DIS Blog: Keystrokes at Disney World – Hammer and Nails at Universal

[Yellowstonetim]

The first thing my son said after visiting HP at Universal was; "This isn't Disney! Look how they didn't even hide the big building for the ride which is right next to the castle."

I always wondered this myself. They could paint it to look like sky or something, but it is very poor Imagineering.

I also agree with other's observations. What looks like a cool area is fake store fronts and shops that are few and very VERY small.

Don't get me wrong, we had fun and HP was great, but it wasn't Disney. I am not convinced it was Universal, either. I understand Rowling wanted to control how HP was represented which is why Disney said no. So what you are seeing may be the work of Rowling. I didn't find anything else at IOA that was themed as well. I thought Seuss land was a completely missed opportunity!

Imagine what could be done if they had made HP twice the size to begin with. Or if they used technology to make an awesome Seuss ride of some kind.

New Fantasy land is awesome. I can't wait for the Mine train. It is a really neat idea. Something new and fun - the swinging cars - but still available to younger kids. And I think the Be Our Guest restaurant is a grand slam! It is equivalent to a new ride just visiting the restaurant and seeing everything they have.

Sorry Boris, you are outnumbered and not gaining converts. You must be having as much fun as a Chevy fan on a Ford board!

We will have to agree to disagree. To each his own.

I'd change and agree with you, but... then we'd both be wrong.

 

[DanBoris]

LOL, Steve Burke, is that you?

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/morning_call/2014/01/universal-orlando-will-connect-both.html

NBCUniversal President Steve Burke, a former Walt Disney Co. theme-park executive, calls the train transportation idea “one of the most creative ideas I’ve ever seen in the theme-park business.”

As for the article you linked...

You won't see the backstage area while on board, of course. The "windows" on Universal's Hogwarts Express won't really be windows — they will be digital screens made to look like windows, upon which Universal will show images of the English countryside and Scottish Highlands, visually recreating the trip between Hogsmeade and Kings Cross. With digital technology in play on the train, Universal will be able to throw a bit of special effects excitement into the trip as well, including a Dementor attack inspired by the Dementors' appearance on the Hogwarts Express in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

So yeah, they'll be screens instead of windows, showing countryside.

As for the theming inside the trains, I don't think there has been anything shown inside the trains yet.

The Diagon Alley announcement today showed the inside of the trains. The theming looks excellent, almost an exact match to what you see in the movies.

 

[atricks]

Universal has said Diagon Alley would be about the same size as the original wizarding world. It has one ride and a transit system to the other park, plus shops and restaurants.

Diagon Alley will have taken about 1/2 year less than Pandora/Avatar by the time it opens in 2017.

http://www.**************.net/2013/...-harry-potter-expansion-at-universal-orlando/

Coup says the entire Diagon Alley area will have a similar to footprint to the original Wizarding World, roughly the same overall size.

3x figure comes from the additional train station in Hogsmeade, "Muggle London", Horizont Alley, and Carkitt Market. (The latter two areas were created by JK Rowling and likely to be in the upcoming fantastic beast Potter books/movies) Diagon Alley itself isn't all that is new. This is referring to explorable, walkable area, not backstage areas. I love Disney too, but this addition deserves all the credit it gets.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

The Diagon Alley announcement today showed the inside of the trains. The theming looks excellent, almost an exact match to what you see in the movies.

Hopefully they will apply the same level of detail as they did with HP in IOA. While they missed some of the big picture, they did do an excellent job with some of the shops and the castle. Hopefully the shops won't be so small this time. If they do this right it could be a home-run.

I will be very curious to see if they have another good size increase in attendance how that will affect Sea World and the Disney parks.

 

[beer dave]

Ok-- here's my concern with the train--

Ever been on The Polar Express at seaworld? Probably the worst designed simulator I have ever been on. At one point they show a screen of a leaf floating down through the air, and the train moves like it is the leaf. I have never been more nauseated in my life. ( well, maybe not in my life).

So This train will have window "screens". I fear that there is no way for them to create any kind of true perspective of viewing the countryside through a train window from anywhere between 12 inches (the close seat) and maybe? 48 inches? (the isle seat). Now I am in a moving vehicle with absolutely no frame of reference to sync my actual motion to the viewable scenery--- A recipe for motion sickness. At least they should build a tunnel for the train to run in with a continuous projection on the inside walls of the tunnel, providing a little distance between viewer and the image.

I find it hard to believe this will work as planned. Maybe they will strap your head to the seat so you cannot look around-- you know-- forced perspective.

 

[PuppyJonathan]

The first thing my son said after visiting HP at Universal was; "This isn't Disney! Look how they didn't even hide the big building for the ride which is right next to the castle."

I always wondered this myself. They could paint it to look like sky or something, but it is very poor Imagineering.

I also agree with other's observations. What looks like a cool area is fake store fronts and shops that are few and very VERY small.

Don't get me wrong, we had fun and HP was great, but it wasn't Disney. I am not convinced it was Universal, either. I understand Rowling wanted to control how HP was represented which is why Disney said no. So what you are seeing may be the work of Rowling. I didn't find anything else at IOA that was themed as well. I thought Seuss land was a completely missed opportunity!

Your son and I sound strangely alike, and I honestly thought Seuss Landing and Port of Entry were probably the most impressive theme park lands outside of Disney but everyone has their own feelings

 

[Yellowstonetim]

Your son and I sound strangely alike, and I honestly thought Seuss Landing and Port of Entry were probably the most impressive theme park lands outside of Disney but everyone has their own feelings

Don't get me wrong, Seuss land looked great, but there could have been some awesome technologically advanced Seuss rides!

 

[disneymac000]

Disney and Universal are very different. Lets get that first and foremost. Secondly Disneyworld has a lot more area, revenue, and time compared to Universal Studios. Therefore the standard for Disney SHOULD ALWAYS BE HIGHER THAN Universal. But what is happening in my opinion is Universal is raising their standard and is building a lot more Big Name stuff. After Harry Potter, its going to be addition to Jurassic Park followed by a rumour of them adding LOTR which is a possibility because that is an IP Disney can't buy even if they wanted to (Tolkien Estate will not allow it at all). Disney all we have is a rumour of Avatarland in 2017, not even a concrete year of when its to open with no huge problems while Universal is cranking them out nearly every turn, every year since they opened WWoHP, they have added a new attraction from Despicable Me To Transformers now a completely new harry potter section which if the cast was already able to walkthrough most of it and also ride the Hogwarts Express means it has a chance to be done before the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train which started even before they start construction on Diagon Alley. I get some people really love Disney and I do but if you don't hold them accountable and up to standards and challenge them, they will never improve and others will surpass them. Which will be good for me, meaning less crowded disney parks but also be bad because less revenue to create ground breaking attractions. Thats what this argument is suppose to create and for the Disney fans who keep trying to knock on Universal, remember that every great empire made its fall based on pride.