Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

[DisneyDweller]

I still can't say i've experienced this ride to its full potential, It's had a problem every time I've ridden (3 total) i think it needs to be shut down, sort out the kinks, and re-opened. The ride is designed for 24 people to be loading at any given time, if fixed the line would be nowhere near as long as it is now. I know they're working on it but it should just be closed for now.

 

[boomerthom]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aQEcHwRCmo

Around 4:05 :thumbs:

I can't think of a better way to end the ride. Really puts an exclamation mark on the whole experience.

Side note - After FJ and Transformers, it's great to see a new cutting edge Universal attraction with a persistent score. Not that those rides need music, but some variety is nice.

 

[imaki]

First time posting, been lurking for a while... We travelled from LA to Orlando for a trip this past week. I was really hyped up for Gringott's and the whole experience. We were at the parks for 3 days, staying at the Portofino starting last Thursday, and ending Sunday. We enjoyed IOA at a slower pace on Thursday, but migrated to Diagon without a wait later in the day. At one point Gringott's was 120 minute wait, which I was up for, but the rest of the party was not. Loved everything else.

Friday, we get up super early in a hope to get on Gringott's. I left at about 6:00 AM with my son. We walked to the park, and followed the line, which ended up in a switchback outside of Diagon at about 6:20 or so. The rest of the party was further behind. They ended up stopped around the MIB area. My son and I got in to diagon around 7:15, and the entire queue was basically in line for Gringott's. The TMs were telling everyone one that Gringott's was going to have a delayed opening, yet everyone still queued up. We got out of line right at the main entrance, waited for the rest of our party, and enjoyed Diagon for quite a while, then exited the area. We enjoyed the rest of the park until around 2:00, when we went back to Diagon... At about 2:20 we got in the "120 minute" queue for Gringott's. We were on the ride in a little less than an hour.

First impressions... great ride, great effects, but shorter that I expected.

Saturday, around 3:20, when the wait time was around 120 minutes again, we got in the queue with more of our party that missed it last time. We were next to load at 4:20 when the ride broke down. About 10 minutes later, after they had run 6 or 7 empty carts through the ride, we loaded and had a great ride.

Second impressions, better than the first, amazing ride, still too short. I also realized I saw the "kuka arm screen removal" or "KASR" both times due to lack of fog effect. I think that was the only thing missing both runs. If that was working I think it would have made a huge difference in that next to last scene.

TLDR; great ride! too short.. wait times advertised are significantly less than actual (50% less?). It will be too long before we are there again...

 

[Kevin38]

Rode it twice (Friday and Saturday) 2 hour waits both times.(posted 210 minutes)I do not know if it broke down but both times the que stopped moving and I heard word passed it was down(are cast members gun shy about breakdowns ?) but a few minutes later we were moving again. It is an amazing ride.My new favorite ride.Rode HE with 15 minute waits 3 times.

 

[knokout1]

I notice a lot of people are saying it's shorter than they expected, but it is about the same length as most other dark rides. I wonder if the extended time spent in each scene gives that impression?

 

[Mad Dog]

On great experiences time flys. During boring experiences time drags. That' could be what's happening here since , as others have posted, it's around the normal length for an attraction at 4 minutes in length. Certainly not short like the 2 minutes and a few seconds of 7 dwarfs. Like they say in the theater, only give them enough so they want to come back to get more.

 

[sjago13]

I think people also feel like it's shorter because it has less scenes than spiderman and transformers. So although you are sitting at each scene longer on Gringotts, you do lose your sense of time when drawn in and then can really only use the amount of scenes as a basis for how long it was.

 

[JokerMan0925]

Does anyone know where the music is from at the beginning, after your car leaves the holding area, but before it gets to the first scene.

Its at :11 in this video.

[video=youtube;yp4eQNVx2Wk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp4eQNVx2Wk#t=11[/video]

 

[DisneyFanKevin]

Alright, so every time I have gotten in line for EFG, I have chickened out at the last minute because the idea of a drop makes me not want to do things. How bad is the drop? Is it like Everest, or is it like Pirates which my friends have all said it's like? I ride Everest with no problems, so I have a feeling I should ride this, but I need second opinions.

 

[JokerMan0925]

Alright, so every time I have gotten in line for EFG, I have chickened out at the last minute because the idea of a drop makes me not want to do things. How bad is the drop? Is it like Everest, or is it like Pirates which my friends have all said it's like? I ride Everest with no problems, so I have a feeling I should ride this, but I need second opinions.

I think it is similar to Pirates. It is very tame, compared to other drops and it is only a larger drop if you're sitting toward the back, since you will be higher up when the track switches up.

 

[April]

Alright, so every time I have gotten in line for EFG, I have chickened out at the last minute because the idea of a drop makes me not want to do things. How bad is the drop? Is it like Everest, or is it like Pirates which my friends have all said it's like? I ride Everest with no problems, so I have a feeling I should ride this, but I need second opinions.

I'd honestly say that if you can do Everest, you'll be fine. I feel this is much less intense and the drop is definitely a lot smaller.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Alright, so every time I have gotten in line for EFG, I have chickened out at the last minute because the idea of a drop makes me not want to do things. How bad is the drop? Is it like Everest, or is it like Pirates which my friends have all said it's like? I ride Everest with no problems, so I have a feeling I should ride this, but I need second opinions.

Riding in the front half of the train the drop is about the size of Pirates, though I've heard if you ride in the back it's much more intense.

 

[sjago13]

The last row actually whipped me into my friend when we went into the first bunny hop. Back row is really fun for that. But the drop isn't bad. If you are that concerned watch the first 30 seconds of that night vision video which will only spoil the one scene that universal has posted anyways.

 

[shiekra38]

I notice a lot of people are saying it's shorter than they expected, but it is about the same length as most other dark rides. I wonder if the extended time spent in each scene gives that impression?

One more scene and a longer coaster part at the end after the launch would have made it feel more complete...I guess after you ride it you just want to ride it again, which isn't necessarily a bad thing

 

[Macfr3ak]

just rode this on Saturday and WOW was it awesome... just the quality of everything truly jaw dropping.. only ONE minor complaint about it... it was sooo good i never wanted it to end maybe being the reason why i too found it to be short in ride length lol

 

[Andy]

Alright, so every time I have gotten in line for EFG, I have chickened out at the last minute because the idea of a drop makes me not want to do things. How bad is the drop? Is it like Everest, or is it like Pirates which my friends have all said it's like? I ride Everest with no problems, so I have a feeling I should ride this, but I need second opinions.

Its not bad at all, you need to ride this so you can see your making a big deal out of nothing Kevin. I would compare it to a drop in Thunder Mountain at the worst. GO ride it now!! You'll be glad you did!!

 

[illumination]

just rode this on Saturday and WOW was it awesome... just the quality of everything truly jaw dropping.. only ONE minor complaint about it... it was sooo good i never wanted it to end maybe being the reason why i too found it to be short in ride length lol

I've always wondered if 4 minutes was some kind of magical ride length time that they found works best for guests? Or if budget reasons are the only reason they aren't longer. How sweet would it be to have a ride of this quality last 8, 9, 10 minutes....or more! Maybe that would be a technical nightmare, but I would find it pretty cool.

 

[retroeric]

Kevin you should be okay if you sit in the front row. Make sure to ask them to sit in the front row, it's a completely different drop compared to sitting in the very back row.

 

[Frogki]

How bad would you guys say the spins are? My aunt isn't great with things like the old Cat in the Hat, but she can deal with the spins on Spider-Man. She can handle things like MIB and Cat in the Hat but it depends. She hasn't ever ridden FJ, based on descriptions she doesn't think she could handle it...

 

[knokout1]

My girlfriend is terrified of literally every drop ride. The drop in Mummy bothers her, and the final coaster portion of Atlantis at Seaworld scared her. That being said, she enjoyed Gringotts a lot, and had no problem with the drop whatsoever.