Trip Report: July 10-18, 2010. Day 4
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From: Patty Winter on 3 Aug 2010 23:31 In article <i3a925$17c$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, Paul Lalli <mritty(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > I don't fault the guy - technology sometimes fails, I >get that. But seriously, at that point, he or his supervisor should have >been offering an alternate solution for us. Something like "here, use >these, and we'll figure it out and get back to you later today". I >don't know, *something* other than us just standing there. > And I'm already annoyed, as the map is on one side, with rides >numbered and restaurants lettered, but the key to knowing what the >numbers and letters mean are on the flipside of the map. Very annoying. >As we're now pretty close to the Harry Potter area, we can actually see >Hogwarts. And it looks cool - from one angle. From another angle, you >can completely see the back of the castle, and how they didn't bother >theming the back at all. You see the big square grey box of a building >that houses the major attraction. Bad show. Very very bad show. Wow, you've only been in the park a little while, and already you have multiple examples of how This Is Not Disney. :-( > Five minutes later, I'm hearing an >employee up above talk about renting a locker to store our belongings, >because you can't take anything on the ride. And they do mean "anything." A friend of mine had to take off a small wallet-sized bag that was snugly strung entirely across her body. On the other hand, she liked the fingerprint-operated lockers! >Finally I find a stray >employee and ask "if we don't need the lockers, do we need to be in this >line?". "Oh, no, just go on a head and bare to your left". Oh my, this ride may have a more adult rating than I had expected. :-) >The next part of the queue appears to be another classroom, and Harry, >Ron, and Hermione are talking to us. Are these filmed projections of the actual actors? > We're on a >moving platform as we take our seats on them and the employees strap us >in. It was VERY tight. I'm 5'10�", about 235lbs. I know I'm >overweight, but I'm not obese. These were NOT designed for comfort of a >large majority of the American public. My friend only weighs 170, and even she found it rather tight. > I mean, seriously, truly, honest-to-god a >*GREAT* attraction. Quite possibly better than anything I've been on at >Disney's parks. Great storyline, awesome effects, spectacular >technology. In every respect, the attraction itself is two giant thumbs >way way up. I'm glad it was worth it after all your wait! > Overhead are videos talking about >Jurassic Park, calling the events of the first two movies "minor >setbacks", which was amusing. And telling us that Jurassic Park's >founder hopes we never lose sight of one thing - that it was all started >by a mosquito, which was not amusing. (Have you ever noticed that the >second-best company always makes references to the first-best company, >but the opposite never happens? And the Old West show at Knott's makes jokes about Disney. Well, and about Six Flags, but I'm not sure that Knott's would be considered second-best to that place. >Anyway. We finally got on the Jurassic Park adventure. I'd watched a >YouTube video of it a month or so prior. After watching it, I left the >comment that it looked to me like 5:20 of boredom followed by 10 seconds >of excitement. And that's exactly what it was. Except that the 10 >seconds weren't really very exciting at all. So it isn't like Splash Mountain? >My overall review of Islands of Adventure - I was impressed with some of >the attractions. I was impressed with some of the story and theming. I >was not remotely impressed with Guest Services or the employees. I was >not impressed with some of the rides that were completely not-themed but >preceded by well-themed queues. It just didn't have the same feel as >being in a Disney park. I didn't feel like a "guest". I felt like >someone from whom they wanted money and then wanted me to get the hell >out to make room for the next person. I'll be curious to see whether other people who've been to USF have had similar experiences, or whether you just hit the place at a bad time because all the employees are frazzled over the HP crowds. I'm guessing the former, but let's see... >Thanks for reading. (Especially, in this case, if you actually managed >to read the whole thing. I did! Do I get a souvenir mandrake? :-) Patty
From: Paul Lalli on 4 Aug 2010 09:10 Patty Winter wrote: > In article <i3a925$17c$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, > Paul Lalli <mritty(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> Five minutes later, I'm hearing an >> employee up above talk about renting a locker to store our belongings, >> because you can't take anything on the ride. > > And they do mean "anything." A friend of mine had to take off a small > wallet-sized bag that was snugly strung entirely across her body. On > the other hand, she liked the fingerprint-operated lockers! I never actually tried any of the lockers. We didn't bring any bags into the park, and my pockets were tight enough with both of our celphones/cameras/wallets stuffed in them that I wasn't worried about anything falling out. Nothing did. Do the lockers require a rental fee, or are they free to use at each attraction? >> Finally I find a stray >> employee and ask "if we don't need the lockers, do we need to be in this >> line?". "Oh, no, just go on a head and bare to your left". > > Oh my, this ride may have a more adult rating than I had expected. :-) Sigh. That is the one homophone pair I never manage to get correct. >> The next part of the queue appears to be another classroom, and Harry, >> Ron, and Hermione are talking to us. > > Are these filmed projections of the actual actors? Yes. Very well done. They look more like Star Trek-esque holograms than like a movie screen. >> I mean, seriously, truly, honest-to-god a >> *GREAT* attraction. Quite possibly better than anything I've been on at >> Disney's parks. Great storyline, awesome effects, spectacular >> technology. In every respect, the attraction itself is two giant thumbs >> way way up. > > I'm glad it was worth it after all your wait! As were we. :-) >> Anyway. We finally got on the Jurassic Park adventure. I'd watched a >> YouTube video of it a month or so prior. After watching it, I left the >> comment that it looked to me like 5:20 of boredom followed by 10 seconds >> of excitement. And that's exactly what it was. Except that the 10 >> seconds weren't really very exciting at all. > > So it isn't like Splash Mountain? Not remotely like Splash Mountain. >> Thanks for reading. (Especially, in this case, if you actually managed >> to read the whole thing. > > I did! Do I get a souvenir mandrake? :-) Sorry, I couldn't swipe one for you. They were behind cages. :-P Paul Lalli
From: Paul Lalli on 4 Aug 2010 09:12 Lisa Cubbon wrote: > On 8/3/2010 7:34 PM, Paul Lalli wrote: >> Thanks for reading. (Especially, in this case, if you actually managed >> to read the whole thing. > I read the WHOLE thing! With great interest too. I think Harry > Potterland will have to wait a whole lot longer to see me there. > Your impressions of UA match mine. I have no desire to go back but I am > not a coaster buff and I think that's the appeal of IOA. > > Thanks for the hard work, Paul. Thanks Lisa. I appreciate you devoting far too many minutes of your life to reading my ramblings. :-) Paul Lalli
From: Keane on 4 Aug 2010 09:37 On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:34:25 -0400, Paul Lalli <mritty(a)gmail.com> wrote: >In any event, we were the last pickup, so it was straight from Pop to >Universal's bus drop off lot. First you go up a huge escalator to a >large pedestrian bridge with moving sidewalks. This leads you into >CityWalk. After walking down CityWalk for 5-10 minutes, you eventually >get to a fork where you go left for Islands of Adventure, right for >Universal Studios. We continued on to IoA. They still drop you off by the parking garage? You should have been asked to be taken to the Hard Rock Hotel... :-) I really hate that walk. (I've only done it once. Okay, twice, but in the same day.) > >In any event, they eventually resolved the issue and I ended up with two >charges and one credit on my credit card bill. And we had our VIP >tickets. So now we walk through the IOA turnstiles, and pick up a park >map. And I'm already annoyed, as the map is on one side, with rides >numbered and restaurants lettered, but the key to knowing what the >numbers and letters mean are on the flipside of the map. Very annoying. Well, that's new. Couldn't use two maps? :-) >So we go to the left, and start walking around this gigantic lake. This >is already an annoying layout. It's like the complete opposite of the >Magic Kingdom's hub-and-spoke system. Do you complain about the same thing at Epcot and DHS? Are you annoyed there? (Oh, don't go to Seaworld or KSC. Or DCA for that matter. There's not a bit of logic in their park layouts at all...). >As we're now pretty close to the Harry Potter area, we can actually see >Hogwarts. And it looks cool - from one angle. From another angle, you >can completely see the back of the castle, and how they didn't bother >theming the back at all. You see the big square grey box of a building >that houses the major attraction. Bad show. Very very bad show. Universal has the same problem Disneyland does. Not enough space. I'm actually surprised the didn't take out more of Lost Continent for potterland. If could be worse. If you go to Portofino Bay (the equivalent of the Grand Floridian), the facade is *painted* on. The relief you see on the buildings isn't really stone, it's paint. Really cheesy considering it's the high-end hotel on-site... >An employee (are they called "Cast Members" at Universal? I have no >idea) now comes through the line and gives everyone a tiny little paper >ticket. The same kind you'd get at a charity 50/50 raffle, with "keep >this Coupon". He claims this will tell them who waited in line and make >sure we get in. Uh. Okay? The queue now starts moving up in batches. > An employee takes one group of about a hundred to the left, and then >the next group (us) to the right, through the Lost Continent. Why? No >idea. They're actually supposed to be doing counts. My guess is when X guests leave via the LC side, they let a X guests in, and when X guests leave the JP side, they let X number of guests in there. >We get up to the attraction's queue. Now mind you, we were in line to >enter the area a good 20 minutes before the park opened (would have been >45 if not for the nonsense at Guest Services, but I digress). The >posted wait time for the attraction is 75 minutes. Yup. YEESH. Well, >I'd already told Amanda we should expect insanity here, and this was why >we were spending two days at Universal in the first place. So >regardless of anything else, we *were* going to ride this first thing. Thus, why I'm saying you really want to stay on-site if you're going to do UO. It's not just an idle recommendation. >We approach the queue area and we see some sort of faded carving on the >wall that looks like maybe it's supposed to be an emblem of Hogwarts. >Okay, kinda cool. But significantly NOT cool is that this is where they >have sample ride seats set up, asking those with "certain body types" to >try them out before getting in line. What the hey? Can you think of a >more humiliating way to do this? Literally EVERYONE coming or going >from the attraction gets to see every overweight person try these seats >out and be told whether or not they are too fat. What on *earth* were >they thinking? Before they put in potterland, the test seats were in more inconspicuous places. It's probably done more to forestall problems at loading. (There were a lot of hold-ups early at loading, so I can imagine they put the seats in the queue for that reason. Would you really want to wait 90 minutes, only to find out at loading that you can't ride it?) >We enter the queue area, and it's complete chaos. There are people >going every which way, with no one directly traffic (at least, not >efficiently). There is a large line. I figure this is the start of the >queue, and we get in the line. Five minutes later, I'm hearing an >employee up above talk about renting a locker to store our belongings, >because you can't take anything on the ride. Finally I find a stray >employee and ask "if we don't need the lockers, do we need to be in this >line?". "Oh, no, just go on a head and bare to your left". Well gee, >thanks for that. Would have been good to know five minutes ago. Arg. They seem to have done that with a lot of attractions, most notably Men In Black. Pretty much any ride with a lot of movement in an open ride vehicle has a no-stuff-onboard policy. >And then we finally catch up with the rest of the people in the queue. >And we're back outside. Ugh. (Have I mentioned it's no less >oppressively hot here than it has been on the other end of I-4 the past >few days?) So now we're supposedly in the Herbology class's greenhouse. > Uh...huh. It's an outdoor area with ramps, with a glass ceiling, and >some plants. That's it. The only thing remotely "Harry Potterish" >about it was that toward the end, some of the plants are labeled >"Mandrakes". And no, they weren't even any kind of animatronic >Mandrakes that could wail or at least rise up and down out of their >plots. Just static things, sitting there. And they were behind a mesh >cage, making taking pictures of them somewhere between impossible and >pointless. This portion of the queue lasted about 20 minutes. I'd probably give them a couple of years. If they're trying to grow some sort of foliage, it takes some time. (AK / AKL was like that. It's grown in now, but less so when they opened the place.) >Now we go into Dumbledore's office. Very cool. Dumbledore actually >appears up on a balcony. It doesn't look perfect, but it does look very >good. Unfortunately, I have no idea what he was saying, because the >employee in this part of the queue is SCREAMING at us to move along, >don't stop, don't take pictures, keep going, hurry up. I wanted to >shout back at her "I've been waiting for this for 6 months, I'm going to >get the full experience, damnit!". But of course I didn't. You should have. Would have probably made you a hero with everyone else in line. :-) >All the employees at this point are just frazzled beyond belief. >They're shouting at each other, at the guests, they're sweating, >fidgiting. It was just not remotely a happy environment. Which is why I'm not going until 2011. I'm willing to wait for crowds to die down and the kinks to be worked out of the system. It's like Test Track. Lots and lots of breakdowns. >So we left Hogwarts, both raving about what an incredible attraction it >was. We head over to the next Harry Potter attraction, the Flight of >the Hippogriff. We used our VIP tickets to go into the Express queue, >though there was no need because there was no line for it. This is >entirely outdoors, and when we finally get up to the front and get in, >it becomes apparent that this thing was not built for adults. And >indeed, once the coaster starts, I realize we're actually on a kiddie >coaster. It's basically Goofy's Barnstormer. But at least it was over >in about 30 seconds. Well, it *is* a kiddie coaster. They have another one in Woody's kidzone over at the Studios. It was originally called the Flying Unicorn, and was probably put there for the kids who couldn't ride dueling dragons. >Next up was the Triwizard Dragon Challenge. This used to be Dueling >Dragons. The queue area takes us up a path lined with banners >supporting Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbaton. We get up to the queue >proper and go to the Express entrance. Okay now this is a REAL coaster. > A very good one in fact. I just which they'd done something to it >when they rethemed it for Harry Potter. Seriously, they renamed the >tracks and put up the banners along the queue. I don't even think they >gave it a new paint job. I don't even remember which of the two tracks >we chose. I do remember that I saw a sign advertising "modified >seating" in rows 3 and 6. But having no idea what "modified seating" >meant, I didn't pay attention to which row we chose. The queue ends far >too soon, and becomes a free-for-all, with everyone choosing their own >row and forming a mob-like gathering behind that row's gate. But the >ride itself is great, with lots of hills and twists and inversions. >Very very good coaster. It's an interesting coaster. They weigh the cars on the lifthill, so they can adjust the release so the trains can do their 3 or 4 near misses. If you ride one track, I'm told you should ride the other. They're supposed to be completely different coasters. >We went allllll the way back to the Marvel Superhero area, and go to the >Incredible Hulk. Again with the "come be humiliated!" test seats, but >this time I decided to try them. The employee there said I was fine, >but make sure I choose row 3 or 6. Apparently "modified seating" means >"for fat people". Good to know, I guess. The queue here is very cool, >explaining the story of Bruce Banner and the Hulk, and telling us how >Bruce thinks he may have finally this time figured out how to stop the >transformations. > >The coaster is great too, as it launches into an inversion on like the >first descent. And the take off - it starts ascending slowly, and you >think it's going to be "normal" in that respect, but then suddenly >blasts forward/up like RnRC or California Screamin'. Very very cool. >As for what the coaster itself has to do with the Incredible Hulk? Uhm, >well, it's green. Beyond that, nothing. It's an awesomely themed queue >leading up to a completely non-themed but thrilling coaster. I also roars. Didn't notice the noise? It was intentional... I don't understand how they're supposed to theme a coaster. Disney does it by putting them in buildings. But really, let's say they do theme it. Think you'll see the theming? What would you expect them to do? >Next we went over to Spiderman. Again with the awesomely themed queue, >as you start off taking a tour of the Daily Planet, and see J. Jonah >Jameson telling us all how incredibly great he is, and what a menace >that Spiderman guy is. But this time, the ride itself continues to be >both awesomely themed and awesome in general. A combination fast dark >ride and 3D movie. Actually, come to think of it, the technology is a >precursor to Harry Potter & The Forbidden Journey, as your ride vehicle >stays on the ground the whole time. But you're seeing projections of >Spiderman and his villains jumping around and interacting both with our >ride vehicle and the surroundings. If you have a weak stomach, you >might want to avoid it, however. I know that I didn't want to do it >again immediately after riding, as cool as it was. Really? You had motion problems on Spiderman, but not the coasters or FJ? >In fact, my stomach is so not-well at this point that we decide to sit >for a minute and figure out lunch. We look at the map, and decide to >try this counter service place in the Toon Lagoon area. It's standard >theme park food, burgers and chicken nuggets. Nothing special, but >doesn't fail to meet the standards either. While here, we plot out the >rest of the day, and realize we're not going to be here until 11pm like >I'd initially planned. So we called up Mears and had our pick up time >changed to something like 6pm. Maybe earlier. I don't really remember. Other than Mythos, over in LC, I tend to eat in city walk. Better food. (As a matter of fact, I usually transfer from one park to the other, stopping someplace in city walk to eat.) >Bilge-Rat Barges, on the other hand, was pretty good. The only reason >to go on this attraction, however, is to get soaked. Not soaked like on >Kali River Rapids. Soaked like in the pool. You *will not* come off of >it dry. We did this attraction I think three times in a row (hooray, I >didn't waste my money on the VIP tickets!). Because really, once you've >done it once, you're already soaked to the bone, so there's no reason >*not* to do it a second time. Bilge Rat soaks you *more* than KRR? I've avoided KRR (since I usually have more electronics when I'm in WDW.) I'd probably have tried KRR by now if they had lockers around... >Leaving Toon Lagoon, we wandered on into Jurassic Park, and over to the >main attraction there. We got into the Express line fine, but while we >were waiting, it broke down. Grumble. I just sat down in the queue >area, and literally took a nap. I woke up when I heard people cheer >becaues it had started again. Overhead are videos talking about >Jurassic Park, calling the events of the first two movies "minor >setbacks", which was amusing. And telling us that Jurassic Park's >founder hopes we never lose sight of one thing - that it was all started >by a mosquito, which was not amusing. (Have you ever noticed that the >second-best company always makes references to the first-best company, >but the opposite never happens? Pepsi has Coke salesmen in their ads, >Burger King is constantly talking about the Big Mac, etc. I wonder if >they realize that referring to the competition only makes you look even >more like second-best). You will find a great deal of Universal makes fun of Disney. I'll bet you hated Shrek. :-) >Anyway. We finally got on the Jurassic Park adventure. I'd watched a >YouTube video of it a month or so prior. After watching it, I left the >comment that it looked to me like 5:20 of boredom followed by 10 seconds >of excitement. And that's exactly what it was. Except that the 10 >seconds weren't really very exciting at all. Seriously, this attraction >is a complete klunker, in my opinion. You go along a river cruise >continuing the story of Jurassic park, until one of the Dinos gets loose >and accidentally causes your boat to go off course. Then you continue >maddeningly slowly going along your boat, up a conveyor belt, and back >down. That's pretty much it. I wouldn't even consider it worth the >wait in the Express line, let alone the normal line. You're not a dinosaur guy. There are a lot of kids that are dino crazy. River Adventure makes dinos come alive more than say, any of those in Dinoland in AK. 'Sides, it was one of Spielberg's babies. If Spielberg is helping design your park, are you going to tell him no? Especially since JP was such a big hit for Universal? >On the way out of Wizarding World this time, we purchased the frozen >"butterbeers", which I do have to say, were delicious. Very very sweet, >almost like a frozen version of creamy caramel. We made our way back to >the Port of Entry, and exited the park. Back through City Walk, back >across the footbridge and down the escalator to the bus pick up area. Didn't even go through Lost Continent or Seussland? That's a third of the park you missed. >My overall review of Islands of Adventure - I was impressed with some of >the attractions. I was impressed with some of the story and theming. I >was not remotely impressed with Guest Services or the employees. I was >not impressed with some of the rides that were completely not-themed but >preceded by well-themed queues. It just didn't have the same feel as >being in a Disney park. I didn't feel like a "guest". I felt like >someone from whom they wanted money and then wanted me to get the hell >out to make room for the next person. Much of it has to do with going to the park in July. I'm serious about that. I've found things in UO *much* more pleasant during the off-months, especially when the kiddies (including many of the CM's) are back in school. Same with Disney, really. Ever deal with the CM's in Epcot during a real bad night during the second showing of ToN in July? Most were about as pleasant as the CM's you encountered at UO... >My overall review of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - the Forbidden >Journey attraction is AWESOME (except for that bit of the queue in the >"greenhouse". Dragon Challenge is a good coaster. Flight of the >Hippogriff is pointless and should be removed. So what's wrong with a kid's coaster there? Don't like kids? :-) The coaster was there looong before potterland. I initially heard it was going to go away, but it seems they kept it. My biggest problem with Flying Unicorn, was it looked like it was the way to JP, but dead ended at the coaster... Took me a couple of times to realize I had to turn left to avoid it...) > Hogsmeade looks cool but >was massively NOT designed to handle the insane number of people they >have coming through right now. Maybe it will be better in a couple >years when the mania dies down. I think UO made a mistake when it bowed to a lot of Rowling's demands. I think it's pretty dumb that there's an entire new Island at IoA, and they have to limit the number of guests that can pass through it. I wonder if it would have been like that if Vivendi hadn't owned the parks at the time. (Vivendi had no idea how to run a theme park.) Now what you should do, is compare UO to say, Six Flags. UO in that light sure looks more like Disney than not... Thanks for the report. I'm waiting for day 8. :-) Keane -- When stars are born, They possess a gift or two, One of them is this, They have the power to make a wish come true... -- Wishes Visit my site: http://keanespics.com
From: Paul Lalli on 4 Aug 2010 10:21
Keane wrote: > On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:34:25 -0400, Paul Lalli <mritty(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > >> And I'm already annoyed, as the map is on one side, with rides >> numbered and restaurants lettered, but the key to knowing what the >> numbers and letters mean are on the flipside of the map. Very annoying. > > Well, that's new. Couldn't use two maps? :-) I fail to see how that would be less annoying. >> So we go to the left, and start walking around this gigantic lake. This >> is already an annoying layout. It's like the complete opposite of the >> Magic Kingdom's hub-and-spoke system. > > Do you complain about the same thing at Epcot and DHS? Are > you annoyed there? (Oh, don't go to Seaworld or KSC. Or DCA > for that matter. There's not a bit of logic in their park layouts at > all...). I do complain about DHS's layout. 18 WDW trips and I still couldn't tell you the best way to get from, say, the hat to Star Tours. Or from Muppets to Sounds Dangerous. The layout is god-awful at DHS. Epcot isn't as bad, partly because the lagoon isn't as big as IoA's, partly because it makes sense to do a circular tour of the World Showcase. It doesn't quite make sense to do a circular tour of IoA. >> We approach the queue area and we see some sort of faded carving on the >> wall that looks like maybe it's supposed to be an emblem of Hogwarts. >> Okay, kinda cool. But significantly NOT cool is that this is where they >> have sample ride seats set up, asking those with "certain body types" to >> try them out before getting in line. What the hey? Can you think of a >> more humiliating way to do this? Literally EVERYONE coming or going >>from the attraction gets to see every overweight person try these seats >> out and be told whether or not they are too fat. What on *earth* were >> they thinking? > > Before they put in potterland, the test seats were in more > inconspicuous places. So they moved all the seats at both parks when they put in HP? I find that difficult to believe. We saw the same thing at Rip Ride Rocket, Incredible Hulk, etc. The test seats are right at the queue entrances. > It's probably done more to forestall problems > at loading. (There were a lot of hold-ups early at loading, > so I can imagine they put the seats in the queue for that reason. > Would you really want to wait 90 minutes, only to find out at loading > that you can't ride it?) No, I'd like to have the seats available, but out of the way, like they are at Disney. I'd also like the seats to not be so prohibitive of overweight-but-not-obese people like myself. >> We enter the queue area, and it's complete chaos. There are people >> going every which way, with no one directly traffic (at least, not >> efficiently). There is a large line. I figure this is the start of the >> queue, and we get in the line. Five minutes later, I'm hearing an >> employee up above talk about renting a locker to store our belongings, >> because you can't take anything on the ride. Finally I find a stray >> employee and ask "if we don't need the lockers, do we need to be in this >> line?". "Oh, no, just go on a head and bare to your left". Well gee, >> thanks for that. Would have been good to know five minutes ago. Arg. > > They seem to have done that with a lot of attractions, most notably > Men In Black. Pretty much any ride with a lot of movement in an open > ride vehicle has a no-stuff-onboard policy. I don't have a problem with the locker policy. I have a problem with no signage or employees directing traffic, telling people who need lockers to go this way, people who don't to go that way. >> And then we finally catch up with the rest of the people in the queue. >> And we're back outside. Ugh. (Have I mentioned it's no less >> oppressively hot here than it has been on the other end of I-4 the past >> few days?) So now we're supposedly in the Herbology class's greenhouse. >> Uh...huh. It's an outdoor area with ramps, with a glass ceiling, and >> some plants. That's it. > > I'd probably give them a couple of years. If they're trying to grow > some sort of foliage, it takes some time. (AK / AKL was like that. > It's grown in now, but less so when they opened the place.) The plants didn't need to grow. They're all potted plants. It's a greenhouse, not a forest. >> So we left Hogwarts, both raving about what an incredible attraction it >> was. We head over to the next Harry Potter attraction, the Flight of >> the Hippogriff. We used our VIP tickets to go into the Express queue, >> though there was no need because there was no line for it. This is >> entirely outdoors, and when we finally get up to the front and get in, >> it becomes apparent that this thing was not built for adults. And >> indeed, once the coaster starts, I realize we're actually on a kiddie >> coaster. It's basically Goofy's Barnstormer. But at least it was over >> in about 30 seconds. > > Well, it *is* a kiddie coaster. They have another one in Woody's > kidzone over at the Studios. It was originally called the Flying > Unicorn, and was probably put there for the kids who couldn't ride > dueling dragons. Yes, but I didn't realize it was a kiddie coaster before we got in line for it. They're advertising this place as a "Harry Potter Themepark", and it consists of exactly 3 rides and 1 show (and some shops). Was I really being naive to think all 3 rides were suitable for teens and adults? Disney's kiddie-coaster is in Mickey's Toon Town Fair. It's obvious any attraction there is going to be designed for little kids. >> We went allllll the way back to the Marvel Superhero area, and go to the >> Incredible Hulk. >> The coaster is great too, as it launches into an inversion on like the >> first descent. And the take off - it starts ascending slowly, and you >> think it's going to be "normal" in that respect, but then suddenly >> blasts forward/up like RnRC or California Screamin'. Very very cool. >> As for what the coaster itself has to do with the Incredible Hulk? Uhm, >> well, it's green. Beyond that, nothing. It's an awesomely themed queue >> leading up to a completely non-themed but thrilling coaster. > > I also roars. Didn't notice the noise? It was intentional... It roars upon take off. If it roared at any other point, I must not have noticed. > I don't understand how they're supposed to theme a coaster. Disney > does it by putting them in buildings. But really, let's say they do > theme it. Think you'll see the theming? What would you expect them > to do? I have no idea. I'm not a theme park engineer. My job is to enjoy the attraction, not to design it. :-) > >> Next we went over to Spiderman. >> ... >> If you have a weak stomach, you >> might want to avoid it, however. I know that I didn't want to do it >> again immediately after riding, as cool as it was. > > Really? You had motion problems on Spiderman, but not the > coasters or FJ? It was most likely the sequence of the four. The only problem I had on HP&TFJ was when you're escaping the whomping willow, and your ride vehicle tilts down so that your back is horizontal and your legs are above your head. I don't think either Spiderman or Hulk would have done me in on their own, but one after another like that was not the best idea. >> Bilge-Rat Barges, on the other hand, was pretty good. The only reason >> to go on this attraction, however, is to get soaked. Not soaked like on >> Kali River Rapids. Soaked like in the pool. You *will not* come off of >> it dry. We did this attraction I think three times in a row (hooray, I >> didn't waste my money on the VIP tickets!). Because really, once you've >> done it once, you're already soaked to the bone, so there's no reason >> *not* to do it a second time. > > Bilge Rat soaks you *more* than KRR? I've avoided KRR (since I > usually have more electronics when I'm in WDW.) I'd probably have > tried KRR by now if they had lockers around... Very much so. KRR you have about a 1-in-4 chance of getting drenched. BRB you have a 100% chance. Seriously, you may as well just go swimming. And as for your electronics on KRR, I've never had a problem with putting my stuff in plastic baggies (which I bring with me when I go to AK and MK) and then putting them in the central storage area on the raft. Of course, if by "electronics", you mean "camcorder", that might not work. :-P >> And telling us that Jurassic Park's >> founder hopes we never lose sight of one thing - that it was all started >> by a mosquito, which was not amusing. > > You will find a great deal of Universal makes fun of Disney. I'll bet > you hated Shrek. :-) Yes and no. I rolled my eyes while laughing along with the first Shrek movie. The attraction at US just carried on what the movie started. The Jurassic Park movie (obviously) did not make any such references, so it was all US, which just struck me as small and bitter. >> Anyway. We finally got on the Jurassic Park adventure. I'd watched a >> YouTube video of it a month or so prior. After watching it, I left the >> comment that it looked to me like 5:20 of boredom followed by 10 seconds >> of excitement. And that's exactly what it was. Except that the 10 >> seconds weren't really very exciting at all. Seriously, this attraction >> is a complete klunker, in my opinion. You go along a river cruise >> continuing the story of Jurassic park, until one of the Dinos gets loose >> and accidentally causes your boat to go off course. Then you continue >> maddeningly slowly going along your boat, up a conveyor belt, and back >> down. That's pretty much it. I wouldn't even consider it worth the >> wait in the Express line, let alone the normal line. > > You're not a dinosaur guy. There are a lot of kids that are dino > crazy. River Adventure makes dinos come alive more than say, > any of those in Dinoland in AK. You're right that I'm not a dino-obsessed 10-year-old boy, but I'm failing to see how that's true. I don't remember more than 2 actual dino animatronics on the ride. The one that's in the water that diverts your boat, and the raptor in the processing center or warehouse or whatever. I don't doubt that there might be more, but they certainly didn't strike me as more "real" than the ones on Dinosaur or even Ellen's Energy Adventure. > 'Sides, it was one of Spielberg's > babies. If Spielberg is helping design your park, are you going > to tell him no? Especially since JP was such a big hit for Universal? I don't have any problem with there being a Jurassic Park attraction at the park. I have a problem with the Jurassic Park attraction being so phenomenally boring. >> On the way out of Wizarding World this time, we purchased the frozen >> "butterbeers", which I do have to say, were delicious. Very very sweet, >> almost like a frozen version of creamy caramel. We made our way back to >> the Port of Entry, and exited the park. Back through City Walk, back >> across the footbridge and down the escalator to the bus pick up area. > > Didn't even go through Lost Continent or Seussland? That's a third > of the park you missed. We went through Lost Continent on the way to HP'land. There were no other attractions we missed there, were there? There was a show, something about Sinbad, that Amanda said she didn't care to wait for. We went through Seussland on the way out of HP'land. It looked like kiddie-ride-land. I didn't see anything there that looked like it was designed for teens or adults. (Though we did go to Cat in the Hat on our second Universal day). >> My overall review of Islands of Adventure - I was impressed with some of >> the attractions. I was impressed with some of the story and theming. I >> was not remotely impressed with Guest Services or the employees. I was >> not impressed with some of the rides that were completely not-themed but >> preceded by well-themed queues. It just didn't have the same feel as >> being in a Disney park. I didn't feel like a "guest". I felt like >> someone from whom they wanted money and then wanted me to get the hell >> out to make room for the next person. > > Much of it has to do with going to the park in July. I'm serious > about that. I've found things in UO *much* more pleasant during > the off-months, especially when the kiddies (including many of the > CM's) are back in school. Yeah well, unfortunately, my 15-year-old half-sister is also in school, and that rendered summer our only time to go. > Same with Disney, really. Ever deal with > the CM's in Epcot during a real bad night during the second showing of > ToN in July? Most were about as pleasant as the CM's you encountered > at UO... <shrug> I spent the other 7 days of my vacation at the same time in the Disney parks. We didn't encounter a single rude CM, and on the contrary still encountered a few "magical moments". >> My overall review of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - the Forbidden >> Journey attraction is AWESOME (except for that bit of the queue in the >> "greenhouse". Dragon Challenge is a good coaster. Flight of the >> Hippogriff is pointless and should be removed. > > So what's wrong with a kid's coaster there? Don't like kids? :-) See my complaint above. > The coaster was there looong before potterland. How is that supposed to mean anything to someone who's never been to UO before Potterland? Should I also cut Honey I Shrunk the Audience a break because the 3D theater had been there long before? > Now what you should do, is compare UO to say, Six Flags. Oh, Universal wins that battle, hands down. No question. Better stories, better theming, better attractions, even better food. UO is a theme park. 6F is an amusement park. > Thanks for the report. I'm waiting for day 8. :-) I nearly got carpal tunnel typing this one up. Give me a while to rest, would you? :-P Paul Lalli |