I'm new to the boards and heading down to universal this Thursday May 22nd thru Memorial Day. Do you think we have a chance of a soft open?????
I'm new to the boards and heading down to universal this Thursday May 22nd thru Memorial Day. Do you think we have a chance of a soft open?????
I'm new to the boards and heading down to universal this Thursday May 22nd thru Memorial Day. Do you think we have a chance of a soft open?????
0% :wave:
I just can't see them pushing back the opening of the land this much. I feel like you don't invite TONS of press down for a four day "event" to show off the area and then turn around and invite them back down a few weeks later to cover the grand opening. The way I envisioned the press "event" going was something like this:
June 17th: Welcome event during the evening after the park closes at 8pm.
June 18th: Private events with celebs and stars of the movie. This evening will be the "Grand Opening Event" with the fireworks and all that like phase 1 had.
June 19th: Public Grand Opening with press on hand to interview the public
June 20th: Final day to get any last minute interviews, pictures, video before leaving.
Inviting TONS press down for four days to preview one new land is not something you do unless you have something big that requires a lot of press. After one day press will have seen nearly everything they need to see to "hype" up the land. If they truly are going to be delaying things this much and the press event is really just a preview for four days, how long is the "Grand Opening Event" going to be for press? Another four days a few weeks after they just covered all the land has to show? It just doesn't make sense to me to have two major press events a few weeks apart.
If the training really has been pushed back another two weeks, then I think they will just cut two weeks out of soft opening. Universal has a lot more plans in place to deal with crowds this time around and they know what they are doing. I am sure they have been running both rides with people for a while now and they have been running both of them for many months before then. I just don't see the reasoning for inviting press for such a LONG period of time only to invite them back two or three weeks later for the true grand opening.
I just can't see them pushing back the opening of the land this much. I feel like you don't invite TONS of press down for a four day "event" to show off the area and then turn around and invite them back down a few weeks later to cover the grand opening. The way I envisioned the press "event" going was something like this:
June 17th: Welcome event during the evening after the park closes at 8pm.
June 18th: Private events with celebs and stars of the movie. This evening will be the "Grand Opening Event" with the fireworks and all that like phase 1 had.
June 19th: Public Grand Opening with press on hand to interview the public
June 20th: Final day to get any last minute interviews, pictures, video before leaving.
Inviting TONS press down for four days to preview one new land is not something you do unless you have something big that requires a lot of press. After one day press will have seen nearly everything they need to see to "hype" up the land. If they truly are going to be delaying things this much and the press event is really just a preview for four days, how long is the "Grand Opening Event" going to be for press? Another four days a few weeks after they just covered all the land has to show? It just doesn't make sense to me to have two major press events a few weeks apart.
If the training really has been pushed back another two weeks, then I think they will just cut two weeks out of soft opening. Universal has a lot more plans in place to deal with crowds this time around and they know what they are doing. I am sure they have been running both rides with people for a while now and they have been running both of them for many months before then. I just don't see the reasoning for inviting press for such a LONG period of time only to invite them back two or three weeks later for the true grand opening.
I mean TM training is getting pushed back farther and farther...theres not really much you can do to disagree with that lol.
This is not what I'm hearing.
I mean TM training is getting pushed back farther and farther...theres not really much you can do to disagree with that lol. Its still possible that theyll have it open June 20th, absolutely, but the delay is fact, not opinion. If theres one thing they really wont do, its open the area without TMs.
Hey Everyone!
I was down in Orlando this weekend, and I ended up talking to these two girls who work at Forbidden Journey in private. They started to see how pumped and excited I was about Diagon and I asked what the official opening date was. They said Summer 2014 for now. Then I told them I heard mid-June. They both looked at each other like they knew what was up, but one of them told me they're thinking Early July for an official opening now, with the press junket in mid-June. Obviously this could be more speculation, but it is nice to hear it from two employees.
It may not be for all TM's...but I know that many who have been hired have been working in other areas of the park until the land is ready for them to begin training in. Maybe it's only for one department. But I am 110% positive that there is a two-week delay for many TMs who were scheduled to have already toured the land, seen the costumes, and trained on location.
A part of me thinks if Universal was smart they would just announce the opening date the day before it opens. I mean, if you think about, I think they REALLY want to avoid what happened last time. With Phase 1, they had a ton of soft openings, videos of the land and ride posted all over the web, and then since everybody had seen videos of it and knew the date well in advanced, everybody and their grandma showed up on opening day which was a nightmare for EVERYBODY involved.
If they keep things secret, the Grand Opening will not be nearly as insane as Phase 1. Press comes down on the 17th and during the first night event they break the news to the press and tell them all to run a story saying "Diagon Alley opens TOMORROW!" on the 18th. The locals that have off work that day and some insane people willing to pay last minute airline fees will be the only people attending the Grand Opening besides the people that just happen to be there. On top of this, the general public will then book their trip since I think a lot of people that want to visit are holding back until a date is announced. If they announce a date on June 18th, that will give people enough time to request off work and make it down before summer is over. People will not all arrive on the same day so things will be a little more spread out.
Universal knows for a fact this area will be a MASSIVE success just like Phase 1 no matter when they announce the opening date. People will be coming from all over the world for years to experience it. Instead of making day 1 a nightmare, keep things a secret until the last possible moment and then the day 1 rush won't be nearly as bad.