After this, I disagree. My thought on a big Phase III was contingent on not knowing this was going to happen. This completely opens the world to different possibilities. I'm all for Phase III
I'm on that same boat.
I don't disagree, but remember, Potter took only 1/2 of Lost Continent. If it took over the rest, *hypothetically*, it would be just making the land the size it once was. Personally, I'd much rather see the rest of LC become a "Fantastic Beasts" land than Willy Wonka or some other random thing.
If it was Fantastic Beasts or Wonka... Beasts all the way! But I'd rather keep LC as itself. I like two options for this... One would be Fantastic Beasts taking over the Dragon Challenge, queue and surrounding land and become an attraction all about magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest, where at the end you can ride a dragon. The other possibility I'd like would be for this to become a new land for a third gate. Maybe the third gate fits better, especially if this has its own unique look and feel, even if it is within the overall Wizarding World universe. Also, the movie is at least a few years away, so the Universal attraction will be even later than that. I think it could be a great fit and selling point for a third gate.
Now, back to Phase II: DA / HE
I think it could work for the HE to soft open earlier than Diagon Alley, and it wouldn't be an issue to me for them to soft open separately. Not only is the HE an independent attraction from the Wizarding World lands, it's probably gonna be ready and ride-able before Gringotts and all the details in DA are finished. The HE's ride system seems like it would be easier to implement, test and roll out than Gringotts'.
Also, if you look at UOR's latest projects, the entire Transformers project, and the entire Springfield project, they've both been sort of opening in phases, as they get things done. I don't see why London and the Hogwarts Express couldn't soft open earlier, that way Universal would begin to test and capitalize on this as soon as possible. Gringotts seems like the kind of ride that needs a lot of "tech" testing, while the Hogwarts Express will need more "people traffic" testing, which would also be another reason to start moving people through the stations and get that situation all smoothed out before the masses slam the park. Those are basically my latest thoughts and how this all makes sense to me.