The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade (Orlando): Part 2

[DufflesMcGee]

How much tamer can it get? I thought the most recent profile fixed most of the nausea issues while retaining some of the intensity. It's a shame if they go any tamer given the advanced technology behind the ride vehicles. Without a quick and surprising range of motion it will ruin the "wow" factor for me.

i think it will be tamer during videos, not during the actual ride. The ride with physical sets is fine, its the mix with the video which is nauseating

 

[OLSinFLA]

I'm either lost or behind. What are the air bladders in the vehicles for?

 

[Teebin]

I'm either lost or behind. What are the air bladders in the vehicles for?

I have NO IDEA where the term "air bladders" came from as it seems silly and technically overstated. Basically, there will be little cool air wind blowers, much like the little air controls one finds overhead on airlines. They are intended help the brain find its orientation and thus, prevent motion sickness.

 

[TSSD]

I visited IOA with family yesterday while on a trip to Tampa. I went with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousin who had never been to the WWoHP before and they were all awestruck by it, especially with FJ. Not having been in 3 years I fell in love with FJ again, I forgot how incredible it was, well worth the hour and a half wait considering I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to visit again. Now, I haven't really been on OU much in the past year or two, I've lurked a little but mainly on Kong and DA, so I do have a few minor questions. First off, has FJ gotten more intense since Summer 2010? Especially in the Floo Powder sections it just seemed more intense, although that may just be my faulty memory. Second off, LOCKERS. Last time I visited we got into WWoHP early, as I was staying at the Hard Rock Hotel, so the line actually wasn't past the lockers at the point I got on, my family also didn't have bags on us at the time, so I'm not really sure if the locker situation has always been this much of a nightmare. We were screamed at by attendants telling us to leave one member of our family behind to get a locker, and to go on ahead without them. One actually screamed at my mother (admittedly after she had ignored her three times already) that we still had an hour left to wait before we'd ride, my dad would catch up to us. Very chaotic, and not at all helped by the very rude attendants in charge of the area. Shocking especially as I had just remarked how nice and polite every employee at the park had been so far. Also the first employee I'd seen all day to break character and call it a ride. My mother then spent the 15 minutes in the greenhouse worried about my dad finding us. Is there nothing they can do to make this situation at least somewhat bearable? Finally, not so much a question as a comment, I'd noticed last trip that they rushed you through the castle, the only really enjoyable part of the entire queue, and hoped that they'd fixed it in three years. I was very disappointed to find that, after standing still for an hour and a half, we still ran through the castle, missing all the fun parts of the queue. It's a shame that a ride as amazing as FJ suffers the most poorly run, badly managed queue I've seen in any park I've been to.

 

[TylerDurden]

^actually, from what I understand FJ has gotten less intense since 2010. And the lockers have always, always been a nightmare with screaming TMs being pretty frequent unfortunately. As to the rushed feel of the castle queue, its not so much the fault of the staff but the nature of the ride's large capacity...with people constantly boarding the ride, and people constantly stopping to look around, before you know it theres a huge gap between two groups of people and then everyones constantly playing catch up.

Glad you had a fun trip other than that, though! WWoHP truly is awesome and I always have fun taking first-timers through.

 

[Teebin]

I was very disappointed to find that, after standing still for an hour and a half, we still ran through the castle, missing all the fun parts of the queue. It's a shame that a ride as amazing as FJ suffers the most poorly run, badly managed queue I've seen in any park I've been to.

There is absolutely no reason to rush through the queue. Just back up to the railings single file and wave people past you. That is what I have done. Once inside the building, I believe I stayed in the queue for 45 minutes before getting in the final line for the ride.

 

[Eric]

If Creative would have simply designed the queue with holding rooms, most of the problems surrounding the queue would be non-existent. With a continuously loading attraction like FJ, holding rooms are a must. Too, it would have been much more immersive and not felt so rushed.

 

[TSSD]

There is absolutely no reason to rush through the queue. Just back up to the railings single file and wave people past you. That is what I have done. Once inside the building, I believe I stayed in the queue for 45 minutes before getting in the final line for the ride.

In retrospect that's what I should have done, but the fact of the matter is that you should not have to do that, especially when the line is as long as it was the day I went. We spent an hour and a half standing practically still, why is that the case in the early part of the line but not the latter?

If Creative would have simply designed the queue with holding rooms, most of the problems surrounding the queue would be non-existent. With a continuously loading attraction like FJ, holding rooms are a must. Too, it would have been much more immersive and not felt so rushed.

This 100%. Quite frankly I can't understand why they didn't put in holding rooms.

 

[Felipe]

In retrospect that's what I should have done, but the fact of the matter is that you should not have to do that, especially when the line is as long as it was the day I went. We spent an hour and a half standing practically still, why is that the case in the early part of the line but not the latter?

There's also the tour of the castle that you can do, although it technically doesn't show the entire stand-by queue, but it does allow you to observe some parts for as long as you like without being in the path of those who are in the ride queue.

I've always been curious to know what is to the right where the dungeon path takes a left turn to go towards the greenhouses. Behind the statue of the one-eyed witch, it looks like there's a staircase of sorts. Anyone know what I'm talking about and what's back there? TM area? Another queue?

 

[Gambit]

We spent an hour and a half standing practically still, why is that the case in the early part of the line but not the latter?

Because once people get inside the castle they stop to take pictures and look around which causes everyone behind them to stop and it's like a domino effect.

 

[DK745]

The lockers are a disaster. I really hope they solved the issue with Gringotts by not putting lockers in part of the queue (sometimes you have to fight the queue to get to the lockers), between the queue and the gift shop where everyone is merging upon that area at once making it very overcrowded. Not sure how they got that one so wrong.

 

[shiekra38]

The lockers are a disaster. I really hope they solved the issue with Gringotts by not putting lockers in part of the queue (sometimes you have to fight the queue to get to the lockers), between the queue and the gift shop where everyone is merging upon that area at once making it very overcrowded. Not sure how they got that one so wrong.

I honestly don't think they expected that big of a crowd in there at one time except during holiday rushes...little did they know
TO be honest the lockers are fine on quiet days when the park isn't all that crowded

 

[Rorus]

There's also the tour of the castle that you can do

Where do you sign up for the tour? I have heard this mentioned here before.

 

[Shadow Carelli]

You don't have to sign up for the tour, you can either choose to walkthrough it yourself, or if on a slow day, you can ask a TM to give you a tour and they will walk you through it. They will then sometimes at the end of the tour let you get right on the ride. I've been able to do that to skip the lines.

 

[Teebin]

When a hear anyone mention the FJ queue tour, all I can think of is this audio scene below.

3:22 to 4:00
[video=youtube_share;_jycyjOITB4]http://youtu.be/_jycyjOITB4?t=3m22s[/video]

or click this link to be taken right to 3:22 http://youtu.be/_jycyjOITB4?t=3m22s

 

[Felipe]

Teebin!

 

[UNIrd]

I visited IOA with family yesterday while on a trip to Tampa. I went with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousin who had never been to the WWoHP before and they were all awestruck by it, especially with FJ. Not having been in 3 years I fell in love with FJ again, I forgot how incredible it was, well worth the hour and a half wait considering I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to visit again. Now, I haven't really been on OU much in the past year or two, I've lurked a little but mainly on Kong and DA, so I do have a few minor questions. First off, has FJ gotten more intense since Summer 2010? Especially in the Floo Powder sections it just seemed more intense, although that may just be my faulty memory. Second off, LOCKERS. Last time I visited we got into WWoHP early, as I was staying at the Hard Rock Hotel, so the line actually wasn't past the lockers at the point I got on, my family also didn't have bags on us at the time, so I'm not really sure if the locker situation has always been this much of a nightmare. We were screamed at by attendants telling us to leave one member of our family behind to get a locker, and to go on ahead without them. One actually screamed at my mother (admittedly after she had ignored her three times already) that we still had an hour left to wait before we'd ride, my dad would catch up to us. Very chaotic, and not at all helped by the very rude attendants in charge of the area. Shocking especially as I had just remarked how nice and polite every employee at the park had been so far. Also the first employee I'd seen all day to break character and call it a ride. My mother then spent the 15 minutes in the greenhouse worried about my dad finding us. Is there nothing they can do to make this situation at least somewhat bearable? Finally, not so much a question as a comment, I'd noticed last trip that they rushed you through the castle, the only really enjoyable part of the entire queue, and hoped that they'd fixed it in three years. I was very disappointed to find that, after standing still for an hour and a half, we still ran through the castle, missing all the fun parts of the queue. It's a shame that a ride as amazing as FJ suffers the most poorly run, badly managed queue I've seen in any park I've been to.

They did what? I've ridden the ride lots of times, admittedly never during Hell week or another peak time, but is this standard? Splitting your family up during the queue and saying that the one family member will "catch up"?

 

[FT_Roy]

They did what? I've ridden the ride lots of times, admittedly never during Hell week or another peak time, but is this standard? Splitting your family up during the queue and saying that the one family member will "catch up"?

Unfortunately, yes. It happens during peak times (when the overflow queue outside the gates is in use I've seen this happen multiple times). The family member in question does usually catch up before you head up the ramps in the greenhouse, but it's definitely a sub-optimal experience.

 

[blue180]

I was there all last week, and I definitely noticed a change in the intensity of the ride. There were scenes that I remember you'd swing around more, but now you there is less motion. I will say the video is a lot clearer then I remember.

I wish they didn't put the lockers where they did. It was so chaotic, as people just don't understand the concept of walking/moving, and just stand still.

 

[The_Bled]

It really sucks they toned down the ride. If it gets any more timid, I wont have any more interest in riding this ride ever again. The intensity was one of the greatest aspects of the ride. Probably one of the most intense dark rides of all time. If some people can't handle it then in my opinion, that's just too bad.