The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hollywood

[Allen The Actor]

Yup! And fun fact, if you look up at the end of the ride, sharp eyed fans will see the animatronic heads of Bill, Ted, and Gay Superman!

 

[Freak]

Yup! And fun fact, if you look up at the end of the ride, sharp eyed fans will see the animatronic heads of Bill, Ted, and Gay Superman!

Bogus dude! That offended me as a Bill and Ted fan! I'm going to write an article and cancel the ride (I know what ride at Disney you're referencing. Hehe)

But anyways, I'm interested in seeing this missing effect.  

 

[HTF]

Something you Potter fans may want to read, a Forbidden Journey article.

http://orlandounited.com/words-of-hatetofly-a-forbidden-journey/

 

[Alexshow.]

Wow... Alot of juicy info... Thanks HTF.

 

[Allen The Actor]

Thanks for the great article HateToFly, that was a fascinating read! I'm obsessed with behind the scenes and historical info regarding the creation of rides, so that was really great insight!

I also sincerely hope that Hollywood DOES get all the upgrades you mentioned! That'd be amazing it'll so be worth the wait.

(But oh gosh, I hope we don't get 3D if Japan does actually rereceive it....unless it's glasses-free 3D)

HTF, is the current Orlando version in 4K? If not, is that an upgrade all three versions should expect?

 

[Jon Fu]

Something you Potter fans may want to read, a Forbidden Journey article.


http://orlandounited.com/words-of-hatetofly-a-forbidden-journey/

Fascinating read. I wish I can recall some of the details from my most recent ride, but it's all a blur.


Allen, if Orlando was 4K, it sure didn't look like it. It's very film-like.

 

[Allen The Actor]

I hope ours is in 4K. The dome screens aren't that big, so if 4K looks amazing in Transformers on the massive screens, it would look even more FANTASTIC on the smaller FJ domes! Would be even better than 3D

 

[smoaT]

Something you Potter fans may want to read, a Forbidden Journey article.

http://orlandounited.com/words-of-hatetofly-a-forbidden-journey/

Amazing... if we get the cut scenes this will be amazing. Do people really get sick often at this ride?

 

[Chris]

That is the first I have heard of Hollywood getting a superior version of Journey.  I am excited now.

I have felt the "motion sickness" on Journey.  Anything to help that would be much appreciated.

I don't want this ride to become 3D in any form.  I am okay without placing glasses over my eyes for this one, it would ruin the practical experience.

Amazing... if we get the cut scenes this will be amazing. Do people really get sick often at this ride?

I have.  the screens are very close in proximity and the motion is super fast on each video.  its almost too much to suck in on one ride through.  After riding it twice, that was enough for me.  I have only been on the ride 5 times... ever!

On a scale of 1 to 10, I place Potter on a 10 for complexity.  Jon has talked about this before, this ride is a lot to handle.  Be super patient when this thing opens up, it will take years to work out the bugs.

 

[Chris]

Where we thought the Wizarding World was going in 2011:



USH Map 2011 wHP by InsideUniversal.net, on Flickr

 

...and as of today in 2013:

 



USH Map 2013 wHP by InsideUniversal.net, on Flickr

 

[Freak]

For those of you talking about Orlando's version, I went on Forbidden Journey just last month. They upgraded the projectors. They're 4k now, I believe. They were MUCH more crisp than when I had last gone on it the year it opened.

 

[BehindTheTheme]

Cant wait for butterbeer? Starbucks is now serving the hot and cold beverag but you must bring your own recipe.

http://www.eonline.com/news/478554/starbucks-is-now-serving-butterbeer-get-the-harry-potter-inspired-recipe-here

 

[raven24]

Whimsic Alley on Wilshire sells butterbeer.

 

[HTF]

Amazing... if we get the cut scenes this will be amazing. Do people really get sick often at this ride?

YES!!! More people vomit, require help from health services, and complain of severe nausea that any other ride in the resort by a landslide. The ride has gone through all of its changes, two total reprofiles, upgraded dome projectors, and adjustments to effects all in a hope of cutting down motion sickness. The air bladders should be a huge help for guests. Its something we used in flight school.

As for 4K, the projectors and video were always in 4K. The main issue was the lighting of the old projects in a concave environment. The new projectors use 4 bulbs if I'm not mistaken to greatly bump up the brightness. 

You guys will at least get upgrades over ours due to installation alone. Several of the mistakes during installation caused Orlando to lose effects. With time on their side in HW as well as MASSIVE profit opportunity almost a guarantee they are going to do this right. And don't worry about the ride system not being ready, this bad boy will start testing by Dec 2015 to get ready for Summer 2016. Oh and personally I think you guys are looking at a Spring Grand Opening but thats besides the point. 

Last but not least is the complexity issue. What amazes me is how Universal was able to get this thing up and running with minimal downtime past Grand Opening. I mean I didn't even get into how each RV scans a barcode system directing is physical movements on 4 axis that are times with physical effects to 1/16 of an inch. ITS CRAZY!!!

 

[smoaT]

YES!!! More people vomit, require help from health services, and complain of severe nausea that any other ride in the resort by a landslide. The ride has gone through all of its changes, two total reprofiles, upgraded dome projectors, and adjustments to effects all in a hope of cutting down motion sickness. The air bladders should be a huge help for guests. Its something we used in flight school.

As for 4K, the projectors and video were always in 4K. The main issue was the lighting of the old projects in a concave environment. The new projectors use 4 bulbs if I'm not mistaken to greatly bump up the brightness. 

You guys will at least get upgrades over ours due to installation alone. Several of the mistakes during installation caused Orlando to lose effects. With time on their side in HW as well as MASSIVE profit opportunity almost a guarantee they are going to do this right. And don't worry about the ride system not being ready, this bad boy will start testing by Dec 2015 to get ready for Summer 2016. Oh and personally I think you guys are looking at a Spring Grand Opening but thats besides the point. 

Last but not least is the complexity issue. What amazes me is how Universal was able to get this thing up and running with minimal downtime past Grand Opening. I mean I didn't even get into how each RV scans a barcode system directing is physical movements on 4 axis that are times with physical effects to 1/16 of an inch. ITS CRAZY!!!

Didn't know it was that intense. I hope the air bladders help. God thing is that only 4 people go with you at a time... I just don't want to get vomited all over

 

[Jon Fu]

As for 4K, the projectors and video were always in 4K. The main issue was the lighting of the old projects in a concave environment. The new projectors use 4 bulbs if I'm not mistaken to greatly bump up the brightness.

That's fascinating to hear. One of my main complaints was how dim the entire picture was. I realize that the film takes place in a dark environment, but it was rather difficult to see - especially coming off of Spiderman and Transformers.


Glad to hear they're working on it though.

 

[HTF]

That's fascinating to hear. One of my main complaints was how dim the entire picture was. I realize that the film takes place in a dark environment, but it was rather difficult to see - especially coming off of Spiderman and Transformers.

Glad to hear they're working on it though.

Well you will have to excuse me as I misspoke earlier. Its not 4 bulbs per say, its actually 4 different types of bulbs and settings. They increased the power and are using a stronger bulb setting in the new set up.

In the older "dim" version of the FJ they were using 3KW bulbs that produced around 15-18K Lumens. These bulbs would last roughly 3500 hours of use but due to bulbs getting even dimmer were usually taken out before they hit the 3K hour mark. The new bulbs are 6KW bulbs that are producing around 32-35K Lumens but the bulbs only last between 1000-1250 hours a piece before being replaced.

Examples at market rate

Old Bulbs: $900 a piece and rebulb entire ride is 20 bulbs. 18 for the carousels and 2 for the screen endings. Now lets say they last 3K hours as well. And for the sake of math lets just say they run 12 hours a day. So every 250 days Universal would of replaced 20 bulbs at a cost of $ 18K bucks.

New Bulbs: $1600 a piece and 20 total bulbs. Now lets say they last 1K hours a piece, and again lets say they run 12 hours a day. For these bulbs they would have to replace every 85 days at a cost 32K per replace. 

In five years under the old bulbs they would have to rebulb everything 7 times at a cost of $126K. The new bulbs setup on the other hand means they would have to replace the bulbs 20 times in 5 years at a cost of $640 dollars. Yeah big difference... 

Hope I didn't confuse anyone! And one last thing to cover these bulbs also need to be replaced at Spiderman, Transformers, and Despicable Me. 

 

[HTF]

Well don't have to worry about any of this now lol, New 4K Projectors are replacing the ones at the FJ and Simpsons Ride. 

 

[Allen The Actor]

I'm sure every time a significant advancement comes along to projection technology that allows for sharper and brighter images but that are also energy efficient, Universal will splurge on upgrades! At least I'd hope so!

And Simpsons needs all the help it can get. It's so dark.....for those who have ridden FJ and Simpsons, how dark are they compared to each other?

 

[Jon Fu]

I'm sure every time a significant advancement comes along to projection technology that allows for sharper and brighter images but that are also energy efficient, Universal will splurge on upgrades! At least I'd hope so!


And Simpsons needs all the help it can get. It's so dark.....for those who have ridden FJ and Simpsons, how dark are they compared to each other?

The professional projector industry moves at a rather sluggish pace in terms of major advancements. Remember, reliability is key in this industry so they're not going to harp on the next best thing.


To answer your second question...that's difficult. Simpsons' projector issues are worsened because the ride takes place in a daytime environment. You can't mask it like Back to the Future if the projectors aren't running at full brightness. Having said that, Forbidden Journey was just a tad bit darker on my last visit, but I'm attributing that to the nature of the ride. Simpsons has been unusually dark since day one, so here's hoping they fix that in the next round of upgrades.