USA Trip 2013: Blog Post #6
“It does not do to dwell on
dreams and forget to live.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Hog's Head Inn |
About
6 months before this trip I went on to Amazon and purchased the full box set of
Harry Potter movies. While I felt like a
bit of a cheat for not reading the books instead, I barely have time to read
the novels I’m really interested in, let alone the ones I’m reading because I
think I should.
After
many hours of Hogwarts viewing, I felt as ready as I’d ever be to truly
appreciate the theming of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWoHP). For anyone wondering if I think this prior
research was worthwhile, I definitely think it was. Obviously a huge Harry Potter fan will pick
up the finer features of the park in much more focused way than I ever could, but for
the short time we were there, my movie-watching research was sufficient.
The
WWoHP is one of six themed lands inside Universal’s Island’s of Adventure. However this land has such a loyal following
that people often talk about it as if it’s a park all on it’s own.
There
are 3 rides within the WWoHP. The Dragon
Challenge is a pair of duelling roller coasters that looked way too big and
scary for this timid family. The Flight
of the Hippogriff is a tamer, much more child-friendly coaster, but it’s
uncomfortable jerky movements meant that once was enough for Oskar and I.
The
third, and by far most impressive, ride is Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey. Coaster-come-Motion simulator, this ride is
supposed to simulate a broomstick ride through many scenes from the movie. It’s a difficult ride to explain, but it’s
scary, exciting, technically brilliant, and a little bit nauseating, all at the
same time.
Hogwarts Castle. The Forbidden Journey ride is inside. |
I was aware that scenes on the ride included giant spiders and Dementors, so I did a lot of research and asked a lot of
online questions before finally deciding that I would take my almost 6 year old
on the ride. Once on the ride I was completely
convinced that I had made a huge mistake.
The ride was far too scary for a child of his age. I was so worried that I didn’t actually take
the time to relax and enjoy the ride.
The seats are like small booths and your body is pressed hard against
the back of the seat by an over the shoulder harness. I was desperate to reach out and reassure my
son, but from where I was sitting I couldn’t even see him, let alone touch
him. An audio recording of our ride
would have been humorous as I’m sure I spent the whole ride yelling at Oskar to
close his eyes.
It
turns out that my stress was all a waste of time. Oskar admits to feeling a little bit scared,
but found the overall experience quite enjoyable. He was the only one of the three of us who
did. While I was busy panicking over my
son’s wellbeing, Scott was busy trying to hold down his breakfast. 3D screens make my husband feel slightly
unwell. When paired with a seat that
flings you around at every possible angle, the result was one of extreme
nausea. For the following half hour, Scott
sat calmly on a park bench while Oskar and I tried out the Hippogriff
coaster.
The
ride itself is only one part of the Forbidden Journey experience. The queuing area is the largest I have ever
seen, and it is also the most elaborately detailed. Even if you have no interest in the ride,
it’s worth taking the time to walk through the queue line. The detailing is so intricate, it feels as
though you have been transported into the movie and are taking a walk through
Hogwarts castle.
As
I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, the Forbidden Journey Ride has no
express pass. It is just so popular that
adding an express pass option would make the standby queue far too long. Also, entering through an express entrance
would mean bypassing the interesting walk through the castle. For this reason it makes sense to ride this
attraction as early as possible in the day.
If this isn’t an option, leave it for the end of the day. We rode it about 30 minutes into our hour of
early entry. Even at that time of the
day, the queue had a wait of over 30 minutes - the longest wait of our whole trip. If the huge queuing area was full, I can only
imagine that the wait would be closer to about 4 hours. While it’s a great ride, I don’t think there
is any theme park attraction on this planet that I would be happy to wait
longer than 45 minutes for.
Ollivander's Wand Shop |
The
first half of our hour of early entry was spent at Ollivander’s Wand Shop. Half of the shop stages a short interactive
show. Only about 10 people are allowed
into this area at a time and then one lucky volunteer is chosen by Mr Ollivander
to find the perfect wand. As the lucky volunteer
tries out a series of unsuitable wands, minor mayhem ensues inside the
shop. After all, it is not the wizard
that picks his wand, it’s the wand that picks the wizard. The show was cute and charming, but it would
have been all the more special if it had been one of us who had been
chosen. Unfortunately it wasn’t our
lucky day.
Because
such a small amount of people can enter the shop at the same time, the queues
for this attraction get understandably longer as the day progresses.
After
the show is finished, you’re a herded like cattle into the accompanying gift
store. Caught in the moment the
temptation is strong to part with your hard earned dollars in exchange for what
is essentially a pointless wooden wand. With
a large dose of self-restraint, we left the
store empty handed.
After
we had rushed around and ticked off the big-draw attractions, we had the time
to relax and enjoy the theming of the area.
The first stop was Hog's Head Inn.
I was not going to leave the park without first tasting the famous
Butterbeer. There is a regular version
and a frozen version, and from research it seems that the frozen version is
more popular. Unsure whether or not we
would like it, we got one frozen pint to share.
This stuff is yummy! One pint was
not enough and Scott went back later in the day to get more. I’m not sure how best to describe this
non-alcoholic drink, but there are many websites which compare it’s taste to
Creaming Soda. I detected similarities
to vanilla cola. Either way, I do wish
you could purchase it here in New Zealand. Since returning home, we have suffered from some pretty strong cravings.
Yum - Butterbeer! |
Oh no, it's all gone! |
A moving mandrake in one of the shop's windows. |
After
finishing off our beer I went into the Moaning Murtle bathrooms to rinse out
our souvenir pint glass. Then, for the next half an hour or so, I rushed
around taking photos of the various shop windows. I rushed so not to keep Scott and Oskar
waiting. They had not watched the Harry
Potter movies with me, so the theming meant much less to them. By this time they were ready to leave the
WWoHP and do rides in the surrounding lands.
In
all, I thought the whole area was stunning.
I understand that JK Rowling was very pedantic about what she did and
didn’t want included in this come-to-life version of her novels. I am pleased she had such a strong say in the area's construction, as
the result is pretty special.
Once they open the second Harry Potter area in 2014, the pull to go back
is going to be strong.
The Owl Post |
Honeydukes' Candy Store |
Harry Potter fans are looking forward to 2014 when the Hogwarts Express comes to life. |
No comments:
Post a Comment