 4th, 6th, 11th, 13th, and 20th highest grossing worldwide movies of all time. If that wasn't enough, over 400 million copies of all the Harry Potter books have been sold.

 

That's pretty good for a fad that people won't remember in 15 years!

[King_K.]

Alright guys, low and behold!

 

Some clear layouts of this new coaster. Looks great.