Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic - General Discussion Thread

[GAcoaster]

Any insight as to when/if Patisserie Matagot is opening?

I don't think it's planned to be anything more than a facade based on the location. It does seem like a missed opportunity, thought the stuff in the window would be difficult/expensive to create in an edible form.

 

[Alicia]

TMs believe it will open someday, and sell Jacob’s magical beasts shaped pastries inside (as hinted at in the windows). But it is incredibly small in there according to permit images, so we shall see.

The robe shop on the hand, near the candy store, is definitely meant to be real and I’m surprised it never opened.

 

[GAcoaster]

The robe shop on the hand, near the candy store, is definitely meant to be real and I’m surprised it never opened.

They seemed to be using it as work space during previews-- we were standing by the door when TMs were scurrying in and out.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

Be careful as some days the sign says “at capacity for last hour or so”. Depending on how full the queue is, (it could even be cut off sooner).

Right now queue is at two hours after initial rush. Personally, I’d line up an hour before park open, as they start filling the queue immediately. Plus they opened the ride early, so if you were in the first 1000 or so people in line the wait wasn’t too long (and the ride will be working the best it will all day).

My last two visits I tried to ride midday when line gets shorter but EVERY time I tried it broke down. So today I went for first thing in the morning to ensure better chance of success and it was a good quick moving line.

I'm taking family for one day with a stay at Helios, is hitting Ministry right at 9, being one of the first from Helios, a good strategy. I see it open sometimes for EPA and not others. Not sure if it is random or not since it is not officially listed as open and it just depends on ops that morning?
My other plan is to knock out Curse with no wait, hit Stardust a couple times, hoping it's running first thing, then line up for Hiccups.
Mario is to unreliable for me to try first thing and I'm not super excited about it anyway, plus it's actually a disadvantage starting at Helios I heard.

 

[JonsMovies]

I think you're better off with the second plan. With early entry I was able to do Monsters, Curse & Stardust and still be at the front of the Berk portal before opening at 10 to rope drop Hiccups. I think that's the most reliable strategy for early entry at the moment.

 

[Alicia]

I'm taking family for one day with a stay at Helios, is hitting Ministry right at 9, being one of the first from Helios, a good strategy. I see it open sometimes for EPA and not others. Not sure if it is random or not since it is not officially listed as open and it just depends on ops that morning?
My other plan is to knock out Curse with no wait, hit Stardust a couple times, hoping it's running first thing, then line up for Hiccups.
Mario is to unreliable for me to try first thing and I'm not super excited about it anyway, plus it's actually a disadvantage starting at Helios I heard.

They let people line up for Ministry at early entry and usually letting people on the ride about a half hour before park opens. I suggest doing it first as it can break down later, and if you’ve only waited 30 mins to ride (vs two hours) and it breaks down it’s not such a big time suck of your day.

They purposely do not dump the queue for most breakdowns, which means you will have to stay in line and wait it out, or you wasted time in queue and when you come back to ride again later, you’ll have to wait again. For me, it’s not worth the risk (because I’ve waited HOURS just waiting in that line just to never ride that day, and that’s not a good use of your time). Ride first, ride early, no more stress to get on all day.

Nearly all of the Unofficial Guide touring plans suggest riding Ministry first, for many reasons. But for me, it’s to ensure I get it done first and relieve the stress of worrying later. Plus, it’s a great way to start the day! Extremely impressive queue and ride to set the tone.

 

[Mad Dog]

They let people line up for Ministry at early entry and usually letting people on the ride about a half hour before park opens. I suggest doing it first as it can break down later, and if you’ve only waited 30 mins to ride (vs two hours) and it breaks down it’s not such a big time suck of your day.

They purposely do not dump the queue for most breakdowns, which means you will have to stay in line and wait it out, or you wasted time in queue and when you come back to ride again later, you’ll have to wait again. For me, it’s not worth the risk (because I’ve waited HOURS just waiting in that line just to never ride that day, and that’s not a good use of your time). Ride first, ride early, no more stress to get on all day.

Nearly all of the Unofficial Guide touring plans suggest riding Ministry first, for many reasons. But for me, it’s to ensure I get it done first and relieve the stress of worrying later. Plus, it’s a great way to start the day! Extremely impressive queue and ride to set the tone.

And surprisingly, the Ministry lines were not super long this morning as is usually the case. Like 30 to 60 minutes, which you only see late evenings, if even then. Sunday mornings are generally a good time to visit Universal and WDW. Lines are among the best for the week Sunday mornings..

 

[Captain Spaulding]

And surprisingly, the Ministry lines were not super long this morning as is usually the case. Like 30 to 60 minutes, which you only see late evenings, if even then. Sunday mornings are generally a good time to visit Universal and WDW. Lines are among the best for the week Sunday mornings..

I've noticed this as well about Sundays. Probably not going to risk rearranging an entire trip and just end up with a bad Sunday anyway. I'll just stick to Wednesday and hope for the best.

 

[Mad Dog]

Fairly short lines for Potter Ministry just about all day today.....I don't think I've seen a day with these times all summer. 15 minutes posted a bit ago.

 

[Jake S]

have they recently increased the number of ride vehicles that can run at once? not sure where we are on that front.

 

[Mad Dog]

have they recently increased the number of ride vehicles that can run at once? not sure where we are on that front.

No idea. But everything, except the Kong coaster was good today.....and pretty good last week on Sunday too, though not as low as today. The other
coasters were good times today also. Perhaps they quit playing Six Flags type short operations with them.

 

[Floridaguy34]

just recently re rode battle at the ministry for the first time since guest previews i have to say the motion seemed more aggressive on some of the spins reminded me a lot of the spins on spider man gotta say this attraction is fantastic don’t understand the hate for battle at the ministry

 

[GA-MBIT]

"Hate" is a really strong feeling. As such, it's inaccurate to my personal thoughts on the ride. I don't feel much for Ministry in any direction, and that's my problem with it.

It just doesn't deliver in the same way that other E-Tickets or Potter attractions have in the past. It's servicable, and decent fun, but I wish it was far more than that for me.

 

[Mad Dog]

Haven't rode it yet. But I generally try to keep 'expectations' even keeled. Generally, in the past, when I've had sky high expectations, I've been
disappointed since my expectations being too high ruined the first experience for me. Example: As I've said before, my expectations for Mummy
and JPRA were too high, and I was disappointed in my first rides on both. But after my expectations calmed down, both attractions have become
favorites of mine. So now, I try to not get excited over any new attraction. It's ho hum until I get on it. That "Expectation" word can be a killer to
enjoyment. Four minutes on a ride aren't much and the actual time seems to go even faster. I try not to base my reaction on the first couple of
rides, and prefer to judge after 4, 5 or 6 at the least.

 

[Jake S]

The much dreaded "anticapointment."

 

[kristenabelle]

Rambling thoughts on why I didn't hate it, but BATM didn't end up being my favorite Epic ride:

Spoiler

The queue is incredible and so impressive (though i have to add - there wasn't a ton of people when I scanned in for express, and they still didn't pulse us through the Metrofloo. Just sent us all together, kind of anticlimactic. I was a bit disappointed there).

Even the car reveal is impressive when you're waiting to load and it comes around the corner. That said, there were definitely moments where I was like...this is a large screen. And another screen. And it probably didn't help that those moments made me feel slightly queasy. Thankfully I was fine but it was the only ride that gave me woozies at Epic.

When you get to parts where the sets are more physical, it's really awesome. But looking at everything on the whole (and comparing it to Monsters, which uses screens to far better effect IMO), the ride was fine.

I know Gringotts has its problems, but I remember a feeling of awe the first time I ever rode it. I honestly had tears pulling back into the station with TMs clapping. The music swelling combined with the feeling of the trio besting Voldemort worked so well. I didn't really feel that this time around (tbf, may be my more complicated Potter feelings now, too).

Maybe it'd be more resonant if Umbridge did something with the time turner and we had to put things back into place? Or we had to find a time turner? Then we'd be more connected with the story/more involved? Or on the flip side, if we had to escape like in ROTR where you have a major story/ride moment before the conclusion? Idk.

 

[belloq87]

There have been plenty of times in recent-ish memory (last ten years, say) where my high expectations were exceeded (Indiana Jones, Radiator Springs Racers, Secret Life of Pets, Rise of the Resistance, Hagrid's, Forbidden Journey), and times where even low expectations were somehow subceeded (WEB Slingers, Supercharged).

I don't think having low(ered) expectations for something is inherently a bad thing. I think I'm much more likely to appreciate Ministry when I finally ride now that my expectations are set at the "another Spider-Man variation" level instead of something else.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Respectfully, I've ridden multiple times now, and I honestly don't believe my personal expectations were to blame for my poor opinion on Ministry. I just actually believe it to be the weakest Potter ride they've built, and significantly weaker than most major rides in the Orlando area. I've gone in with varied expectations to lots of recent attractions, and I think I simply enjoy most of them more than Ministry.

It's about pacing, structure, comfortability, motion profile, capacity and queue times, spectacle; and generally, I think Ministry is fairly weak in a lot of those departments. I legitimately believe Gringotts has more going for it.

 

[Mad Dog]

There have been plenty of times in recent-ish memory (last ten years, say) where my high expectations were exceeded (Indiana Jones, Radiator Springs Racers, Secret Life of Pets, Rise of the Resistance, Hagrid's, Forbidden Journey), and times where even low expectations were somehow subceeded (WEB Slingers, Supercharged).

I don't think having low(ered) expectations for something is inherently a bad thing. I think I'm much more likely to appreciate Ministry when I finally ride now that my expectations are set at the "another Spider-Man variation" level instead of something else.

Good points. Sometimes that happens. ROTR and FOP were both better than my expectations......Plus, I actually like screens so I don't have a problem with them. My only issue is when a park, namely USF, has too many of the same type of attraction. Just like all of the Six Flags parks that are coaster, coaster, coaster and very little of anything else....Bottom line, screens on Ministry wouldn't be an issue with me since Epic is coaster heavy, if anything.

 

[GA-MBIT]

I have no issues with the screen use in something like Monsters or Rise, because those are well-integrated effects with lots of energy.

The majority of the screens on Ministry revolve around you watching characters doing stilted dialogue at each other. The blocking is flat, most of the dialogue is exposition, and none of it uses the characters in interesting ways. You could swap the characters out for entirely different ones and have the exact same dialogue for everyone, and nothing but names would have to change. Most of the villains are nobody Death Eaters, and Umbridge doesn't have much room to shine here. It's rather dull and lifeless.

Say what you will about Gringotts, but Bellatrix, Voldemort, and the Goblins all feel like themselves. The core trio has always been a bit dull in these rides, but at least Hagrid, Ron, and Dumbledore get some solid quips. Nothing like that here.

It mostly feels like nothing more interesting than the preshows in Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, and Hagrids. The least interesting element of all three attractions, and the thing most people would rather skip over to get onto the rollercoaster faster. Except, there aren't any great thrill moments like Rise, Unchained, FJ, or Gringotts either. It's just rather static and dull for me.