jdawg1998 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 ^^How will the tickets work? I have a feeling there will be a plethora of people who have a single-park ticket, and are upset when they see they can't get on the Hogwarts Express. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkroz Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 ^^How will the tickets work? I have a feeling there will be a plethora of people who have a single-park ticket, and are upset when they see they can't get on the Hogwarts Express. I'm quite certain Universal recognizes this issue and will make upgrades to Park-to-Park tickets a very simple task right there at the station. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawg1998 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 But then there's the people with screaming children who can't just upgrade to a park-park ticket, and the children start crying because they can't go take the journey on the Hogwarts Express like Harry and the gang did. I'm just saying, I hope it's made very obvious that the ride is only for guests with park to park tickets. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailRider Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 http://www.themepark...y-not-recognize #1! ^ Amazing how a few dinosaurs can change a ride. Love Dinosaur, but Indy is still one of my favorites Got a partial lights on ride on Dinosaur last year because of a technical issue, kind of neat but also really killed the ride experience once the lights went back off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 I bet the ticketing confusion issue is a big concern for Universal as well. My guess is that they'll probably have self-service kiosks, staffed ticket booths, and hopefully even satellite guest services desks at both stations to deal with "impulse" ticket up grades to multi-park (and the enivitable "issues" that will arise...) Based on the content they have now on their web site, I'm sure they'll have a LOT of signage at the gates and all over the parks explaining the necessity of having a multi-park ticket to be able to experience Hogwart's Express. Unfortunately, however, I've learned over the years that people tend to selectively ignore signage :-) I was making reservations at Royal Pacific for my planned trip in September and needed to call the res call center to take advantage of a special offer I had been sent by Loews that wasn't available online. While I was making the hotel reservation, the call center agent reminded me no fewer than four times that everyone in my party would need muli-park tickets to experience Hogwart's Express "and the entire Wizarding World of Harry Potter." Even though I told her a few times that I fully understand that and would be purchasing my multi-day/multi-park tickets at a later date online, she did her best to get me to buy the entire package while I was on the phone with her :-) My point is, that it seems that call center agents have already been trained to explain (then explain again...and again...and again) the ticket requirements for experienching Harry Potter in its entirety. That's not to say that there still won't be people who miss the message, but from what I've seen so far, they definitely seem to be trying to be proactive and address it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailRider Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 I wonder if there has been any discussion to make the 2 parks a single admission price? Eliminate the need for park hopping and just treat the whole thing as a one ticket attraction? Just curious as to the percentage of folks that will only buy a single park ticket without the hoping option? Also how many angered park goers will make the upgrade purchase in the park. Honestly doesn't mater how many times a person is told about the need for the hopper or the signage, folks will miss it and it will be everyone else fault except theirs. I don't know the answers to these questions, but I imagine they were some interesting conversation that were had over the issues Hogwarts Express will create. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 I thought at one time the parks were one big park. It was split creating IOA. I remember as a young lad riding Jurassic Park back when it was just Orlando Stuidos........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 ^ No, from the time of opening ('99 maybe?) IOA was always a separate gate from Universal Studios. Did you visit Universal Studios Hollywood as a child? If so, you might be remembering that...the Jurassic Park ride at USH is pretty much identical to the one in at IOA... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 No. I didnt think we did both parks. Mind you this was almost 15 years ago, but I would have sworn (probably not right) that we only did one park and did things from both of the current parks. I thought something was still under construction when we went as well.... But maybe we did both parks and I was just so young I dont remember Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 So this park to park ticket has already made my family change their plans for next year. Originally we were going to do one day at IOA and 1 at US. Looks like now we will do one day total and probably spend the other day in a Disney park Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Might I recommend Busch Gatdens Tampa? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonofbeast2.0 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I love Universal Orlando but man I wish their ticket prices were cheaper! At least the passes are on sale! update: For Florida residents..... One of the main reason were not even going their this year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailRider Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 A 1 day park hopper at DisneyWorld is $134 before tax. Neither Universal or Disney wants you to visit only 1 day, which is why they incentivize multi day tickets. Although Universal is a much deeper discount on multiple days than Disney. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 But to be fair, Universal does not offer the multi-day visit experience as WDW. On a very busy couple of days, I could see how you could maybe do 3 days at Universal. Maybe. I can see 2 days for sure, possibly the third day, if it is incredibly packed. WDW can get you for at least 3-4 days minimum if your goal is to go to every park. HS is considered by some as a half day park, but MK, EPCOT, AK, are all full days or more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailRider Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 I agree that Universal is a 1 - 2 day park and there is little reason to stay late at their parks, no great nighttime entertainment. Disney I would agree is 3-4 day minimum if only doing the parks. Although I would argue AK is a half day park and HS is a full day with nighttime entertainment. This will soon change once the new nighttime show is added at AK. Also MK is very hard to do in 1 day with average crowds, if you do it in only 1 day you will be darn near exhausted the next. One of the major mistakes folks make is not giving themselves breaks while at Disney. They are much needed and add to the enjoyment of the trip. A 3 hour afternoon break is much better than that midday show, parade, and ride on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Luckily I will have a two year old with me who will need breaks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oysterman Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Went to both Universal parks and all Disney in Orlando this past March for Spring Break. We were able to do 2 days at Disney and 1 for Universal and hit everything we wanted. We used up every hour of the day and didn't really break long for food etc, but it's do-able. I think we lucked out at Universal though, it was slightly rainy and almost everything except for Transformers (I think it was 3hrs+) was walk-on. Just make sure you look at what time each park closes and plan to go to the one that closes latest at the end of the day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTD-120-420 Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 The dragon has been installed. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delirium_Guy Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 The walls around London in USF and around Hogsmeade station in IOA are down. http://behindthethrills.com/2014/06/walls-come-down-around-diagon-alley-at-universal-orlando-as-harry-potter-gets-closer/ After participating in mock service last week, all I can say is that guests are going to be blown away with Diagon Alley. As incredible as Hogsmeade is, Diagon takes things to an entirely different level that even New Fantasyland doesn't do. It will be easy for guests to spend hours exploring....there are a lot of hidden gems that have not been announced nor can be seen from any pictures that are out there. :-) And Hogwarts Express is simply wonderful.... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkroz Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I thought at one time the parks were one big park. It was split creating IOA. I remember as a young lad riding Jurassic Park back when it was just Orlando Stuidos........ ^ No, from the time of opening ('99 maybe?) IOA was always a separate gate from Universal Studios. Did you visit Universal Studios Hollywood as a child? If so, you might be remembering that...the Jurassic Park ride at USH is pretty much identical to the one in at IOA... To jump back to this, you're probably remembering a very famous flub in advertising that cost Universal a lot. In 1999, Universal Studios Islands of Adventure opened next to the original Universal Studios Florida to create the new Universal Studios Escape. Probably you can spot the issue. Islands of Adventure was incorrectly and unintentionally marketed in a way that made it seem like an addition to the original Universal Studios Florida, and the new moniker - Universal Studios Escape - hardly cleared anything up. But remember that before this time, adding a second gated park and transforming a park into what we'd now easily identify as a "multi-park resort" wasn't the norm. Besides Walt Disney World, few had done it. There was no formula. Universal sort of "discovered" it. After staggeringly low attendance and mass confusion in the public, the second park was officially renamed Universal's Islands of Adventure and the entire two-park complex became Universal Orlando Resort. Obviously it set a helpful precedent for future resorts, though. In 2001, Disneyland Park added Disney's California Adventure and became the Disneyland Resort; Tokyo Disneyland added Tokyo DisneySea and became Tokyo Disney Resort; etc. Without Universal taking the brunt of that "school of hard knocks" discovery, 2001 might've seen Disneyland California Adventure at Disneyland Escape. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RingMaster Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 https://www.universalorlando.com/Potter-Homepage-Replay.aspx 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Existential Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 I want to see this thing mang. Girlfriend and I will be there next year...though she is the Potter fan more than I. I'm more of a David Lynch kind of fella...a indie sort of Jim Jarmusch guy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailRider Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Early reviews of Diagon Alley from media is that the area is rich in detail and is mainly a shopping and dinning hub with 1 attraction Gringotts Bank and a shared attraction in Hogwarts Express. The reviews seem to be more positive for Hogwarts Express and that Gringotts is much more family friendly than the Forbidden Journey. Sounds promising so far and should be interesting to see how the opinions develop of the next few days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedarPointer Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 So, apparently the dragon on top of that building doesn't move? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom497 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 So, apparently the dragon on top of that building doesn't move? But it does breathe fire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedevariouseffect Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Unfortunately one of our rides really doesn't anymore.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emileeee Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I keep seeing pics and videos from the preview and it looks amazing! The attention to detail is remarkable. They've got the shrunken head in the Knight Bus that moves and talks and the inside of Gringotts looks just like the movie. Gahhhhh. I want to go. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 So, apparently the dragon on top of that building doesn't move? The dragon in the new parade at MK moves quite a bit and breathes copious amounts of fire for those who want to see such a thing. No CGI GOT dragons there! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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