Problems with the Harry Potter Ride

[edinburghlassie]

The harry Potter Ride has been breaking down the other day it did not work all day up untill 2.30pm in the afternoon. They are giving out a time ticket out to you to visit this area. Get there at the gate by 8.30am and be prepared for huge crowds on saturdays.

 

[Sehsun]

I was there on Wednesday (March 2nd) and FJ was down from a little after park opening till about 3:00 PM.

When I got there in the morning, I got in the single rider line, and there were about 3 people ahead of me in that line. They kept playing the announcement about technical difficulties. I did see workers quickly walking back and forth that I'm guessing were the technicians working on the ride. Slowly, people started leaving.

I didn't mind waiting. At one point, however, I did worry about being charged for the locker if I did end up waiting for a long time - but rest assured, the TM said that the lockers were free for the duration of the ride, even if it went over the time it showed on the locker screen where it says how long it's free for (hope that makes sense). She said there were locker attendants that would help me out if I had any issues.

Soon there were not a lot of people left, and the TM handed us slips that looked like receipts, but they were express passes that we could use when the ride re-opened. It looked like I ended up waiting about 30-45 minutes for FJ that morning.

I walked back to WWoHP at least twice (maybe more) during the day to check on the status of the ride, but it was still down. Then, around 3:00 PM, I was right next to Spider-Man (the ride), and the TM there announced that FJ was now open again, so I rushed over there. The wait time was 60 minutes at that point, I think. Got through the single rider line then got back in the line to use my express pass. Of course I did have to wait in the bag line twice, but it wasn't so bad. So glad I got to ride it twice that day!

I expect they won't make it known to the public, but I'm curious as to what kind of technical difficulties FJ experienced to have it down for so long. Hope that it's been running smoothly since.

 

[englishteacha]

It was down for a short while on Feb. 28 but I don't know for how long. We were in Jurassic Park when we heard it was open again. It had been running fine that morning.

 

[surfgirl]

I was there on Wednesday (March 2nd) and FJ was down from a little after park opening till about 3:00 PM.

I expect they won't make it known to the public, but I'm curious as to what kind of technical difficulties FJ experienced to have it down for so long. Hope that it's been running smoothly since.

Wow!! How lucky are we?!? We were also there on Wednesday - however, we were staying onsite, so we were there when the park opened at 8am and went straight to WWOHP. We were out of the area by 9 and headed to the PF to do them before that line grew.

I'll post our thoughts on the FAQ and crowd report threads also.

 

[cheshireqt]

that is a bummer. Ya'll seem to be taking it in stride though

 

[jpeppers]

We were there on Tuesday of last week while staying at Disney and arrived at 9 am and walked right on Forbidden Journey. I then got up bright and early on Friday March 4th and checked in to HRH and entered the park at 8 am and waited in line for an hour and a half because it kept breaking down. Luckily we did Ollivanders 1st and my daughter got picked so that made the wait fine. It is a beautiful area but very crowded and I think I was there on a dead time.

 

[lovebug33]

If that happens to us, I am going to have a heart attack. The whole reason we are going to Florida is to see Harry!

 

[2littlez'sandme]

If that happens to us, I am going to have a heart attack. The whole reason we are going to Florida is to see Harry!

Same here. DS is counting down the days til he can see Harry. Doesn't care that we're staying at a Deluxe resort, on-site...just wants to see Harry and ride Expedition Everest.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Any ride at any theme park can have any kind of technical difficulties that can have it inoperable for any amount of time at any random time.

 

[Timmy Boy]

Also, remember that Forbidden Journey is one of the most technologically advanced rides in the world right now, with a lot of parts that must work in sync with each other for a long period of time. The park is not breaking the ride to ruin your vacation, they want it operating just as much as you do.

 

[Tink2Day]

Also, remember that Forbidden Journey is one of the most technologically advanced rides in the world right now, with a lot of parts that must work in sync with each other for a long period of time. The park is not breaking the ride to ruin your vacation, they want it operating just as much as you do.

^ This
It is so far ahead, technologically that it's bound to have glitches. We had a brief wait and then it took off missing the part with Hermione so it was a ZOOOM you're off with no warning. But it was fine all the rest of the time.

Maybe we have reverse magnetic fields? 3 rides at WDW went down with us on them or just getting on including, of all things, Maelstrom

 

[lovebug33]

There is nothing worse than getting stuck on the ride. We got stuck on Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland with people who didn't understand and were terrified because they didn't speak English and the whole place went dark. Thank goodness for college Spanish, but the 20 minutes stuck in there was awful!

 

[the Dark Marauder]

There is nothing worse than getting stuck on the ride. We got stuck on Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland with people who didn't understand and were terrified because they didn't speak English and the whole place went dark. Thank goodness for college Spanish, but the 20 minutes stuck in there was awful!

I got stuck on the ride twice. One for 30 seconds in the middle of the spider sequence (after the ride photo, before the whomping willow). Another time, in the second screen (when you're outside Hogwarts) for 5 min. And I was all by myself! Talk about awkward...

 

[ducky_love]

I got stuck on the ride twice. One for 30 seconds in the middle of the spider sequence (after the ride photo, before the whomping willow). Another time, in the second screen (when you're outside Hogwarts) for 5 min. And I was all by myself! Talk about awkward...

I got stopped for 15 minutes at the second screen (just after the classroom) and it was me, a guy, and his two SCREAMING children that had changed their mind and did not want to ride anymore. I told them everything that was coming and that it was all fake... but it didn't help and they never stopped screaming the entire ride. He had to carry them both off the ride!! I felt so bad for those kids.

 

[Lula34]

We were at IoA last Wednesday & Thursday, March 2nd & 3rd. Forbidden Journey was inoperable from about 8:30 till 3 pm on the 2nd so we gave up trying to ride. (We left Disney at 10--hence not arriving at Universal till later in the morning.)

On the morning of the 3rd we were among the first ones in line for Forbidden Journey, right at 8 am. It was not operating...we chose to wait it out with the quickly maddening crowd. By 8:45 the ride opened and by 9:00 we were on it...as soon as we got to the Whomping Willow, the ride stopped. A minor glich--we only "hung" there for a minute or so and then resumed.

At the conclusion we exited through Filch's and got back in line to ride again, this time with a 20 minute wait. When we got to the boarding, area the second we stepped into the seats the ride shut down again, this time for about 10 minutes. My husband politely asked one of the employees, "Does this happen often? Because y'all seem to be having some issues with keeping this ride operational." The young lady glanced at a co-worker, grinned, and said, "You know...I just don't know."

Way to be all Disney-fied and bold-faced lie to us.

I realize Universal's employees have a role to fulfill and a certain dialogue is required to be maintained with the park guests. But we would have rather had her offer up a, "Honestly...yes, we are having some frequent technical difficulties, but we're working hard to get Forbidden Journey up and running, and KEEP it running, because we know how important it is to our park guests. We really appreciate your understanding."

Because the, "By golly, by gosh, GEE...I just don't know!" attitude is not cute. It is unprofessional, rude, and unacceptable. It's also not befitting of someone wearing a Hogwarts robe. (And dare I mention this? OK, I will...a British couple in line with us, obviously annoyed by the attitude of the park employees, snarkily seethed, "Clearly you are all in Slytherin.")

Yes, rides have malfunctions. (However, in a decade of attending Disney World I've yet to endure a ride malfunction, personally.) But what we experienced almost ruined our time in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We refused to be spoiled, though. Because we had Butterbeer waiting for us at home...and my recipe is superior to what is sold in the park. Yeah, I said it. (Thanks for letting me share!)

 

[damo]

I have actually been really surprised at how well the ride has been functioning. It is very rare that we get reports here of any major issues with it. I encountered 1 problem with it but that was before it was officially opened.

Whatever seems to have been the problem last week didn't seem to be a problem the week before when we were there.

So the ride op wasn't lying to you. The ride is usually very good!

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

We were at IoA last Wednesday & Thursday, March 2nd & 3rd. Forbidden Journey was inoperable from about 8:30 till 3 pm on the 2nd so we gave up trying to ride. (We left Disney at 10--hence not arriving at Universal till later in the morning.)

On the morning of the 3rd we were among the first ones in line for Forbidden Journey, right at 8 am. It was not operating...we chose to wait it out with the quickly maddening crowd. By 8:45 the ride opened and by 9:00 we were on it...as soon as we got to the Whomping Willow, the ride stopped. A minor glich--we only "hung" there for a minute or so and then resumed.

At the conclusion we exited through Filch's and got back in line to ride again, this time with a 20 minute wait. When we got to the boarding, area the second we stepped into the seats the ride shut down again, this time for about 10 minutes. My husband politely asked one of the employees, "Does this happen often? Because y'all seem to be having some issues with keeping this ride operational." The young lady glanced at a co-worker, grinned, and said, "You know...I just don't know."

Way to be all Disney-fied and bold-faced lie to us.

I realize Universal's employees have a role to fulfill and a certain dialogue is required to be maintained with the park guests. But we would have rather had her offer up a, "Honestly...yes, we are having some frequent technical difficulties, but we're working hard to get Forbidden Journey up and running, and KEEP it running, because we know how important it is to our park guests. We really appreciate your understanding."

Because the, "By golly, by gosh, GEE...I just don't know!" attitude is not cute. It is unprofessional, rude, and unacceptable. It's also not befitting of someone wearing a Hogwarts robe. (And dare I mention this? OK, I will...a British couple in line with us, obviously annoyed by the attitude of the park employees, snarkily seethed, "Clearly you are all in Slytherin.")

Yes, rides have malfunctions. (However, in a decade of attending Disney World I've yet to endure a ride malfunction, personally.) But what we experienced almost ruined our time in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We refused to be spoiled, though. Because we had Butterbeer waiting for us at home...and my recipe is superior to what is sold in the park. Yeah, I said it. (Thanks for letting me share!)

You wanted the official Universal spokesperson response from the minimum-wage employee in a Hogwarts robe?

How about you lighten up? The worst breakdown I've ever experienced was at Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure.. spent an hour on it.. and surely no one was answering in public relations crisis management 101 statement addresses.

 

[Tink2Day]

Isn't it odd how someone comes on ONE time to post a snarky comment of their OWN? (Lula34)

I have been going to Disneyland since it opened, very few times have the rides broken down. At WDW when we were there? THREE rides went down and one didn't come back up again that evening.

All of these people commenting on US/IOA employees? Well maybe they're some of the MANY that Disney is complaining they are losing to US after they've gone through Disney training?

 

[Timmy Boy]

We were at IoA last Wednesday & Thursday, March 2nd & 3rd. Forbidden Journey was inoperable from about 8:30 till 3 pm on the 2nd so we gave up trying to ride. (We left Disney at 10--hence not arriving at Universal till later in the morning.)

On the morning of the 3rd we were among the first ones in line for Forbidden Journey, right at 8 am. It was not operating...we chose to wait it out with the quickly maddening crowd. By 8:45 the ride opened and by 9:00 we were on it...as soon as we got to the Whomping Willow, the ride stopped. A minor glich--we only "hung" there for a minute or so and then resumed.

At the conclusion we exited through Filch's and got back in line to ride again, this time with a 20 minute wait. When we got to the boarding, area the second we stepped into the seats the ride shut down again, this time for about 10 minutes. My husband politely asked one of the employees, "Does this happen often? Because y'all seem to be having some issues with keeping this ride operational." The young lady glanced at a co-worker, grinned, and said, "You know...I just don't know."

Way to be all Disney-fied and bold-faced lie to us.

I realize Universal's employees have a role to fulfill and a certain dialogue is required to be maintained with the park guests. But we would have rather had her offer up a, "Honestly...yes, we are having some frequent technical difficulties, but we're working hard to get Forbidden Journey up and running, and KEEP it running, because we know how important it is to our park guests. We really appreciate your understanding."

Because the, "By golly, by gosh, GEE...I just don't know!" attitude is not cute. It is unprofessional, rude, and unacceptable. It's also not befitting of someone wearing a Hogwarts robe. (And dare I mention this? OK, I will...a British couple in line with us, obviously annoyed by the attitude of the park employees, snarkily seethed, "Clearly you are all in Slytherin.")

Yes, rides have malfunctions. (However, in a decade of attending Disney World I've yet to endure a ride malfunction, personally.) But what we experienced almost ruined our time in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We refused to be spoiled, though. Because we had Butterbeer waiting for us at home...and my recipe is superior to what is sold in the park. Yeah, I said it. (Thanks for letting me share!)

But if all this happened at a Disney park, it'd be okay. It's also wasn't the Team Members fault that the ride broke down. Maybe the night before, the programmers for the ride wrote some new code for the attraction, and this is the first day with it running with the new code. The ride system doesn't recognize it, and shuts down, as it is designed to do. If that's the case, then the Team Member honestly "doesn't know" the cause of the breakdown. (I'm not saying that's the reason it broke down, but it is a possibility.) At least she was smiling about it, and not seemed panicked or mad. Sounds like nothing wrong to me, just a glitch that was out of their hands.

 

[thescreensavers]

The ride was 100% functional for me. I went on it twice on Different days,.