Holy Diagon Alley Batman!

[jade1]

I hear its 3/4 Spider Man and 1/4 Revenge of the Mummy with some unique elements thrown in.

That equals a dud for us. I'm kinda pissed actually. The movie fans will be OK with that equation mixed in-but dang, I read about the Disney Tron coaster out of left field on here and think 1,000 times better. Not at all the same I know, but man that sounds fun.

Is there any chance they will be adding more attractions? Or is that it. The Train looks cool, but....

 

[jade1]

Yeah ... while I really enjoyed the Hogsmeade area and the shops (although VERY tight and crowded-feeling) the Fobidden Journey ride itself wasn't my cuppa tea. I was impressed with the technology and the visual effects, but I didn't really enjoy it that much. The story aspect of it was pretty cheesy IMO.

I guess I'm just hoping for more from the Gringotts ride. Hopefully it'll be a step up ... either way I'm looking forward to putting my onw boots on the ground and seeing for myself.

Agreed. We are going 100%, the area itself will be well worth a visit, but I can see the let down on Gringotts from here.

 

[Liljo22]

Listen, new rides break down constantly. I still remember when I was young, we went to Universal the first week it opened. They gave everyone free tickets to return because nothing worked. My most vivid memory was the boat captain on Jaws describing the terror we would feel if the shark was actually going to come out of the water.

Gringnotts has an 18 minute reboot time after the problem that stopped the ride is fixed. How does that compare to other rides/coasters? During previews, guests were stuck for 45 minutes while the fixed the issue and rebooted. Any word on what the wait time on the ride is currently when it goes down?

 

[jade1]

In many ways, our family is looking forward to Hogwart's Express more so than Gringott's and may well end up being the one they want to ride over and over. Our oldest boy isn't much of a thrill-seeker anyway.

HE is what I most want to ride for one main reason: I think it has the greatest potential to be a game-changer for the Theme Park Industry: An amazingly themed "E-ticket" attraction that is also a transportation vehicle between Parks and an opportunity to up-sell Park-to-Park admissions. This is the one all the Exec's at other Parks around the world are paying the most attention to. It's a brilliant innovation for the Industry and one that wouldn't be surprising to see copied elsewhere in other forms and fashions. It really opens up all kinds of crowd flow and control possibilities,even additional revenue streams (PtP, and you can even buy food, drinks and beer for the ride) while also providing value back to the guest with an attraction.

Beyond how well they've nailed the immersion for DA - HE really is a strategic move that will get a lot of Industry study....

I do like what they did with this as well. Super smart.

Still have not heard the process from an eyewitness though.

Do they really count a park entry every direction? Or just validate you have a hooper?

 

[johde]

7DMT breaks "They're using decades old technology, stupid antiquated Disney and their baby rides."


Gringotts breaks down "It happens to every new ride everywhere"

Got it?

The ongoing narrative over the last few months on the comparison between Universal and Disney is how Universal is now ahead of Disney in terms of innovation and technology. Therefore one would expect from listening to the proponents of Universal better execution of their featured attraction upon opening. Innovation isnt as impressive and impactful if they cannot execute on it.

Like I said previously, Diagon Alley is impressive. Great job on the immersion. I am not diminishing that at all. However, no one should justify and apologize for Disney or Universal for opening rides that clearly werent ready to perform at full capacity when people are paying that sort of money to experience those attractions. The same people that are very demanding on Disney should be on Universal as well and not just chalk this up to as expected issues when opening a new attraction

If Universal currently gets a bit of a pass in the initial reliability, it's because they are being innovative. In my book, the last truely innovative ride at WDW is Mission Space in 2003. Since that time, the next most innovative ride is maybe TSMM. If you expand it to all attractions you might be able to add Turtle Time with Crush. If you look at everything else it built around proven technology. At it's core, Expedition Everest is a standard roller coaster with a couple of new elements: switch tracks way in the air and a giant AA. Little Mermaid is a classic dark ride. Soarin' is a copy of DCA; btw, I would give it innovative at DCA.

Crap.

And we don't even like FJ. I was afraid of that-and not just for our visit, but for pressure on WDW to counter. I can hear the sigh of relief from here. Star Wars will be on hold, and the feet will be dragging on Avatar. Really needed a home run on this one IMO.

I've not ridden the ride but before you get too down, consider his entire but short review. You've implied and almost outright said that FJ was a little bit too much for you. It could be the very features that give Gringott's a C+ in sonofanarchy's books may be the very features that vaults Gringott's to an A+ in your books.

I've read several reviews. People going into Gringott's expecting/wanting an immersive dark ride with a few thrilling ride/roller coaster moments are pleased with the ride. If they are also HP fanatics they are in Nirvana. If you want/expect Gringott's to be a thrilling coaster with dark ride elements like the mummy, you're going to be disappointed.

I've ride FJ one time and for me it was on the verge of being too much. For the reviews I've seen, Gringott's sounds like a ride I can potentially go on repeatedly without getting sick. I like thrill rides, but as I've gotten older, I need to do them in smaller doses and are the more extreme ones take Dramamine.

 

[katt789]

I have to say, after seeing pictures and hearing about Diagon Alley I am VERY excited to see it this fall! (and also hoping that the crowds are somewhat died down by then lol).

I'm a huge Potter fan so I have a feeling it's going to be absolutely amazing, and I do kinda have to agree with Disney. I'm a person who absolutely LOVED the Fantasyland expansion, I think it's done beautifully and the themeing and detailing around the parks is all incredible and amazing, but I do feel like they could do MORE with the time and money that they have?

 

[Liljo22]

I'm not sure why you're holding onto this like a piece of flotsam in a stormy sea. All new attractions have this issue when they open - even ones based on decades-old technology. Here's the downtime report for 7DMT 6/15 to 7/4 (re:Josh): http://easywdw.com/reports11/7dmtjune.pdf

Dashes represent downtime showing it was down 9 hours out of the 15 on opening day, has had one full day where it was down for all but one hour, and has seen significant outages each day except one.

Time to move on, I would think.......

I am interested to know how much of that is actual breakdown and how much of it is an outside attraction being shut down because Florida is having a really bad summer weather season.

 

[DisUniversal]

I hear its 3/4 Spider Man and 1/4 Revenge of the Mummy with some unique elements thrown in.

I was hoping it would be a combination of the two, but would have liked a little more Mummy than Spidey....or at least 50/50. Still sounds like fun though and will reserve judgement until I ride for myself. So far the reviews I've read have been overwhelmingly positive.

 

[Liljo22]

I do like what they did with this as well. Super smart.

Still have not heard the process from an eyewitness though.

Do they really count a park entry every direction? Or just validate you have a hooper?

I would like to know how this works also. Do you just need a 1 day 2 park pass? I have a 5 and 7 year old that are really big into HP right now and want to go to UO. They are both under 48" so I was thinking the 2 park pass so they can see both sides since they will not be tall enough for enough rides to be worth if for only one side.

 

[Liljo22]

I was hoping it would be a combination of the two, but would have liked a little more Mummy than Spidey....or at least 50/50. Still sounds like fun though and will reserve judgement until I ride for myself. So far the reviews I've read have been overwhelmingly positive.

I was watching the POV video on youtube and it seemed a lot like Spiderman but it was too dark to see the actual ride movements. It sounded like there were a couple of intense moments in there. Waiting on a nightvision video to see the track movements.

 

[DisUniversal]

If Universal currently gets a bit of a pass in the initial reliability, it's because they are being innovative. In my book, the last truely innovative ride at WDW is Mission Space in 2003. Since that time, the next most innovative ride is maybe TSMM. If you expand it to all attractions you might be able to add Turtle Time with Crush. If you look at everything else it built around proven technology. At it's core, Expedition Everest is a standard roller coaster with a couple of new elements: switch tracks way in the air and a giant AA. Little Mermaid is a classic dark ride. Soarin' is a copy of DCA; btw, I would give it innovative at DCA.

For me, the last time Disney really hit it out of the park with an innovative, superbly themed attraction was ToT. I don't think they've come close to doing anything as well since. Mission Space was innovative, but is a terrible ride imho. TSMM...I'll never understand that one. It's basically a video game, not that much different than you could play on your sofa at home. Having moving 'sofas' that move to a different TV every now and then seems more silly than innovative. Can't deny that it's super popular and great fun though.

 

[clsteve]

I do like what they did with this as well. Super smart.

Still have not heard the process from an eyewitness though.

Do they really count a park entry every direction? Or just validate you have a hooper?

I see what you're getting at (but correct me if I'm wrong).

They definitely validate the hopper to let you get in line and board, and it's definitely another valid park entry for the first trip over. Do they count each one as a park entry if you ride it multiple times? Hard to say. That's always been the issue I've had with attendance figures from all Theme Parks - too much grey area that's undefined. I mean, if we go back to BWI from EPCOT for our afternoon break and re-enter only for Illuminations (or if we leave IOA to have lunch at CityWalk and return), are we re-counted and added to the attendance figure? If we spend all day at MK and just go over to EPCOT for 2 hours for dinner should that really be counted? It's why top-line revenue and profitability growth YTY mean so much more than just looking at or comparing attendance figures, IMHO. Slippery slope.....

 

[Oodalally13]

I am interested to know how much of that is actual breakdown and how much of it is an outside attraction being shut down because Florida is having a really bad summer weather season.

I was at MK on June 23 when it was down. It was our first park day. When we would walk by and see if it had opened back up, my dad and I noticed it smelled as if someone was using a welding machine. Later that day there was a thread on the dis that there had been a fire in the control room before the park opened at it was being kept hush hush. Who knows the truth in that, but I remember there wasn't any bad weather that morning or the night before.

 

[Tonyz]

7 hour waits for Gringotts and 3 hour waits just to get into Diagon Alley? Didn't see that on the "grand opening" of NFL...just stating facts...sorry.

Dude why do you even post on this board? Isn't there an Universal board that you can go off to? All you ever do is bash Disney.

We get it, Gringotts is more impressive than the new roller coaster in Fantasyland. Great, okay. Now why don't 'cha move along??

 

[agavegirl1]

I love theme parks...all kinds of theme parks. I was never fortunate enough to go as a child so nostalgia is not part of this. I also don't go to WDW more than every four years or so to keep it fresh. Even though I have a multi-park, sixteen day trip planned for Orlando, I keep going to websites to see pictures of Diagon Alley. And I have to say, I am blown away. I am completely unsure of my ultimate plan at this point. Will four days at US/IOA be enough? Can I possibly spend 8 days at Disney without getting bored because I could be at US? Should I go to US/IOA first and so I don't spend my time at WDW in anticipation of US?

My brain is getting fuzzy....

 

[Mad Hattered]

Dude why do you even post on this board? Isn't there an Universal board that you can go off to? All you ever do is bash Disney.

We get it, Gringotts is more impressive than the new roller coaster in Fantasyland. Great, okay. Now why don't 'cha move along??

Awwwww....good morning to you too, Sunshine.

 

[RescueRanger]

Dude why do you even post on this board? Isn't there an Universal board that you can go off to? All you ever do is bash Disney. We get it, Gringotts is more impressive than the new roller coaster in Fantasyland. Great, okay. Now why don't 'cha move along??

Dude, why do you even read threads that you don't like? Just don't click on these threads since they bother you so much. Now, mooove along.

 

[FINFAN]

I love theme parks...all kinds of theme parks. I was never fortunate enough to go as a child so nostalgia is not part of this. I also don't go to WDW more than every four years or so to keep it fresh. Even though I have a multi-park, sixteen day trip planned for Orlando, I keep going to websites to see pictures of Diagon Alley. And I have to say, I am blown away. I am completely unsure of my ultimate plan at this point. Will four days at US/IOA be enough? Can I possibly spend 8 days at Disney without getting bored because I could be at US? Should I go to US/IOA first and so I don't spend my time at WDW in anticipation of US?

My brain is getting fuzzy....

just my opinion but I would save Universal for last of you are planning on staying on site there. Simply due ot the fact that FOTL allows you faster and more frequent riding than FP+ at WDW does. I know HP areas are limited, but honestly, it's sort of hard to go the other way around, I don' t think you will be "bored" at WDW, there is a ton to do. You can use some time toward the end of your WDW stay to rest up for USO!
you have an amazing trip planned, don't stress ~it sounds incredible!

 

[Fanboy]

What is this, the Disney Jets and the Universal Sharks?

Better get your leather jackets and practice your rhythmic snapping!

 

[Jennasis]

What is this, the Disney Jets and the Universal Sharks?

Better get your leather jackets and practice your rhythmic snapping!

When youre a Jet you're a Jet til the end!