Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

[darkridelover]

The engineers have been on site everyday since it opened. Opening day they only had 3 trains running with one side of the platform open. They have been adding more capacity and have gotten 6 trains with both sides running working pretty well. So they maintained that through peak summer season. Now that summer peak is over it's time to do some more testing and adjusting. That's why we've seen more issues lately. Adding the 7th and 8th trains on has been the toughest so far. Every time the ride sets up, the engineers and programers make notes of the faults on the computer and then work to resolve each issue. Sometimes writing a 100 lines of code per day. They are working hard and they'll get it right. Every first of a kind ride goes through growing pains. Test and adjust. HHN will provide a great opportunity to catch up with all of the issues because the ride will be closed early every day.

 

[Teebin]

The engineers have been on site everyday since it opened. Opening day they only had 3 trains running with one side of the platform open. They have been adding more capacity and have gotten 6 trains with both sides running working pretty well. So they maintained that through peak summer season. Now that summer peak is over it's time to do some more testing and adjusting. That's why we've seen more issues lately. Adding the 7th and 8th trains on has been the toughest so far. Every time the ride sets up, the engineers and programers make notes of the faults on the computer and then work to resolve each issue. Sometimes writing a 100 lines of code per day. They are working hard and they'll get it right. Every first of a kind ride goes through growing pains. Test and adjust. HHN will provide a great opportunity to catch up with all of the issues because the ride will be closed early every day.

It seems my 6 month waiting rule holds a bit of wisdom when it comes to Universal. On the other hand, when it comes to Disney, the opposite applies. Ride a new Disney ride within the first 6 months because it will be downhill from there.

 

[Mad Dog]

It seems my 6 month waiting rule holds a bit of wisdom when it comes to Universal. On the other hand, when it comes to Disney, the opposite applies. Ride a new Disney ride within the first 6 months because it will be downhill from there.

Disney seems to still be having problems with 7 Dwarfs Mine Coaster since it seems to be going down nearly every day. And it's not as complicated a ride as Gringott's.

 

[Teebin]

Disney seems to still be having problems with 7 Dwarfs Mine Coaster since it seems to be going down nearly every day. And it's not as complicated a ride as Gringott's.

I was just making a bit of funny relative to EE...

 

[Mad Dog]

I was just making a bit of funny relative to EE...

Yeti-less EE....Less Yeti, more profit....More profit, less Yeti...It's Miller time.

 

[awhen]

Finally got some goblin shots that I sort of like.

 

[UK-Trigg]

Nice shots and the correct thread, nice work.

 

[sierrak5]

Your Gringotts update for today...

I went this morning for early entry. We got to the turnstiles around 7:30am, they let us in around 7:45, and we went straight to Gringotts. They had the wait time posted at 45 minutes, but we waited about 20 at the most.

The ride was running reliably and everything was working perfectly except for the water effect. I was in row 3 this time and it could be just because it is the back of a car, but the spinning felt a lot more intense to me. The screen pull away in the finale was especially convincing this time; great amount of fog to conceal it.

 

[mbrou24]

Your Gringotts update for today...

I went this morning for early entry. We got to the turnstiles around 7:30am, they let us in around 7:45, and we went straight to Gringotts. They had the wait time posted at 45 minutes, but we waited about 20 at the most.

The ride was running reliably and everything was working perfectly except for the water effect. I was in row 3 this time and it could be just because it is the back of a car, but the spinning felt a lot more intense to me. The screen pull away in the finale was especially convincing this time; great amount of fog to conceal it.

You got lucky... I too was at early entry. Went straight to gringotts around the same time... The audio was all kinds of messed up. I'm talking looping the initial cart sound when you leave the station the entire ride, bellatrix' scene one audio playing in the scenes she has with voldemort. Then the first scene replaying in it's entirety over the launch scene. It was an absolute mess. Everything was playing over everything so it was a giant headache... TM let us reride and the ride was better tho the heat from the dragon came way early. It seemed that many others had issues today as the reride line became quite long when we got off the second time.

 

[shiekra38]

Your Gringotts update for today...

I went this morning for early entry. We got to the turnstiles around 7:30am, they let us in around 7:45, and we went straight to Gringotts. They had the wait time posted at 45 minutes, but we waited about 20 at the most.

The ride was running reliably and everything was working perfectly except for the water effect. I was in row 3 this time and it could be just because it is the back of a car, but the spinning felt a lot more intense to me. The screen pull away in the finale was especially convincing this time; great amount of fog to conceal it.

Hmmm we may have lost the water effect entirely then?

 

[boomerthom]

Hmmm we may have lost the water effect entirely then?

One of Transformers' fog effects was down for like two months and it came back online recently, so anything is possible. Though while the Transformers effect wasn't essential to the experience, it's unlikely that Universal would cut a water effect that triggers when 3D water on a screen is "splashed" onto riders. The film was clearly designed with that effect in mind and it's absence is pretty glaring as a result (probably even to first time riders).

Recently I posted about two other water effects that aren't working. Has anyone experienced them? Not really sure what's up with water and Gringotts. They don't seem to get along too well.

 

[Teebin]

So, Tony Baxter was at Diagon sometime recently... wasn't he given a tour of something else at Universal in the last 6-8 months? Was he fired from WDI or just retired?

 

[redfoxagent]

I've had my AP back for about a month now and only a few days ago I managed to get on Gringotts. I was genuinely amazed by what i had experienced. I couldn't close my jaw for about 5 minutes. As far as I know everything was working fine. None of the audio effects were out of sync, I got the heat from the dragon and water from whichever part had water.

It felt short to me is the only thing I could say is negative. But that is compared to Spider-man and Transformers, where as ROTM is a short with the coaster portions and all. The only other negative would be the replacement Hermione. Her voice on gringotts wasn't nearly as harsh as it was on Hogwartz Express.

As far as I'm concerned, Universal has completely raised the bar. What they've done with Diagon Alley and Gringotts is absolutely stunning. I'll need to go on it a few more times and start looking around to see if I can spot the behind the scenes stuff. I didn't notice any when I rode it, of course I wasn't really looking.

Got a few good shots in:

 

[Mad Dog]

So, Tony Baxter was at Diagon sometime recently... wasn't he given a tour of something else at Universal in the last 6-8 months? Was he fired from WDI or just retired?

From what I've read it seems he retired (or was forced to) since he wasn't being given anything meaningful to work on. It appears he fell out of favor with the higher echelon. He had voiced some heavy criticisms publicly about the Imagination pavilion at Epcot just before he announced his retirement. First, he part-time consulted, then retired completely, but he played the good soldier at the end and they gave him the window on Main Street. This is a good indicator of what direction Disney (and the Imagineers) has gone into when they push such a talented person to inactive status. Would love to see him unretire and do some meaningful work for Universal.

 

[Geromehe]

Rode Gringotts for the second time today! 45 minutes posted and that is what we waited. After the elevators we were lost in a big mess to access the stairs. It really felt like the next two elevators got to the staircase before me. Weird. Quick breakdown when it was our turn to ride. They dispatched two empty vehicles and it was okay. Both sides were running. I noticed for the first time the waterfall and it looks awesome. We felt the hot air a bit too soon for the dragon and no water effects. Great finale. It was my first time riding on the last row and the first effect is more impressive that way. Still love the ride.

Sorry for my English. I'm from France !

 

[awhen]

Rode Gringotts for the second time today! 45 minutes posted and that is what we waited. After the elevators we were lost in a big mess to access the stairs. It really felt like the next two elevators got to the staircase before me. Weird. Quick breakdown when it was our turn to ride. They dispatched two empty vehicles and it was okay. Both sides were running. I noticed for the first time the waterfall and it looks awesome. We felt the hot air a bit too soon for the dragon and no water effects. Great finale. It was my first time riding on the last row and the first effect is more impressive that way. Still love the ride.

Sorry for my English. I'm from France !

The merge point at the goggles is definitely no fun if they're not paying attention and keep sending people "down" when the line stops moving. The people on the left who walk along the entire goggle wall are at a disadvantage, and you can easily get behind several loads of people from the right elevator. When I was there on Sunday they appeared to be staggering the elevators and delaying them as necessary but that is not always the case in my experience. I'm just not a fan of unregulated people funnels in general.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

So, Tony Baxter was at Diagon sometime recently... wasn't he given a tour of something else at Universal in the last 6-8 months? Was he fired from WDI or just retired?

He was given a way to graciously leave the company. I think he was also at springfield before?

 

[Teebin]

From what I've read it seems he retired (or was forced to) since he wasn't being given anything meaningful to work on. It appears he fell out of favor with the higher echelon. He had voiced some heavy criticisms publicly about the Imagination pavilion at Epcot just before he announced his retirement. First, he part-time consulted, then retired completely, but he played the good soldier at the end and they gave him the window on Main Street. This is a good indicator of what direction Disney (and the Imagineers) has gone into when they push such a talented person to inactive status. Would love to see him unretire and do some meaningful work for Universal.

He was given a way to graciously leave the company. I think he was also at springfield before?

Hmmm... sounds like Disney is looking for younger more aggressive imaginations. What did he last oversee?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Hmmm... sounds like Disney is looking for younger more aggressive imaginations. What did he last oversee?

I believe he was working on the DLR classic dark ride refurbishments, I think his last major work was the new Sleeping Beauty castle walk through. Rumored that he worked don WDI's Potter proposal, but I'm not sure if I believe that quite.

 

[Disneyhead]

He worked on the Fantasy Faire princess Meet and Greet that recently opened at Disneyland.