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Forbidden Journey Refurbishment (Update: Early Dec)

  • Thread starter Thread starter epcyclopedia
  • Start date Start date Mar 29, 2016
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JoeCamel

JoeCamel

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #401
Where the line used to merge at the sorting hat there is a door on the left that leads to stairs with portraits that leads down to the emporium. It has the same four house portraits as the other gallery with the same dialog. That is how you exit the tour.
 
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Nick

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #402
Andysol said:
What is this "special new portrait gallery" ?
Click to expand...
I think I know what they are talking about, but I don't think it's new. The path that was built for express (and ultimately just used for Castle Tours) has a large stairways with the moving paintings. I assume that's what they are talking about.

They probably think it's new because almost no one ever goes through there.
 
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GAcoaster

GAcoaster

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #403
That's what I thought! I knew there were two portrait galleries. They must have never taken the other line...
 
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epcyclopedia

epcyclopedia

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #404
Yeah, just past the lockers is where the two lines diverge.

The regular queue goes down the Dungeons to the left, "Express" goes to the right and immediately up a staircase. That's where it's portrait gallery is. There's a landing at the top of the stairs to watch the portraits and it's also where the elevator unloads.

Following the intended queue path from there for Express one would cross the landing and then enter Dumbledor's office - which goes to Dark Arts, Common Room, etc...

But at the landing of you swing a hard right there's a door that leads to the Common room.

So they're just sending the line up one side of the queue and back down the other.

It's set up like that because the elevator is double sided. 1st floor enters and exits right by the lockers. 2nd floor "R" (the intended path) is the portrait gallery landing. 2nd floor on the other side is a backstage area used to get people from the common room into the elevator to go to the secondary loading area. The third floor is the hallway that leads to the secondary loading area.
 
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DragonSlayer

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #405
Someone with more spatial awareness than myself needs to make a map of all this :lol:
 
epcyclopedia

epcyclopedia

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #406
And on that note - count your blessing that you've never been stuck in line on the 3rd floor.

It's literally a long boring stonework hallway with nothing to look at.

The secondary loading platform is physically the same length at the primary belt, but the guest holding area outside of its elevator is teeny tiny so on busy days they have to hold guests on the 3rd floor.

Which is also two way traffic (enter, elevator 1 to floor 2R to see show scenes then back in elevator 1 from 2 to 3rd floor, down hall, elevator 2 to ride, elevator 2 to 3rd and then back down hall to elevator 1 to floor 1 to exit.)

It has no in/out queue setup, it's just a hallway. It's a real mess and quite painfully on particularly busy days.
 
epcyclopedia

epcyclopedia

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #407
And more spacial fun (and how the area relate to each other) when you're at the painting with the professor talking about billiwigs in the Oxford corridor, directly to your right is a passage that leads right into the rear right corner of Dark Arts.

For stairs, the ones in the main portrait gallery (which most people never notice - but the door is right there) go down and come out in the gardens queue area near the green houses. The other stairs behind the blackboard in Dark Arts pop out in the gardens as well but right by the Dungeons.
 
WAJAS

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #408
@epcyclopedia I got to say man. This is some pretty cool stuff.

Someone should really make a map out of this. Maybe the guy who does Martinsvids ? He seems to be really good at showing ride paths and queue paths through 3d models in some of his videos.
 
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I

Imagineer83

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #409
I have always wondered about the second load platform. I assume this is where vehicles will stop to allow load/unload. Do only guests who need assistance go to this platform? How many vehicles typically get diverted there? What takes up the space of the LONG area that makes up the standard load area?

One time we were riding I noticed that the vehicle directly in front of ours started at the standard load platform but was diverted to the other load platform at the end. I was curious why this happened and wish I was on that vehicle!
 
S

sparky

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #410
Imagineer83 said:
I have always wondered about the second load platform. I assume this is where vehicles will stop to allow load/unload. Do only guests who need assistance go to this platform? How many vehicles typically get diverted there? What takes up the space of the LONG area that makes up the standard load area?

One time we were riding I noticed that the vehicle directly in front of ours started at the standard load platform but was diverted to the other load platform at the end. I was curious why this happened and wish I was on that vehicle!
Click to expand...

We did last trip in August. I have wanted to see the loading area, it was kinda cool to see how it works. The only bad part was we got kinda lost getting out. Did love the extra touch on the elevators with the wizarding signage.
 
epcyclopedia

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #411
Secondary is where the vehicles can stop to load/unload.

It can have four vehicles all park and load/unload at the same time but this is rare.

Since it is physically parallel to the main loading area it is similar in size but only the area for those 4 vehicles is accessible. Coming into it is room for another 4 vehicles or so to enter and wait, and though I've never seen more than two parked waiting to return, there's likely room for four to return to the ride as well.

As far as controlling it is concerned - vehicles can be tagged by the TMs in a number of ways. Departing either loading area they can be tagged to return to the primary belt, go to secondary, or be disabled (stay on main track but do not present itself at the load area - thus travel behind the wall.) Also from the control booth they can mark vehicles to enter the area. If someone gets sick on a vehicle and it's too much to clean up while it drifts through the main belt the TMs will tag it to disable it and then controls will send it to the secondary area (this keeps it from moving, just tagging it to secondary puts it in a show profile.)

Vehicles with regular guests are pulled out and sent to secondary so it can fill their seats. Also if a guest has trouble on the main belt but gets into the seat they'll have it unload at secondary.

Most days there's one or two vehicles regularly sent to secondary per cycle, but during slow times it can be none. Vehicles also go there so maintenance can check out harness and audio issues.

A vehicle entering secondary does a sort of backflip out of the last floo network scene - and because I've seen another vehicle fault in the station causing one to get stuck entering - it puts guests at a full 90 degrees sideways briefly. The in/out of secondary is a small aerobatic feat not seen in the rest of the ride.

Architecturally it's stone work with the mirrors as the main load platform but in a minimalist style that "fades out" on the ends into dark space. Those dark nothingness areas are where vehicles wait to enter or exit its main load area.

The vehicles presents itself, parks, and then drops a few inches so guests feet can touch the ground. Unload/load occurs and then the vehicle is tagged with a profile/destination and then the TM tags the corresponding marking in the wall to the vehicle parking spot to send it back into the ride.

They'll lift up, drift sideways, the floor drops off and they enter the void area, and then they wait for a bubble in the chain to open up. When a slot is available in the main chain they'll swing into the ride at the first floo network. They skip Herimione's whole "Observatory!" thing.
 
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epcyclopedia

epcyclopedia

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  • Dec 7, 2016
  • #412
If you really want to see the secondary area you can just ask to load from the stationary platform or say you have trouble walking on the belt.

Also about an hour before closing they shuffle the vehicle order on the main track to get a line up ready for maintenance to pull into the maintainence bay. They send them into and out of secondary to move them around so many guests will start on the main belt and end in secondary during that.

If the elevator to secondary dies or the platform itself dies (like one day the computer sent all vehicles there so just disabling it was the best option to bypass it) there is a contingency to accommodate guests who can't load via the moving belt.

ADA stops will, on the hour, stop the line from boarding, cycle out all guests, stop the entire ride, load the parties who have returned as arranged by the TMs, run the ride cycle once, stop again and unload, and then resume normal operation until the next hour.

So as far as standby is concerned the line completely stops for 20mins or so on the hour. Most guests offered the return time for this don't bother and so it rarely occurs.
 
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deathcab4cutie

deathcab4cutie

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  • Dec 8, 2016
  • #413
i got to see the second load platform by sure luck.
 
anihilnation

anihilnation

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  • Dec 8, 2016
  • #414
deathcab4cutie said:
i got to see the second load platform by sure luck.
Click to expand...
Same here, one day I was yanked out of the regular line and moved to the second platform so that they could train a new team member, and the surreal thing was that when the elevator door opened, out came the Durmstrang boys and Beaubaxton girls.
 
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Marni1971

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  • Dec 10, 2016
  • #415
WAJAS98 said:
@epcyclopedia I got to say man. This is some pretty cool stuff.

Someone should really make a map out of this. Maybe the guy who does Martinsvids ? He seems to be really good at showing ride paths and queue paths through 3d models in some of his videos.
Click to expand...
Thank you!

If I had access to the documents I would. The whole building is an interesting, intricate maze.
 
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M

Marni1971

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  • Dec 10, 2016
  • #416
Dupe
 
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Teebin

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  • Dec 10, 2016
  • #417
Marni1971 said:
If I had access to the documents I would. The whole building is an interesting, intricate maze.
Click to expand...

I never did reconcile that computer issue Marni, but the queue alone is a maze of both empty and filled space. Both the left and right sides of the dungeon queue are large rooms. The right side is used for evac platforms last I heard.
 
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Imperius

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  • Dec 17, 2016
  • #418
Opened back up tonight.
 
epcyclopedia

epcyclopedia

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  • #419
Imperius said:
Opened back up tonight.
Click to expand...

Anything noticeably different?
 
Imperius

Imperius

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  • Dec 17, 2016
  • #420
epcyclopedia said:
Anything noticeably different?
Click to expand...
I am not there, but people in the Facebook group don't seem to think so.
 
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