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

[TomTheRiddle]

Oh! The Dragon Challenge mention made me remember! I wanted to share a little bit of my experience from yesterday at the WWoHP with my out-of-town friends, one of which is a HUGE Potter fan! This was their first time here in the Central Florida parks. They all absolutely loved the WWoHP, and after visiting it, they all (except one) thought IoA was their favorite park in CFL. The only other one thought DAK was her favorite because she doesn't go on most rides, and thought it had the most for her to enjoy with the animals and theming, but anyways... :shrug:

They all really enjoyed the food in the Three Broomsticks, the rides, the extensive theming. Even in Dragon Challenge! Since they never experienced Dueling Dragons, this was their first and only impression of this queue, and they all liked it and enjoyed all the theming elements like the Goblet of Fire, Triwizard Tournament trophy, golden egg case, floating candles, etc.

The only one negative comment?... Guess what? Showbuilding!

We were going on the queue for FJ, and there was quite a bit of people there yesterday, so FJ had a 90-minute wait, and the extended queue was being used. Well, it was set up so we enter through the new "garden" gates to the left, walk by the left side of the pine trees, then we went all the way backstage of JP and FJ, and then back around to the front, exited out through the right side of the new "garden" queue section, and finally through the Hogwarts gates, and into the lockers and dungeons. So, my friend who is the huge Potter fan, said when we were walking towards the backstage area and saw the side and back of the FJ show building that, "this really bursts your bubble!" Literally!

So, some casual or first-time guests DO take issue with the show-building's visibility, how it ruins the magic and takes you out of the Potter illusion. It's a pretty egregious mistake from Universal to continue to allow this to stay as is, and let guests to see this, especially while within the WWoHP! :rant: That was the only negative thing she had to say, and she's not alone in this particular point. It's a pretty awful sight to behold, and Universal should really try to make it better... Here's what she/we saw:

:down:

Its not a mistake.... this is a back of house area. Universal is not going to theme the back of their show building for a queue that is used twice a year. There are so many other things to work on.

They use the overflow 'mezzanine' queue when it gets busy to allow a wait time as long as possible. When the interior, greenhouses, dungeons, courtyard, forest, garden, Jurassic Park queues are full, the next step is what you stood in. Then that fills up. Then they go down the side of the WWoHP onto the JP bridge. Then from the JP bridge all the way to the Watering Hole and back in one big doubleback. On Tuesday I saw it overflow past the bridge entrance all the way back to courtyard. It was a solid 200 minute wait. Even with all that, it used to go a lot further back of house and they've cut that down. Roughly 1900-2000 people on the ride every hour, maybe 5000 in the queue itself during peak times. I'd venture that at most 5% take some issue with the show building.

As a business, Universal is not going to spend the money on an arbitrary project to theme the back of their building that is really on seen like this twice a year. Once again, there is absolutely no return to be made from this.

I'm sure Universal would rather have more space to accommodate guests than to save your eyes from a sightline.

I agree. Could someone do a drawing on an aerial screen capture of how all this overflow works. I was there and waited 45 minutes to get through the greenhouse queue and into the upper building. There was tons of unused queue left, the dungeon was empty. I look forward to seeing someones scribbles.

Its a bit tough with the treelines, but I'll try later today. Do you want it on an aerial screen cap or would a drawing suffice?

 

[Mr.Auror]

I actually wouldn't even want to ride it if the queue went that far. For me, that would kill the experience of the ride way too much. Nothing against Uni, there's nothing they can do with a huge wave like that, it's just a personal taste. I would just wait until the end of the day. Maybe do it then if the line is still pretty long.

EDIT: Not far as in going backstage. Far as in aaalllll the way into JP across the bridge.

 

[Themeparkvigilante]

Let me 1st say, that for me personally, I could care less about sight lines. The ride show building could all be a big white box for all I care, I just care if it's a good ride or not. & as I said before, I didnt even notice the showbuilding issue untill I read about it here. The only thing that I think is most noticeable is hearing the JP music while standing in the garden queue. Even than, I joke about it saying "Oh, I guess we're riding Jurassic Park!" OK, having said that-

It makes sense about what Tom was saying, that why would they theme parts of the building that are only seen a couple times a year? Heck, Ive been tons of times & have yet to be in any of the extended queues. But what about the parts that ARE visible to everyone, as seen in a pic I posted awhile back-

Again, I dont care about it myself, but would it be so hard or expensive to cover that little section up, if anything painting it a dark grey/brown so it doesnt stick out as much, if not, cover it with faux brick walls?

 

[Starwarsfan13]

Let me 1st say, that for me personally, I could care less about sight lines. The ride show building could all be a big white box for all I care, I just care if it's a good ride or not. & as I said before, I didnt even notice the showbuilding issue untill I read about it here. The only thing that I think is most noticeable is hearing the JP music while standing in the garden queue. Even than, I joke about it saying "Oh, I guess we're riding Jurassic Park!" OK, having said that-

It makes sense about what Tom was saying, that why would they theme parts of the building that are only seen a couple times a year? Heck, Ive been tons of times & have yet to be in any of the extended queues. But what about the parts that ARE visible to everyone, as seen in a pic I posted awhile back-

Again, I dont care about it myself, but would it be so hard or expensive to cover that little section up, if anything painting it a dark grey/brown so it doesnt stick out as much, if not, cover it with faux brick walls?

That plus the transition from WWOHP to JP, seriously some more foliage would be all thats needed...

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I feel buildings that are hidden in plain sight are acceptable, but no desirable. Walking from a highly themed area to a back-of-house area with no theming, exposed piping, etc, simply is not acceptable.

 

[Felipe]

Again, it's my opinion. I try to be positive and not negative. I noticed when I concentrate more on the negative things it brings me down and ruins anything I'm excited for. So why would I want to take the fun out of it?..I'm sure Universal will do something about it in future. It's not the end of the world.

It has nothing to do with attitudes or emotions... I'm not gonna be depressed if something isn't perfect. Being realistic and objective, I can love and enjoy the WWoHP, and at the same time recognize its flaws and hope they will keep improving and perfecting it. You gotta look at the facts and see both good and bad; it's not all great or all crap. Anyways, if you don't understand my position here, let's just agree to disagree.

My main point was that if I (or anyone) is posting something about facts, even if it's negative/criticism, and you (or anyone) is gonna answer to it, do so with facts or give an opinion based on facts about the subject, don't just throw out some indirect personal comment about how I (in this case) am focusing on a bad thing and you focus on all the amazing things instead. That does not add to the topic's discussion at all... This is happening very often lately, whenever someone criticizes something, and it's getting really annoying.

I'm curious, Felipe, were they using all of the switchbacks to the side of the greenhouse ramps? I remember waiting a good hour back in 2010 with the line in that section beside the greenhouse ramps and not even half of those switchbacks were open. I can't believe all of those switchbacks plus the new "garden" line couldn't hold a 90 minute wait.

They had a set-up that I had never done before, not even during any other peak time I've been there. They were using all the available overflow queuing space, even backstage JP and backstage FJ, and the line moved at a fairly good pace because of it. Here are some doodles to represent how I've seen the queue done before during other peak times, and how it was this Saturday:

Previously...

This Saturday...

These aren't exact placements of switchbacks, but they should give you an idea of how far it went and the basic set up :thumbs:

Its not a mistake.... this is a back of house area. Universal is not going to theme the back of their show building for a queue that is used twice a year. There are so many other things to work on.

They use the overflow 'mezzanine' queue when it gets busy to allow a wait time as long as possible. When the interior, greenhouses, dungeons, courtyard, forest, garden, Jurassic Park queues are full, the next step is what you stood in. Then that fills up. Then they go down the side of the WWoHP onto the JP bridge. Then from the JP bridge all the way to the Watering Hole and back in one big doubleback. On Tuesday I saw it overflow past the bridge entrance all the way back to courtyard. It was a solid 200 minute wait. Even with all that, it used to go a lot further back of house and they've cut that down. Roughly 1900-2000 people on the ride every hour, maybe 5000 in the queue itself during peak times. I'd venture that at most 5% take some issue with the show building.

As a business, Universal is not going to spend the money on an arbitrary project to theme the back of their building that is really on seen like this twice a year. Once again, there is absolutely no return to be made from this.

I'm sure Universal would rather have more space to accommodate guests than to save your eyes from a sightline.

First, I'm not saying this is a mistake. I'm saying it's unfinished, and it's a mistake for Universal to allow this to stay this way.

I will give you that the back of the showbuilding is seldom seen, but the side with the half-way brick wall and the top-right part of the front are seen year-round from both JP and from the WWoHP, so this is not a twice-a-year thing, and it should be fixed if we're striving for excellence and perfection.

And also, just because people don't complain to guests services about it doesn't mean they don't take issue... If you have numbers of 5%, which I have to assume (if accurate) must come from guest services or TMs, those numbers still don't take all guests into account, because not all guests voice their opinion. So, you can't accurately say it's only 5% that take issue. It might be only 5% that complain about it. Either way, whether people complain or not, out of respect for the WWoHP which brings Universal the huge profits it does, they could throw some money at it and finish off these parts of the showbuilding to make it perfect... for theming pride at least.

 

[Themeparkvigilante]

All good points Felipe:thumbs:

& I forgot to add that while exposed show buildings dont bother me, I must say that I DO appreciate the detail & scale of the castle, the immersive queue, it really is beautifull. So when detailed queues & facades do exist, I do love them!

 

[Teebin]

Thanks... what a horrid disaster... I would rather see a line over the bridge and up to the castle. Yeah, it's a mess, but knocking people backstage is more of a mess in that it totally breaks the theme. Have they ever toyed with forcing the interior queues to fill up and stop for each "show"? Anyone know? I wish they would test it as right now, their largest queue (interior), is unused.

 

[maxairmike]

That's just...bizarre. I remember they had to take the line back of house during 2010 for most of the summer, but it wasn't anything near as extensive as shown in the pictures you took. I think some of us got hung up on that you took a picture of the line going through what was clearly a back stage, non-guest area used only during the most ridiculous of crowds and thought that's what you were taking exception to (which I found rather odd, after the discussions had at the park a few weeks ago). I very much agree that the one face of the building directly above the greenhouse line needs themed because it is so visible in the transition section as well as JP. I personally don't pay it much attention (I actually have to think what building I'm looking at every time I do notice it ), but completely understand the thoughts and criticisms and mostly agree with the idea and concept.

I wonder if they did that because it allows them to pack people into the land to ride the main attraction and close the land less often to those that don't want to ride, but just want to shop. Knowing how restrictive they were in 2010-early 2011, that would be my hunch of expanding the line so much. Was it difficult to get into the land that day, or did they have it wide open? If it was wide open with that kind of a line, I think that's the answer.

 

[violarum]

I think it'd be best to install doors for certain show sections of the queue. That way, people would maybe SHUT UP and LISTEN and maybe there could be students to warn muggles about FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY.

I tried to imply it as subtly as possible, but I literally despise having to go through the queue when people are there...

 

[Capacity]

I think the rides capacity would exceed that. Its like when you go wait for the preshow at MIB but then theres nobody inside. It would be unnecessary.

That queue is crazy. I see why that had to do it that way though. The lockers cant accommodate very many people.

 

[Felipe]

That's just...bizarre.


I wonder if they did that because it allows them to pack people into the land to ride the main attraction and close the land less often to those that don't want to ride, but just want to shop. Knowing how restrictive they were in 2010-early 2011, that would be my hunch of expanding the line so much. Was it difficult to get into the land that day, or did they have it wide open? If it was wide open with that kind of a line, I think that's the answer.

Indeed very bizarre. It actually really confused me because all of a sudden we were walking all around next to the greenhouses and backstage, and I still hadn't gotten to the locker :inquisitive: My family members, who were also there with me, and who are veteran visitors of the WWoHP, were also worried about having missed the lockers. It was all quite strange

I think it had all to do with exactly that: Getting as many people in there and off the Hogsmeade streets, and trying not to close the land. The first thing I asked when we all walked in to IoA around 9 or 9:30ish AM was if they were handing out return tickets or if there was a stand-by line, and it was negative to both. And I didn't see them close off the area at all during my entire stay at IoA that day either. We went back a coupe of times and there were no closures or lines to enter the land.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

Us HPFJ fanboys call it concept profiling. Its a major regret. Just like cutting off the Dementor's hands....

FYI, the hands were not intentionally removed, they were accidentally sheered off.

 

[Mr.Auror]

I think it'd be best to install doors for certain show sections of the queue. That way, people would maybe SHUT UP and LISTEN and maybe there could be students to warn muggles about FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY.

I tried to imply it as subtly as possible, but I literally despise having to go through the queue when people are there...

Last time I went I couldn't hear any of the audio because of how ignorantly loud people were.

I feel like they waste the space used for the walk-through line. I don't know if that's ever been discussed here, but how important is the walk-through anyway? I don't ever see people using it.

 

[Accio Butterbeer]

I understand you don't like it and neither do I but why do we have to keep bringing it up? Do you think Universal is actually going to see our complaints about it on here? I just don't see the point and in my opinion it's just better to concentrate on the great things Universal has in store for us or already has at the park.

 

[justinmb98]

Sorry to bring it up again, but I don't mind the show building at all; I go to Kings Island every week and obviously, Kings Island is not a major theme park, but Kings Island does not even bother hiding the show buildings for the two themed rides. Flight of Fear is just a big octagon and you can see it throughout the park. The Crypt (now closed) is themed to a tomb, but you can see the whole entire white box. Seeing just a bit of FJ's show building isn't a big deal - for me.

This is an old, old picture, but here's The Crypt (when it was Tomb Raider):

 

[knokout1]

I understand you don't like it and neither do I but why do we have to keep bringing it up? Do you think Universal is actually going to see our complaints about it on here? I just don't see the point and in my opinion it's just better to concentrate on the great things Universal has in store for us or already has at the park.

This is a discussion board, we are not here to give Universal gold stickers, we are here to discuss something that many have a passion about. I find it funny that you thank people for the pictures, but yet you target some of the most dedicated members of this board, that have been around for many years, and spent a lot of time and money to share info with us, asking for NOTHING in return, yet when they want to put their input, you constantly have a problem with it? Who cares if a comment doesn't kiss Universal's feet?? WWoHP is not perfect, in fact it was the tool that pulled Universal out of a big hole. And those people you tell to stop posting those things have been fans before WWoHP, very long before. Nobody is saying Universal is doing badly, in fact the only problems people have now that I can think of is the FJ show building, and the Transformers building. And that's ok! That's why we have a thread for each thing. So we can go into detail about everything.

 

[Felipe]

I understand you don't like it and neither do I but why do we have to keep bringing it up? Do you think Universal is actually going to see our complaints about it on here? I just don't see the point and in my opinion it's just better to concentrate on the great things Universal has in store for us or already has at the park.

I brought it up again because I had a recent experience where it was brought to my attention again, as I explained in my post. And we know for fact that Universal has patrolled these boards, so I certainly do hope they see this here. You are free and welcome to concentrate on whatever you want, but you shouldn't try to dictate what everyone else wants to discuss. You don't have to participate in the particular conversation if you don't want to. Just let it be and it will move on to something else soon enough anyways.

 

[Accio Butterbeer]

This is a discussion board, we are not here to give Universal gold stickers, we are here to discuss something that many have a passion about. I find it funny that you thank people for the pictures, but yet you target some of the most dedicated members of this board, that have been around for many years, and spent a lot of time and money to share info with us, asking for NOTHING in return, yet when they want to put their input, you constantly have a problem with it? Who cares if a comment doesn't kiss Universal's feet?? WWoHP is not perfect, in fact it was the tool that pulled Universal out of a big hole. And those people you tell to stop posting those things have been fans before WWoHP, very long before. Nobody is saying Universal is doing badly, in fact the only problems people have now that I can think of is the FJ show building, and the Transformers building. And that's ok! That's why we have a thread for each thing. So we can go into detail about everything.

I don't thank people for pictures and that's not because I'm not appreciative It's just I haven't thought to do it. So you just made that up. And my point exactly, the Transformers building and FJ show building are brought up constantly over and over again. WE GET IT. You think they look terrible. What is the point to keep bringing up how much you hate them? what is the point? please tell me. I don't criticize everyone for negative things that are said about Universal but I do get annoyed when we constantly bring up those things and about how bad they look every 5 seconds. And I'm not saying don't speak freely and that it's terrible to criticize things but I do find it ridiculous when we keep bringing up the same negative thoughts about the same things.

 

[OLSinFLA]

You know, when Disney dumps "Fantasmic" at the studios it goes through a (gasp!) totally unthemed area! And I've been at the Magic Kingdom on 4th of July and NYE when they have exited people out through the parking lots behind Main Street. When its busy busy busy the parks have to accomodate the crowds somewhow.