General Discussion - Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure

[Oakley]

I know Pandora didn't hit Potter crowd levels, but i'll still go to bat for it as far as huge turnout. I waited about 1.5 just to get into the land and then another 4 hours or so to get on FoP. Obviously part of that is that FoP has capacity issues that it has never seemed to figure out due to overheating, but it was still a pretty crazy day.

You're right though that Diagon definitely was the last time something opened to these kinds of crowds. Potter has an insanely rabid and devoted fan base.

Speaking of this, here's a funny little fact: I went the opening day of Pandora! The boat ride was actually down when we were allowed to enter the land. We couldn't go on for a solid twenty minutes or more! So guess what: stuff breaks down! There will be large lines!

Expecting no crowd as well as the ride running flawlessly is kinda just a poor mentality.

 

[allaboutthatchase]

Theme Park Express has posted another POV on Youtube not from the front row. I like it better because you can really get a sense of the motion of the train and the speed. Check it out

Spoiler

Okay this POV looks 1000x better. You can really see the speed. I think the back is where it’s at!

 

[Felipe]

Myth busted

View attachment 9859

There "may" still be times... They're gonna decide as they go, but will probably start with a normal queue.

 

[GAcoaster]

 

[redy2468]

Sorry if this has been asked, but the app is saying “Hagride” is at capacity in lieu of the wait time. What does that mean?

 

[Scott W.]

Sorry if this has been asked, but the app is saying “Hagride” is at capacity in lieu of the wait time. What does that mean?

It’s the hashtag being used. The full name and Twitters ‘s limited character allowance wouldn’t leave much left to say.

 

[BBPH]

Sorry if this has been asked, but the app is saying “Hagride” is at capacity in lieu of the wait time. What does that mean?

Essentially they have closed the queue for the day as they cannot get more people through with without staying open until 2am

 

[Magic-Man]

Theme Park Express has posted another POV on Youtube not from the front row. I like it better because you can really get a sense of the motion of the train and the speed. Check it out

Spoiler

That video is wholesome. You can really tell that everyone adores the ride.

 

[jtsalien]

So roughly what % of the line is skipped to this merge point? Or more importantly, if merging from that point, how long would you guess the wait is from there?

You're skipping the remaining outdoor queue, a small inside line, the pre-show, a hatchery type area with several long switchbacks, and remnants of the caves left from Dragons.

Whats left is the lab, a few short caves, and the stables. Some switchbacks in the lab, potentially a lot in the stables along with the inside test seat.

Hard to guess with the way things have gone so far, but I'd imagine around 45 minutes as we've run so far.

 

[Yung1522]

Is there room for machinery to pull out trees that didn't survive or will they have to climb/cut/dig? Then what about getting new stuff in?

 

[BBPH]

Is there room for machinery to pull out trees that didn't survive or will they have to climb/cut/dig? Then what about getting new stuff in?

They got them in post track construction, I’m sure they could get them out if they needed.

 

[Mad Dog]

Universal is surely reaping Marketing Gold today. The super long lines are a demand splash that creates headlines. But the best, is just about everyone proclaiming they loved the ride even though they stood in line for hours. This entire scenario created more publicity and marketing power than they would have received if they did a limited reservation system for today, with short waits in line. What's that slogan....Go Big or Go Home. Well Universal, in the words of Ed Sullivan, had a really really big Show.

 

[Yung1522]

They got them in post track construction, I’m sure they could get them out if they needed.

That's true but I just could never tell from the phone if they planted themselves out of the room so to speak. It looks like a few big ones are gone already

 

[jseal777]

Universal is surely reaping Marketing Gold today. The super long lines are a demand splash that creates headlines. But the best, is just about everyone proclaiming they loved the ride even though they stood in line for hours. This entire scenario created more publicity and marketing power than they would have received if they did a limited reservation system for today, with short waits in line. What's that slogan....Go Big or Go Home. Well Universal, in the words of Ed Sullivan, had a really really big Show.

But that one guy on Twitter was not having a good time!!!




I’ll be honest around hour 7 after the SECOND ride stoppage due to lightening I thought to myself “what dumbass opens an outdoor ride in Florida in peak lightening season? What nonsense is this?!” And then I thought to myself “well you’re the dum dum who drove 6 hours to be here knowing it was opening day during peak storm season.” The ride was worth the wait. And thanks to everybody here who’s advice made it as smooth sailing as possible.

Now I’m going to go eat some ramen, drink some boba tea and see if I can’t catch this lagoon light show everybody’s talking bout.

 

[Felipe]

Is there room for machinery to pull out trees that didn't survive or will they have to climb/cut/dig? Then what about getting new stuff in?

They have all those paths we've seen on aerial photos.

Universal is surely reaping Marketing Gold today. The super long lines are a demand splash that creates headlines. But the best, is just about everyone proclaiming they loved the ride even though they stood in line for hours. This entire scenario created more publicity and marketing power than they would have received if they did a limited reservation system for today, with short waits in line. What's that slogan....Go Big or Go Home. Well Universal, in the words of Ed Sullivan, had a really really big Show.

Definitely made all the right headlines and I agree it's a very good thing. Even those who complained knew what they were getting themselves into, no matter how they want to spin it. Universal deserves some criticism for not being upfront about plans for ops today, but otherwise, they handled everything else under their control really well.

 

[Teebin]

That's true but I just could never tell from the phone if they planted themselves out of the room so to speak. It looks like a few big ones are gone already

You mean that a few trees have in fact died or they have died and been removed? That said, a crane from either hogsmeade or the backstage roads will be able to reach and pluck any of them out and replace.

 

[Mad Dog]

They have all those paths we've seen on aerial photos.




Definitely made all the right headlines and I agree it's a very good thing. Even those who complained knew what they were getting themselves into, no matter how they want to spin it. Universal deserves some criticism for not being upfront about plans for ops today, but otherwise, they handled everything else under their control really well.

My sneaky suspicion is that Universal was purposely secretive on parking/opening/entrance details so that would get the wild opening splash that they did, in some respects since people weren't given a real orderly plan :shifty:. You can't buy that kind of marketing.

 

[Yung1522]

You mean that a few trees have in fact died or they have died and been removed? That said, a crane from either hogsmeade or the backstage roads will be able to reach and pluck any of them out and replace.

I noticed a few throughout the POVs but this one on the left seemed to be the worst shape. The one on the right doesn't seem to have needles left but that could be the type of tree

 

[Mad Dog]

I noticed a few throughout the POVs but this one on the left seemed to be the worst shape. The one on the right doesn't seem to have needles left but that could be the type of tree
View attachment 9860

I think that tree was the result of a rogue 'Blast Ended Skrewt" attack. Be nice to those Skrewts, or they just might:enrage:......

 

[Teebin]

Yeah, I am sure those trees are on the docket to be replaced very soon. Sometimes they just can’t survive the transplant.

BTW, THANK YOU all you adventurous souls for sharing your experiences live with us here and on twitter today! I for one was hanging on your every post!
:clap: