I am SO on board with this ride being a Universal interpretation of the Disney "mountain range" ride (minus the height of course.) Long track, long ride length, family thrills, indoor/outdoor layout with immersive theming running alongside the track, sense of speed conveyed and enhanced by the environment, etc.
I'm hearing we're getting a lot of rockwork which is awesome but I'm trying to figure out where in the Harry Potter universe there is land with low rocky outcroppings. We're assuming it's dark forest themed but is it possible that a large chunk of this takes place on the lower water-level area in and around the "base" of the castle like in the below image? Obviously the ride wouldn't literally be anywhere near the base of our castle façade but having the in-universe setting be "on the other side of the castle" is perfectly doable and kind of genius. Consistency with the existing castle can be retained pretty easily thanks to the remote and hidden nature of the queue approach and queue building. The queue is long and disorienting with loading/unloading hidden from guests so it's perfectly reasonable for the initial ride setting to be at the base of the mountain outcroppings somewhere on the outskirts of the castle. This would allow us to feel like we're really travelling from Hogwarts to the Forbidden Forest and back again on the ride itself instead of just having us board already in the forest. This also fully justifies retaining the indoor queue. If the castle façade is appropriately dressed up to include rockwork, we could be walking through hidden tunnels and passageways of Hogwarts grounds. Thoughts?
