Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[adeuce02]

Alot of people are actually really chill about waiting in line. I had to do crowd control today and had no problems with guest being cranky, line jumping or anything. Its pretty fun to talk to people about potter and stuff.

[disneyfan1313]

CBS News FAIL.

[BaMiTsPaT]

^ That made my day!

[monsterfan99]

^That along with hearing of people waiting at the Magic Kingdom to ride "Harry Potter World rides" made my day as well

[the ghost]

Hows the capacity on the forbidden journey? I cant imagine it being very good, but I dont know exactly ow the ride works in terms of car/arm location.

 

^^^ LOL! They say all press is good press...thats bad press!

[Erik Johnson]

^ The capacity is very good. The loading station works very much like an omnimover loading station (The ride never stops moving) which sort of reminds me of the Haunted Mansion's loading area for some weird reason. While in the loading station the ride vehicle travels from left to right with the benches facing towards the riders. The loading platform is really long so it allows enough time for everyone to get situated on the ride before taking off.

Edited June 20, 2010 by Erik Johnson

[cfc]

CBS News FAIL.

 

Is my perception off here, or are U.S. journalists getting dumber by the day?

[jmicha]

^Don't know if they're actually dumber, but they're most definitely lazier.

 

My current plan is to get out to Universal Studios again this coming winter and I'm definitely excited to see the WWoHP. It looks very well themed and all the reports I've read make it out to be just as good as it looks. I'm thinking that this was a very intelligent move on Universal's part. I'll be interested to see how/if this changes their attendance for the year. Hopefully it'll bring on an increase in attendance and gain some future repeat customers that may not have ventured over to US and IoA in the past.

[themeparkman25]

Unbelievable. Good thing the ride has a theoretical of like a million.

 

[coasterguy11]

Supposedly the opening was insane. The news stations were all over it.

 

 

[BBparks57]

This is defiantly exciting news!

 

I waited years to go to this event, and I got to go last year and it was amazing. Last November is when I started looking forward this years event, and knowing it's the 20th year just makes it that much more exciting.

 

I had a question to maybe more experienced Horror Night goers...last year I got the Frequent Fear Pass I believe it was called, and it was quite a deal. The weekends were busy, but the work nights were empty, which was awesome. I remember it being around 65 dollars, I used my pass discount. I noticed that was not listed, and I was curious if that was a one year thing, or if they release those later on. I saw above somebody mentioned other prices not mentioned, and I was just wondering if they are going to release those later. It was such an amazing deal, a good price to come the whole event, on non peak nights. Thanks!

[Sons of Sam Horn]

It's called a frequent Frequent Fear Pass and the official Halloween Horror Nights 2010 website has the information listed under tickets as "Details Coming Soon." The pass is usually good on opening weekend in September as well as Non Peak Nights, which are generally; Wednesdays,Thursdays, and Sundays. The Frequent Fear Pass has in the past sold for right around the cost of a one night full priced ticket. Many times Universal has been gracious enough, to make an announcement during the event run allowing guests using the Frequent Fear Pass, to visit the park on Halloween night as well. However, seeing as Halloween falls on a Sunday this year it will most likely be included when the pass goes on sale for this years event.

[ahecht]

The Consumerist, a website run by Consumer Reports magazine, just did a story on how rediculous it is that Universal is charging $79 just to see their new Harry Potter theme park. I had a back-and-forth email conversation with one of their editors who insisted that The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was a separate theme park, required its own admission ticket, and wasn't included with admission to any other park.

 

If the media gets it this wrong, how are average families that don't follow this stuff obsessively supposed to know that their money gets them into much more than just one little Harry Potter themed land?

[BeemerBoy]

Don't know if they're actually dumber, but they're most definitely lazier.

Agreed.

 

 

Those people are clearly more interested in riding HRRRRR.

[Lenaapple1974]

That is just insanely funny. How could CBS get that so wrong? Isn't there someone who proofreads that stuff too?

 

I agree, the marketing is not 100% correct, and that $80 price tag could be a big deterrent to some families. Just from some people I have spoken to, they are confused. Good thing most of my family/friends know to come to me before they book anything in Fl.

[DBJ]

The price isn't bad, considering they match the competition. That's pretty lazy of "The Consumerist" to not even check out the website of the park they are writing an article on just for basic fact checking.

 

I would be wary of attenting in year one just too not run into lines like those in the pic! Great for IOA though, and I hope this is a promising sign of what is to come at the Universal parks for years to come.

[Mr. Starr]

Many people in the parks have said that in the days after the opening, the line to get in went fast and was never really long.

[Wes]

The price isn't bad, considering they match the competition. That's pretty lazy of "The Consumerist" to not even check out the website of the park they are writing an article on just for basic fact checking.

 

I would be wary of attenting in year one just too not run into lines like those in the pic! Great for IOA though, and I hope this is a promising sign of what is to come at the Universal parks for years to come.

 

I guess that's the difference between writing for a blog and writing for a legit news agency...although the news agencies can't seem to get this "theme park" vs "land in a theme park" aspect right either.

 

I find Consumerist to be a tad on the sensationalist side. I like their site, but they try to make a lot of posts with an inflated sense of outrage to get their readers worked up.

[Meteornotes]

^I love Consumerist and read it regularly, and find it odd that they got this wrong. They're usually pretty good about printing corrections if they screw up, too. Odd.

 

dt

[ahecht]

They finally corrected the article, but it took 10 emails back and forth for him to understand that there was no separate admission charge for WWoHP.

[CoasterLover]

Went to the park yesterday [sunday] (plan to head there at least two or three more times on our vacation). When we headed to Wizarding World (around 1:30 pm), the area was packed, but you could still get around the area. Line for Forbidden Journey was listed at 120 mins, but (and this was even with probably about 80% of the queue full) we only ended up waiting 45 mins. The line is always moving and moves quite fast (almost too fast to be able to fully enjoy everything once you get into the castle). We headed back to the ride around 5 pm and waited about 40 mins that time. Hoping to get one more ride before the end of the night, we headed back around 9:30 (park closed at 10:00 pm), got on in about 20 mins, then went back around, got on again with no wait, and after that second ride, noted that it was still 3 mins til closing, and hopped back in line just before they closed off the queue (three rides in about 30 mins... and most of that time was spent either on the ride or navigating the queue). Overall, five rides in about half a day. The ride is a people eater and didn't break down once while we were there. I was quite impressed.

 

Dragon Challenge was a walk on all day. Hippogriff was never more than 15 mins. The shops all had decent lines (maybe about 30 mins each). Line at the Butterbeer cart was easily half an hour, but they had waitresses bringing out cups on trays (they also sell butterbeer at the Hogs Head and at Three Broomsticks). The Olavander experience easily had the longest line in the section (easily two hours at some times)... you should note, they let in about 10 people at a time, but not everyone get's the "wand experience"... when we went, only one girl got to find her wand and she only tried two spells before finding the wand that "worked." I'm sure they'll decrease the number of people at a time and increase the amount of attempts until you find the "right" wand as lines get shorter, but for now, don't go expecting to get the wand experience for yourself (you have to get lucky!).

 

Overall, VERY impressed and can't wait to get back later this week.

[timfreeman]

(06.22.2010) People were herding in like cattle all morning. At 1pm, there was still a line all the way to Super Hero Island. Workers were saying there was still at least a 4 hour wait at that point. Going to head back that way later tonight to see...

[CoasterLover]

Seems the trick is to go either really early or really late. We were walking through the front gates if IOA by 8:30 and joined the line for WWoHP right around Bilge-rat Barge. By 9:30 (30 mins after park opening) we were in. Left after about an hour or two and watched the line throughout the rest of the day (while riding other rides). It eventually extended back as far as Superhero Island (we were told at that point that it was a 5 hr wait), but by about 1:30/2:00, you could walk right into WWoHP without waiting. Line for HP:FJ stayed around 1-1.5 hrs throughout the day. Was a little disheartened to see two of my favorite effects not working on my first ride, but only one (known) effect not working on the other couple rides (the said effect is one where you're pulled pack through a fog screen and you can see your face in the fog [projected of course... won't go into detail on the exact place in the ride where that happens as it might ruin some "surprises", but it's towards the end]... it's a VERY cool effect)...

[timfreeman]

Went back around 8:00 2 nights ago and FJ had a 90 minute wait. Waited in line for over 2 hours as it broke down 3 times as my son really wanted to ride it. Ended up getting on the ride around 10:30. Got out of the tower around 11:00 and browsed the shops until around midnight. At 10:00 when the park "closes" the line was still past the greenhouse and out the door.

 

Went back again the next night at 8:30 and stood in line for the Olivandars show. He did pick my son out of the group, so it was awesome. Also stood in line with a group of guys doing a 18 day road trip. Wouldn't surprise me if they were here on the boards. Made the line seem to move quickly and enjoyable. FJ was still packed at closing again.

[atem122]

movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-harry-potter-fans-deemed-too-heavy-for-wizarding-world-ride.html

Most people remember the feeling of not being tall enough to ride an amusement park ride, but some would-be riders of the signature attraction at Universal Studios' new "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" theme park in Orlando are being turned away because of their girth. The ride, "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey," employs individual restraints to keep each guest tucked in to his or her seat, but the restraints aren't large enough to accommodate heavier riders.

 

Universal seems to have anticipated this issue, stationing staff "wizards" and test-seats along the line and at the entrance to Forbidden Journey. Riders test their ability to fit in the seats, as well as the restraint (which must click three times to be deemed safe and for the potential rider to be allowed into the attraction).

 

One Harry Potter fan, Jeff Guillaume of Lansing, Michigan, expressed disappointment on his "Harry Potter" fan site after he failed the test. Guillaume is 5'8" and weighs 265 pounds, and says the restraint wouldn't fit over his torso, though he reports that other rides at the park have special cars reserved for bigger riders.

 

Universal, which doesn't have "specific weight limits (just the test seats and a requirement that riders be at least 48 inches tall), says the "body dimension" restrictions are "to ensure the safety of our guests. It's #1."

 

That's all fine and good, but considering the average weight of an American man is 191 pounds (and rising: in 1960 it was 166 pounds), "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" could be turning away quite a few potential revelers.

 

Universal isn't the first theme-park operator to deal with issues raised by the growing rate of obesity in the United States. In 2007, Disney had to modify the "It's a Small World" ride after weighted-down boats began regularly getting stuck in the plume.

 

One Harry Potter fan who was unable to ride "Forbidden Journey" when his seat test yielded only two clicks of the restraint, is turning the incident into a personal motivational challenge. Banks Lee, who says he's 6'2? and approximately 310 lbs, has decided to diet and exercise until he can get on the ride (and hopes to continue his quest even after meeting that goal.) He's even started a blog: Banks Lee and the Three Clicks: My Journey to Fit on an Enchanted Bench, where the Orlando resident is documenting the long walks and sensible diet that he hopes will lead to a ride on "The Forbidden Journey."