I'll admit I rarely ride this attraction, but I have sort of realized, especially with what people are saying about F9, is that this attraction is sort of a close reflection of the lunacy the franchise itself has turned into more than anything. The animation is crap which is really amazing it could be so bad and it's just sort of like riding a ride only to get punk'd in the end. But like I said, it's sad that the attraction reflects the product you get from the actual movies now in many ways.
I agree wholeheartedly about Bourne. It's not bad, it's just okay. I've been saying this since I saw the TM preview last year months before the show officially debuted. Like you said, the show feels like it's more about playing with it's high-tech toys, which are obviously impressive, but the stunts are very lackluster imo and the finale is extremely weak when you compare it to it's direct predecessor.
I believe I said in my original review of the show last March that I think Indy is still the best pure STUNT show in Orlando, however Bourne is the better overall show.
For all their silliness, the films still deliver jaw-dropping (albeit sometimes hilarious) stunts and thrills. This really needed to be some sort of high-tech coaster that could emulate or physically pull off some of the wild maneuvers the family regularly experiences. I'll say it certainly helps that the franchise itself is constantly winking at the audience, but boy, the attraction is such an empirical stinker that it's still hard not to be disappointed anyway. It's telling that the film talent were apparently so frustrated with the quality of the script.
I think this forum (much as I love you all) oversold me on Bourne, and I should have taken into account the complete lack of buzz in the year since its debut. I think I would appreciate the stunts themselves if there wasn't so much setup time between each one. I realize it's a necessity given how the venue is set up, but it begs the question: Was a stunt show of this type the right choice for this building?
That part always cracks me up. "Hasta!"
Okay, that's what I
thought they were saying, but I didn't want to assume? It's cringe-inducing to begin with, but no one's buying that they're saying "awesome," Universal. I would much prefer an updated, basic safety video with a less grating vocal performance (not sure we even need the characters). The downstairs can stick to music video clips.
I noticed this at the beginning of May!
Agreed. Getting stuck in the queue when the ride goes down isn't a fun experience, and after having it happen to me again last month, I'm probably done with it for the summer now that VelociCoaster is open and operates significantly faster. You can probably ride VC twice in the time it takes to experience Hagrid once.
Okay, I'm glad I'm not crazy re: Dementors. It's
definitely lit brighter in here than it was on my past trip, as I used to only rarely be able to spot a turned-off figure or two. Now, I can see most or all of them, even when my eyes haven't adjusted.
I will say I did not notice a single occasion where Hagrid went down for anything other than weather. (It might have happened - but I didn't catch it, and I was keeping an eye on the queue.) So while its reliability appears to be up, it's still struggling to keep a healthy number of trains on the tracks, resulting in poor throughput and lines that move at a glacial pace. The only reason I was able to do it twice was thanks to the OI meetup, and even then it was stuck at reduced capacity and was commanding 65 minute waits. Not sure what I'll do when we return for Horror Nights, as I'm not sure I'll be able to get up at the crack of dawn and park myself at the turnstiles an hour before the park opens.
I'd say they should just bite the bullet and shut it down for a few weeks to really get at the drop tracks and hopefully resolve the long-term issues, but we're now in the heat of the summer, and then Horror Nights is right around the corner. There really isn't ever a good time to do it, but it needs help, fast.