'Harry Potter and the Perpetual Breakdown'

[Rumors Rocks]

Call That New Ride 'Harry Potter and the Perpetual Breakdown' http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/harry-potter-escape-gringotts-ride-problems-universal-studios-park/

Rick Aristotle Munarriz
Jul 17th 2014 9:33AM

Universal Studios Florida/AP
This rendering shows how Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts ride is supposed to look.

Things haven't been going according to plan in Central Florida's theme parks. Over the past few days, we've seen mishaps at Disney (DIS) -- one that required folks to be evacuated from a monorail, and another that cost a rider on the normally tame Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride parts of his fingers.

Operational breakdowns have also struck Comcast's (CMCSK) nearby Universal Studios Florida, where riders were stuck on its Transformers ride for reportedly about an hour on Tuesday before being escorted off. However, the most glaring problem child of the parks has to be Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts.

The attraction officially opened on July 8 as part of Universal Orlando's Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The queues have been long, the breakdowns plentiful. Maybe wizards just don't want us mere muggles to get in on the fun.

Time Travails

The Diagon Alley expansion is impressive. Park guests can explore the streets of faux London and the fictional Diagon Alley where shops, eateries and the mysterious Knockturn Alley have been thrilling guests downing frozen butterbeer refreshments and chocolate chili ice cream as they wave interactive wands at window displays that spring to life.

The Hogwarts Express train ride that connects the Wizarding World of Harry Potter areas in two theme parks is hands down the industry's neatest themed turn at a means of transportation. (Take notes, Disney.)

However, the long delays and perpetual setbacks at Escape from Gringotts must be debilitating to the otherwise well-received addition. Media coverage on opening day turned from excitement to frustration when breakdowns left patrons waiting more than seven hours for a ride. A week later, wait times have averaged two to three hours most days.

Making a Bank Withdrawal

There's nothing wrong with the rich details of the ride's queue. It includes a majestic bank lobby with audio-animatronic goblins leading to the office-lined hallway that ends in a pre-show. That in turn leads to a goblin explaining the ride's safety features, a sensory elevator experience and a spiraling staircase that winds its way up to the loading platform.

The problem is that the seemingly perpetual breakdowns leave aspiring riders stalled. They get on Twitter. They get on Facebook. They post snapshots of bored park guests doing the same.

This is what Universal didn't want. The otherwise-spectacular ride -- and I won't play spoiler beyond saying that it's an immersive 3-D experience with some coaster elements -- is getting tagged as unreliable. Dedicated forums are ripe with stories of riders stuck on the ride and in some cases having to be escorted off the attraction if the outage can't be remedied quickly.

Universal should get it right -- in time. There's too much at stake, and there's something to be said about raising the bar at a time when Disney World a few exits away is playing it safe. It's rare when a trouble ride is closed rather than fixed, with Rocket Rods an example from Disneyland.

However, Universal is more likely to tone down problematic elements of Escape from Gringotts than it is to shutter the attraction. Muggles just need to be patient.

Ahhh....haste makes waste. With seven shops and only one simulated ride, it's bad show for Universal. Gotta hand it to Disney for constructing high quality attractions that can actually work. Not to mention, the monorail and all other Disney park transportation is completely free for all guests visiting the parks....unlike Hogwarts Express. Also, Disney's fastpasses are free and available to anyone visiting Disney parks-not just onsite hotel guests or those who opt to purchase them for an additional fee. This is only part of what sets Disney light-years apart from the competition. Slow and steady wins the race.

 

[jon18uk]

the monorail and all other Disney park transportation is completely free for all guests visiting the parks....unlike Hogwarts Express.

But I can't see a broomstick flying alongside the train when riding the monorail or pass through a recreation of a London station when boarding. The monorail is transport. Hogwarts Express is an attraction ride which just happens to link two themed areas in separate parks. Its closer to the Disney railroad at the Magic Kingdom (which takes you on a journey from Main Street to Fantasyland via Frontierland) than the monorail (which just takes you to the hotel or parking lot).

Also, Disney's fastpasses are free and available to anyone visiting Disney parks-not just onsite hotel guests or those who opt to purchase them for an additional fee.

and Disney are probably the only theme park operator in the world to offer this service for free. Legoland parks, Six Flags parks, Universal parks and many others around the world all offer a paid option to skip the queues. Also as Disney hotel guests get to book at 60 days instead of 30 they are still at an advantage.
Finally all the skip the lines schemes work very differently.
Disney offers a pre-book before you leave home then return at the timeslot system.
Six Flags offers the flash pass (and Legoland UK uses same tech) where you have an electronic device that enables you to book in an attraction then come back in the same time as the standby line (or pay more to get a reduced wait time).
Universal and Legoland FL and CA offer a pass where you pay and go to the front of the line whenever you choose to ride, no booking required.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

We just had friend come back from WDW and Uni.

They loved the Theming for the new Potter, but were stuck 2 times on the new ride and were disappointed with the over all attraction.

They also said many people were commenting on how poorly the Hogwarts Express was..............Jim who is a engineer thought they could have done much better. The engine sound and operational effects was obviously faked. the video screens are the whole show again.

We are going in October, will do our own review, but Jim is a pretty fair guy, I am disappointed.

AKK

 

[beer dave]

If you don't have the time to do it right, how are you going to find the time to do it again?

 

[Jedana]

Call That New Ride 'Harry Potter and the Perpetual Breakdown' http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/harry-potter-escape-gringotts-ride-problems-universal-studios-park/



Ahhh....haste makes waste. With seven shops and only one simulated ride, it's bad show for Universal. Gotta hand it to Disney for constructing high quality attractions that can actually work. Not to mention, the monorail and all other Disney park transportation is completely free for all guests visiting the parks....unlike Hogwarts Express. Also, Disney's fastpasses are free and available to anyone visiting Disney parks-not just onsite hotel guests or those who opt to purchase them for an additional fee. This is only part of what sets Disney light-years apart from the competition. Slow and steady wins the race.

TSMM went down how many times during the opening?
At least 4 times on the AP day.
We ended up with FP that we never used, because we couldn't make it back within the time frame.

 

[dinolounger]

Gotta hand it to Disney for constructing high quality attractions that can actually work.

Like Test track, which has one of the highest breakdown delays figures of any attraction at a major theme park?

Not to mention, the monorail and all other Disney park transportation is completely free for all guests visiting the parks

Yep, love that wonderful "deferred maintenance" experience, where Monorail riders have to be rescued by the fire department. And those diesel-fume spewing buses are so high tech and exciting. Who wants to go on a boring fantasy train ride anyway ?

Also, Disney's fastpasses are free and available to anyone visiting Disney parks-not just onsite hotel guests or those who opt to purchase them for an additional fee.

Oh, Fastpass+ is so egalitarian. Offsite Day visitors get the exact same benefit as those staying on property who planned their trips months in advance. And lets not even get into the rationing (oops, I mean "tiering") that Disney now forces on guests. Frankly, the "pay for play" approach other parks offer is beginning to look pretty good to those seeking a guaranteed higher quality park experience, as opposed to Disney's real queue management agenda, which has less to do with improving things for guests and more to do with maximizing park capacity.

 

[Rumors Rocks]

We just had friend come back from WDW and Uni.

They loved the Theming for the new Potter, but were stuck 2 times on the new ride and were disappointed with the over all attraction.

They also said many people were commenting on how poorly the Hogwarts Express was..............Jim who is a engineer thought they could have done much better. The engine sound and operational effects was obviously faked. the video screens are the whole show again.

We are going in October, will do our own review, but Jim is a pretty fair guy, I am disappointed.

AKK

I am disappointed for your friend but he is far from alone. Even the "Don't Waste Your Money" guy out of Cincinnati ran a segment yesterday regarding the horrible and embarrassing issues regarding Harry Potter's Escape from Gringotts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R_eAkUXDIg Hope you have a much better experience in October, Tonka.

If you don't have the time to do it right, how are you going to find the time to do it again?

Ahhh... words of wisdom and so true, my friend.

 

[surferdave]

 

[tjkraz]

Welcome to the big leagues, Universal. When you play with the big boys, you open yourself up to a whole new level of criticism.

 

[huey duey & luey]

Ahhh....haste makes waste. With seven shops and only one simulated ride, it's bad show for Universal. Gotta hand it to Disney for constructing high quality attractions that can actually work. Not to mention, the monorail and all other Disney park transportation is completely free for all guests visiting the parks....unlike Hogwarts Express. Also, Disney's fastpasses are free and available to anyone visiting Disney parks-not just onsite hotel guests or those who opt to purchase them for an additional fee. This is only part of what sets Disney light-years apart from the competition. Slow and steady wins the race.

this makes absolutely no sense. If I ride the monorail from MK to EPCOT I need a park hopper in order to go to both parks. Its the same thing with Universal's park to park ticket. I just don't understand why it has to be one is better than the other. Instead of 2 amazing theme parks.

 

[davedmaine]

Welcome to the big leagues, Universal. When you play with the big boys, you open yourself up to a whole new level of criticism.

Yes, because Disney has been so creative and innovative lately; doubling the Dumbo rides was a stroke of genius. The Tangled bathrooms are also a nice touch.
Seriously, new rides break down. Disney certainly isn't immune, even with the 5 years it took them to build 7D.

 

[tjkraz]

Yes, because Disney has been so creative and innovative lately; doubling the Dumbo rides was a stroke of genius. The Tangled bathrooms are also a nice touch.
Seriously, new rides break down. Disney certainly isn't immune, even with the 5 years it took them to build 7D.

My only point was the bigger a theme park complex you choose to operate, the more criticism it's going to draw. Disney has been known to attract media attention for the smallest problems with ride breakdowns, MagicBand mishaps, employee crimes, guest injuries and so on.

All of these problems occur at Cedar Point, Busch Gardens, Legoland and other regional parks...but only the most grievous issues are worthy of a mention beyond Twitter and niche bloggers.

Well, Universal has now been elevated to a plane similar to WDW and DL. Like it or not, they're going to be subject to similar levels of sensationalism and ridicule.

In the same way that some people choose to revel in a Disney monorail evacuation--which happens a couple times per year while logging over 5000 operational hours for nearly a dozen trains--others are going to revel in Universal struggling to keep its latest attraction up and running.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

My only point was the bigger a theme park complex you choose to operate, the more criticism it's going to draw. Disney has been known to attract media attention for the smallest problems with ride breakdowns, MagicBand mishaps, employee crimes, guest injuries and so on.

All of these problems occur at Cedar Point, Busch Gardens, Legoland and other regional parks...but only the most grievous issues are worthy of a mention beyond Twitter and niche bloggers.

Well, Universal has now been elevated to a plane similar to WDW and DL. Like it or not, they're going to be subject to similar levels of sensationalism and ridicule.

In the same way that some people choose to revel in a Disney monorail evacuation--which happens a couple times per year while logging over 5000 operational hours for nearly a dozen trains--others are going to revel in Universal struggling to keep its latest attraction up and running.

Totally and directly to the point, TJKRAZ!

Folks will be looking at UNI more closely now...................many of the problems that they have gotten away with are starting to come to light.

One of the biggest is a lot of there attractions are overly dependent on video...a fast and cheap way to build.

Many of us Steam Engine folks was hoping for better on the Hogwarts Express.

Their prices are steadily raising, at a faster rate.

AKK

 

[Rumors Rocks]

Welcome to the big leagues, Universal. When you play with the big boys, you open yourself up to a whole new level of criticism.

Indeed. With the glaring issues at hand, Universal still has quite a long way to go.

this makes absolutely no sense. If I ride the monorail from MK to EPCOT I need a park hopper in order to go to both parks. Its the same thing with Universal's park to park ticket. I just don't understand why it has to be one is better than the other. Instead of 2 amazing theme parks.

Disney does not require a theme park ticket to board the monorail, unlike Universal's Hogwarts Express that requires each individual to purchase a same day two park ticket prior to boarding. Disney's theme park transportation is free for everyone. Anyone can ride Disney's monorail or any mode of Disney theme park transportation regardless of whatever ticket media they or may not possess, it simply is not a factor and this is part of the Disney difference.

In order to get past the conductors at either train station, visitors have to show that they have a two-park ticket. After all, in both directions they are traveling to a separately gated park. A standard one-park ticket to Universal Studios Florida includes admission to Diagon Alley and the London area of The Wizarding World (as a one-park Islands of Adventure ticket grants access to Hogsmeade). But it doesn't allow entry into King's Cross Station where Platform 9¾ and the Hogwarts Express awaits.

Guests trying to board the train with one-park tickets are directed to nearby, handy-dandy ticket booths where they can fork over an additional $40 -- per person -- to upgrade their passes to two-park tickets. That's an extra $40 regardless of how many days of admission they've already paid for their base tickets. A two-day, single-park pass grants admission to either park for two days, but guests can't travel back and forth between the parks, and they can't get on the Hogwarts Express. At the least, the train is going to drive a lot of park-to-park ticket upgrade sales. http://themeparks.about.com/od/Wiza...Change-Everything-at-Floridas-Theme-Parks.htm

I'm not quite sure if Universal's Diagon Alley should be compared to the New Fantasyland....seven shops and one 3D simulator ride plagued with operation issues, is probably more on par with Downtown Disney and Disney Quest. But once Disney Springs is completed in a few years, I suppose that comparison would no longer be appropriate.

 

[jon18uk]

Indeed. With the glaring issues at hand, Universal still has quite a long way to go.

Disney does not require a theme park ticket to board the monorail, unlike Universal's Hogwarts Express that requires each individual to purchase a same day two park ticket prior to boarding. Disney's theme park transportation is free for everyone. Anyone can ride Disney's monorail or any mode of Disney theme park transportation regardless of whatever ticket media they or may not possess, it simply is not a factor and this is part of the Disney difference.

I'm not quite sure if Universal's Diagon Alley should be compared to the New Fantasyland....seven shops and one 3D simulator ride plagued with operation issues, is probably more on par with Downtown Disney and Disney Quest. But once Disney Springs is completed in a few years, I suppose that comparison would no longer be appropriate.

But as Huey said if you want to actually do anything at the end of your monorail journey through reclaimed swampland you need a ticket to Epcot. What are you going to do, ride round and round looking at the view? Hogwarts Express is an attraction in the same way the Disney steam train is and can be enjoyed as a ride in its own right. But (same as getting the monorail to Epcot) you need the appropriate ticket to enter the other park.

New Fantasyland is 2 restaurants, a shop, a "show" with Belle, an omnimover ride and a coaster/darkride, not a huge lineup of rides either. And the Little Mermaid is just a retelling of the film with some animatronics, isn't that what Disney have been doing for 50 years, rides with aniamatronics?

I'm not saying one is better or worse, they are going after different markets (most Harry Potter fans are age 11 to adult, most Little Mermaid fans are 7 year old girls) but I don't think you can say Diagon Alley is just seven shops. The most popular part of New Fantasyland is Be Our Guest, is that just a restaurant?

I love Disney and Universal Studios but I get different experiences out of each park and cannot just do a simple comparison

 

[Planogirl]

Eh, just another thread tearing down Universal, nothing new.

I will say that the breakdowns are disappointing. I don't get the sense though that 'a lot' of people are disappointed but I could be wrong. Let's just say that I don't trust the sources to be unbiased.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

All this negative stuff is just par for the course...same things could be said of Disney for Pixar Place having the one ride that was very buggy to start...or the new fantasyland only having one new ride to start with.

I think any new ride is going to have issues when it goes from test mode to suddenly being the most popular ride in 2,000 miles.

And just so we are clear...I'm on Team Disney if had to chose Disney vs Universal...just prefer not to choose, even though I've never been to Universal.

 

[MichiganDVC]

Eh, just another thread tearing down Universal, nothing new.

This is a joke, right? "Another?" When was the first one? I see exactly the opposite on Dis.

 

[huey duey & luey]

Indeed. With the glaring issues at hand, Universal still has quite a long way to go.

Disney does not require a theme park ticket to board the monorail, unlike Universal's Hogwarts Express that requires each individual to purchase a same day two park ticket prior to boarding. Disney's theme park transportation is free for everyone. Anyone can ride Disney's monorail or any mode of Disney theme park transportation regardless of whatever ticket media they or may not possess, it simply is not a factor and this is part of the Disney difference.


ok, why would I do that? The point of the monorail is to transport you from one place to another. It is not a ride, I really don't understand the comparison. I have been a DVC member since 1999, you don't have to preach Disney's greatness to me. Again, I just don't understand why you can only like either WDW or UO enjoy them both for what they have to offer

 

[rojen]

Reminds me of King Kong. Think that ride was broken more often than not. Remember quite a few hour long waits in line just to be told its broken as we approach the ride.