Forbidden Journey closed Dec 1-18

[pcstang]

I'm there same time, oh well.

So leave earlier on the 30th and come ride with us!

 

[janicept]

I know ride closures are different but rides seem to be down a lot. One days we went Gringott's was down then Men in Black was down and Kong was down. We only tend to stay a few hours and I would guess they started going again at some point but I would hate to be someone that only had one day. Once at Animal Kingdom Everest and Dinosaur were down and the line for the safari was ridiculous so we just left.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Yikes!! This is disappointing to hear. We're going in early December, mainly to ride Kong and the refurbished Hulk, but we wanted to ride HP too. Oh, well, it's not like we'll never be back again.

 

[cemeb4dk]

Thank you to original poster for this. Saved me some disappointed girls and myself. We were scheduled to check in Dec 1 for a night to do both parks. Luckily I saw this, and was able to move my reservation up a day so we are checking in now Nov 30th

 

[L_MD]

Crud. I'm doing a Disney trip 11/28 - 12/3 and December 1st was my Universal day. Debating whether to move it up a day or not...but that would be a HUGE pain.

Does this mean we also can't see the inside of the castle? This will be my first time to WWOHP and that was one of the things I was looking forward to the most.

 

[Kirbie]

This is disappointing. I'm working with UO and my airline right now to figure out what to do. We are definitely still going, but now we have to figure out when.

 

[Kirbie]

I just found out on another thread that Forbidden Journey will be closed from December 1 to the 18th, so I thought I would post it here. Not happy!!! This is one of the rides I was most looking forward to. One of the main reasons for staying onsite was to get early entry for HP. I guess I will have to plan another trip.

I want to thank you for sharing this! My bestie and I have a trip Dec 3-8, solely for WWoHP. We are big Potter fans and I know my bestie doesn't really have any interest in the rest of the park. And especially to miss a huge aspect of WWoHP, it's not worth it to us to not get to experience that.

So thank you for posting and letting us know! I was just on UO website last Wednesday and this info was not there yet. I hope you are able to change your dates!

 

[bumbershoot]

Room + tickets. I am usually a bargain hunter but I just didn't have it in me for that trip. My less in depth than normal research didn't find the price to be poor. Might not have been a good deal and I'm sure I could find a better price but it wasn't terrible. And their insurance was cancel for any reason, vs something like just medical or weather. Sometimes ease is worth paying a bit extra for...

But if you had done room-only, you could have simply cancelled it and gotten your down payment back. Nothing to use the insurance for. You could buy tickets later on, closer to your stay. See what I'm saying? Getting a package and getting the insurance is fine if it's what you want, but maybe for the future, if there's a future trip, you can look into ways of booking so you don't have to go that route. See what I'm saying?

And it's not like we can easily go back anytime soon, so please don't say things like that. Not everyone has that luxury.

Did anyone say that about anyone but themselves? I don't see it. I see "reschedule" (and I just said "if", in bold so as to not presume there will/can be another trip).

 

[Kirbie]

Alrighty. After several phone calls with my bestie, UO, and the airlines, we have successfully rescheduled our trip! I'm a bit bummed about missing the holiday decorations in Seuss land and Cabana Bay, but I am very grateful that we will still get to go. And honestly our flights are now better than the ones we originally booked. Thanks again for sharing, I'd rather have to pay a bit more and have a hassle to rebook than miss out on a huge aspect of WWoHP. I hope everyone else that is impacted is able to make some adjustments to their trips as well. See you all in January!

 

[Kirbie]

Also, I'm curious about whether people think this closure is only for refurbishments, or if they might be adding 3D like in Hollywood and Japan? I know that's been rumored on the podcast, wonder if it will actually be happening now?

 

[TommyJK]

Also, I'm curious about whether people think this closure is only for refurbishments, or if they might be adding 3D like in Hollywood and Japan? I know that's been rumored on the podcast, wonder if it will actually be happening now?

According to this http://orlandoinformer.com/blog/harry-potter-and-the-forbidden-journey-refurbishment/ it is not to add 3D

 

[Toy Story Fan]

I just saw the news too. our universal portion of our trip is Dec.1 to 3!

Bummed about it but there'should still a lot of other things to do!

I want to thank you for sharing this! My bestie and I have a trip Dec 3-8, solely for WWoHP. We are big Potter fans and I know my bestie doesn't really have any interest in the rest of the park. And especially to miss a huge aspect of WWoHP, it's not worth it to us to not get to experience that.

So thank you for posting and letting us know! I was just on UO website last Wednesday and this info was not there yet. I hope you are able to change your dates!

Hi Kirbie. This in no way deters us from going on our scheduled trip, it is just a big disappointment. Coming from Canada, we have to book early to get the better deals. If we really like Universal (which I know we will), we will come back next year. We are getting Seasonal passes this year, so it will be something to look forward to next trip. I realize not everyone can do this, but what can you do? Rides need to be fixed and refreshed from time to time, and my luck, it's when we are there.
Wishing you a great vacation, so much more to see and do, I'm sure you will still have a great time!

 

[cbsnyber1]

Whew - just made it as we are there Nov. 25 - 30. I will ride it many times our last day in honor of those who cannot in the early December weeks...that really stinks!

 

[tony67]

This seems like very bad planning on the part of Universal - I was planning a long weekend myself with my son to do all the HP stuff as well as Grinchmas. Since he has not been to the WW world yet Im going to have to reschedule - glad I did not tell him yet.

To me it seems like doing this between Thanksgiving and Christmas does not make a lot of sense especially with such little notice - but i think it really needs it and that maybe a factor. When I was there in September it seems like every time I rode this it stopped once or twice for a few minutes - I was quite worried about being stuck upside down. This ride is a big draw for them and they really need top give folks more notice IMO

 

[turtlechick6]

What money have you paid to Universal yet, since you just booked a week ago?

We thought we were going to Universal for WW, but realized quickly once we got there that we were soooo wrong. We like the whole place. But you don't know that about you yet. If it's truly the only reason, and if you aren't going to be able to go back, then why go now?

On the other hand, it's one ride. DH has never ridden it because he doesn't fit. DS didn't go until our third trip there. It's totally possible to enjoy the heck out of Wizarding World without riding FJ. Heck, DH can't ride Dragon Challenge or Gringott's either. (and can't ride Hippogriff out at Universal Hollywood b/c the restraints are different) He still enjoys it.



Disney does NOT always announce things months ahead of time.



I take it you booked a package? It's fabulous to book room-only and then get tickets when you're ready. Way easier to change dates or cancel that way. Since I won't book a package (they are very rarely a better deal, they don't give you anything you can't get room-only unless it's for a very special event like a Wizarding World park opening or the Celebration of Harry Potter packages but those are generally more expensive) I don't know how much the insurance is, but you could likely find trip insurance at a better deal elsewhere.

we booked a package with room and tickets like literally a week before they announced this. I talked to the kids and they said they still want to go and are okay not riding that ride and doing all the other Harry Potter stuff and other stuff. But the whole trip was supposed to be for the Harry Potter stuff. My son finished all the books and this was part of his reward.

 

[Kirbie]

we booked a package with room and tickets like literally a week before they announced this. I talked to the kids and they said they still want to go and are okay not riding that ride and doing all the other Harry Potter stuff and other stuff. But the whole trip was supposed to be for the Harry Potter stuff. My son finished all the books and this was part of his reward.

That's a huge bummer! I called my friend and we were able to reschedule our trip. Unfortunately it is costing us some additional airline fees. Since we are only going for WWoHP, we definitely want the full HP experience. I left feedback on the Universal website, letting them know about the surprise of the short notice. There's always a tab on the right so you can easily find it. Not sure what will come of that, but I completely understand your frustration. We booked our trip in January, and are now looking forward to going in January 2017 instead of in a few weeks.

 

[Squirlz]

I just got a Touring Plans Crow Calendar update for our dates, 12/4-12. All the weekdays dropped. Coincidence?

 

[Jinxwizard]

This is so frustrating. We rearranged our trip because of the adoption of my daughter and decided to go Dec. 2-11th. It's not like we can rearrange all our work schedules plus airline tickets. If you are from out of state this takes a lot of planning. Does anyone know if Universal will compensate you? Like offer tickets for breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron or something?! We won't be able to go back for a long while.

 

[Dalton5]

What a bummer We will only have Dec. 3 at Universal after a Disney trip. This was going to be my DH's first visit since the Harry Potter additions. Rescheduling flights and hotels is not an option. Crud I guess I will just look at it as a good reason to convince him that we need to come back soon. Silver lining and all ya know?

 

[Kirbie]

This is so frustrating. We rearranged our trip because of the adoption of my daughter and decided to go Dec. 2-11th. It's not like we can rearrange all our work schedules plus airline tickets. If you are from out of state this takes a lot of planning. Does anyone know if Universal will compensate you? Like offer tickets for breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron or something?! We won't be able to go back for a long while.

I left feedback on their website, as mentioned in an earlier post. They aren't able to offer any compensation, but they did waive the $50 fee usually charged for changing reservations. They also offered me some Single Access Passes to use on rides. Those are like Express Passes, but you can use them on any ride, including the HP rides (which Express Pass does not work on). I even asked if there was anything they could do about the change in hotel room price, but they could not since it's live inventory.

That being said, every rep I spoke to at Universal was really nice and understanding. They offered the SAP without me having to ask. I don't know if they might be able to do something different for you since you don't have the option to change your trip. It wouldn't hurt to ask! Everyone I spoke with was really nice and empathetic.

Also, congrats on your adoption!