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Wizarding World of Harry Potter Attractions Finally Announced


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So will this dark ride be more of an intense ride, or a smaller not as intense ride meant to everyone?

It will be a letdown to fans if the ride isnt sutable for people not looking for thrills.

Well, the height requirement has been set at 48" at this point. The disclaimer on the ride's entrance sign reads:

"THIS RIDE SIMULATES DRAMATIC AEROBATICS. THE RIDE VEHICLE WILL SUDDENLY ACCELERATE, STOP, TURN, CLIMB AND DROP."

I think its safe to say not to expect Cat in the Hat here :-)

- Todd

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Just an update.....team members finally got their preview of Forbidden Journey today from 12PM-4PM. Regardless of what happens, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be opening tomorrow....as it is the first day of the vacation packages that were previously sold. While nothing is set in stone regarding how things are going to go down exactly, rumors are strongly pointing to the area being open to regular guests after the vacation sneak peak is over at 10AM. One of my friend's that works for Universal got to experience the ride today. I requested he not share details, as I'd prefer to be surprised, but he said that the ride is very intense. Also, since it was speculated at one point, it will not be turning guests upside down....even though the ride system is capable of doing so. I'm heading to Islands for opening tomorrow! Hoping to experience it myself, after 3 long years of waiting and anticipating.

- Todd, who had his first taste of Pumpkin Juice a few nights ago and LOVED it....can't wait to try Butterbeer!

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I think its safe to say that this Harry Potter ride may be similar to Spiderman in terms of being a ground breaking new dark ride. Now if only I could get a chance to go down to Florida and experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. And yes, I have read all the books. I read all the books over the summer in 2007 (while working 40 hours a week at a co-op job and working at Coney on the weekends).

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Package holders were finally let in to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter on Friday morning and, as expected, a TON of photos and videos have been posted on Flickr and YouTube (no shots of Forbidden Journey, though) courtesy of Inside The Magic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/insidethemagic/sets/72157624154932930/

http://www.youtube.com/user/InsideTheMagic

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Todd we are looking forward to your first hand report about the new Harry Potter area and of course your always detailed and unbiased opinion about the new ride attraction and re theme of others. Have a great time.

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Todd we are looking forward to your first hand report about the new Harry Potter area and of course your always detailed and unbiased opinion about the new ride attraction and re theme of others. Have a great time.

Yes, its true that they opened the area and ride for Resort Guests yesterday, as they had an obligation to do so. They removed all the construction walls and barriers. Unfortunately, once the preview was over at 10AM, all the walls and barriers went back up. Dragon's Challenge was closed for 2 hours in order to re-route the queue line...reopening as Dueling Dragons. Talk about some surprised and upset people when those walls went back up, Universal is truly is missing out on a tremendous opportunity by not having at least Hogsmeade open this weekend....cause the few thousand or so that went through it spent a very significant amount in those few hours. Buuuut....according to a few people the contract with JK Rowling basically goes along the lines of ALL of NOTHING with regards to opening. The ride itself still has a lot of hiccups to work out, so it could be that Universal just doesn't feel comfortable yet with opening it to the masses that will be swarming the parks this weekend. Seems like, at least for now, it'll be the same procedure as yesterday....take the walls down, put them back up when its over. One never knows though, things are changing on an hourly basis with this thing. Hoping I get to go through it before I head up to Ohio on Wednesday, otherwise I'll be getting back to Orlando just in time for the grand opening.

- Todd

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This Sunday, at 7:00 eastern, NBC is showing "The Making of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter". The description according to tvguide.com:

A behind-the-scenes peek at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a theme-park attraction at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida. The special includes cast commentary and a close-up on the attraction's cutting-edge technology.

I haven't read any of the HP books, and have seen only parts of 2 HP movies (I'll see them all eventually... I plan on watching them in a marathon over several days once they're all released), but I'm excited about this. I'll definitely be recording this special. We're talking about going back to Universal next year, since the last time we were there was a month after IOA first opened to the public... yeah, it's been a few years! I'm wondering just how much of the new dark ride they're going to show... that's what I'm most interested in.

Just thought a few of you would be interested and would want to know about this special! smile.gif

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Awesome! Thanks for the info!

I haven't had time to do a TR yet, but I was able to make it to the preview of Wizarding World of Harry Potter on Tuesday. Its absolutely wonderful, Universal has really done a tremendous job at bringing the books to life. Forbidden Journey is brilliant, think of it as the next generation Spiderman. I do prefer it to Spiderman, surprisingly. Very immersive, a lot of surprise elements to it and best of all an amazing queue. I'll write up a TR sometime within the next few days, as I drove to Ohio from Orlando yesterday to hit up KI and Holiwood Nights this weekend.

- Todd

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Look what I found:

SPOILER! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT THE RIDE IS LIKE: DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK!

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=J8KHb2yIiuY

Thanks for posting that link, even thought that video is awful LOL. For anyone that may be heading down to Universal anytime during the next few months, I highly recommend NOT reading or viewing anything about the ride....other than checking out some pictures of the que I left it all as a surprised. I'm VERY glad I did, I was able to appreciate it a lot more :-)

- Todd

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