The 5 trips of My "Disney Free Year" - A Mermaid, A Buzz, A Boat and A Steak - 7/8

[norybell]

Wow...three hours in line???

That's insane.

I've never been to Universal, and your review makes me feel better about that. But I'll probably still try to go sometime, anyway. My sister just moved to Jacksonville and we'll probably do a WDW trip together one of these days, when we do I'm thinking maybe we need to do a night at a Universal hotel, so we can skip all the lines?

 

[meeko_33785]

I'd love to go to Islands of Adventure since I've never been and have heard so many good things about both Harry Potter and Spiderman, but that crowd looks crazy! I'm sure it's more crowded because it was Christmas, but still...

The Man in the Yellow Hat was rapping? Oh dear. He wasn't doing that in the Halloween version of that show that I saw. I thought that one was a little strange, but the Christmas one sounds like it takes the cake! I do like reindeer Scooby-Doo though.

 

[beachgirl2000]

I am so glad I found this -- I love your trip reports -- they always crack me up!

 

[Panic Attack]

The Forbidden Journey ride in Wiz World of HP is apparently where all of the people are at all times... ever. SO let's talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not necessarily in that order.

The BAD:
The queue process in Universal is no good. When I retire, I'm going to move to Florida, Greg is going to drive one of the Friendship boats, and I'll be a Process Improvement consultant for queues... and I will start with Universal. The line for this ride isn't so much of a line as it is a mass of fuming fan-peeps. It's a living breathing glob of people that are all complaining about how long the line is in between screaming "like oh my gawd this is soooo cewl!" There's no marking to indicate where it ends let alone STARTS. When we were there... it started in Jurassic Park. IN Jurassic Park. I was next to a dinosaur. The real big deal was that you couldn't bring your bag onto the ride... and there was no signage about the lockers. So when people carting around their 15 billion dollars worth of HP memorabilia got to the point in the line where you ENTER the castle and there's only 60 more minutes to go... they had to get out of line and get a locker.

Fortunately, that was not me. That was other people.

The single rider line (yay) lets you skip most of the waiting... but you miss all of the castle (boo). There is apparently cool stuff in the castle that we missed out on because we're impatient... and also not crazy.

I won't give too much away about the ride itself... but if you are at all claustrophobic, you might have a few minor panic attacks. You get pretty close to some walls and... other things.

The ride spits you out into a gift shop. Normally this is fine, even welcome... this was MADNESS. Movement was not an option, being pushed around and feeling like you're the last bit of toothpaste in the tube of someone who doesn't want to buy another tube of toothpaste... that's what you got.

THE GOOD:
The castle is way cool from the outside. Exact replica.

Most of the staff that day were Slytherin. ^_^

As we waited in line, there was a little show going on right across from us. Music from the movies and the like. We couldn't see too much because of all the people, but we could still hear it and be entertained.

Single Rider line for the WIN!

The inside of the castle is AWESOME! We only got to see the moving and talking pictures but they were incredibly well done. PLUS they didn't always say the same thing every time.

You get to see the Sorting Hat right before you get on your Flying Bench (tm). It's pretty cool. I wish it would've said different things every time it activated, or even bantered with the crowd a little a la "Looks like we've got a Gryffindor who's ready to ride" or "Look out, that one behind you definitely belongs in Slytherin." But no, he just did a little rhyme about how lucky we are and to be careful.

THE RIDE TECHNOLOGY IS AWESOME. Imagine the technology of Soarin' - a flying bench - with the technology of Spiderman - physical rooms & items plus screens that only intensify the feeling of movement. Sometimes, you go all the back, like you're lying on the bench. The characters are all recognizable and happy to see you. The monsters - of course there are monsters - are pretty freakin' real. (THE UGLY goes into detail, but contains spoilers)

In the end, you save the day or something or other.

The giftshop at the end has awesome stuff. The scarves were clearly the biggest hit. The way they're designed is almost like college pride gear. I, of course, got a Slytherin scarf. An easy way you know you should be in Slytherin, is that if you get a Slytherin scarf and see someone else wearing one you don't think "Oh hey! We're in the same house!", you think "Psht, how pretentious."

THE UGLY
*SPOILERS*
There's a dragon. It gets close to you. Very very close. And then it breathes fire! Colored fog/steam but still Super Cool Effect. And it looked GOOD.

There are spiders. Gigantic spiders. They get close to you. They spit on you. ;_; This part made me a little claustrophobic. The spiders were ugly. At some parts, I felt like I had to lift my feet so I wouldn't touch them... a ridiculous movement since I'm only 5'2".

There are dementors! THEY ARE HUGE. They get close to you. Apparently if you sit on the far left, one of them sometimes is just close enough that its cloak will brush you.

FINAL THOUGHTS
So there you have it. Overall, if you're a fan of the series, it's definitely worth it. I almost wish the ride wasn't scary though. It was, kind of. I would've liked more of a "Fantastic Journey" than a "Forbidden" one.

But hey... maybe I'm just getting old. ^_^'

I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

 

[meeko_33785]

Thanks for the review Panic. Forbidden Journey sounds fun, but the queue... not so much. So does the Single Rider line really skip that much of the Castle tour? I saw a video online when it first opened that appeared to have holograms or something of Dumbledor(sp?) and Harry and friends exlpaining what was going on. Do you get to see any of that from the Single Rider line?

 

[Panic Attack]

I agree, but for some reason I find I keep glancing at them Maybe to make sure I'm able to out run them.........

Running is important when faced with the living dead.

You and me, we can be zombie apocalypse buddies. ^_^

 

[Panic Attack]

Thanks for the review Panic. Forbidden Journey sounds fun, but the queue... not so much. So does the Single Rider line really skip that much of the Castle tour? I saw a video online when it first opened that appeared to have holograms or something of Dumbledor(sp?) and Harry and friends exlpaining what was going on. Do you get to see any of that from the Single Rider line?

Yes, it skips a lot. It's basically a shortcut to the room right before you get on the ride. For those of you that are super familiar with the movies, its looks like the Gryffindor common room. There are 3 talking pictures of unrecognizable people that explain how to sit in the bench. You don't get to see any of Hogwarts or the other characters. Though Harry and friends show up during the ride to explain what's happening so I'm sure we missed out on the "secret" that they're going to take over our journey of Hogwarts and show us the cool stuff... but doing so wasn't a huge loss.

If I had infinite time, I might have wanted to take the scenic route. But this did save us HOURS.

 

[Princess_K]

Thank you for the review! I definitely want to ride it, but I'm afraid my eyes my be closed most of the time!

 

[norybell]

Thanks for the FJ review, Panic. It really sounds like an amazing ride, despite Universal's nonexistent queue skills!

Quick question: do you have to stow all bags? Like, could a small cross-body purse get through? The whole locker thing seems like such an extra hassle.

Also, I forgot to mention last time: Man in the Yellow Hat rapping = so, so wrong.

 

[Caretames1]

Running is important when faced with the living dead.

You and me, we can be zombie apocalypse buddies. ^_^

I'll add you to my group. My sister and nephew have a plan, but it will only work if they are the slow, shuffling zombies.. If they are the fast kind we're up a creek!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Wow...three hours in line???

That's insane.

I've never been to Universal, and your review makes me feel better about that. But I'll probably still try to go sometime, anyway. My sister just moved to Jacksonville and we'll probably do a WDW trip together one of these days, when we do I'm thinking maybe we need to do a night at a Universal hotel, so we can skip all the lines?

The whole WWOHP experience was just insane. I don't think it is like that all the time, but wow was it nuts.

Ohhh.... how cool that your sister is moving to Jacksonville - it's a built-in excuse to go to FL! Although, do we really need an excuse??

I really thought about booking a room at a Universal hotel so we could take advantage of the line skipping. But it kind of got pushed off until it was too late. Plus, it wouldn't have helped us at all in the WWOHP fiasco. Though it would have helped with some of the other crazy lines, like for MIB and Simpsons.

I'd love to go to Islands of Adventure since I've never been and have heard so many good things about both Harry Potter and Spiderman, but that crowd looks crazy! I'm sure it's more crowded because it was Christmas, but still...

The Man in the Yellow Hat was rapping? Oh dear. He wasn't doing that in the Halloween version of that show that I saw. I thought that one was a little strange, but the Christmas one sounds like it takes the cake! I do like reindeer Scooby-Doo though.

Spiderman is so worth it! I love that ride! I think if I go again, I will get a room at one of the hotels, just to get the line-skipping privilege. It is amazing what a difference the fast passes make!

Yes, the Man in the Yellow Hat was rapping - it was so so so wrong! The Christmas costumes of the characters were kind of cool, but that didn't make up for the wrong-ness!

I am so glad I found this -- I love your trip reports -- they always crack me up!

Welcome aboard!

The Forbidden Journey ride in Wiz World of HP is apparently where all of the people are at all times... ever. SO let's talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not necessarily in that order...

Thanks so much Panic dear - now beat that dbf of yours into giving me his pictures

If I had infinite time, I might have wanted to take the scenic route. But this did save us HOURS.

Yeah... plus we probably would have left you there if you would have waited in the whole line

P.S. Chris says, that you are getting old he thought the ride was awesome, but he agreed with every word.

Thank you for the review! I definitely want to ride it, but I'm afraid my eyes my be closed most of the time!

Okay, so I have to tell you a HIGH-larious story about DH. You know my macho-manly man DH?

So the story starts in Aug of '09 when on a family vacation, DH and Greg went to the beach together (it was raining so Panic and I stayed in) and Greg asked DH to put sunscreen on him. This weirded DH out, so when Greg asked DH if he wanted him to put sunscreen on him, DH said no.

Anyway, he came back totally sunburned with a clear sun-screened hand print and smear down his back.

So on the FJ, even though they were in the single rider line, DH and Greg were placed next to each other. And when they came back, and we asked DH how the ride was, he said "I don't like spiders" So we asked if there were Spiders, he said "yes - big ones. I got scared and grabbed Greg's hand."

I'm almost glad I didn't go, because if it made DH scream - Yeek!

Thanks for the FJ review, Panic. It really sounds like an amazing ride, despite Universal's nonexistent queue skills!

Quick question: do you have to stow all bags? Like, could a small cross-body purse get through? The whole locker thing seems like such an extra hassle.

Also, I forgot to mention last time: Man in the Yellow Hat rapping = so, so wrong.

I don't know for sure the answer to your question - my main focus was pumpkin juice hopefully Panic does....

Rapping man in the yellow hat = so so so so so so so so so so so so so so wrong!

What's also wrong, is how long we watched it.

 

[Princess_K]

Okay, so I have to tell you a HIGH-larious story about DH. You know my macho-manly man DH?

So the story starts in Aug of '09 when on a family vacation, DH and Greg went to the beach together (it was raining so Panic and I stayed in) and Greg asked DH to put sunscreen on him. This weirded DH out, so when Greg asked DH if he wanted him to put sunscreen on him, DH said no.

Anyway, he came back totally sunburned with a clear sun-screened hand print and smear down his back.

So on the FJ, even though they were in the single rider line, DH and Greg were placed next to each other. And when they came back, and we asked DH how the ride was, he said "I don't like spiders" So we asked if there were Spiders, he said "yes - big ones. I got scared and grabbed Greg's hand."

Oh my gosh! That's hilarious Literally made me laugh out loud picturing that hand print on his back!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Next up, we headed towards DinoLand!

There’s a 20 minute line for Dinosaur? Those kind of lines are for wimps

Seriously, 20 minutes – I think I love you!

Okay… I can’t lie…20 minutes? I’m still bored.

Rarrr!

Hey – I was on this trip too – I nearly forgot!

Woah – I think the time vortex thingy got loose!

Somebody better go adjust the flux capacitor.

Okay, that’s better.

Genuine imitation dinosaur parts!

In like 15 minutes we were being briefed by Dr. Seeker.

After that we made our way to the loading doc.

Mustard anyone?

And we’re off!

Okay, funniest ride picture – for realz. Panic and Greg are mean Mugging the Dino, DH is taking a picture, I’m waving, Queenie is hiding and Grumpy doesn’t seem to know where he is. 4 out of 6 of us knew what was going on. I’ll never tell which were which.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Oh my gosh! That's hilarious Literally made me laugh out loud picturing that hand print on his back!

Yeah, we all harassed him hard core about that one. We're going on a family vacation to Alaska in May, and we keep joking that it started with the lotion, then the hand holding, we're afraid what the "next step" of their relationship will be.

Seriously... are you sure you want to get married?? This is what you have to look forward to

 

[meeko_33785]

Great pic of you guys hamming it up on Dinosaur. Your DH and you had the best poses.

 

[Panic Attack]

Quick question: do you have to stow all bags? Like, could a small cross-body purse get through? The whole locker thing seems like such an extra hassle.

I'd say you're safe with anything smaller than the size of those backpack-purses from the 90s. Anything of equivalent size or larger you'd probably need to store.

Basically, if you can hide it under your jacket, they'll never know ^_^'

 

[Panic Attack]

Greg and I = STONE FACE
And yes... this became a thing for the rest of the ride photos.

Mom claims she was "fixing her earring"

 

[norybell]

Joanna, I feel we have a lot in common. Except when it comes to Dinosaur. Dinosaur is scary. And not even Clair Huxtable can convince me otherwise.

I'd say you're safe with anything smaller than the size of those backpack-purses from the 90s. Anything of equivalent size or larger you'd probably need to store.

Basically, if you can hide it under your jacket, they'll never know ^_^'

Thanks for the tip, Panic! And for the awesome '90s reference. My purse is probably a little too big; maybe I'll get a super-attractive little fanny pack or something before I ever venture to Universal. Oh yes, I'm that fashionable.

 

[beachgirl2000]

After ET, there was a little holiday show that totally wigged me out. Why on earth would Scooby, Shaggy, The man in the Yellow Hat and Woody the ‘Pecker be dancing together?

Oh yeah, the man in the yellow hat was rapping

I can't even tell you how this cracked me up when I read this! I saw the same show in October but it was Halloween-themed! And I got some video of it because I was in awe and shock!

Also, I am a big Universal fan -- I love all the rides there -- I hope you got to stop at Margaritaville at some point too (I haven't finished reading your report yet) -- I am a huge Jimmy Buffett fan (see my avatar - is that the right word) -- I like to go to Universal just to go to Margaritaville!

Anyway -- I hope you eventually got to ride Harry Potter -- I went in October and it was great -- but I had to do single rider line just to NOT wait in line for 120 minutes!

 

[beachgirl2000]

And for fun, I thought I would post the picture from October! This show really was ridiculous!

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