Really Really Angry

[WebmasterPete]

This is what we were sent this morning from Universal management:

You announced Wizarding World of Harry Potter travel packages with a travel date of May 28. But today, you announced a June 18 grand opening date. What’s going on? Are the packages still good?

We are confident in our ability to provide those who have already purchased travel packages featuring entitlements in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter the experience they are looking forward to having -- with all the great benefits we have listed and we will make special arrangement to accommodate them. As always, specific operating hours and availability of attractions and shows are subject to change. The June 18 date is meant for a larger, more public, opening.

If I purchased The Wizarding World of Harry Potter package with a travel date of May 28 will I still get to experience all of the rides?
That is our intention and we will make special arrangement to accommodate them but as always, all rides and attractions are subject to availability.

Can I still purchase The Wizarding World of Harry Potter travel package with a travel date of May 28?
We are now sold out of packages with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter entitlements for arrivals prior to June 18. However, packages are still available for purchase after June 18.

If I bought a regular ticket or vacation package to Universal Orlando Resort after May 28, will I be able to experience The Wizarding World of Harry Potter?

At the moment, only people who have purchased packages from Universal Parks & Resorts Vacations or Virgin Holidays featuring the specific The Wizarding World of Harry Potter package entitlements will be accommodated.

 

[phamton]

If I bought a regular ticket or vacation package to Universal Orlando Resort after May 28, will I be able to experience The Wizarding World of Harry Potter?

At the moment, only people who have purchased packages from Universal Parks & Resorts Vacations or Virgin Holidays featuring the specific The Wizarding World of Harry Potter package entitlements will be accommodated.

I think the keywords here are "at the moment." I certainly wouldn't be canceling my vacation over this. Universal Studios has always been attentive to guest concerns. I have faith that they will make this work for everyone concerned.

 

[Momw/aplan]

If you really think that the only people who will be able to ride this ride before the grand opening are a few hundred people who booked a package for three weeks prior, I don't know what to tell you. There is NO way the ride would be ready for grand opening if those are the only people who could ride it. You need to practice running full capacity. This is not going to be a fly by the seat of your pants opening for Universal.

Who's to say there are only a few hundred people per day currently holding pre-grand-opening packages?

The packages were booked through all three on-site resorts as well as numerous partner off-site resorts. The number of package holders in the park per day May 28-June 17 could easily reach a thousand or more. Maybe even several thousand.

And who's to say, even if it IS just 'a few hundred' people per day, that those few hundred wouldn't keep FJ journey running at capacity every minute of the day. Most package holding people are HP fanatics and no way would they stop at just one ride on the thing if given the chance.

I'm not saying they won't have soft openings which include people who don't have the package--they may very well do that--but I don't exactly see how only using package holders during a controlled soft opening situation would be a hindrance to their working the kinks out, or that it would in any way be 'flying by the seat of their pants."

In fact it may even be beneficial for them to keep it at a controlled (but not insignificant) number of people while the kinks are being resolved.

 

[damo]

Who's to say there are only a few hundred people per day currently holding pre-grand-opening packages?

The packages were booked through all three on-site resorts as well as numerous partner off-site resorts. The number of package holders in the park per day May 28-June 17 could easily reach a thousand or more. Maybe even several thousand.

And who's to say, even if it IS just 'a few hundred' people per day, that those few hundred wouldn't keep FJ journey running at capacity every minute of the day. Most package holding people are HP fanatics and no way would they stop at just one ride on the thing if given the chance.

I'm not saying they won't have soft openings which include people who don't have the package--they may very well do that--but I don't exactly see how only using package holders during a controlled soft opening situation would be a hindrance to their working the kinks out, or that it would in any way be 'flying by the seat of their pants."

In fact it may even be beneficial for them to keep it at a controlled (but not insignificant) number of people while the kinks are being resolved.

Capacity of Forbidden Journey is supposed to be about 1800/hour just on the ride itself -- not including the queue. Then add Flight of the Hippogriff, then add Dragon Challenge -- a capacity of about 3200/hr , then add the shops and restaurants. That is a ton of people!!!

 

[freediverdude]

Here's what I would do. There are great deals on hotels for passholders right now. Go ahead and book and then cancel if you have to!

Keep an eye on the threads here about soft openings. I am sure that within a couple of minutes of there being openings, someone will post about it.

Thank you damo! I think that's what I will do. They do have some really good rates for the onsite hotels for that time. I think I will have to hear something between now and then though about WWoHP being soft open or I will cancel.

 

[scrappingizlife]

IDK if you've ever been there before, but universal/islands are still great parks even without HP. Especially if you stay on property, and take advantage of FOTL. Must admit though- WWoHP is the main reason we are going this year....hope its all open when we're there early June....

I have been there, I actually only went to US/IOA up until 2008. That's when we finally decided to give Disney a try. And I have to say that I was much more impressed with our 2 days a Disney than our 4 at US/IOA. I really think that US is for people my age, those that actually know what Back to the Future, Jaws, ET, etc actually are. Ask my 10 year old who McFly is, and he'll look at you with a blank face. It's just very outdated in my opinion. IOA was a bit better. When we started planning this trip, we thought only Disney this time. Then when we heard HP was opening Spring of 2010, we thought hey, let's add 2 days at US/IOA. I think Spring, I think March, April, May. I know that technically Summer doesn't start until June 21st, but to me June is Summer. and June 18th, is like the VERY end of Spring. It's not worth saying oppening Spring of 2010, might as well have said Summer. Oh well, I guess HP will have to wait until our June 2011 trip.

 

[Lewisc]

Capacity of Forbidden Journey is supposed to be about 1800/hour just on the ride itself -- not including the queue.

How many guests do you think will take the time to experience the queue but not bother riding the Forbidden Journey? Instead of 1800 /hour the capacity will be something like 1805 /hour.

 

[donaldfan1]

im annoyed too i go 12 may till 24th thought it would be open by then, they said spring but its near summer oh well maybe it will be very busy , just have to go on next trip

 

[damo]

How many guests do you think will take the time to experience the queue but not bother riding the Forbidden Journey? Instead of 1800 /hour the capacity will be something like 1805 /hour.

I think we'll be surprised. Many people here have already said that they won't ride the ride because it sounds too extreme but will definitely do the queue. Also there are kids who are too short to ride but still very familiar with the Harry Potter world.

 

[Jonny_Duck]

Makes me worried those days I am going will be super super packed in both parks.

I am AP so did not book the package. But we are staying onsite so hopefully it will not be too bad.

Even though idrc if we can walk through HP Land I will def be expressing my displeasure with Universal if they close it off to only those who booked a package.

 

[mcbailey]

I think we'll be surprised. Many people here have already said that they won't ride the ride because it sounds too extreme but will definitely do the queue. Also there are kids who are too short to ride but still very familiar with the Harry Potter world.

My husband is one of those - He will get out of the queue as soon as the ride starts - he thinks it will definitely be too extreme for him.

And I agree.....don't forget about all those children under the height requirement.

 

[Momw/aplan]

Capacity of Forbidden Journey is supposed to be about 1800/hour just on the ride itself -- not including the queue. Then add Flight of the Hippogriff, then add Dragon Challenge -- a capacity of about 3200/hr , then add the shops and restaurants. That is a ton of people!!!

True. That is a ton of people. I'm just saying, for all we know there could already be 5000 people a day there on packages alone.

But then again, there may not be. We don't know. Which is precisely my point.

I felt it was rather bold of Lou Holtz to basically imply people were delusional if they thought that's how it was going to go down with only package holders let in before the 18th.

I can see where there would be advantages to Universal going the package-only route for those three weeks. Especially if there were any insecurities at all regarding FJ's readiness. With the package holders they may already have just enough of a crowd to give it a real go without there being too many people to push away and keep appeased elsewhere in Wizarding World if mechanical difficulties did arise.

Of course I personally would be ticked if my vacation were going to be messed up because I didn't have a package booked for my dates pre-grand-opening. But just because I understand where people would be upset doesn't mean I think a package-holder-only soft-opening is an absurd impossibility.

 

[Lou Holtz]

True. That is a ton of people. I'm just saying, for all we know there could already be 5000 people a day there on packages alone.

But then again, there may not be. We don't know. Which is precisely my point.

I felt it was rather bold of Lou Holtz to basically imply people were delusional if they thought that's how it was going to go down with only package holders let in before the 18th.

I apologize for trying to imput common sense and history into people's blind panic. Continue.

 

[Pembo]

True. That is a ton of people. I'm just saying, for all we know there could already be 5000 people a day there on packages alone.

But then again, there may not be. We don't know. Which is precisely my point.

I felt it was rather bold of Lou Holtz to basically imply people were delusional if they thought that's how it was going to go down with only package holders let in before the 18th.

I can see where there would be advantages to Universal going the package-only route for those three weeks. Especially if there were any insecurities at all regarding FJ's readiness. With the package holders they may already have just enough of a crowd to give it a real go without there being too many people to push away and keep appeased elsewhere in Wizarding World if mechanical difficulties did arise.

Of course I personally would be ticked if my vacation were going to be messed up because I didn't have a package booked for my dates pre-grand-opening. But just because I understand where people would be upset doesn't mean I think a package-holder-only soft-opening is an absurd impossibility.

We are one those who were planning a trip to Universal and figuring HP would be open by June. Now HP grand opening is in the middle of our trip. I really hope they have soft openings for non-resort people in the days leading up to the go.

 

[lildamo]

True. That is a ton of people. I'm just saying, for all we know there could already be 5000 people a day there on packages alone.

We were able to get $139/night rate (Annual Passholder Rate) from June 6-June 9th. There's no way they would still be offering that rate if there were thousands of package holders - the hotels would be near capacity! The prices on hotels at that time period are still too low to imply that there are enough package holders to keep Forbidden Journey alone at capacity (which the ride operators need to learn how to deal with!). I'll still be very surprised if they don't let all resort guests at least in during this time period.

 

[shl1108]

I was advised that

that from May 28 to June 17, the plan is to offer a
preview of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for guests who have
already booked an on-site hotel room.
So it looks like HP package holders AND people who booked onsite previous to the 3/25/10 for the dates between 5/28/10-6/17/10 will be allowed in for the preview.

 

[LJF]

Can someone tell me what e-mail address they are using? I've tried twice to use the www.visitorsatifaction.com/contactus/ but it doesn't go through.

TIA

 

[dawgsgirl]

Got this email response back today...

"We are delighted that you will be staying with us and thank you for your
e-mail. Please know that from May 28 to June 17, our plan is to offer a
preview of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to those guests who have
already booked an on-site hotel room. Since you have already booked, you
will be able to participate in this preview."

So it looks like HP package holders AND people who booked onsite previous to the 3/25/10 for the dates between 5/28/10-6/17/10 will be allowed in for the preview.

What do they mean by preview??? All the time, one time only??? That makes me nervous!!

 

[LJF]

What do they mean by preview??? All the time, one time only??? That makes me nervous!!

Thats exactly what I wanted to inquire about in an e-mail to them.

 

[Momw/aplan]

Here's what's happening: Only people who booked the package are GUARANTEED admittance to Harry Potter. The soft openings will begin well before the package dates anyway. There are so many things that go into this ride that the soft opening period should be lengthy to get them all ironed out. When they tell you that you won't get access, it's because the ride won't technically be "open" even though it will be running, when possible. If they start telling people they'll be able to ride and then the ride shuts down (which happens frequently in soft openings), people are livid.

If you really think that the only people who will be able to ride this ride before the grand opening are a few hundred people who booked a package for three weeks prior, I don't know what to tell you. There is NO way the ride would be ready for grand opening if those are the only people who could ride it. You need to practice running full capacity. This is not going to be a fly by the seat of your pants opening for Universal.

I apologize for trying to imput common sense and history into people's blind panic. Continue.

Thanks for the permission.

Seriously though, I too was merely trying to input common sense into the 'blind panic' as you put it.

I'm not so sure there's history to input though. As far as I know there's no direct precedence for WWOHP or even for FJ for that matter. Jurassic Park Island, Rip Ride Rocket, Toy Story Mania over at WDW (any other big opening of the past), they've got nothing on the rabid fan-base FJ and WWOHP will bring with them opening day. I don't believe any theme park has ever seen the likes of this upcoming event. So to say there is 'NO way' a package-holder-only soft opening would or would not be the proper way to go about this is a bit presumptive.

None of us here knows for sure why Universal made the decision they had apparently made as of this morning to only allow package holders in before the grand opening (and if any of us here does know, they are certainly bound not to tell). I'd be willing to bet though they did have common sense behind it. Surely the people who have a multimillion dollar interest as well as their PR reputation to protect didn't set out to alienate untold numbers of loyal (and new) customers while plowing headlong into opening day unprepared. They had their reasons for making the decision they made. As you pointed out, this is not some fly by the seat of your pants operation. I was only trying to offer up what one of those reasons might potentially be.

If people feel they've been purposefully and maliciously slighted for no apparent reason that stings so much more than feeling disappointed yet understanding why it had to be. I see no harm in using this forum to examine together what Universal's rationale might have been. And I see no reason to imply people are delusional for doing so.

I wasn't trying to verbally attack you Lou Holtz. And I hope I'm not coming across that way now, but I think it's a bit unwise to declare there is 'NO way' Universal would handle things with a package only soft opening and then imply it'd be completely irrational for them to do so. That's like throwing fuel on the fire of an already emotionally charged situation when no one had yet stopped to consider if maybe there WAS a rational explanation for why Universal might want to do it that way (or at least no one had stopped to post about it if they had, which is why I did.)

I just think that rather than immediately asking "Why is Universal doing this to me?!", people should first stop to wonder, "Why WOULD Universal want to do this?"

And by the way, if people show up with high hopes of being let into a soft opening (because that's the way things have always been done) and then get turned away, those people really will truly understand the meaning of the word 'livid'. So I don't see it as being in anyone's best interest for us to assume this event will follow the status quo.

Simply put: None of us here has any way of knowing how this thing will go down. So why should any of us definitively declare we know exactly what's happening and why it's happening?


As of tonight it would seem Universal has reversed their decision (most likely upon threat of riot ) and will now be allowing all on-site guests who booked prior to yesterday in during the three week period leading up to the 18th. I am genuinely happy for those people who will now get to participate when they otherwise would not have. But I also hope this change in plans Universal has been pressured into doesn't undermine whatever their original plan was causing issues to arise that won't be ironed out before the 18th.

I for one am hoping the Wizarding World will be as smooth and as magical of an experience as possible for everyone who visits from the 'soft opening' on.