Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[jmicha]

DUDE! You just contradicted yourself!!!! You just said you didn't have to wait to enter the shops, but then immediately followed that up saying there was a shop that had a line! WTF?!?!?! Do you not see how completely moronic that sounds?

 

I do now...lol. What I actually meant was that all of the normal shops other than the one that is designed to be an individual experience (the wand picking process or whatever it is) which would lend itself to lines regardless of the crowds.

 

Anywho, I feel that losing the water vortex and Mythos would be a sad loss, but who knows, maybe the new stuff would have some equally awesome elements. As amazing as the former Lost Continent was, like Elissa already pointed out, this was kind of the plan from the start if the first phase was a success. I seem to remember at the start of this whole transformation process several concepts being thrown about that were not included in the first phase so I'm assuming those were ideas for a much larger Potterland that could eventually happen depending on the success of the first part. Although obviously not everyone is a fan of Harry Potter, the area is themed well and the level of detail is top notch so hopefully at the very least the attractions will be good enough for those who do not like Harry Potter to also enjoy. I feel that is the biggest problem with the Forbidden Journey. I like Harry Potter, but I'm not a crazed fan that knows absolutely everything. I had trouble following what was happening the first time around, but hopefully any new attractions won't have this problem.

[Gnome]

I believe Screamscape mentioned they would try to leave Mythos in tact. But it seems weird that they would leave just one single building just so they would not have to ruin the design or detail of the building? Im sure there has to be some way where they can slip Mythos in and blend it with the expansion of HP. Maybe they can create their own story (JK Rowling approved of course) and couple that with some subtle design changes and you can have an awesome restaurant that blends without destroying the original integrity of it? Food for thought.

Edited April 9, 2011 by Gnome

[dragonskeep]

For 36% increase in attendance I would let J K Rowling dress me in the morning.

[PAL]

Free Dueling Dragons!

 

An indoor coaster sounds attractive on it's own merits, but given the HP attraction mix it seems odd. HP has an aggressive dark ride, a jr coaster, the Dragons and a few overcrowded shops. Does this thin gruel need a 4th coaster? Mix something else in.

Edited April 10, 2011 by PAL

[SharkTums]

^Perhaps a water ride where JK Rowling pees on you repeatedly?

 

Seriously, they could put that in and the people would come running!!!

[cfc]

^My impression was that she was already doing that. Well, on Universal via all her demands, anyway.

Edited April 9, 2011 by cfc

[ginzo]

^Perhaps a water ride where JK Rowling pees on you repeatedly?

 

Seriously, they could put that in and the people would come running!!!

 

Imagine the wait times.

[Imhotep]

There has DEFINITELY been a line every time I've gone. Even at the slowest day. On a very slow day (where the Hulk and Spiderman are walkons), the Harry Potter park was a walk in, but there was a 35 min wait for the WWOHP ride, and a 45 min wait for the wand shop. I also had to wait in a line that started behind the bar in Hogsmeade just to get a butterbeer, don't remember the wait but it was longer than anyone should have to wait for any drink at that bar. I only went this route because the various butterbeer carts all had MUCH longer lines.

 

Do I go every day? No. Are there some days that are probably slower? Sure! But either way, this tells me this place needs to expand just to spread out the crowds. Even on that slow day with probably a third of the people you would normally see there on a crazy busy one, it was STILL a beast to navigate through people. Could this be poor design? Poor Flow?

 

Not really too much of a fan of the HP franchise, but I really do like that part of the park. That being said , we avoid the hell out of it because the congestion sucks. We'll sneak in the JP side, ride WWOHP, say "we've rode dueling dragons millions of times, we'll skip it," then talk the kids into doing something else.

 

This place definitely NEEDS to expand.

[alpengeist04]

To be honest, I did do the wand show once and I don't need to do it again. I was actually lucky, since my wait was only 5 minutes back in early December. Any longer and I probably would have walked on by like I have dozens of times before and after. Same with Forbidden Journey, I ride it first thing in the morning and walk on by the rest of the day. Heck, I've actually been going to the studios side much more often lately anyway.

[OldJJman]

I'm really curious to see how much staying power HP-land really has.

 

I agree that a 36% increase is incredible, but how will that number hold up next year? As the newness of HP wears off, and the tons of people being duped into believing that there actually IS a HP theme park (later to find out that it's only a small themed land of a larger park), will the numbers continue to hold steady, or decline?

 

For the record - Hate HP

Hate what they did to the DD queue

Saw Sinbad once - no great loss

The ORIGINAL Poseidon was way better that ANY revisions - so who cares

Goodbye Mythos - Not as good the last few years anywho

 

The biggest question is:

 

What will happen to the talking fountain?????????

[dragonskeep]

I have actually had a couple very cool experiences by that fountain. My neices were totally fooled by it when they were little and still fun. Hopefully it could be worked in, I bet it can. The conversion to Potter came with some casualties for sure. Dueling Dragons is certainlty worse now by quite a margin.

 

I bet Potter has some staying power though, the numbers will decline and still be awesome numbers. Islands with another big ticket and a better stunt show, I'll take it. Even if they build a new resturaunt that is similar caliber to Mythos I would be totally for it. A diagon alley area would be really cool for me. Bring in the new...well sometimes.

[larrygator]

Even if I was a fan of Potter, I have zero interest in experiencing the highly overrated ride or Land Of Shopping ever again. dt

 

Dave - I thought you liked Epcot.

 

Oh no, all the moderators are going to kill me now.

 

I'm really curious to see how much staying power HP-land really has.

 

I agree that a 36% increase is incredible, but how will that number hold up next year? As the newness of HP wears off, and the tons of people being duped into believing that there actually IS a HP theme park (later to find out that it's only a small themed land of a larger park), will the numbers continue to hold steady, or decline?

 

For the record - Hate HP

Hate what they did to the DD queue

Saw Sinbad once - no great loss

The ORIGINAL Poseidon was way better that ANY revisions - so who cares

Goodbye Mythos - Not as good the last few years anywho

 

The biggest question is:

 

What will happen to the talking fountain?????????

 

What will happen to your stylish Dueling Dragons tie dye shirt?

Edited April 12, 2011 by larrygator

[ginzo]

Dave - I thought you liked Epcot.

 

This is a reasonable point, but at least EPCOT has space. You could probably fit all of Potterland inside the gift shop in the Japan pavilion and still have room to expand.

[cfc]

I'm really curious to see how much staying power HP-land really has.

 

Hate what they did to the DD queue

 

What will happen to your stylish Dueling Dragons tie dye shirt?

 

It is now a prized collector's item that is worth a fortune on E-bay.

[The Raven]

First of all I am a big Harry Potter fan. But I am probably the only fan to not want to see them expand WWoHP. After going to IOA for the first time in Feb, I went because of WWoHP, the Lost Continent was my second favorite section of the park behind WWoHP. I think instead of an expansion to WWoHP they should focus on the Marvel land and turn it into a Sifi City like the one in USS, since Disney owns Marvel and sooner or later they will have to rebrand anyways.

[LoopLover]

A family friend recently visited Islands of Adventure and obviously visited this area of the park. He was disappointed. He said that he had to queue for forty-five minutes or so to just get in to the area. Then all of the shops had long queues like the attractions. He did however very much enjoy Forbidden Journey! I would be interested in visiting but find it strange that it is being advertised as a theme-park in British holiday brochures. It isn't.

[StarTrekGeek]

I think instead of an expansion to WWoHP they should focus on the Marvel land and turn it into a Sifi City like the one in USS, since Disney owns Marvel and sooner or later they will have to rebrand anyways.

 

No.

[dragonskeep]

I have seen the lines in there get laughably long. Folks who come down when the parks are very busy would probably walk away feeling let down. Waiting in line to wait in line just sucks, seems Universal has no choice but to expand. A new indoor coaster would be a great reason alone for Harry Potter to exist.

[downunder]

I don't care what the label is, if it results in the installation of great rides; call it Harry Potter, The Hebrew Hammer or whatever, as long as the rides are good.

 

One thing that disappointed me was that Islands of Potter only resulted in one new ride at IOA; though the land is nice.

[Jerrykoala2112]

I have seen the lines in there get laughably long. Folks who come down when the parks are very busy would probably walk away feeling let down. Waiting in line to wait in line just sucks, seems Universal has no choice but to expand. A new indoor coaster would be a great reason alone for Harry Potter to exist.

 

My visit to both USF and IOA in July of 2009 was jam packed, and I still had a rockin' time! To me, the rides at these parks are totally worth a long queue, especially because the rides are 2-10 minutes long! Granted, my ride on Incredible Hulk after waiting over an hour was beyond awful... I don't know if it was the heat, or just the back seat was extra shaky, but they really have to improve the way their fast passes work.

 

Although, it seems my last 3 visits to the parks (2005, 2009, 2011) seemed to be packed in the morning... The crowds eventually slow down by the time the sun sets! Which is just great news for the next time I visit.

[Redrum237]

My problem with the planned expansion with the Wizarding World is that it's planned to overtake the Lost Continent instead of Jurassic Park. IMO Jurassic Park is a blandly designed area with very little theming, whereas The Lost Continent is one of the best themed areas of IOA (maybe the best aside from Wizarding World). The only thing in Jurassic Park worth a damn as far as I'm concerned is the River Adventure. About half of Jurassic Park could probably be got rid of (including the Discovery Center) and replaced with more of the Wizarding World. Most of that half of Jurassic Park is useless space anyway, and the River Adventure could still be kept totally intact. The Discovery Center I think is pretty bland and boring, both in terms of the exhibits and the building itself, and I think losing it would be nowhere near as big a loss as losing The Lost Continent. I don't see why Universal doesn't just do this (is it because Lost Continent isn't based on licensed property while Jurassic Park is?).

 

I think most of Islands of Adventure is subpar theming wise (Marvel Island, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park), and losing more of the Lost Continent seems incredibly unfortunate when a lesser themed area, Jurassic Park, could be gutted instead. I'm not happy about the Enchanted Oak being gone and the changes to Dueling Dragons, but losing the rest of the Lost Continent would be much worse and much less necessary.

[doublestufforeo]

We went Wednesday night to Universal to pick up passes, and have a fun day at the park, the lines were ridiculously long for everything, but me and my sister just went in single rider, and didn't wait more than 30 minutes for anything. We skipped over the Hogsmeade area and literally waited 5 minutes single rider for Forbidden Journey, which was an awesome ride, and I don't get motion sick very easily, but in some spots where you can't tell up from down, the invertigo was a little too much, the second time around however I found placement points to look at to find my directionals made it much better on me.

 

We then proceeded to go back last night and arrive at 7 pm, people were leaving as we were walking in and the park didn't close till' 11 pm. I was the only one riding rides because my mom can't do them (she has back issues.) All the lines were 30 minutes or less (even Forbidden Journey,) and the shops in Hogsmeade weren't as crowded, and there were no shop lines (minus Ollivander's.) So I ended up literally walking on to Spiderman, Dr. Doom, and Hulk through the single rider line, walked into Dr. Seuss did the Trolley in The Sky, and walked over to Harry Potter. We ended up starting at the Castle Tour, and work our way toward the front since the crowd of traffic was moving in the exiting manner it seemed easier to just fight the crowd once, then the entire time we were there. After the castle tour, we ended up right at the single rider line, and I walked on, had an amazing ride and continued off. We picked up a Marauders Map and a wand on the way out of the castle, and found a butter beer cart, if you ever get it, definitely get frozen over normal, it's such a great drink. I've heard so many people say it tastes like butterscotch but to me it was more of a cream soda. My mom and I split the drink while we watched the Hogwarts choir show (which wasn't a WOW factor, but it was a nice break to just leisurely stroll through the area.) After we finished the drink we headed over to Dervish and Banges which connects into Ollivander's wand shop (which is the tiniest little shop I really wish they made this bigger for the crowd it was insane.) Picked up some neat trinkets (a Triwizard Cup and a Time Turner necklace for my sister.) We then proceeded to head over to The Three Broomsticks. We ordered the chicken and rib plate, with a shepherd's pie, to split (which comes with the best corn on the cob ever.) They also have the greatest lemonade my mom's ever had, and I didn't find it all that special, but hey I'm no lemonade connoisseur. The shepherd's pie was blah, and I cared less, I ate it because I was hungry and didn't exactly care for taste, and the chicken and rib plate was a lot better, and worth the money if I may add. We then proceeded to Honeydukes sweet shop, which has overpriced candies you can find anywhere else, (minus the few novelty candies such as Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans (which are gross.)) A chocolate frog and all the other special candies you find are literally just solid chocolate or renamed overpriced versions of M&M's and such, just because it says Harry Potter on it. Granted some of the things are worth getting for the jars they come in or the cases, as mementos I figure if you travel all that way you might as well. Zonko's joke shop is connected to Honeydukes, so we proceeded walking into there afterwards. Just like the candy shop it's knock offs of things you can buy anywhere else, (again excluding the novelty specific Harry Potter items.) The store repeats merchandise as well, I figure they stock up for all the people that come in daily. On the way out I got a picture with the Hogwarts conductor in front of the train, and we set off.

 

All in all it was a very fun trip and it's worth having passes just so we can leisurely do what we want without passes, but coming earlier in the day during the heat with all the people, plus the insane wait times just to get INTO the place is not worth it at all.

 

Still the place was worth it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, the ride was extremely fun, and the technology is pretty amazing to it. I can't wait to see more of these spring up around the place, as they are pretty awesome.

 

- Doublestufforeo

[timfreeman]

With kids, my thoughts are the exact opposite of Redrum's. The kids could spend all day in the discovery center and such in JP. They've never done anything in the existing LC other than eat at Mythos and talk to the fountain. The 2 shows are nothing to wait around for and the shops/games are passable. The best themed parts are already gone in Dueling Dragons and the Oak, so just wipe the rest of it.

 

On a side note, our last visit solidified the fact that we would not be renewing our passes this year. The kids would rather stay at the house in the pool or Disney as Potterville is always packed. The last several trips, we'd walk around hitting all the rides normally with walk-ons (Hulk, Spidey, Doom, etc) as everyone is in WWOHP. I don't think we stepped foot into Universal other that to ride Rockit and Mummy. The last week we were down there, we hit IOA twice and the second time was because we knew we weren't going to renew. We got there at opening and went straight to the wand shop and the line was already 45 minutes. FB was already 35, I assume from on-site guests getting in early. The land is too small and the waits are too long for them to double the prices of the passes. The kids still enjoy the rides, but it's no longer a "must-do" so we'll take a year off and see how it goes.

[SharkTums]

KT LOVES the JP Discovery Center as well. Plus it's air conditioned and has places for parents to sit down. Add in the giant kids play area over by Pteranadon Flyers and it's the best island for kids (yes, I would put it above Seuss!).

[Redrum237]

With kids, my thoughts are the exact opposite of Redrum's. The kids could spend all day in the discovery center and such in JP. They've never done anything in the existing LC other than eat at Mythos and talk to the fountain. The 2 shows are nothing to wait around for and the shops/games are passable. The best themed parts are already gone in Dueling Dragons and the Oak, so just wipe the rest of it.

 

Poseidon's Fury Building, Mythos, the Mystic Fountain, and all the random buildings in the Lost Continent count as pretty well themed in my books. Honestly as a child I personally would have preferred The Lost Continent to Jurassic Park, since I've always been an architecture buff even at a young age.

 

Jurassic Park on the other hand is mostly just trees and boring looking buildings. And I'm not suggesting getting rid of everything. Just the areas past the entrance to the River Adventure toward WWOHP (so essentially, the Discovery Center and the area where Triceratops Encounter used to be)

 

Also, mods, what happened to my other thread on this topic? Why was it deleted and then why was my message to one of the mods about this issue also deleted? ....I am very confused here.