The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade (Orlando): Part 2

[DrAwsome]

just wanting to make sure i didn't miss any of the videos there are only 3 of them right?
the 3rd video is funny they are taping the employees great work on the no pictures/video policy

 

[Vyrus]

Maybe UO went viral on purpose with these videos? Who is to say that this is their way of releasing the information, without actually releasing it.


Hmmmmm, makes you wonder.

 

[Jymmymack]

TThe hog animatronic is pretty cool, but not mind blowing.

How do you know? Have you seen it yet?! Oh... wait... you have seen it. Well, don't tell the others.

The Wanted posters of Sirius= AWESOME. Everything else is pretty much as expected (amazing). Had a feeling that Zonko's would be a bit boring (most joke shops are), but I LOVE the packaging for all the things in Honeydukes. Looks like I'm going to be shipping a lot of stuff from the Owl Post (wonder how much that'll ding up my wallet). Also glad to hear that EVERY window display have some sort of moving element.

 

[BBPH]

The moving chess board was so cool

 

[Felipe]

Our full update from the Pow Wow event is up on VisitOrlando.com/smile including more details about Hogsmead, Ollivanders and much more. ENJOY!

[video=youtube;00JfIOF4lwE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00JfIOF4lwE&feature=player_embedded[/video]

Thanks SO much guys! :rep:

Universa probablyl spent quite a bit on the party last night, and yet their main attraction, the attraction that everyone is curious about remained closed. Why?

so let me throw off some ideas...

1. The Ride is not ready, it's having technical problems..it will not be opened until June 18th at the earliest. (this is the worst case scenerio)
2. Universal doesnt want ride impressions to get out yet (Why? Why even let people in to the WW and give impressions on that?)
3. J.K. Herself wants final word/ride before anyone else can ride it (I thought of this last night..is it possible they are waiting for upstairs apporval?)
4. They are currently cycling the ride to get it to full capacity.
5. Cast members still haven't been fully trained.

Any other ideas? For the folks like Orlando Smiles that attended the event, did Universal give any indication WHY the ride was still closed?

I think it's a mix of:
1. They want to open it for softs first and try it on the crowds before showing it off to people who are there to judge and promote (or not) their new product. Featuring a ride that has not been fully exposed to crowds and could go down in the middle of the event would piss off the travel agents, who are like clients and sellers put into one. Doing this would not be a good thing when they want good press after their last big thing, HRRR, got horrible press.
2. They don't want reports or photos of the ride getting out, especially now. It would bring their advertising / reveal strategy crashing down.
3. They want the travel agents to come back as paying customers. They want their money after all...

Wizarding World Re-cap

Thanks SO much for this report! :rep:

hmm where did wesh get these videos from? it's a capture of a website

http://www.wesh.com/video/23590560/index.html

they have 3 sets of stealthy videos taken last night

and images - http://www.wesh.com/slideshow/entertainment/23590777/detail.html?qs=1;s=1;p=entertainment&dm=ss&tn=b

WOW! :rep:

As seen on these vids, we even have magical floors haha! Did you see how they shimmered and sparkled? I loved seeing the hovering broomsticks in D&B and the wizards chess pieces in that window display!

 

[DisFreakBrent]

Felipe I agree with your points but for the most part (I'm not saying there may bit a bit of the others in there also) is to do with one of those #s rhino mentioned. Of coarse they don't want it to break down while they are there & of coarse they want them to come back & have to buy a ticket. For the most part though it's a bit of we don't want it to break down on them & more so of there is still just a bit we are working on to get it in tip top shape. (btw my pics are uploading stand by)

 

[King_K.]

Anyone else planning on going by on the 28th. I'm very highly tempted.

 

[rhino4evr]

Felipe I agree with your points but for the most part (I'm not saying there may bit a bit of the others in there also) is to do with one of those #s rhino mentioned. Of coarse they don't want it to break down while they are there & of coarse they want them to come back & have to buy a ticket. For the most part though it's a bit of we don't want it to break down on them & more so of there is still just a bit we are working on to get it in tip top shape. (btw my pics are uploading stand by)

Ok So more or less the RIDE IS NOT READY. It has nothing to do with training, leaks in the press, or anything else. It's just not ready yet. I really hope it's ready for those package holders!!

Only a month from the grand opening too...YIKES!

 

[DisFreakBrent]

rhino just think about 1 of your #s that really tells most of the story again it's not serious & tech. it's ready just not really ready lol (I'm starting to even confuse myself a bit)

King_K I want to run over there on the 28th but like I said will they do a public soft on that day considering the hotel guest won't get their exclusive hr. that day due to check in time at the hotel? I think the 29th is a safer bet

 

[Felipe]

Anyone else planning on going by on the 28th. I'm very highly tempted.

I'm debating whether to go on the 28 and 29th. With the Florida resident offer, I could get a room at the Royal Pacific for around 200 bucks, and free express passes with it for me and my family I would arrive after work that afternoon of Friday the 28th and see what, if anything, I can see/do. Then I'd get up super early the 29th and run to get the full experience (that is, of course, if the WWoHP is open to me and not just package people with a special ticket or something, but I doubt that will be the case.) I am highly tempted as well... and as you can see I'm all planned out haha! I will most likely do it.

Brent, I'm waiting for those darn pics... haha!

PS: Part 2 of the WWoHP report is up at The Disney Blog: http://thedisneyblog.com/2010/05/18/wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-pow-wow-preview-part-2/

 

[rhino4evr]

rhino just think about 1 of your #s that really tells most of the story again it's not serious & tech. it's ready just not really ready lol (I'm starting to even confuse myself a bit)

King_K I want to run over there on the 28th but like I said will they do a public soft on that day considering the hotel guest won't get their exclusive hr. that day due to check in time at the hotel? I think the 29th is a safer bet

Ok..hmm........So my guess is that it's still not running at full capacity, and they need to get it working 100% before they let anyone on. Maybe they need JK's final approval as well.

 

[Felipe]

rhino just think about 1 of your #s that really tells most of the story again it's not serious & tech. it's ready just not really ready lol (I'm starting to even confuse myself a bit)

King_K I want to run over there on the 28th but like I said will they do a public soft on that day considering the hotel guest won't get their exclusive hr. that day due to check in time at the hotel? I think the 29th is a safer bet

I think what you mean is that the ride is ready, but Uni is not confident/sure enough yet to open it.
About the hotel check-in, it all depends on the person and when they get there. Even if you arrive before check-in time, they will still check you in and give you the express passes to head to the parks when you get there . This I have been told specifically by them.

 

[King_K.]

rhino just think about 1 of your #s that really tells most of the story again it's not serious & tech. it's ready just not really ready lol (I'm starting to even confuse myself a bit)

King_K I want to run over there on the 28th but like I said will they do a public soft on that day considering the hotel guest won't get their exclusive hr. that day due to check in time at the hotel? I think the 29th is a safer bet

Sad thing is that I work the 29th, so the 28th is my only shot for now. Let's see how this week and next week pan out. I'm also still waiting for some info from a close friend.

 

[rhino4evr]

the way I see it anyone planning on going before the magic date of June 18th..is taking a gamble..maybe a small one, but a gamble nonetheless. As long as everything goes as planned. I will be at the park first thing Monday June 20th...I hope I can still smell the fresh paint by then.

 

[Felipe]

Unless there's another VIP event, I don't see a reason why softs couldn't start early next week. (I wouldn't say next weekend because they want soft crowds, not the weekend's heavy crowds.)

- They have already shown the park to a major crowd with the Pow Wow event, so they are crowd ready.
- TM previews are this week, so that will be out of the way.
- If they have AP previews, they can be after hours or after softs have already begun. There's no reason why AP previews, if there will evem be any, have to be before softs.
- They don't need to have everything there and ready for softs. As we found out from Pow Wow reports, some products are still not there, but that's no reason to postpone softs any longer. Softs are an experimental preview, like a movie screening where all the effects aren't finalized but they can still use the material to test the waters and make final adjustments.
- They might want to have some sort of real-theme-park-crowd experience before the package people get there. Especially to finish off the WWoHP cast training with general public.
- After all, this is a business venture. Why would they miss out on a week of food/merch sales?

Based on this, I'm guessing (and hoping) that softs start next Monday or Tuesday.

 

[DisFreakBrent]

The pics from Sunday http://wwohp.shutterfly.com/pictures/488 Sorry for the delay feel free to post the good ones here

rhino 1st part of your post :wave: 2nd part not as much but this still doesn't mean if they have to open on the 28th (which they kindda do lol) they can't. This is also the reason though I do see them waiting until the 28th to open it.

 

[pat_naughty05]

Hey guys. This is a bit unrelated to the discussion of last night's preview, but I thought some of you may want to know. I just finished renewing my annual pass over the phone, and figured I'd go ahead and ask about AP previews for WWoHP. The lady I was speaking with said that a date had not been decided, but that there would be some type of preview for AP holders. I know that this type of information is not always dependable, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

 

[Vyrus]

Personally the ride should have had JKR final stamp already especially if she was there in March. So even if one effect wasn't completely working, she would get the idea and give her yes or no.

More than likely and like I've said before, the ride is not a full capacity yet, and they are not going to pull a HRRR again and open a ride not operational to its max. They don't want negative reviews coming out a week into the ride being open and give people a bad impression.

But otherwise, I will be there the weekend of the 28th and 29th, so I will be able to know for sure if its open or not, :smiley:

 

[gannonsmovieworld]

Thanks for the pics DFB!

 

[Felipe]

The pics from Sunday http://wwohp.shutterfly.com/pictures/488 Sorry for the delay feel free to post the good ones here

Finally :rep:

Hey guys. This is a bit unrelated to the discussion of last night's preview, but I thought some of you may want to know. I just finished renewing my annual pass over the phone, and figured I'd go ahead and ask about AP previews for WWoHP. The lady I was speaking with said that a date had not been decided, but that there would be some type of preview for AP holders. I know that this type of information is not always dependable, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Gives me some more hope that they'll happen! I mean, they've always done previews and special things for AP holders during special events, so I don't see why they wouln't have something for us. Like you heard, it's probably a matter of deciding when. I bet scheduling this whole ordeal must be sooo tedious!