The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade (Orlando): Part 2

[Accio Butterbeer]

I dont know how that Dementor scene doesnt scare the mess out of anyone else but me. Like everytime I go in there no matter if I know whats coming or not that part always has a horrid effect on me.

It does scare everyone. They just say it doesn't lol Usually when people say something didn't scare them, it did haha Especially in movies or rides.

 

[Andy]

It does scare everyone. They just say it doesn't lol Usually when people say something didn't scare them, it did haha Especially in movies or rides.

Find my review lol!

 

[Parkscope Joe]

My first time on Forbidden Journey the Chamber of Secrets had me freaking the ---- out.

 

[Cupcakes]

I'll admit the first and second Dementor startled me a little on my first ride.

 

[demoncarnotaur]

That's great news... but I'd also like to see the dragon restored to its original intended motion, the introduction of articulated spiders, the fixing of the Whomping Willow scene closer to the original version pre-cuts, and just for kicks some adjustments to the now underwhelming Chamber of Secrets sequence...

Out of curiosity, what was the original vision for these things?

The FJ ride never clicked for me- it felt too predictable, and kinda awkward each time I rode it which is a shame since I was looking forward to it so much. I hope things click for me next time- the low quality (looking) projection screens really killed this ride for me. Also, the animatronics are just too visible pre-usage/gag.

 

[Clive]

Out of curiosity, what was the original vision for these things?

The FJ ride never clicked for me- it felt too predictable, and kinda awkward each time I rode it which is a shame since I was looking forward to it so much. I hope things click for me next time- the low quality (looking) projection screens really killed this ride for me. Also, the animatronics are just too visible pre-usage/gag.

Teebin is a great source for what was *supposed* to happen with many of the elements in Forbidden Journey - many of what I'm about to list comes from posts from him and other sources. If he'd like, he's more than welcome to share or correct any of the following.

Off the top of my head...

-As we all know, the Floo Network projection was changed a few years into the ride's operation
-Dragon's original intended motion (perhaps seen in testing and in the opening weeks, I wasn't there so can't confirm) was more dynamic, with the dragon swinging his head & neck more and clearly lurching its jaw forward to belch. If someone can find the tech demo video from Entech, it'll show the original intended motion
-Aragog was supposed to move in some capacity and not be a stationary prop (not sure if this applied to the other spiders, or if they were always intended to be stationary)
-Whomping Willow scene was allegedly hit the hardest: was supposed to be much brighter, more dynamic effects, possibly (can't remember where I read this) more moving limbs... something got cut, so the lights were turned down
-Dementors lost their hands due to WB deeming them too scary (...)
-There was supposed to be a horde of dementors in the final moments before the third dome; this too was determined to be too scary by WB and the effect was turned off. The dementors are still there, turned off in the darkness, can occasionally be seen (apparently now better than before due to increased dome brightness). One of them still has their hands, as pointed out in a recent breakdown video
-Perhaps most significantly - entire ride was supposed to be in 3D and the CGI was produced as such. The long Sorting Hat hallway is where we would've retrieved our 3D glasses. This was cut for multiple reasons (motion sickness concerns? glasses falling off?)

That's all I know of. Again, I'm not an authority on this, just recalling what I've read on here and other places.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Also the bench motion was toned down prior to opening.

 

[Teebin]

Teebin is a great source for what was *supposed* to happen with many of the elements in Forbidden Journey - many of what I'm about to list comes from posts from him and other sources. If he'd like, he's more than welcome to share or correct any of the following.

I only knew about the willow scene as I have the plans for it. I knew much more about the queue and Hogsmeade because I have the show plans for those as well... and some drawings and scribbles by important peoples. I even have videos and pics of actual movie props being played with in the design houses throughout the US. They were considered so valuable that they were taken home by shop managers. They had them temporarily to re-sculpt/execute the copies. It was all great fun at the time.

The simple story of the willow is that the bids for the original plans came in too high... so they chopped it to nothing and turned most of the lights off. From the plans, you can tell that you were supposed to see the willow in the spider spitting scene through holes that are still there, a horrid foreshadowing.

 

[Bryce]

No, the dementors scare me too. The way that they move towards you is just so creepy. After the first few, I'm good. But dang. They do creep me out.

 

[Nick]

Teebin is a great source for what was *supposed* to happen with many of the elements in Forbidden Journey - many of what I'm about to list comes from posts from him and other sources. If he'd like, he's more than welcome to share or correct any of the following.

Off the top of my head...

-As we all know, the Floo Network projection was changed a few years into the ride's operation
-Dragon's original intended motion (perhaps seen in testing and in the opening weeks, I wasn't there so can't confirm) was more dynamic, with the dragon swinging his head & neck more and clearly lurching its jaw forward to belch. If someone can find the tech demo video from Entech, it'll show the original intended motion
-Aragog was supposed to move in some capacity and not be a stationary prop (not sure if this applied to the other spiders, or if they were always intended to be stationary)
-Whomping Willow scene was allegedly hit the hardest: was supposed to be much brighter, more dynamic effects, possibly (can't remember where I read this) more moving limbs... something got cut, so the lights were turned down
-Dementors lost their hands due to WB deeming them too scary (...)
-There was supposed to be a horde of dementors in the final moments before the third dome; this too was determined to be too scary by WB and the effect was turned off. The dementors are still there, turned off in the darkness, can occasionally be seen (apparently now better than before due to increased dome brightness). One of them still has their hands, as pointed out in a recent breakdown video
-Perhaps most significantly - entire ride was supposed to be in 3D and the CGI was produced as such. The long Sorting Hat hallway is where we would've retrieved our 3D glasses. This was cut for multiple reasons (motion sickness concerns? glasses falling off?)

That's all I know of. Again, I'm not an authority on this, just recalling what I've read on here and other places.

Out of everything you listed here, i'm happiest that the ride DIDN'T get 3D.

 

[novawildcat18]

Rode FJ for the first time in about a year and a half. The Floo projection change didn't really impact my ride at all and I have no opinion on it really. But the screens looked much clearer than before. I'm not 100% sure why the projection wasn't this clear in the first place because I enjoyed the ride a lot better.

 

[Accio Butterbeer]

Find my review lol!

I cant find it lol

 

[TomTheRiddle]

That's great news... but I'd also like to see the dragon restored to its original intended motion, the introduction of articulated spiders, the fixing of the Whomping Willow scene closer to the original version pre-cuts, and just for kicks some adjustments to the now underwhelming Chamber of Secrets sequence...

The motion for the Dragon won't change. It would interfere with the ride profile. Same with the Whomping Willow. 3 Spiders were removed years ago per WB.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, this ride will not get any more effects than it already has and that includes effects taken out.

Does full blown mean that the vehicles do not glide back to the station? That the evac platforms and emergency rolling stairs are used and brought out?

Oh geez... that must be a craptastic adventure. Remember that some of the evac equipment is stored in the room behind the walls of the dungeon! I assume this might be one or more of said stairs.

Yup. Except the equipment is kept in the track because of its size. If you look down at the Spider scene you can see the staircase below you up against the rock wall.

I have been on FJ between 10-15 times in the past year. They are definitely tinkering with it. Some changes are good and some are bad.

*Yes, the brightness and projections are noticeable and good.
*The new ride profiles seem to be a work in progress and no 2 rides feel the same. I was in the single rider seat every time (the very last one to load.) I find that you spend much more time on your back than before.
*because they're tinkering with the profiling, the timing is off between the ride vehicles and the domes. This means that the transitions are not as seemless as they were before and you see that you are, in fact, entering and exiting a white dome. This is bad show, but forgivable if this is due to a "work in progress."
*FJ was down at least 3 hours on Wednesday. IoA happened to be especially crowded. It was also very hot. I wanted to die. The temp bridge was open. At times, single rider would back up past the Gryffindor Common Room. The ride temporarily broke down while I was on it which I enjoyed.
*Dementor effect never worked for me, but it would work for others on my bench. I rode 4 times.
*The Dark Mark projection was missing everytime.
*The ending Dumbledore projection was missing on one ride.
*Did they go back to the only Floo projection?

Major Positive:
The Chamber of Secrets is MUCH more prominent in this new profile. It may even be lit better. You see every snake statue, and there is no doubt where you are. I am thrilled by this. You also seem to spend more time with the Willow (on your back.)

Negative:
You see other ride vehicles, portions of the building you were never meant to see (the tunnel before the Willow as you're under the Willow) and you see the domes. You also stare at the tunnel where they bring benches from when you transition from Dumbledore to Floo for a good 2-3 seconds (but this may have always been the case?)

Keep in mind, I've only been on two trips to WWoHP, so I may be misremembering things, but the ride does look and feel different. Hopefully HTF or others can back me up on some of this.

As for the rest of the land, I don't think they want JKR or a WB rep visiting anytime soon. The Tomes and Scrolls window seemed off to me but again, I've only been one other time and that was a year ago. The Dominic Maestro window was definitely not working.

Has the Magic Neep cart always sold pretzels and churros?

The ride profile is much different then it was 2 years ago or even 1 year ago. They tweak things that almost no one can tell the difference of. From what I know and what I've heard, you went on the ride on a very bad day for Forbidden Journey. The ride system was lucky to be operating at all after the downtime. The dementor effect almost never works properly, its kind of a lost cause, but the other effects had a bad show day, but you've always been able to see other vehicles...its just impossible not to.

Came across an FJ breakdown video that shows a dementor with its hands: http://youtu.be/1kR1bCJB9J8?t=3m19s

It's out of sight when the ride is running normally but I found it interesting. Wonder if there's any more hidden close to the ride track?

I applaud you for finding a video containing one of the ten static ones. If you scroll back a few pages you can find my account of the full story, but to sum it up there's 12 dementors in that scene. Two of them move at you (the two you see every time) and have no hands because they were cut from show quality. There's another ten of them that don't move that are all over that area in many different corners and sides of you. All of them have hands. When the ride first opened it was going to flash strobe lights in that area and it was actually going to be really, really creepy.

Not knocking Reel's observations, but he hadn't been on FJ in a while and memory can be tricky ;-)
The dome profiles (including transitions into and out of them) have changed, though I don't think in a huge or bad way. If you are sitting in the end seat, you've always been able to see the carousel transitioning if you looked.
I think the extra brightness you're noticing in the chamber is mostly light spill from the brighter domes, but the lighting overall needs a good refocus (things shift).
The dragon hasn't looked as good as it does in that Entech vid since 2010. Some days he's more arthritic than others ;-) Wish he would return to opening-day condition...
These are just my observations from riding a minimum of 3 times a week for the last 3 years, and about once a day through June and July

^ I love and trust confident statements like this. I also would agree that the dome spill could cause problems. I have maintained this since the first time that I rode. I have also maintained that the lighting has always sucked. I can only assume it is because of a tug-of-war between WB and Universal Creative. While I have some serious issues with UOR management, I believe UC would have nailed the ride otherwise.

True statement. Show effects haven't changed in a LONG time sans the new projections.

Also don't look for anything to happen until the slowest part of the year (Jan-Feb)

 

[romo]

Teebin is a great source for what was *supposed* to happen with many of the elements in Forbidden Journey - many of what I'm about to list comes from posts from him and other sources. If he'd like, he's more than welcome to share or correct any of the following.

Off the top of my head...

-As we all know, the Floo Network projection was changed a few years into the ride's operation
-Dragon's original intended motion (perhaps seen in testing and in the opening weeks, I wasn't there so can't confirm) was more dynamic, with the dragon swinging his head & neck more and clearly lurching its jaw forward to belch. If someone can find the tech demo video from Entech, it'll show the original intended motion
-Aragog was supposed to move in some capacity and not be a stationary prop (not sure if this applied to the other spiders, or if they were always intended to be stationary)
-Whomping Willow scene was allegedly hit the hardest: was supposed to be much brighter, more dynamic effects, possibly (can't remember where I read this) more moving limbs... something got cut, so the lights were turned down
-Dementors lost their hands due to WB deeming them too scary (...)
-There was supposed to be a horde of dementors in the final moments before the third dome; this too was determined to be too scary by WB and the effect was turned off. The dementors are still there, turned off in the darkness, can occasionally be seen (apparently now better than before due to increased dome brightness). One of them still has their hands, as pointed out in a recent breakdown video
-Perhaps most significantly - entire ride was supposed to be in 3D and the CGI was produced as such. The long Sorting Hat hallway is where we would've retrieved our 3D glasses. This was cut for multiple reasons (motion sickness concerns? glasses falling off?)

That's all I know of. Again, I'm not an authority on this, just recalling what I've read on here and other places.

I never knew all this info....wish could see the dementors how they were supposed to be....i cant believe there just there being static....are they on moving arms?? or were they never intended to move?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Has there been changes to the development of attractions (mostly Gringots) so that WB/JK worked more directly with the development of the attraction and it's effects? I'm just wondering as Comcast have opened up the money spout and the 'only' other major hold back from the original design of FJ was WB.

 

[TomTheRiddle]

I never knew all this info....wish could see the dementors how they were supposed to be....i cant believe there just there being static....are they on moving arms?? or were they never intended to move?

They aren't on KUKA arms. They're just static props.

Has there been changes to the development of attractions (mostly Gringots) so that WB/JK worked more directly with the development of the attraction and it's effects? I'm just wondering as Comcast have opened up the money spout and the 'only' other major hold back from the original design of FJ was WB.

I'd be willing to bet that they cut things. They've killed queue effects at Forbidden Journey since opening.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I'd be willing to bet that they cut things. They've killed queue effects at Forbidden Journey since opening.

Really? Any examples? I just thought the queue was some sounds, the paintings, the character projections, and snow?

 

[TomTheRiddle]

Really? Any examples? I just thought the queue was some sounds, the paintings, the character projections, and snow?

Sound effects in the dungeons, the hallway with the potions professor, and some practical effects in the dungeons as well.

 

[Teebin]

I have been told by a source that they had envisioned pumping low hanging fog into the dungeon from under the "doors" to the left. This was scrapped for safety reasons (which seems rather obvious). Behind those doors is a large-ish space that is the building beneath the great hall. This room was also used to house all of the engineering plans/documents for the building/ride during construction.

(for the oldies here, sorry to sound like a scratched record, as you have all heard this before)

 

[TomTheRiddle]

I have been told by a source that they had envisioned pumping low hanging fog into the dungeon from under the "doors" to the left. This was scrapped for safety reasons (which seems rather obvious). Behind those doors is a large-ish space that is the building beneath the great hall. This room was also used to house all of the engineering plans/documents for the building/ride during construction.

(for the oldies here, sorry to sound like a scratched record, as you have all heard this before)

True statement. There's fog machines in some of the doors and the sewer pipes. The machines are still in place, though. You would have thought that they learned their lesson when they tried to that same effect in ALL of Marvel....

The specific audio effects were supposed to come from the Potions Classroom and it was a female potions professor saying "will somebody help Longbottom before **fog blast** -nevermind...", that audio made the cut for a while (without the fog effect), but was turned off about a year ago per WB's request. Also for a while the Kitchen made sounds and the Storeroom door had house elves talking about how they needed to get things ready for their master.

The latter of the two was a swap for the audio that made it a few weeks in the hallway before portrait gallery which consisted of Hagrid and Harry talking about the dragon on the loose. The two accidentally got put in each other's positions and were left for a while, but the upstairs effect was scrapped because there were too many audio loops in that hallway, and the dungeon ones were turned off because WB wanted them off.

The room Teebs is talking about is now a workroom for the department that manages facilities for Hogsmede. Last time I looked it was mostly just maintenance stuff for the village and extra queue poles.