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UOR observations and in-depth WWoHP sap

Jan 25, 2009
412
18
Somerville, MA
I just got back from two days at Universal Orlando Resort by myself. It was my first time back in the Studios for around four years, and my first time back in Islands for a bit over a year. For all that time in between, I've wanted little more than to return to the resort because it's my favorite place and there is sentiment stacked on every corner, be it derived from past visits' memories or the ones made on this forum.

While I've read and discussed every critique and every situation and every other detail in re: the parks, a lot of that kind of disappears once I step inside the parks, so very little of this will be relevant to anybody looking for updatey observations. It's more of a play-by-play, stream-of-consciousness type thing. So.

Universal Studios
-- Rode Mummy around a thousand times (a rough estimate) and I had no problems with the launch. Also, even after reading about it so much on here, I was surprised at how bright the scarab scene was. Kind of ruined the rest of that room, but it looked pretty good.
-- Rode HRRR for the first time. I heard about how rough it was, but people also say the Hulk is unbearably rough and that's never given me a problem so I paid the complaints no mind. I was wrong. I couldn't even ride it two times in a row without a killer headache. That ride kind of killed me. Other than the pain it brought on, I actually enjoyed it a bit, which is why I stupidly kept coming back for more throughout the day. Songs I rode to (multiple times each): Float On, Stockholm Syndrome, and Movin' Right Along.
-- Stumbled into my first Graveyard Revue show by chance and kind of fell in love with it. I came back for two more shows after that, and cast for the later two weren't as good as the first one, but I loved it each time. I'm kind of obsessed now.
-- Similarly, the Horror Makeup Show was a gem. Perfect hosts.
-- Walking through what was once Amity and what will one day be Diagon Alley was the best, most surreal thing ever.
-- There was, of course, work on SS44 throughout the day so I kept walking around. There were a few good cracks that I watched a bit through with no problems (I didn't take pictures because I don't have a camera), and that was really cool. Couldn't help but laugh when I saw certain areas roped off because of you guys.
-- Did Simpsons for the first time. Pretty cool, I must say. Got a kick out of the BttF homage and a few of the jokes, and I think I'm making "Do not fear, a nerd is here!" a personal motto now.
-- By some horrible mistake, I'd forgotten how utterly fun MiB is.
-- Cinematic Spectacular was absolutely breathtaking. Expectations were met. Morgan Freeman's narration was awesome, I loved the pyrotechnics, and seeing scenes from my favorite movies was awesome. If anybody asks if I teared up a bit, I'll deny everything. (Watched it from the area in front of Mel's, on the lower platform thing, front row.)
-- Lockers are possibly the most frustrating things ever and my fingerprints suck at being fingerprints, evidently.
-- Really wanted to do DM:MM, but I didn't get around to it. Next time!

WWoHP
-- I spent from park opening to just after closing entirely in WWoHP. As a devout Potter fanatic of over a decade who means it when she says that Harry Potter is her everything and who has been following WWoHP religiously since just before it was announced, yesterday was an enormous deal for me. There's a huuuge ramble about this below, but I'll bullet up the highlights out of mercy.
-- I went in a partial Ravenclaw uniform, which-- along with what was probably a scary amount of enthusiasm-- I think got me chosen in Ollivander's. That was an experience I've been wanting since the first time I saw the scene at six years of age, and I can't express how much it meant to me to be chosen. Vine want, Phoenix feather core, ten inches. Lots of shaking, lots of laughter from other guests.
-- The consensus among the two Ravenclaw team members I saw the entire day and myself is that Ravenclaw is woefully underrepresented at WWoHP.
-- Forbidden Journey. That's it. That's the entire bullet.
-- Speaking of which, I got stuck for about ten minutes once ( in front of a dome screen), out of the dozens of times I rode it yesterday. Also, Whompy stopped being functional halfway through the day and I'm not sure if the dragon was in A mode.
-- Basically, I did and rode everything, I momentarily mourned the loss of dueling on DC but enjoyed 'em regardless, I had a perfect day in a perfect place. It was the fifth anniversary of Deathly Hallows, so I did spend a couple of hours reading the book as well as Dear Mr. Potter, a compilation of letters from Harry Potter fans (including Evanna Lynch, John Green, and Andrew Slack) that I helped work on and was published in and the proceeds of which we donated to the Harry Potter Alliance, an absolutely amazing non-profit that I now volunteer for.
-- WWoHP at night. Wow. Just wow.
-- Merch bought: Ravenclaw pillow, WWoHP pillow, Ravenclaw banner, my wand, OotP keychain, Hogwarts keychain, and Ravenclaw jackethoodiething. This is in addition to my merch from the visit-that-we-do-not-speak-of: Ravenclaw scarf, Ravenclaw mug, chocolate frog, Quibbler, too much pumpkin juice, Ravenclaw pin, Ravenclaw keychain, and Hermione wand. I like how my collection is shapin' up! In related news, my family has informed me that I "need a life."

And now, a ramble.
(This was written for my tumblr, but with this forum in mind. And I'm fully aware of how insane I sound and how most people react to my Potter situation; I am frankly well past being bothered by that at all. As Ron Weasley says, "don't let the muggles get you down.")

I’m exhausted, and I’m lazy as ever, and, for once, it feels like a chore to make a post. But I was in Hogwarts yesterday, and I was in Hogsmeade, and a wand chose me, and I need to talk about it before the memories begin to lose their clarity.

When WWoHP team members asked me if I was enjoying myself, I grinned and told them that, yes, I was, more than anything, and it was my first time. I like to think all of that is true, but the fact remains that it was technically my second time and that it felt like my thousandth.

The first time I was physically there, it was rushed. It ended horribly. I was uncomfortable. The people I was with didn’t really get it. We did Forbidden Journey once, I got banned from my favorite place for a year, and we walked towards a roller coaster because the group decided there were more exciting things than a boy wizard and I wasn’t allowed off on my own.

So yesterday was my first time there on my own terms, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt more at home. Not anywhere.

Walking through Hogsmeade and into Ollivander’s and then making my way to and through Hogwarts and tagging along with the trio felt like the most natural thing in the world, and I don’t know why this surprised me at first.

Part of me expected disbelief, because I’ve read about these places for over a decade and I’ve obsessively anticipated this area for half of one. All together, Harry Potter and his story and his friends and the places he knew and the theme park “island” that would make it all a new kind of real were and continue to be my everything. To walk through these particular pieces of that, to see Hogwarts in the distance and Honeydukes to my right and the Hogwarts Express to my left— it was something I always thought would feel unbelievable.

But, in retrospect, that was foolish of me.

After all, I’ve read about these places for over a decade and I’ve obsessively anticipated this area for half of one, and, all together, Harry Potter and his story and his friends and the places he knew and the theme park “island” that would make it all a new kind of real were and continue to be my everything. I know more about all of these things than I know about everything else, and they’ve been my constant. Always.

So why wouldn’t it feel like coming home after a long trip? Why wouldn’t it feel familiar, and why wouldn’t spending over thirteen uninterrupted hours in the same smallish area feel so normal?

Yesterday was perfect. The usually unbearable temperatures, the crowds, the linecutters didn’t matter, because I was in Hogsmeade and Hogwarts and I don’t think I can ever be grumpy there.

I’m going to cherish all of it forever, probably. Walking in. Waving at the conductor. Seeing Hogwarts in the distance. Catching moving objects in Hogsmeade shop windows out of the corner of my eye. Conversations with team members about my Ravenclaw tie, about house pride, about the other day’s Quidditch match. High fives from frog choir members. Realizing Ollivander’s assistant was asking me for my name, then telling my I “must be here for my wand,” pointing out my Ravenclaw traits. Having a wand choose me. Hearing the scores that have made my life magical as I walked down Hogsmeade. Extendable ears’ whispers in Zonko’s and the boxes of troublesome students’ disciplinary files in Filch’s. Pensieves and mirrors of Erised and Hogwarts founders and floating candles and owleries and hidden alleyways and butterbeer and house elf shadows. And magic. So much magic.

Right now, I miss it like I missed it before I even went. I miss it like I’ll miss it tomorrow and every day I’m not there. I miss Forbidden Journey, I miss Dragon Challenge, I miss having Buckbeak bow to me. I miss the stores. I miss everything I love being there, physical, tangible. I really, really miss reading Deathly Hallows for hours while sitting in front of Hogwarts and reading Dear Mr. Potter letters from my favorite people and my favorite heroes and my favorite strangers in the Three Broomsticks patio.

I miss memories stacked on every corner. I miss making more memories to return to. I miss butterbeer. I miss walking through places I’ve never set foot in but still being able to say “I’ve been here before.”

It’s homesickness. There’s no other word for it.

Between now and whenever I’ll be able to get back to Hogwarts, I’ll miss it terribly. But I think I’ll enjoy it, because, as always, I’ll go back by page. I’ll go back by television screens. I’ll go back by forums, by friendships, by tumblr. And as long as there’s a Harry Potter book in my hand or a lesson, memory, strength, idea, or happiness he’s given me in my mind, I’ll be home.

To quote some bony, messy-haired kid, just as I did, kind of involuntarily, as I walked backwards out of Hogsmeade last night: as long as I’m not on my way to Wizarding World one way or another, “I’m not going home, not really.”
 
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I think this requires more explanation.

Nope. It was stupid, small, and a result of my horrible absentmindedness. No malicious intent and the security dudes were nice. Minimum punishment, and that sucky year is behind me.

The official story is that I performed magic in front of muggles, if you'll take that.
 
That was a fun read. It's really nice to hear from Potter fans. I wish I understood everything in WWOHP so I could appreciate how wonderful the place is even more.
 
I know more about all of these things than I know about everything else, and they’ve been my constant. Always.
Right now, I miss it like I missed it before I even went. I miss it like I’ll miss it tomorrow and every day I’m not there. I miss Forbidden Journey, I miss Dragon Challenge, I miss having Buckbeak bow to me. I miss the stores. I miss everything I love being there, physical, tangible. I really, really miss reading Deathly Hallows for hours while sitting in front of Hogwarts and reading Dear Mr. Potter letters from my favorite people and my favorite heroes and my favorite strangers in the Three Broomsticks patio.
I miss memories stacked on every corner. I miss making more memories to return to. I miss butterbeer. I miss walking through places I’ve never set foot in but still being able to say “I’ve been here before."It’s homesickness. There’s no other word for it.
Between now and whenever I’ll be able to get back to Hogwarts, I’ll miss it terribly. But I think I’ll enjoy it, because, as always, I’ll go back by page. I’ll go back by television screens. I’ll go back by forums, by friendships, by tumblr. And as long as there’s a Harry Potter book in my hand or a lesson, memory, strength, idea, or happiness he’s given me in my mind, I’ll be home.
“I’m not going home, not really.”
I really couldn't have said it bet myself. I'm just as a devout Potter fan as you it seems. You explained everything perfectly and I wish I could go with another 'potter head' to WWoHP one day because my family just doesn't get it. They see the WWoHP as just another set of rides to spend a couple hours at best on, while I see my entire childhood brought to life before my eyes. I had to go with my mom ( who really doesn't care about Harry Potter) to the Warner Bros celebration event in November. When I saw Rupert, James, Oliver, Mark Williams, and so many more it really made my life to see some of the people that made my childhood as wonderful as it was. I have to admit I definitely got a little teary eyed... Anyways I guess what I'm saying is I'm glad I'm not the only one their family has told to 'get a life'. Every time I get a few more dollars to contribute to my 'back to WWoHP' fund I'm that much closer to going back home. I've loved these stories since I was two years old wanting another chapter as a bedtime story and there will never be anything more magical than them. "After all this time?" "Always."
 
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