meet me in paris Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 (edited) We went yesterday (along with a million other people, I think). We happen to be in Orlando visiting family and a friend gave us tickets. If you're a fan of the books, or the movies, or both, you'll love it. Every inch of it is completely authentic... and it's an amazing replication of the scenes from the films. They don't even sell Coke in there - it's pumpkin juice, butterbeer, etc. (the butterbeer is deeee-lish). The main ride, The Forbidden Journey, is not for the faint of heart. But the line queue leading up to it is worth standing in line for. You get to see the Gryffindor common room, Dumbledore's office, the fat lady portrait, all kinds of wonderful things! And in the bathrooms you can hear Moaning Myrtle. :) I would not recommend going this week though... we waited at least 30 minutes for everything we did (not rides - that was much longer - I mean eating, drinking, going into shops, etc.). It was SOOO crowded. But if you're planning a Florida trip, it's well worth a stop at Universal Studios. Here's a link to a few pictures. Edited June 22, 2010 by meet me in paris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Sounds awesome, I hate when they do things like that on the way to rides. I can't do roller coasters or motion heavy rides like that and that means I miss out on a lot of cool stuff that I'd just love to wander through and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imprimis Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Glad to hear you enjoyed it. We'll be there tomorrow. Can't wait! We thought about the crowds, but we're staying in a Universal resort, which includes Universal Express Pass (front of the line access), so we decided to go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2cents Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 We have annual passes for Universal and are spending a week off in Orlando later this summer so we plan on spending LOTS of time in the HP Park. I heard it was crazy crowded on opening day with traffic backed out to the highway and 10 hour waits to get into the HP Park! I hope it is way less crowded when we go. We'll get out there in the next couple weeks for just a day. I want to go now but can't stand the crowds and standing in the hot sun for hours. I've heard it is AWESOME and just like the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meet me in paris Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 I added a link to a few photos in my original post. You can definitely see all the cool "stuff" in the queue area of the Forbidden Journey - they actually recommend it, even if you're not riding the ride. It's inside, it's cool, and it's where some of the best "artifacts" are. They do make you get a locker before you get in line, and my camera is a big clunky one so I couldn't sneak it on to take any pictures. If you have a pocket-type camera, don't lock it up! I was kicking myself the whole wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2cents Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Great pictures! I can't wait to go!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 We are going in October!! I'm hoping the novelty will have died down a lot by them. I'll definitely have to wait in line for the ride, despite the fact that I don't do coasters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 I really want to go to this ever since I heard they'd be building it! (Are the pics thumbnails for everyone else?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Oh, it's so great to hear a review from someone who's been!! We saw a small clip from the Today Show (though I hate that show) and it looked so cool. Dd's are so excited. We are planning our trip next year. We want to make sure we have plenty of money saved for all the shops :lol: So tell me about the coasters. Dd15 and dd9 seem to be able to ride about anything. I cannot. :glare: Is it the Dueling Dragons that is suspended and goes upside down? The Flight of the Hippogriff, it looks like a family type coaster, does it go upside down (see the trend). And what actually happens on the Forbidden Journey one that is not for the faint of heart? Enquiring minds want to know :tongue_smilie: Though I'm used to "walking through" at theme parks. I can't ride much without being drugged on Dramamine but I like to stay with the group. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meet me in paris Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 Oh, it's so great to hear a review from someone who's been!! We saw a small clip from the Today Show (though I hate that show) and it looked so cool. Dd's are so excited. We are planning our trip next year. We want to make sure we have plenty of money saved for all the shops :lol: So tell me about the coasters. Dd15 and dd9 seem to be able to ride about anything. I cannot. :glare: Is it the Dueling Dragons that is suspended and goes upside down? The Flight of the Hippogriff, it looks like a family type coaster, does it go upside down (see the trend). And what actually happens on the Forbidden Journey one that is not for the faint of heart? Enquiring minds want to know :tongue_smilie: Though I'm used to "walking through" at theme parks. I can't ride much without being drugged on Dramamine but I like to stay with the group. Thanks for sharing! Yes - The Dragon Challenge, which used to be called Dueling Dragons before they re-themed it for HP, is a suspended ride that flips. There are two tracks going at once, and it looks like you will crash into the other riders a few times. My husband rode that one alone. :tongue_smilie: The Flight of the Hippogriff (did I spell that right?? lol) is a family coaster. If you've been to Disney World, I would compare it to Thunder Mountain, but it doesn't go quite as high. Just a few fast turns and a medium-sized hill. I think you only have to be 36" to go on that one. I thought it was fun and the girls (8 & 12) wanted to ride it again but the line was too long. The Forbidden Journey is the big one. It's a "dark ride" that takes place all indoors. It's mostly simulator, you feel like you're flying behind Harry through an IMAX type screen area... but you do move a lot. Up and down and side to side and just about upside down. (The scariest part for me was that the ride had technical problems when we were on it - and we hung there in the dark for about 2 minutes... I had a slight panic attack). There are also "things" to scare you - animatronic dragons that breathe fire, and giant spiders, death eaters, etc. That was the scarier part for the kids... I was more scared by the heights... but there's enough to scare the pants off just about everybody in the family. If you're a thrill ride person, it is top notch. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansamy Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Here's my dumb question of the day: HP is a "land" in the Universal park? Not in Islands of Adventure, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meet me in paris Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 Here's my dumb question of the day: HP is a "land" in the Universal park? Not in Islands of Adventure, right? It's a "land" in Islands of Adventure. :) (and I'm fixing those pesky thumbnails on Picasa...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey Mom Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 We'll be there for Rock the Universe in September. We can't wait to see this!!! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Great pictures! You all look like you had such a great time :) We're going to go next summer, either June or August, with my sister's family and our dad, renting one of those gigantic 7br "villas" for 10 days! I hope the lines are a little shorter by then :lol: For those of you who are visual learners, if you go to www.InsideTheMagic.net you will find hundreds of pictures and lots of video for the WWoHP. Youngest and I watched the videos of walking around the village, of the queue for Forbidden Journeys, the various performing groups, a ridethrough of Flight of the Hippogriff, and so on. Yeah, we don't care about spoilers here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 This Muggle is green with jealousy. I have been following everything at MuggleNet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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