Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[MattiasB]

Johan and I tried the new HP ride today. Fantastic!!!!

[pianojohn]

I went this morning and they had WWoHP open from 9am-11am with Muggles (regular park guests). I think they are planning to do the same for the next few days. I would say IF you are already planning to go to IOA, it's worth a try to see if they soft open all week.

 

The ride is AMAZING! I am not going to do a full spoiler-filled review. I describe it as a combination of Spiderman, Soarin', Tower of Terror, and Haunted Mansion. It's that good. And I was able to ride it 3X this morning, with the longest wait being about 20 minutes.

 

The rest of Hogsmeade is beautiful. The shops are small, but other than that, the whole area is breathtaking.

 

Cannot wait to go back soon!

My first Butterbeer!

[deathbydinn]

Am I the only one who really dislikes the basket look of Hippogriff.

[coasterdude5]

^ It looks a bit odd.

 

Great trip report! I'm not a Potter fan, but I think I would enjoy myself at the new land. If not for anything else, the KUKA factor!

[testtrack321]

Am I the only one who really dislikes the basket look of Hippogriff.

 

Logaberger Basket: The Ride

[socalMAN123]

IOA is my favorite theme park hands down, and this seems to be a very good fit for the park. Too bad it just took over one of my favorite places in the entire place . RIP Dueling Dragons line, you were amazing.

---Brent

[KPfreak519]

Although Im a huge HP fan Im really disappointed to see Dueling Dragons rethemed...I never got a chance to go to IOA and I always wanted to see the DD queue in person, even my non-enthusiast friends always talked about how amazing it was...

[pianojohn]

Oh, my only gripe was with the cost of Butterbeer.

 

In the souvenir mug: $9.50.

 

Hmmm.....refills anyone??

[Capitalize]

I was very dubious of this new themed area, but the more I see the more I like it.

 

I'm not a HP fan by any means. I have (reluctantly) seen most if not all the movies (reluctantly as in a gf or family wanted to go see it/rent it). I have successfully avoided reading the books despite nearly everyone I know trying to shove them down my throat at one point or another. I found a couple of the movies to be entertaining enough, and others to be dreadful. So long story short, I have some sense of the "plot" of the series and its main characters.

 

From my perspective I think some people are taking the theming stuff making them feel "alienated" a bit extreme. I can understand not getting every small detail or reference (I know most of that stuff will be lost on me). The name of the land is "Wizarding World"; you get the general idea of Harry Potter - magical crap happening with wands and potions and such. It seems to me based on that alone you will "get" the theme enough to enjoy it and develop a further understanding upon looking around a bit. "What's that shop over there? What a weird name..." You may say. So you step in "Oh! Magic wands! Because the kids are wizards and all that! I get it."

 

When I first visited Universal Studios back in 96 or so I had never watched the old Hanna Barbara cartoons with Dick Dastardly, I had never seen Back to the Future, I had absolutely no idea who the heck Alfred Hitchcock was, I had never seen Jaws, I had never seen Earthquake, I had never seen King Kong, I had only watched a bit of Ghostbusters, and I didn't have cable to watch Nickelodeon. But yet I "got" all the attractions we rode and shows we saw that day despite having little background information to go off of. I really think this is more or less the same for those who haven't seen and aren't terribly interested in Harry Potter.

[alpengeist04]

Oh, my only gripe was with the cost of Butterbeer.

 

In the souvenir mug: $9.50.

 

Hmmm.....refills anyone??

 

 

Tell me about it. ...And Pumpkin Juice: $6.25.

 

I was able to get in 2 rides on FJ this morning. Great ride, but I think some will be a little confused if they haven't seen the movies or read any of the books. ...Still a great "in your face" kinda ride though.

[Director_Guy]

I'm confused. Is FJ simply a simulator on a track? If so, I'm very disappointed. I was looking forward to some killer Dementor animatronics.

[alpengeist04]

Is FJ simply a simulator on a track? If so, I'm very disappointed.

 

If that's your only criteria, you won't be disappointed.

[sugart]

I was very dubious of this new themed area, but the more I see the more I like it.

 

I'm not a HP fan by any means. I have (reluctantly) seen most if not all the movies (reluctantly as in a gf or family wanted to go see it/rent it). I have successfully avoided reading the books despite nearly everyone I know trying to shove them down my throat at one point or another. I found a couple of the movies to be entertaining enough, and others to be dreadful. So long story short, I have some sense of the "plot" of the series and its main characters.

 

From my perspective I think some people are taking the theming stuff making them feel "alienated" a bit extreme. I can understand not getting every small detail or reference (I know most of that stuff will be lost on me). The name of the land is "Wizarding World"; you get the general idea of Harry Potter - magical crap happening with wands and potions and such. It seems to me based on that alone you will "get" the theme enough to enjoy it and develop a further understanding upon looking around a bit. "What's that shop over there? What a weird name..." You may say. So you step in "Oh! Magic wands! Because the kids are wizards and all that! I get it."

 

When I first visited Universal Studios back in 96 or so I had never watched the old Hanna Barbara cartoons with Dick Dastardly, I had never seen Back to the Future, I had absolutely no idea who the heck Alfred Hitchcock was, I had never seen Jaws, I had never seen Earthquake, I had never seen King Kong, I had only watched a bit of Ghostbusters, and I didn't have cable to watch Nickelodeon. But yet I "got" all the attractions we rode and shows we saw that day despite having little background information to go off of. I really think this is more or less the same for those who haven't seen and aren't terribly interested in Harry Potter.

 

 

Geez, did you grow up Amish?

[Capitalize]

^

 

Nah, I was only nine years old so the extent of my movie watching at that point was predominately Disney animated movies... But all I'm saying was having only a small concept of the attractions topics before riding (Jaws = Big horrible shark, King Kong = Big horrible ape, Earthquake = .....Earthquake..., etc.) didn't really interfere with me enjoying the attractions.

[BFG]

I'm confused. Is FJ simply a simulator on a track? If so, I'm very disappointed. I was looking forward to some killer Dementor animatronics.

they have dementors but they look kinda dumb

[Director_Guy]

Is FJ simply a simulator on a track? If so, I'm very disappointed.

 

If that's your only criteria, you won't be disappointed.

 

Explain.

[Gav]

From my perspective I think some people are taking the theming stuff making them feel "alienated" a bit extreme. I can understand not getting every small detail or reference (I know most of that stuff will be lost on me). The name of the land is "Wizarding World"; you get the general idea of Harry Potter - magical crap happening with wands and potions and such. It seems to me based on that alone you will "get" the theme enough to enjoy it and develop a further understanding upon looking around a bit. "What's that shop over there? What a weird name..." You may say. So you step in "Oh! Magic wands! Because the kids are wizards and all that! I get it."

But all I'm saying was having only a small concept of the attractions topics before riding (Jaws = Big horrible shark, King Kong = Big horrible ape, Earthquake = .....Earthquake..., etc.) didn't really interfere with me enjoying the attractions.

^This.

In any theme park that bases its attractions around existing I.P. you're always going to get a segment of guests who haven't seen the movie in question, so the trick is to just make the rides interesting enough in their own right. Furthermore, if a person was the type who got hung up and felt alienated by not having full familiarity with the films that form the basis of each ride, why would they be visiting Universal in the first place?

Lastly, I thought Harry Potter was somewhat popular So wouldn't be a first choice for a park operator wanting a hot bit of I.P. to have at their disposal, that people would be familiar with.

 

The Mummy is another film I haven't seen, but not only that, I haveno knowledge of even what the basic plot of the film actually is. But because the ride had cool projections and animatronics, and fire and an exciting coaster portion I came off satisfied.

Edited June 5, 2010 by Gav

[Gav]

Oops

Edited June 5, 2010 by Gav

[tiger01]

Wow!!! It's better than I expected! Great Photos! Was the ButterBeer Alright?

[pianojohn]

Wow!!! It's better than I expected! Great Photos! Was the ButterBeer Alright?

 

The butterbeer was awesome! Not too sweet. The only sour taste is the price....but since this is technically the only place in the world where you can have it, I guess they think they can charge whatever they want. Still, it would be nice not to feel like you were fleeced, especially since soft drink costs roughly half as much on any of the other Islands in the park.

[BBparks57]

Just checked out of the hotel, got in this morning and it was fantastic.

 

I'd post my photos but it seems we've got pretty much everything covered in this forum, so it'd seem redundant. I loved the whole experience. The books were released when I was in elementary school (5th grade I believe is when the first one came out) So I have really gotten to grow up with it. I am 21 years old now, and I shall say...when I walked through that gate, I was overcome with a feeling I have not experienced since I was a young kid going into disney world.

 

FJ had an out standing line. I was very nervous about the ride, for I had great expectations (good book) and boy was I blown away. I know most of you on this site want coaters and don't care much for the harry potter theme. So here is my opinions on that.

 

If you are straight up not impressed with the same old simulators (I.e. Soar'n, Spiderman, Dinosaur,) than you won't find this a whole lot more amazing. For what it is, its incredible, but I have noticed reading that some people just don't care for these rides. Thats very understandable, but I really think everyone should give it a try.

 

As a harry potter fan, (I have read all the books and I enjoy watching the movies as well) they hit everything pretty much perfectly. The line castle is fantastic, the whole area is overwhelming for it feels that you have stepped into the book. Butterbeer was fantastic (only got the try the cold one, as a college kid, I spent to much money on that drink and the merch alone) I did like dragons challenge line, but I shall miss the old line for it was just as amazing.

 

Sorry for making such a long post, but I am trying to add more input into these conversations. An overall great experience and I can't wait to go back.

[crazydaveh]

I just returned from Potterland. It was my first real try at getting in and it was successful. I went in without ever reading a Potter book or seeing any of the movies. I just wanted to go see what all the fuss is about. The line at 9AM for the Forbidden Journey was posted at a 45 min wait. We ended up waiting about 1:15 but the line continued to move without any stops so it didn't honestly seem that bad. I had to have the people I was with tell me what was going on in the que, but still, it's a really neat que with lots to see and keeps your mind off the waiting. Besides the garden area, it's air conditioned! That helped this morning.

 

As for the ride. I'll sum it up like this, It's Spiderman on a cocaine binge. It's really cool how it all works together. Lots of surprises. I won't go into detail because chances are, you've probably seen the video/pics or don't want to read a spoiler. Now, even though I thought it was a cool attraction, I honestly was lost with the story. I am told it all comes straight out of the books, but if it's not sports, I don't read it. I don't think not having a clue about the story is an issue, the ride is still very entertaining.

 

The single rider line was open so we did that next, walked right up and was on board within five minutes.

 

The Butterbeer was quite tasty. The machines that make the frozen type were all having trouble this morning keeping them frozen due to the heat. This was happening at the bar and the outside service line. Note, if you want to give it a little kick, the bartenders will sell you a shot of whatever you want and you can put it in outside of the bar. They can't pour it for you. The bartenders also said they can't wait to go to normal hours because they work on tip service money and with 95% of sales being Butterbeer, they're not getting tips right now. One guy said he made a total of $25 dollars working six hours yesterday because he made nothing in tips. That hurts if you've ever worked in the food service industry.

 

Overall, I think the area is very well done. The Dragons cue is quite different from the Dueling days. Not as much to see in the line. I didn't go on the Unicorn or whatever it is now. I think the big issue Universal will face will come in a few years when it's time to expand/add to the area to keep it fresh. I'm sure they have things in mind already, but it will be hard to top the new attraction.

[alpengeist04]

Now, even though I thought it was a cool attraction, I honestly was lost with the story. I am told it all comes straight out of the books, but if it's not sports, I don't read it. I don't think not having a clue about the story is an issue, the ride is still very entertaining.

 

Actually, you can cheat and watch the movies, which is what I did. I was able to follow the story, but it is a ride you need to go on more than once in my opinion. ...It's so much easier to follow the second time around.

 

Edit:

Is FJ simply a simulator on a track? If so, I'm very disappointed.

 

If that's your only criteria, you won't be disappointed.

 

Explain.

 

Because it's much more than just another run-of-the-mill simulator. The Kuka arm along with the AAs definitely make this a kick butt ride.

 

Though I'm not sure if I would put it as my favorite just yet, I still think a few more rides are needed before deciding if it's better than Spiderman.

[DATman]

^The original post said "All I want are dementors" after that part of the quote and I think that is what the person who quoted him was referring to.

[alpengeist04]

^Yea, I was trying not post any spoilers, which is why I added a wink after my first response.

 

If that's your only criteria, you won't be disappointed.

 

But since BFG already mentioned them, I'll just say that Director_Guy won't be disappointed about a lack of Dementors.