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

[Teebin]

Just on local noon news. I-4 westbound is completely backed up due to visitors exiting off-ramp for Universal Studios.

I put this update here as it doesn't require its own thread and couldn't find the other thread about phase closings.

 

[JokerMan0925]

Just on local noon news. I-4 westbound is completely backed up due to visitors exiting off-ramp for Universal Studios.

I put this update here as it doesn't require its own thread and couldn't find the other thread about phase closings.

What Channel?

 

[Teebin]

what channel?

wesh nbc

 

[JokerMan0925]

Wow! This is crazy!

 

[shiekra38]

Just on local noon news. I-4 westbound is completely backed up due to visitors exiting off-ramp for Universal Studios.

I put this update here as it doesn't require its own thread and couldn't find the other thread about phase closings.

Glad we just got home from Orlando..that would have been a nightmare...good to hear though!
Anyone have a pic?

 

[Teebin]

Wow! This is crazy!

Yep, that is the pic I saw on TV. How does I-4 westbound enter through the southern entrance? I have never entered there as it is usually closed.


Ah... forgot that they have all of those flashing signs on I-4 for Universal. They must direct people to the second off ramp and onto adventurers way and then onto Hollywood Way. Amazing.

 

[Felipe]

So yesterday afternoon my family thought it would be a good idea to take a family trip to the Outlet Malls by Universal :look: Anyways... INSANE CROWDS aside... I was more happy to head that way and pay a short visit to Islands of Adventure where I got myself the Limited Edition Chocolate Frogs with the Dumbledore card After lining up outside the store for a while *cringe* I got in and quickly grabbed two L.E. chocolate frogs which were going like hot cakes in the dreadful cold weather.

Hi guys! It's been over a year since I posted here but I am glad to be back. Especially with talk of expansion and all. I'm sure its been discussed and sorry for not going through all the pages but I did a search and couldn't find it. Is there really purple pygmy puffs at Zonko's now? I have seen some online and just didn't want to be scammed.

I made sure to take a quick pic for you

^ From last night at Zonko's ^ Also, notice on the second pic, I guess they have a special on Pigmy Puffs? One for $15 or two for $20. Never heard/seen that one before.

Oh, and Exploding Bonbons were also there:

Moving on, actually before I even dared to step foot in a line for a shop *cringe cringe cringe cringe* ... I went to ride FJ! Well let me tell you, I've never waited SO long in the single rider's line. They were letting single riders enter on the right side of the gate along with people that were just there for the tour of the castle. The different thing was that they were holding up the line at the cliff entrance and letting regular riders through, and then after what felt like 15mins standing they stopped that line and let our line in and once we got to the dungeons/lockers, they separated us: "Single Riders to the left! Tour of the Castle that way!" After going up the stairs and getting to the Gryffindor Common room I had to wait another long while to walk over to the sorting hat and then waited some more there. I think overall I waited 30-40 minutes, which has never happened to me in the single riders queue! The stand-by wait time when I went in line was at 130 mins, though, so it wasn't totally unexpected... I should also mention I got there around 9 - 9:30ish pm. Just overall, the whole CityWalk, IoA and especially the WWoHP, all were bursting with people. INSANE. But anyways, I got my frog and my ride in FJ and I was happy.

I finally saw the crushed bench at the Whomping Willow! I always looked up in that scene and now I knew to look down and was so happy to see this new detail I'd never seen before. Thanks guys for the heads up! Though, to be honest I didn't see any difference in the dementor scene, but I was seated to the far right. And they actually didn't put up our "souls" faces, so I didn't get to see if it was color or B&W.

 

[Avvie Cunnington]

I just wanted to say a huge THANKYOU to everyone on this and the previous WWOHP thread. I have been following these threads for years, and read all posts. Thankyou for all the information/pictures/videos etc. I am a HUGE Potter fan and am taking mum to Orlando in September. Last time i came to Universal they had only just started building Hogsmeade, so didnt get to see anything. I know for a fact i will cry when i first walk through the gates of Hogsmeade.
So thankyou everyone for a very interesting read, and i hope to be able to participate in this thread after September.
You are all amazing!

 

[gryffindor827]

Can you post a picture of the Dumbledore card please?! I need to make a visit soon, hope they will have them when I go.

 

[Tbad556]

Can you post a picture of the Dumbledore card please?! I need to make a visit soon, hope they will have them when I go.

http://www.orlandounited.com/forums...zarding-World-Merchandise&p=210666#post210666

 

[Teebin]

January 3, 2012: Everyone that is not here in central florida tonight. The WWOHP must seem much more real at this hour... as we are dipping into hard freeze temperatures. So, if you ever wanted to experience the WW and wear a thick parka and boots and leggings and still feel cold... tonight and tomorrow morning is it. Countryside pastures will dip into the 20's while the parks should be ok at 34 degrees F.

 

[slappybob]

Thats really cold for Florida I always thought is was nice & pretty during the winter lol

 

[armstrong8991]

I was there in early December when there was somewhat of a cold spell (it wasn't much - I don't think it dipped much below 50) but it was amusing to see how Floridians reacted to lower temperatures. Being from Illinois I thought it was quite pleasant. But you're right...that snow on Hogsmeade roofs would be fitting tonight and tomorrow morning.

 

[Teebin]

^ 99 percent of the time it is just nice here. Tonight is a very odd event although it has happened every year for the past 5 of 8 since I have lived here. Happened twice last winter. Froze tropical aquarium fish farms, sugar plantations 100 miles south of the parks were devastated, and if you think Jaws blew off alot of propane, you should see WDW, Uni, and Seaworld at 2 AM this morning. Hundreds of propane hot air blowers will be puffing until 7am. That is how they keep the parks looking all purdy and tropical. The parks will literally heat the outdoors. All they have to do is keep the plant temps above 30 F and they will be fine.

Keep checking this link for the current temps: http://orlando.justweather.com/

 

[slappybob]

I know last year where I live it was aboslutely terrible I would say I got a good 3in. of snow if not more all the roads were closed it was horrible but I live up in Tennessee so far its been fairly warm for it being winter im really happy we havn't gotten any snow this year so far

 

[Octobers Fade]

I was there in early December when there was somewhat of a cold spell (it wasn't much - I don't think it dipped much below 50) but it was amusing to see how Floridians reacted to lower temperatures. Being from Illinois I thought it was quite pleasant. But you're right...that snow on Hogsmeade roofs would be fitting tonight and tomorrow morning.

I am a native Floridian and I am used to the heat (prefer it over the cold) and made my first trip out of the state last year, IMO it feels colder here at 50 degrees than it did in Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, or Ohio.

Now some of the temps people up north live in is just insane to me....

 

[armstrong8991]

^Oh yeah I can imagine that being true. I can relate and say that 50 here does indeed feel warmer than 50 in Orlando. Not sure why...probably because of the normal heat there...and the humidity of course.

You mean temps like anything below 15 degrees? hah those are normal January temps here. It's not something I would choose.

 

[slappybob]

I'm glad I dont live in a place were the temps. drop into the negatives lol This morning it was only 19 degrees at my house I would hate to see how cold it is up north!!!

 

[Teebin]

Takes me a while to think. Thus, a new FJ review.

I would make a terrible film reviewer. I can watch a film and know that it does not work for me even though I wanted it to, even if I had high expectations. But that is not enough. Top notch film reviewers can quickly analyze a films most unapparent errors for us. They do it in such a way that we read and all go "Yes! That was it!" when otherwise we merely felt let down; the film just didn't work.

I have been thinking about Forbidden Journey for over a year now since I first rode. My initial review was that it was a let-down for me. I found it awkward, confusing when it shouldn't be, barely visible at times... as if it were hiding something that never got finished.

Despite what I believed were a few serious shortcomings, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey got a big pass; its fan base is legend, stalwart, nearly forgiving of any foible. They only saw perfection. I suspect that not a few Wizarding World visitors were first time major theme park visitors. They didn't know that our best theme park rides are very clear and concise, well lit when they want it to be and dark when setting up a big thrill and climax. In the best of the rides, you know where you are at all times, you understand what just happened and are not confused by what happens next... and in the best of them, something big happens NEXT.

So, it has taken me quite a while, a long while to figure out what is at the crux of FJ's problems. Why does it feel episodic and fragmented to me. Simple answer I have come up with; it isn't directed, lit and edited like a movie. I don't mean the dome screen scenes. They are what they are; dim and blurry at times. The rest of the ride is what I have a huge problem with. First, the Kuka arm ride vehicles should be viewed as a camera jib or boom crane, the four people in the bench the camera. An average theme park designer would say, we need to show them this scene and then that scene and so on. A film director would think, how do we introduce them to this scene to greatest impact, grab their attention and carry them on (great editing). By introduce, I mean a pan up a shadowy something that is well lit until it is in our face and VERY clear what we are seeing and then CUT. Instead, we have a ride that appears to move at the same pace, plodding, like a frumpy dream. I believe that if anyone comes off this ride sick it is because it is plodding, poorly lit and disorienting. In some lesser films, most disorientation is due to bad camera angles and poor editing. Spiderman has a disorienting 4-second spin half way through, but when the spin is over, you are no longer disoriented to what is going on. It is just a cool disorienting 'moment'. When was the last time you got sick watching a great motion picture that scared you to death, including the the HP films. There are a few scenes that terrified me in the films, they really worked, but I always knew where I was, where the character was and understood the escape route. I was terrified but never disoriented and certainly never to the point of sickness.

The somewhat recent rumor that WB found the dementor scene too scary and thus was toned down doesn't hold water. There is nothing on this ride that comes close to being as terrifying as some of the scenes in the book and movies. I really expected a Planetarium style dome for the dementor sequence. (I saw stuff that lead me to believe that this was the case months before the ride opened) A clear mega projection of a distant moon through whispy clouds at dusk with milky black dementors decending toward us (the camera) and a threatening dementor coming at us close only for the kuka machine to pull us back away and whip us around fast (and I mean jerk hard fast) to escape only to find... another decently lit dementor in our face from the opposite direction... blowing ICE COLD air into our faces. There are no abrupt hard moves on this ride... it just plods and waltzes at the same pace. (by 'plods' I am not referring to the base vehicle which moves at what I believe to be a constant pace)

Why are they still hiding stuff with poor lighting? I recently pointed out the bench at the base of the tree and a few that have ridden far more than I hadn't even noticed it. Many never notice the second Hermione. Cobra heads sat in the back lot and we all knew they were there... but I didn't see them on the ride nor did I notice that we went through the man face of stone sculpture. These are all important details that should be 'pointed up' by good lighting and moving the arm so that we are focused on them if for half a second. Human brains can comprehend in a far shorter time span if the 'camera' is focused on the shot.

I do believe that the current FJ is a case of "too many cooks spoiled the broth". The ride needs 'a' film director, editor and they will both beg for a great lighting designer. Or have I overestimated the FJ's kuka arms ability? Can it not move swiftly and decisively carrying 1000lbs? If it can, then please start using it like a camera mount and not just a cool ride vehicle.

 

[jtsalien]

Wow. Epic review Teebin :rep:. I have to agree, but I never thought of it like that before.