Future of Dragon Challenge?

[Mike S]

Gringotts is set during Deathly Hallows, but Diagon Alley feels more like one of the earlier books. Forbidden Journey is mostly from Chamber of Secrets. Madam Puddifoots is from Goblet of Fire, while the Gilderoy Lockhart books are from Chamber of Secrets. Grimmauld Place is from Order of the Phoenix, and the Knight Bus is from Prisoner of Azkaban.

I believe the official word on time placement is that there isn't one. That doesn't mean that particular attractions can't be set against one particular storyline from the books/movies.

I believe things like Lockhart's Books, a store, the Knight Bus, and Grimmauld place are simple enough things that just exist throughout the series regardless of when they first appeared. You talk about the Chamber of Secrets but since there's no Basilisk it could be anytime after Harry killed it. Dragon Challenge is the big giveaway of when the land takes place. Also the Hungarian Horntail in FJ.

You're talking about mixing specific events that happened at specific times.

 

[Magistra]

I believe things like Lockhart's Books, a store, the Knight Bus, and Grimmauld place are simple enough things that just exist throughout the series regardless of when they first appeared. You talk about the Chamber of Secrets but since there's no Basilisk it could be anytime after Harry killed it. Dragon Challenge is the big giveaway of when the land takes place. Also the Hungarian Horntail in FJ.

You're talking about mixing specific events that happened at specific times.

Flight of the Hippogriff is set in Goblet of Fire?

Whether you see Hogsmeade as being in one cohesive time period or not, Diagon Alley is definitely in a different time period. What I'm suggesting is that this new area, the Forbidden Forest, be in a third.

And having Luna there is not a problem because she was surely at the school already by the third book, even if we hadn't met her yet. Graup, okay, no, but unicorns, centaurs, the Ford Anglia, Aragog, dementors, Harry's Patronus, yes.

 

[Magistra]

And by the way, if and when they build the Ministry of Magic, it will be set in Order of the Phoenix.

 

[Mike S]

This conversation seems very familiar...

Do you have another account here?

One that was recently banned?

 

[WAJAS]

I just noticed today that in FJ you just randomly end up in the Chamber of Secrets after being on the Quidditch pitch and it makes no sense. Didn't hurt my feelings tho

I believe Harry exits the Chamber through a back way originally, which is the way we are entering it in Forbidden Journey.

 

[Magistra]

Banned? What? No. I didn't read the deleted conversation, but I read that it had something to do with Njntendo. I have no opinion whatsoever on Nintendo one way or another other than that it sounds like a promising addition.

I'm not trying to sound belligerent here. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan if my avatar doesn't make that clear. Just making my point. Anything wrong with that?

 

[Mike S]

Banned? What? No. I didn't read the deleted conversation, but I read that it had something to do with Njntendo. I have no opinion whatsoever on Nintendo one way or another other than that it sounds like a promising addition.

I'm not trying to sound belligerent here. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan if my avatar doesn't make that clear. Just making my point. Anything wrong with that?

Ok then. There was another conversation before that one that was about Harry Potter that went in a similar direction involving the same person.

 

[Magistra]

Ok then. There was another conversation before that one that was about Harry Potter that went in a similar direction involving the same person.

Was that the bit that was deleted? I thought it was about Nintendo. Someone else thinks a Forbidden Forest attraction will replace Dragon Challenge? Okay, but I'm not him.

 

[Mike S]

Was that the bit that was deleted? I thought it was about Nintendo. Someone else thinks a Forbidden Forest attraction will replace Dragon Challenge? Okay, but I'm not him.

No no no. Another conversation about timelines.

 

[Mad Dog]

Ok then. There was another conversation before that one that was about Harry Potter that went in a similar direction involving the same person.

His writing is pretty decent. The banned one had shaky, sometimes incoherent, wording.

 

[Magistra]

His writing is pretty decent. The banned one had shaky, sometimes incoherent, wording.

Hers.

 

[Mad Dog]

Hers.

Sorry about that. :thumbsup:

 

[JoeCamel]

Banned? What? No. I didn't read the deleted conversation, but I read that it had something to do with Njntendo. I have no opinion whatsoever on Nintendo one way or another other than that it sounds like a promising addition.

I'm not trying to sound belligerent here. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan if my avatar doesn't make that clear. Just making my point. Anything wrong with that?

I remember you from the OI forums?

I liked your posts there and hope you find a home here. Similar people and just a tad defensive since the winter break from school if you know what I mean.

I look forward to more of your ideas, you understand the material (IMO) and seem passionate about the parks.

 

[MattA]

I would really like to see a forbidden Forrest area, complete with a dark ride, and indoor/outdoor launched coaster: like maverick. Fast, low to the ground, small footprint. Maybe have the dark ride based on the new patent, like MIB but with wands. This would also be a good way to get rid of MIB and have another "shooter" type attraction in the park.

 

[SkiBum]

Why not both, as with Gringotts?

While exiting the HE station, we hear Hagrid in the distance, summoning us toward the carriages. Meanwhile, Luna appears, saying she knows a shortcut to the carriages and she has a secret to show us. We follow her into a cave, and she ushers us into a dark, indoor version of the Forbidden Forest. There is a baby unicorn asleep in the wood We watch her handfeed it.

Suddenly we hear a werewolf howl in the distance. She urges us forward, into the carriages. Our ride encounters numerous beasts along the way. But as in Gringotts, we also witness parts of an HP storyline running parallel to ours. On each occasion that the werewolf or dementors approach us, Graup or Buckbeak or the Forder Anglia or the centaurs save us. In the end, our Thestral finally takes flight and gently lands just outside Hogwarts gate, where Luna naively asks us what took us so long.

I agree completely that it can run parallel. However, I'd like it to be set as just as visit (accidentally) into the Forbidden Forest. I have grown tired of rides that simply retell a movie as, well, I've seen the movie typically. So, this ride could really be built with some various pieces from the books but not have a storyline from the book. That keeps it relevant and not dependent on timing. Someone mentioned having Lupin attack us. Well, we basically know that he is no longer with us and thus it places a date to the ride.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

The lands and attractions take place at different, but similar, points in the books and movies. It'd be hard for us to visit Diagon Alley during the events of Escape from Gringotts so they modeled the area around Half Blood Price timeframe (pre fall of ministry post WWW opening).

Gringott's story makes sense but is still a little too complicated for its own good. In general I prefer a ride with a strict plot (FJ, MiB) over strict story.

 

[Magistra]

I remember you from the OI forums?

I liked your posts there and hope you find a home here. Similar people and just a tad defensive since the winter break from school if you know what I mean.

I look forward to more of your ideas, you understand the material (IMO) and seem passionate about the parks.

Thank you. And yes, I did used to post on the OI forums. I used to post on this forum quite a while back, too. Maybe I'll stick around this time.

 

[orlandoiloveyou]

I would really like to see a forbidden Forrest area, complete with a dark ride, and indoor/outdoor launched coaster: like maverick. Fast, low to the ground, small footprint. Maybe have the dark ride based on the new patent, like MIB but with wands. This would also be a good way to get rid of MIB and have another "shooter" type attraction in the park.

I love the idea of a wand "shooter" ride or spell casting dark ride. That would be insane for any fan or for kids experiencing that for the first time!
But I am pretty against any new roller coaster thrill ride unless it makes a LOT of sense. I'm not sure there's any other mode of transportation in HP that would require a roller coaster besides gringotts carts. Maybe quidditch with a clever combo of suspended or wing roller coaster with motor bike seats that are changed to brooms. Even just a flying lesson theme would be cool. But With the level of detail they've accomplished lately I just think big steel really detracts. But that's just my two cents. I am also anti wooden coaster in JP I will defend these positions to the death!

 

[Magistra]

The lands and attractions take place at different, but similar, points in the books and movies. It'd be hard for us to visit Diagon Alley during the events of Escape from Gringotts so they modeled the area around Half Blood Price timeframe (pre fall of ministry post WWW opening).

Gringott's story makes sense but is still a little too complicated for its own good. In general I prefer a ride with a strict plot (FJ, MiB) over strict story.

I believe I have read that Hogsmeade focuses on the first 4 books, Diagon Alley on the latter 3. I don't think either is supposed to be set at any exact moment. Instead, they are set in a sort of "universal Potter time" that includes all of the best moments and some of the most heroic plots from the books. Thus, Dumbledore is eternally alive at FJ, Mad-Eye Moody is eternally alive aboard the Hogwarts Express, Voldemort and Bellatrix are eternally a threat (but are continually thwarted by Harry, Ron, and Hermione) in EFG, and Ollivander's shop is eternally selling wands in Diagon Alley.

There is no way a dragon can be sitting atop Gringotts at the same moment that Ollivander's is selling wands and Florean Fortescue's is still selling ice cream. Diagon Alley is pretty much shut down and crawling with deatheaters, with the exception of WWW, from the beginning of the 6th book forward. So instead of being set in a particular book, the Wizarding World represents an amalgam of all the best moments in the books and movies, but with particular moments in time (e.g. the trio's escape from Gringotts on a dragon, Harry's wand purchase) brought to life in detail.

And besides, if DC is the main hint that Hogsmeade is set in the 4th book, then replacing it with a Forbidden Forest adventure set in the 3rd book would change that.

The choice between whether it's better to go with canon and recreate specific plots that the guest participates in on a parallel adventure or to create a purely guest-centered adventure is a personal preference. I like both, but I do think employing dramatic moments from the books/movies gives the rides a more authentic sense of drama. Kong is disappointing because if its shortness but also because the storyline consists of nothing more than "there are scary, bad things in the jungle and we must get away from them! Oh look, Kong not so bad after all, yay, we're safe!" Likewise, I think that a Forbidden Forest ride whose plot consists of nothing but "Magical creatures cool! Oh wait, some of them are evil, we're doomed! Nah, it's all good, yay we're safe!" would be a bit disappointing, too.

If you're absolutely opposed to the idea of bringing specific scenes and plot points from the books into the storyline, what other kinds of mission or storyline would you incorporate into the ride? I feel that the "Muggle visitor is invited to ride aboard a magical mode of transportation to get to a place to do a thing, then bad stuff happens" in and of itself is insufficient unless there are specific plot points and characters from the book woven in. How would a Care of Magical Creatures class visit work without incorporating scenes from Prisoner of Azkaban, if they went that way?

 

[Mad Dog]

I believe I have read that Hogsmeade focuses on the first 4 books, Diagon Alley on the latter 3. I don't think either is supposed to be set at any exact moment. Instead, they are set in a sort of "universal Potter time" that includes all of the best moments and some of the most heroic plots from the books. Thus, Dumbledore is eternally alive at FJ, Mad-Eye Moody is eternally alive aboard the Hogwarts Express, Voldemort and Bellatrix are eternally a threat (but are continually thwarted by Harry, Ron, and Hermione) in EFG, and Ollivander's shop is eternally selling wands in Diagon Alley.

There is no way a dragon can be sitting atop Gringotts at the same moment that Ollivander's is selling wands and Florean Fortescue's is still selling ice cream. Diagon Alley is pretty much shut down and crawling with deatheaters, with the exception of WWW, from the beginning of the 6th book forward. So instead of being set in a particular book, the Wizarding World represents an amalgam of all the best moments in the books and movies, but with particular moments in time (e.g. the trio's escape from Gringotts on a dragon, Harry's wand purchase) brought to life in detail.

And besides, if DC is the main hint that Hogsmeade is set in the 4th book, then replacing it with a Forbidden Forest adventure set in the 3rd book would change that.

The choice between whether it's better to go with canon and recreate specific plots that the guest participates in on a parallel adventure or to create a purely guest-centered adventure is a personal preference. I like both, but I do think employing dramatic moments from the books/movies gives the rides a more authentic sense of drama. Kong is disappointing because if its shortness but also because the storyline consists of nothing more than "there are scary, bad things in the jungle and we must get away from them! Oh look, Kong not so bad after all, yay, we're safe!" Likewise, I think that a Forbidden Forest ride whose plot consists of nothing but "Magical creatures cool! Oh wait, some of them are evil, we're doomed! Nah, it's all good, yay we're safe!" would be a bit disappointing, too.

If you're absolutely opposed to the idea of bringing specific scenes and plot points from the books into the storyline, what other kinds of mission or storyline would you incorporate into the ride? I feel that the "Muggle visitor is invited to ride aboard a magical mode of transportation to get to a place to do a thing, then bad stuff happens" in and of itself is insufficient unless there are specific plot points and characters from the book woven in. How would a Care of Magical Creatures class visit work without incorporating scenes from Prisoner of Azkaban, if they went that way?

I like that term, "Universal Potter Time". That sums up everything pretty well, discrepancies and all. That adjusts everything to the realities of a theme park world, and gives us a quick and accurate answer to trivial fact questions from HP purists.....I'm going to"borrow" that phrase for future forum debates. :thumbsup: