Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic - General Discussion Thread

[OhHaiInternet95]

Not sure what the procedure is for something like this, but I'll spoiler-text it just to be safe:

Spoiler

The most current rumor I'm aware of is that the ride will be centered around the trial of Dolores Umbridge in the Ministry immediately after DEATHLY HALLOWS.

Spoiler

At long last, Potter gets the BTTF treatment. My hype is through the ROOF!

 

[Nico]

The portal matches my excitement adequately.

Someone slapping a time turner on a portal into the 1920's doesn't seem weird in the context of Celestial Park. It's going from that time period via Floo network into the future (that's what's going here right?) that feels out of place in the context of how that's supposed to work within the HP universe.

Ha I feel the same about Potter’s portal. It’s definitely the least interesting to me. I wonder if the time turner is a plot point somehow, instead of a justification of the land’s time period.

Also, even Diagon Alley as a concept conflicts a bit too. Diagon is a ghost town/boarded up during the escape from Gringotts time period in the books and movies. I’m sure it’ll feel fine when we’re in it. Sometimes I think we can get a bit too stringent about timelines (looking at you GE).

 

[GAcoaster]

The mental gymnastics required to explain almost any theme park land timeline is just not worth looking too deeply into. Every time I go to MK and try to figure out BatB it hurts my head. If the curse has been lifted why are some of the staff still in objects instead of people? How is Gaston still alive? If he’s still the Beast and Belle is in love with him, what does that look like!?!

It just IS all the things fans want it to be— don’t question it…

 

[belloq87]

The mental gymnastics required to explain almost any theme park land timeline is just not worth looking too deeply into. Every time I go to MK and try to figure out BatB it hurts my head. If the curse has been lifted why are some of the staff still in objects instead of people? How is Gaston still alive? If he’s still the Beast and Belle is in love with him, what does that look like!?!

It just IS all the things fans want it to be— don’t question it…

Point completely well-taken, but I would only say the distinction is that Fantasyland (including its expansions) is a hodge-podge land to begin with.

 

[RGMick77]

It’s still so crazy to me that a Wizarding World land is going to open with only one ride. I can understand that a place like Diagon Alley had to be very small, due to the movie design, but I feel like this was their chance to spread out those ridiculous Potter crowds. How soon after the park opens can we get another ride of some sort in there?

 

[jarmor]

Diagon land may have had to be small due to the movie design, but that does not stop ride build out behind the scenes. There will be one ride and a show for this area. With the rumored scale of the ride and show I feel this land will be able to hold its own.

 

[Brian G.]

The mental gymnastics required to explain almost any theme park land timeline is just not worth looking too deeply into. Every time I go to MK and try to figure out BatB it hurts my head. If the curse has been lifted why are some of the staff still in objects instead of people? How is Gaston still alive? If he’s still the Beast and Belle is in love with him, what does that look like!?!

It just IS all the things fans want it to be— don’t question it…

Same way many fans want Disney to ignore all the new trilogy stuff and make Batuu a timeless land with all trilogies covered.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

WDWMagic: Disney is stupid to stick to a timeline for SWGE, they should make it timeless.
Also WDWMagic: Wow Universal isn't sticking to a specific timeline? Stupid!

 

[belloq87]

I know we wanted to leave the timeline discussion behind for a while, but to me, having the whole land take place in the time period of the Ministry of Magic ride kind of would be picking the most indistinct and vague option. Only the most hardcore guests would know it's supposed to be the 1990s if it wasn't specified.

 

[DodgsonHere]

Strict adhesion to a timeline is how we got Galaxy's Edge with few fan favorite characters. None of the other Potter lands adhere to a strict timeline. I wish people would just let it go and enjoy the top tier area that is coming.

 

[Jerroddragon]

lol

No one in the parks care about timelines....as long as the area they are in is themed well or has something they want to ride/watch people don't care
Its all internet fans and BS marketing for everything else.....I give no craps about the HP timeline...I just want to walk past cool places and then be transported on a ride/show


Also on a note of marketing BS....I loved in the video they said it was the best ride but couldn't tell us....I mean you could and i'm sure a description would not wrong the attraction in anyway. I'm excited to see all these rides and lands but not a fan of this is the best...but I can't tell you about it kinda marketing

 

[Wesker69]

not a fan of this is the best...but I can't tell you about it kinda marketing

Yea... that was rather annoying. It wasn't cute or playful. I'm sure they're probably required to give it a bigger reveal due to the WB partnership/contract. So I can understand the lack of details, from a certain point of view.

 

[Nico]

They didn’t announce any land or ride details outside of CP. It’s just a tease. Looks like we may get monthly land announcements starting in March based on Alicia’s last video.

Might have been too cutesy, but for most folks it builds intrigue and makes them interested in learning more.

 

[JoeMcSqueezy]

Do we know if the Cosme Acajor Wand Shop will have a show like Ollivander's?

 

[GA-MBIT]

In my opinion, theming should always take a backseat to pure fun and a positive guest experience. If theming has made a majority of guests confused about where the bathrooms are, or if theming has been used to box yourself from using characters, concepts, places, or even time periods that guests want to experience above anything else, then theming has lost it's utitlity in your theme park land. The Potter lands we have currently understand this, Galaxy's Edge and Tiana's Bayou don't. It's how we got Star Wars Land without Mando or Darth Vader, and a PatF ride without Facilier.

 

[IzzyB]

In my opinion, theming should always take a backseat to pure fun and a positive guest experience. If theming has made a majority of guests confused about where the bathrooms are, or if theming has been used to box yourself from using characters, concepts, places, or even time periods that guests want to experience above anything else, then theming has lost it's utitlity in your theme park land. The Potter lands we have currently understand this, Galaxy's Edge and Tiana's Bayou don't. It's how we got Star Wars Land without Mando or Darth Vader, and a PatF ride without Facilier.

I have to disagree. My friend got a kick out of the fact they could not find Diagon Alley and that when leaving it they made a wrong turn and ended up in knockturn. She said it was awesome to be that immersed into the whole thing you get lost. My other friend said it was trip #4 before they found Diagon Alley and also enjoyed how hidden it was. So first off current HP lands don't understand this, but I am not sure it is a bad thing. From a GP standpoint I have not heard bad things about Galaxy Edge. If it wasn't for these boards I would have no clue people had issues with it. Everyone I talk to is blown away by Galaxy Edge.

 

[Rhian]

It’s still so crazy to me that a Wizarding World land is going to open with only one ride. I can understand that a place like Diagon Alley had to be very small, due to the movie design, but I feel like this was their chance to spread out those ridiculous Potter crowds. How soon after the park opens can we get another ride of some sort in there?

If you look back over at the rumor threads for EU, Alicia and others indicated that wasn't supposed to be the case since there was the planned VR ride too. Refer back to this post earlier in the thread:

The time skip does not matter. The land makes more sense with the other French Ministry of Magic with the VR broom ride before it got canned,,

There's also rumors they're fasttracking an expansion to this land too but that won't be opening next year.

No one in the parks care about timelines....as long as the area they are in is themed well or has something they want to ride/watch people don't care
Its all internet fans and BS marketing for everything else.....I give no craps about the HP timeline...I just want to walk past cool places and then be transported on a ride/show

Thankfully the quality of the land is going to be phenomenal and I don't think anyone here questions that part. In any case, I believe this land will be, like EU, the culmination of years working with the IP. At this point "more Potter" by Universal implies a specific standard, one they raise every time they do something new with it.

Without any confirmed information except a vague description we are sort of left to speculate. Marketing-wise it works because we're talking about it and what they haven't said.

I know this aspect seems trivial and to the general public it might be but it's adhering to those world-building rules as much as possible that gave us HP in the first place, otherwise they'd throw anything together and it wouldn't feel the same. FB and HP are in the same universe with characters which never interact with each other so how they blend the two eras is a rightfully intriguing aspect. I don't think anyone's expecting a thesis on the reason just something that makes sense which I'm sure we'll know soon.

 

[MLevell]

I highly doubt that when you enter a shop the employee will say "Ah what a beautiful morning in 1927 it is!" or the bartender will remark "Isn't it great knowing that the stock market will never crash?". They are saying 1920's Paris because the only time we see Paris in all Wizarding World media is in the 1927 set Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (the single most hated piece of official Potter-Related media).

 

[IzzyB]

I mean in reality all of the lands have opened with 1 new ride, so we are getting more with this a new ride and a new show. The other lands were very successful so I imagine this will be too.

 

[Freak]

I mean in reality all of the lands have opened with 1 new ride, so we are getting more with this a new ride and a new show. The other lands were very successful so I imagine this will be too.

Well technically at least two.

Hogsmede opened with two reskinned coasters and FJ.

Diagon opened with two brand new rides: Gringott’s and the Express.

Opening with a ride and a show would be pretty standard to open with two “attractions”.