Holy Diagon Alley Batman!

[PlutoMars]

Yeah. That never happens at Disney.

And that justifies the ongoing problems at Gringotts? The ride broke in the first couple of hours today.

Yes, but we have been told for months now how much greater Universal is these days. I thought that they were the higher standard these days in terms of innovation and technology. Therefore shouldnt one expect more out of Universal?

 

[Mad Hattered]

And that justifies the ongoing problems at Gringotts? The ride broke in the first couple of hours today.

Yes, but we have been told for months now how much greater Universal is these days. I thought that they were the higher standard these days in terms of innovation and technology. Therefore shouldnt one expect more out of Universal?

They are. And, yes. Now what? I would probably start a thread about it if I were "you".

 

[sonofanarchy]

And that justifies the ongoing problems at Gringotts? The ride broke in the first couple of hours today.

Yes, but we have been told for months now how much greater Universal is these days. I thought that they were the higher standard these days in terms of innovation and technology. Therefore shouldnt one expect more out of Universal?

Have you read about the problems 7DMT has had? Heck, Little Mermaid technology is decades old and that breaks down all the time.

 

[PlutoMars]

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.......

if Universal sets the new high water mark then shouldnt they be executing better than Disney?

Why is poor execution being justified and excused away?

Just pointing out the ongoing hypocrisy and double standards going on by some on here when it comes to comparing Disney & Universal.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

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?

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Video from a guy that waited in line for four hours for Gringotts and after it broke down at least 7 times, they shut down the attraction and made everyone leave. He was not amused.

http://youtu.be/LPk95zQ1TyQ

In the end, he didnt think the ride should have opened after it experience so many issues during testing.

Honestly thought there would be a lot more craziness after the ride broke down for good, but it seems, while most were angry, there wasn't any sort of "riotous" behavior. Not sure, after a tiring day in a park, I'd be so calm with wasting 4 hours of my time...but, then again, that's why I don't go on opening days/weeks.

 

[johde]

And that justifies the ongoing problems at Gringotts? The ride broke in the first couple of hours today.

Yes, but we have been told for months now how much greater Universal is these days. I thought that they were the higher standard these days in terms of innovation and technology. Therefore shouldnt one expect more out of Universal?

History has shown us that innovative technology and initial rock solid operations don't go hand in hand. Pushing the envelope in a ride often involved initial teething pains. It's happening with Gringotts. It's happening with 7DMT. It happened with Forbidden Journey, and Spiderman. Probably the most infamous examples was Test Track. The ride was plagued with problems during construction and ended up opening 2 years late and once it did open it was plagued with frequent downtime.

 

[clsteve]

if Universal sets the new high water mark then shouldnt they be executing better than Disney?

Why is poor execution being justified and excused away?

Just pointing out the ongoing hypocrisy and double standards going on by some on here when it comes to comparing Disney & Universal.

The overwhelming opinion from pp's on this thread is that downtime is expected and accepted when it comes to new attractions - no matter the company. And it seems that only one is carrying the "down time banner" to the detriment of the other without objective comparison just to provoke an argument and shift focus from OP's original statement. And it looks like you're coming close to accomplishing your goal.......

 

[jeffbear]

I'm not plowing through 20 pages for this .... so excuse me if this has been asked and answered.

Anybody actually ridden the Gringott's ride that can give a review? I'm hearing from internet chatter that it's a bit less than expected. Any first hand experience?

BTW ... not propagating the WDW vs US nonsense, I'm honestly interested because my wife is super excited to get down there during the winter to see DA for herself. I've seen enough pictures of DA to get a sense of the theming and it looks awesome.

 

[prudence64]

I'm not plowing through 20 pages for this .... so excuse me if this has been asked and answered.

Anybody actually ridden the Gringott's ride that can give a review? I'm hearing from internet chatter that it's a bit less than expected. Any first hand experience?

BTW ... not propagating the WDW vs US nonsense, I'm honestly interested because my wife is super excited to get down there during the winter to see DA for herself. I've seen enough pictures of DA to get a sense of the theming and it looks awesome.

I didn't read all posts, but saw one that gave the area an A+ but the ride itself a C+

 

[Mad Hattered]

I'm not plowing through 20 pages for this .... so excuse me if this has been asked and answered.

Anybody actually ridden the Gringott's ride that can give a review? I'm hearing from internet chatter that it's a bit less than expected. Any first hand experience?

BTW ... not propagating the WDW vs US nonsense, I'm honestly interested because my wife is super excited to get down there during the winter to see DA for herself. I've seen enough pictures of DA to get a sense of the theming and it looks awesome.

I have not personally ridden it yet but here is one review. I will try to find a more negative one to offset this one as to not upset the hypocrisy police.

When the ride was first announced, Universal creatives were unable to explain what kind of ride Gringotts even was. The reason for that might be that the ride is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, at least in a single ride. Its a frankenstein assembly of at least 8 different other rides.

The main ride features a rollercoaster car on a metal track that can go very fast, but changes speed depending on the scene of the story. Not only does it change speed, but the car itself can go backwards, or sideways — it can even spin. On top of that, imagine a track system that moves and changes as you ride it. It can disconnect, drop, rise, or swing onto another track

Now imagine the roller coaster car is also a motion simulator, able to rumble and tilt back and forth. As in the Transformers or Spider-Man rides, you travel in the car from scene to scene. In this ride that can sometimes be an immersive experience projected on huge screens in 3D, sometimes completely surrounding you. Other times projected characters are combined with practically built sets and props. The ride also features water, heat, fog, and cold effects.

Like I said, its unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. The storyline involves you touring the Gringott Bank vaults as Harry, Ron, and Hermione stage a heist. Voldemort, Bellatrix among others are trying to stop Harry and friends. (You’re among the friends.) I won’t go into further plot spoilers as I don’t want to ruin the fun, as its something you must experience for yourself.

The ride is not as scary as Forbidden Journey, the first Harry Potter ride that put guests face-to-face with Dementors, but I’d argue it can be more intense. From start to finish, the experience is the most immersive experience offered by any theme park ever created. And at this point I should mention that the experiences is more than just the ride. Anyone who has visited Forbidden Journey in the original Wizarding World knows that the experiences in line can almost be as much fun as the ride itself.

 

[DisneyDahling]

While waiting for sons review, I thought I'd drop this here as I've been meaning to for a while. My favorite post about WWoHP I've read. Don't know why but it always gets a little dusty in here when I read it

Katie the Prefect http://joeposnanski.com/joeblogs/katie-the-prefect/

Man.. someone must be cutting some onions in my office...

 

[PlutoMars]

The overwhelming opinion from pp's on this thread is that downtime is expected and accepted when it comes to new attractions - no matter the company. And it seems that only one is carrying the "down time banner" to the detriment of the other without objective comparison just to provoke an argument and shift focus from OP's original statement. And it looks like you're coming close to accomplishing your goal.......

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

 

[DisUniversal]

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

 

[jade1]

I just hope its not more car track that moves up to the next movie scene, then spins and whips over to the next movie scene ect ect ect like Spidey and similar to FJ (and looks like Transformers does as well). Very cool at first but just not enough IMO. Hoping for some big sweeping turns and drops if possible-like you see in the movie at Gringotts, that will be very fun if the case.

If too similar to FJ we will still enjoy the area-looks super cool, but would be nice to have a main attraction that we want to ride a few times, not once and done.

 

[jade1]

Rode Gringotts this morning. While I give Diagon an A+ along with the que for the ride, the ride itself only gets a C+ from me. I was very underwhelmed. Forbidden Journey is much better.

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.

 

[jade1]

Sure they can if they're okay losing most of their offsite business. I have no interest in staying on property and with one click I can sell my tickets on kijiji (or not buy them at all). No FP+ = no business from me. I like theme parks, but I'm not waiting hours in line. I'd rather stay home.

It was stated that FP+ was created to lock you in at WDW only. I am saying if they really wanted that-they could by making it available only with a WDW resort stay.

 

[clsteve]

I just hope its not more car track that moves up to the next movie scene, then spins and whips over to the next movie scene ect ect ect like Spidey and similar to FJ (and looks like Transformers does as well). Very cool at first but just not enough IMO. Hoping for some big sweeping turns and drops if possible-like you see in the movie at Gringotts, that will be very fun if the case.

If too similar to FJ we will still enjoy the area-looks super cool, but would be nice to have a main attraction that we want to ride a few times, not once and done.

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....

 

[DOOM1001]

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

 

[jeffbear]

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.

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.