Forbidden Journey is it a rollercoaster

[Bella the Ball 360]

I have been boycotting Universal the past few years because they no longer have any sort of fast pass. I think I will break down and go this year but I was wondering if the HP Forbidden Journey is a roller coaster? I had heard it was more like Spiderman but since I am prone to motion sickness I wanted to be sure before I went on. I can and do do Spiderman with Drammaine.

 

[mesaboy2]

It's not a roller coaster. Simply put, it is part simulator part dark ride. If you have a motion sickness issue with sims, this is the ride that will test it.

P.S. You've heard of Universal Express, right?

 

[Bluer101]

Boy it's been a long time since you been since the free fast pass I think went out in the early 2000's.

If you can swing it stay onsite for a few days and spoil yourself.

As for FJ it is not a roller coaster but if you can handle Spiderman, Simpsons, Sourin, and motion you should be ok.

 

[dolphindan1]

I dont understand the boycott because they discontinued their "fastpass" system....actually they never got rid of it...they just changed it...Hotel guests actually get it for free...offsite guests have to pay for a similar system....the difference is the onsite guests get unlimited times to the front of the line...the one you pay for is 1 time per ride....I think its a great idea for universal as it attracts guest to their resorts...If Disney had done that all there guests would say they were geniuses...

I like both Disney and Universal both are great in there own way...

 

[damo]

Universal's free express pass never worked. Since unlimited express is given to guests as a perk for staying onsite, there were very few free passes that were allowed to be given out in machines. This always caused so many customer complaints that it was just a big problem.

 

[Timmy Boy]

Well, the ride is a robotic arm attached to a ride track. If you've ever seen Sum of All Thrills at Epcot, take one of those robot arms and make the bench 4 guests across, and get rid of the over the face screen things. Place that arm on a ride track and you've got Forbidden Journey. The ride has 40+ of these vehicles rotation along a track very similar to Haunted Mansion, where everything is traveling at the same speed, however the arms move and interact with real sets like in a dark ride like Mansion, and also place you in front of large domes such as Soarin. The ride has been known to make some people queasy, but you're not in front of the screens/domes for the entire ride.

 

[Kitzka]

It's not a roller coaster but a simulation. I tend to get a little motion sick and it definitely made me a little queasy. Soarin is much kore manageable for me. Never ridden spiderman.

Lara

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Boy it's been a long time since you been since the free fast pass I think went out in the early 2000's.

If you can swing it stay onsite for a few days and spoil yourself.

As for FJ it is not a roller coaster but if you can handle Spiderman, Simpsons, Sourin, and motion you should be ok.

Actually it has only been 4 years since I was there possibly less. I know they had fast pass in 2006 because I know I was there that year.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I dont understand the boycott because they discontinued their "fastpass" system....actually they never got rid of it...they just changed it...Hotel guests actually get it for free...offsite guests have to pay for a similar system....the difference is the onsite guests get unlimited times to the front of the line...the one you pay for is 1 time per ride....I think its a great idea for universal as it attracts guest to their resorts...If Disney had done that all there guests would say they were geniuses...

I like both Disney and Universal both are great in there own way...

The question was about Harry Potter not a discussion of Fast Pass.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Well, the ride is a robotic arm attached to a ride track. If you've ever seen Sum of All Thrills at Epcot, take one of those robot arms and make the bench 4 guests across, and get rid of the over the face screen things. Place that arm on a ride track and you've got Forbidden Journey. The ride has 40+ of these vehicles rotation along a track very similar to Haunted Mansion, where everything is traveling at the same speed, however the arms move and interact with real sets like in a dark ride like Mansion, and also place you in front of large domes such as Soarin. The ride has been known to make some people queasy, but you're not in front of the screens/domes for the entire ride.

What is Sum of All Thrills? I have never even heard of this at Epcot and I have gone for the past 18 years! What did I miss and where was it?

 

[Metro West]

What is Sum of All Thrills? I have never even heard of this at Epcot and I have gone for the past 18 years! What did I miss and where was it?

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...ill-ride-opens-in-epcot-at-walt-disney-world/

 

[figmentgirl]

The question was about Harry Potter not a discussion of Fast Pass.

You did set yourself up though... Universal has a Fast Pass type situation so it was confusing to read your post.

To answer your Harry Potter question, I did not find this ride to create as much motion sickness and vertigo as Spiderman did, but it's still a wild ride and you may want to take some precautionary dramamine

 

[Bluer101]

Actually it has only been 4 years since I was there possibly less. I know they had fast pass in 2006 because I know I was there that year.

Yea, maybe you are right because a little after that is when we started to stay onsite exclusively. Now we are hooked.

As for FJ it's really hard to describe the feeling when there is nothing really like it. I rode it first with my son to report back to my wife. I tried my best to explain it and she went. She got a little sick and decided to try another day. The second time was even worse for her and that's with medicine.

 

[macraven]

universal has never had a fast pass.

it has always been called an express pass.



they had a system set up in the mid-late 1990's.
you go to a kiosk machine and could choose one of three choices of rides.
you indicated which ride and time frame.

your tickets would come out then for you to use later.

this was for all park guests to use.
did not have to be a hotel guest for it.
it was only for the studio side.


i missed it when i it disappeared.
and i stayed onsite.

 

[Bluer101]

universal has never had a fast pass.

it has always been called an express pass.



they had a system set up in the mid-late 1990's.
you go to a kiosk machine and could choose one of three choices of rides.
you indicated which ride and time frame.

your tickets would come out then for you to use later.

this was for all park guests to use.
did not have to be a hotel guest for it.
it was only for the studio side.


i missed it when i it disappeared.
and i stayed onsite.

Mac, I found this article while searching for dates. The article is from April 2002.

The article states it had a soft roll out in February of 2002 and fully operational in March 2002. They are included in both parks.

I remember going to the kiosks by Mythos, we did not use them too much, they were more of a hassle than Disney I guess that's why it did not last.

I just found another message board stating that Universal is discontinuing the free express pass as of sometime in February 2006.

Original article:
http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/article/176268/Universal-s-kiosks-are-just-the-ticket

Forum message board of closure:
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?53759-Translation-on-Universal-Express-Meaning&

 

[Bluer101]

Mac, I found another one. You are right it started in 1999. This is the news article from the Orlando Sentinel.

Good article:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...13_1_universal-express-long-line-express-pass

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Read the article and I really think that part about ONLY being able to go to one or two rides was not true. I always went in the highest season and got on ALL the rides due to EXPRESS Pass. Just another way to up the price without looking like you are. Same as the parking which I might add is unreal.

 

[macraven]

the express kiosks in the park had the choice of 2 different rides at 3 different time periods.

i think that is how it was.

i might have been the choice of 3 rides.


it has been quite a while since universal used them.


i liked it.

not many used the express tickets back when it started up.

then it caught on.

it caught on so well in the early 2000's that UO figured out they could make money off of it.
no longer had the free ep from the kiosk but you could buy them.

 

[Badge]

However, the new system for "fast passes" that Universal has in place is so much better (IMO) than the Disney Fast Pass system. Since the Express system works SO well, we rarely visit Disney anymore. Sure, you could say its not as good becuase you have to pay for it, but thats not really the case. If you stay onsite (which we always do no matter if we go to Disney or Universal) you get the Express for free. The hotels are Universal are just as good (or better) than any Disney Deluxe hotel, and they are all cheaper than the Deluxe rooms as well.

While the older system was nice, it had its issues with to many people taking advantage of it and people breaking the rules that were set to make sure the system ran smoothly. Universal quickly figured this out and came up with a better system. If you limit the number of people that have access to Express by charging a fee or requiring a hotel stay, you make the service so much better. No longer do you have to wait for a return time. No longer do you have to arrive at the park within the first few hours of opening to get an express pass for the popular rides (Toy Story Mania is really bad at this. The Fast Passes are normally GONE an hour after the park opens when we go).

I would much rather have a system that is limited that allows me to visit almost any ride, any time during the day with at max, a 5-10 minute wait.

My suggestion to the OP would be to go to Universal for 2 days. Stay ONE night at the hotel (thus giving you TWO days of UNLIMITED express), and enjoy. If you boycotted Universal becuase you didn't like the removal of the free express passes, you just might boycott Disney after seeing how much better the Universal Express Pass system is.

As far as the parking comment, don't Disney and Universal charge the same to park? Sure the parking is unreal, but its nothing new for themeparks, and you can't blame Universal becuase its Disney that sets the prices and all the other parks just follow suit. If Disney can get away with ripping people off on parking, so can the other parks.

Now, so this post can at least stay a little ontopic, no HP FJ is not a roller coaster. It is like the Sum of all Thrills at Epcot (in one of the center buildings, can't remember what they are called. The buildings on the left and right just after the Ball). Big robitic arm (which you can not see) controls the movement. Very fun ride.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...ill-ride-opens-in-epcot-at-walt-disney-world/

WTH HOW did I miss this?