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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hollywood

This may not be permanent, but it looks like they've relocated a snack/drink cart over to the secondary Hogsmeade exit. Not sure what that temporary queue was for though since I didn't see it in use. Could've been used for FJ, or even Ollivanders. Any ideas?


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Also, I'm not 100% certain, but I'm fairly sure the beginning Floo Powder scene has been made clearer. It seemed noticeably better when I rode yesterday.
 
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I believe that temporary queue is just for FJ.  I have seen it used as such once.


I rode last weekend, and didn't detect any difference in the opening floo.  But it's possible it could've changed since then... the 4K certainly happened almost literally overnight.  That said, I'm not getting my hopes up too high. 
 
This may not be permanent, but it looks like they've relocated a snack/drink cart over to the secondary Hogsmeade exit. Not sure what that temporary queue was for though since I didn't see it in use. Could've been used for FJ, or even Ollivanders. Any ideas?


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Also, I'm not 100% certain, but I'm fairly sure the beginning Floo Powder scene has been made clearer. It seemed noticeably better when I rode yesterday.

That snack cart is definitely seasonal. It comes and goes, like the one by the Flight of the Hippogriff. There was supposed to be another snack cart in the queue for FJ (that open area right when you exit the dungeons), but they realized that almost all of the guests had put their wallets in the lockers and, as such, had no money for snacks! And the temporary queue is for FJ, when their extended queue is absolutely full. I've only seen it used a handful of times.


When I rode FJ last Wednesday, the first floo scene didn't seem any better than usual, but maybe just upgrading the equipment had enough of of an effect.
 
Also, I'm not 100% certain, but I'm fairly sure the beginning Floo Powder scene has been made clearer. It seemed noticeably better when I rode yesterday.

I just rode it today.  It's still the same messed up image it's been since the previews back in February of last year.  Ugh.


Also today, none of the steam/fog effects were working.  It was off on both floo scenes (beginning and end), nor was the dragon smoking (so to speak, lol). 


But at least all the water effects are still off... that's actually a great positive.
 
It must've been wishful thinking on my part then. Oh, well.


Also, I will say that I don't really mind water effects on Universal's rides. I'm actually sort of bummed that they removed them from FJ. Maybe acromantula aren't actually supposed to squirt "venom" on you?
 
I just rode it today.  It's still the same messed up image it's been since the previews back in February of last year.  Ugh.


Also today, none of the steam/fog effects were working.  It was off on both floo scenes (beginning and end), nor was the dragon smoking (so to speak, lol). 


But at least all the water effects are still off... that's actually a great positive.

While I think it's great they turned those bloody water effects off (And seriously, it was ANNOYING have ice cold water blasted in my face), it ruins the ongoing joke now of every ride at USH spraying water at you. Oh well. 
 
In my Potter-loving-but-could-be-wrong opinion, the floo powder scene is supposed to be like that. Traveling by floo powder was supposed to leave you feeling a bit out of sorts. On Pottermore (and other places) it says "When travelling by Floo powder it is important that you speak clearly, take care to get out at the right grate, keep your elbows tucked in, shut your eyes, don’t fidget and don’t panic." which doesn't sound like very nice things are happening. I like it the way it is, when you are trying to focus on what is going on but you can't. It's great, though I think it could be done a tiny bit better. 


I'm glad they got rid of the water. It always seemed to get in my eyes once they got rid of the goggles. 
 
That's a solid theory, but the thing is the closing Floo Powder scene is noticeably clearer.


I'm actually a fan of the original scene that debuted when WWoHP opened in Florida. They used to show a projection of chimneys and stonework passing by to make it feel like you were actually traveling through the Floo Network, but they got rid of it because it was super nauseating.
 
While on Forbidden Journey last Saturday, they had a person telling each ride vehicle to, "..lift their legs once they see Hermione." Was a bit odd. Maybe someone's foot got stuck or something?  :wacko:
 
While on Forbidden Journey last Saturday, they had a person telling each ride vehicle to, "..lift their legs once they see Hermione." Was a bit odd. Maybe someone's foot got stuck or something?  :wacko:

Nope!

There's an object sensor at the end of the moving walkway that sometimes activates and stops the ride when someone's foot crosses it. That's why they ask people to life their legs
 
Nope!

There's an object sensor at the end of the moving walkway that sometimes activates and stops the ride when someone's foot crosses it. That's why they ask people to life their legs

Ah! Just odd that they just started doing this and haven't done it in Orlando.
 
Nope!

There's an object sensor at the end of the moving walkway that sometimes activates and stops the ride when someone's foot crosses it. That's why they ask people to life their legs

Yup. That's happened to me several times. I'm 6'0 and I've made the mistake of riding with my black boots. Whenever I have and I don't lift my legs, the ride stops. Then everyone gives me a death stare. Then I have a seared conscious for ruining the done sequence for some riders. 
 
From the most recent Comcast earning's call; USH reportedly saw a 60 percent increase in attendance; due to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

You'll have to please excuse my oversimplification of logic here (and the fact that I'm currently at work), but do you think this may be due to the die-hards that return multiple times with their passes, and have added to the steady increase of attendance in their robes and various potter-gear (ourselves included)? Any merit to this theory, especially when compared to the earlier arguments from folks basically claiming Wizarding World was a "failure"?


Thanks!
 
Of course that attendance increase includes pass holders. Die-hards who rarely came to USH bought passes because of WWoHP. People who hadn't been in many years came out to see the new land. I suspect people who claim HP was a failure usually mean it didn't draw the same numbers in its first couple of months as HP in USO did.
 
I wonder if a comparison between USH and DCA is fair.  They seem about the same size, and to me, seem about the same crowd levels.  I'd be curious to know if anyone has any actual figures to back this up.  According to the 2015 Theme Index Report, domestically speaking, DCA was ranked #7 with about 9.4 million visitors, and USH was #9 at 7.1 million.  Could they have overtaken them with this new info?  Even more interesting, IOA was #8 at 8.3 million.  If USH overtakes them, that'd be quite interesting (though I can imagine IOA's visitor's have also increased).
 
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