Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 Can you please elaborate on the "scarier than Indy" part please yates? Personally I find other boards and their layouts almost as scary as Indy so if you could provide what you Americans call "cliff notes" for those of us too scared to navigate through forty odd pages of strange forums it would be very much appreciated.
Originally Posted By Mr X Indy is very cool, but I wouldn't call it very scary. I would hope that a Harry Potter ride would be moreso (the Harry Potter takes, in their darkest moments at least, are FAR more scary than any Indy Jones adventure after all!).
Originally Posted By dshyates The scary stuff is a car sized spider with about a hundred smaller spiders, getting attacked by a fire-breathing dragon, and dementors. Most of the fx are very in you face (almost close enough to touch). There are reports of smaller children coming off in tears. And remember, the height restriction is 48" so these kids can't really be THAT young.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***There are reports of smaller children coming off in tears*** AWESOME! <--contacts local travel agent to book trip to Orlando!
Originally Posted By Dabob2 From what I've seen they do something pretty smart, which is not let you see very much of the spiders and dragons, in that it's often dark until you get right near them and then they flash the lights on them. So you don't see them as you approach from a distance, but not until you're right up on them. And even then they flash from bright to dark so it's disorienting and you don't ever get a real good look at them steadily (that's how it seemed, anyway). You know how in scary movies, the monster is always scariest the first time you see it? As you get used to seeing it, it gets less scary? And if you get a real GOOD look at it, it might look cheesy? And how in cheesy giant spider movies from the 50's and similar, it gets laughable when you start seeing them too much? This avoids that. It's pretty canny to do it that way (that's the way it seemed from the videos I saw, anyway). This ride seems like a great deal of fun. I was a bit less impressed with the shops, which seemed awfully small physically (and several reviews confirmed this), and not being an HP-head, I really don't care about overpaying for some HP-themed stuff anyway. I also am scratching my head at the decision to go "snow capped" for the village, which looks a lot fakier than the rest of it, and it's rarely winter-y feeling in Orlando anyway, so there will always be that visceral disconnect. When they "snow-top" SLB in DL in December, you sort of buy it, as it's fairly cool in Anaheim in Dec. (at least crisp), and certainly so at night when they light the castle and it looks downright cold. That won't work here, and I think they'd have been better off just leaving off the "snow" and having it be Spring or Fall in the village - it would look a lot better. The buildings themselves have a pretty good faux-Oxford look. Having just been in Oxford again recently it did look kind of "faux" to me, but most people won't have that reference to the real thing. I do think the area could get awfully crowded in a hurry when it opens in peak season, and several places look like one big bottleneck waiting to happen, but we'll see. (And hey, I don't mind dealing with the AL or Main Street bottlenecks - you just grin and bear it sometimes). I thought the queue re-do of the dragons coaster was good, although it was already a good queue. And they improved the smaller coaster.
Originally Posted By dshyates I can say that the photos don't do the snow justice. When you see it in person it has this amazing sparkly texture to it that really gives it the look of real snow. I think the effect is much better than the snow at Blizzard Beach. I hear they started general softs that ran from 9-10am this morning. I am going out Thurs AM to see if I can get in. I'll post my findings.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance SuperDry, you need to read the books and watch the movies, I think if you only did one or the other you'd be missing out. Like those large frogs sitting on the pillows singing with the kids, I think those are only from the movies. I don't remember them from the books.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <I think the effect is much better than the snow at Blizzard Beach.> That wouldn't be too hard!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Just talked to a very good (and reliable) friend who rode Potter multiple times this morning before IOA closed the entire 'island' off at 11 and his reviews of the area and attraction were glowing ... this is just something Disney refuses to even attempt anymore. But at least we can all color with Aurora! Walt would be so proud ...
Originally Posted By brotherdave The pictures to the link in post 59 reminds me of when the Horizons vehicles went through the Omnisphere. Very cool, to say the least! I'm starting to get very excited about this attraction!
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< ***There are reports of smaller children coming off in tears*** AWESOME! <--contacts local travel agent to book trip to Orlando! >>> That's exactly what came to mind for me - we must be demented or something.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 No - you're just excited at the idea of being challenged while on an attraction, rather than choking from the plethora of pixie dust and MAGIC!!!!!!!1(c).
Originally Posted By dshyates I got in today, and rode FJ twice. Had both regular and frozen Butterbeer. And tried the Hog's Head Brew. The ride is great. I was a little bit surprised that most of the figures aren't AAs. But they don't really need to be. As you only see them for a second or 2. I think they learned a lesson from Disney's Adventure in Yetiland. The ride system is AMAZING! The queue is also amazing. The best way to sum up the ride is Indy meets Soarin'.
Originally Posted By dshyates And the shops can get very crowded. Check out the wand shop: <a href="http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/2638/hp23.jpg" target="_blank">http://img28.imageshack.us/img...hp23.jpg</a>
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << I was a little bit surprised that most of the figures aren't AAs. But they don't really need to be. >> It's a bit funny to read these sort of qualified statements on the same boards where Disney gets hammered every day for not having attractions filled with AAs anymore. I guess what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander? << The best way to sum up the ride is Indy meets Soarin'. >> In other words, replace 3D figures with movie screens.
Originally Posted By dshyates "In other words, replace 3D figures with movie screens." No, not really. The movie screens are for the scenes where you are flying above Howarts and the Quidittch Pitch. But there are a lot of scenes that have real 3D figures like Aragog (giant spider) and a bunch of smaller spiders. A full sized Whomping Willow that swings a giant branch at you. A full sized dragon (which is a very large AA) and a lot of dementors that are mounted on their own Kuka arms and get very close to you. Aside from the figures the sets themselves are very detailed. "It's a bit funny to read these sort of qualified statements on the same boards where Disney gets hammered every day for not having attractions filled with AAs anymore. I guess what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander?" I think it makes perfect sense. HPatFJ isn't lacking in figures, it is just that most aren't fully functioning AAs. Aragog the spider is much like the Yeti in that you only see it for a second or 2. And a lot of us here have said that Disney wasted a lot of money making the Yeti such an elaborate AA since you zip by it at light speed. But the Yeti and the Bird on a stick are the only figures in Everest. Where as HPatFJ has TONS of figures. There are probably 10-12 Dementors each on their own Kuka arm. There are a BUNCH (probably close to a hundred) smaller spiders. And then there is the dragon attack scene with the big Dragon AA.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Does anyone know what the budget for this attraction was? I'm curious simply because it seems like an extraordinary risk given that IOA has never broken any records attendance-wise. Maybe Universal is banking on visitor spending in the shops to help cover the cost of this expensive attraction.