Gringotts Review - Non Spoilers
I rode Gringotts on the 11th and I must say that after waiting 2 and a half hours to ride I was very pleased with the result. This ride really opens a new chapter in Universal history. I understand the nostalgia factor with Spiderman and the famous first screen scene, however, I truly feel like Gringotts is a preview of what is to come from Universal in the next few years. The whole experience is very detailed and multi-sensory. Read below for my thoughts..overall I enjoyed the ride, but the line and constant breakdowns really left a bad taste in my mouth, and I can only imagine what guests who had no idea what was going on thought...
Gringotts Review - Warning Spoilers!
Queue : The queue is beautiful and much larger than I thought it would be. Plus the detail is phenomenal (trust me I spent a while in it to take it all in). The ceiling in the goblin room is so tall and the room is expansive and grand, it is truly larger than life. The first pre-show is similar to Disaster’s pre-show...the audio is turned down way too low to hear for some reason so I have no idea what was said, but it looked nice I guess. The elevator was a huge surprise! I was expecting something similar to MIB, vibrating floor and lighting effects..what I got was projection and bouncy floor effects, loved it and really was taken by surprise when the walls started to move.
Ride : All I can say about the ride is prepare for sensory overload. Now the overload is different then Forbidden Journey where too much is going on at once to really focus, here the overload comes from the ride being unpredictable and not knowing what the car is going to do next. The teeter totter at the beginning really got me as I thought to myself “There is no way that this car is going to fit in that tiny tunnel,” then, bam, we flew down the incline. Overall the sets are beautiful and the projection is crystal clear, and big, I mean the scenes are massive and for some reason feel bigger and more expansive than say, Transformers. Perhaps because you are literally engulfed in the projection and the sharpness mixed with the 3-D really is incredible enough to convince you that you are careening through the vaults..plus the gigantic sets really help to convince you as well. I read somewhere that someone was complaining about the ride just being screens...this is not true. While the ride has no animatronics, it certainly has huge areas of beautifully done set work (which Universal excels at). Honestly the best part of the ride is when you careen through one of the projection screens and launch while spinning, it’s a tremendous experience.
Final Thoughts : Gringotts, as I’ve said, ushers in a new era of attractions for Universal. From the sets to the pre-shows to the ride itself, everything about this screams ambitious. While Spiderman will always hold a special place in our heart this ride aims to quickly become the new favorite in town...I loved it...don’t let the wait kill your experience!