The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hollywood

[Wesker69]

The most important piece of news for the month of June for USH has arrived, via CI..

^okay so I got the Butterbeer ice cream today while at the park... ugh.. such a waste. First of all, the cart this is sold at is "CASH ONLY". Which is ridiculous. As for the ice cream itself? "meh"... it didn't even really taste like Butterbeer. And the $6.50 price tag was a bit steep for such mediocre and forgettable ice cream. So don't waste your time with these containers of 4 flavors being sold.

Honestly, if you want a cold dessert, just go get one of the new over-priced treats sold at Despicable Delights or the Ice Cream place on the Lower Lot..

 

[Ron101]

^okay so I got the Butterbeer ice cream today while at the park... ugh.. such a waste. First of all, the cart this is sold at is "CASH ONLY". Which is ridiculous. As for the ice cream itself? "meh"... it didn't even really taste like Butterbeer. And the $6.50 price tag was a bit steep for such mediocre and forgettable ice cream. So don't waste your time with these containers of 4 flavors being sold.

Honestly, if you want a cold dessert, just go get one of the new over-priced treats sold at Despicable Delights or the Ice Cream place on the Lower Lot..

I tried it also and was very disappointed. It was basically vanilla ice cream with a small amount of unmixed Butterbeer syrup. Also, I couldn’t use my passholder discount due to it being a cash only cart.

 

[Wesker69]

I tried it also and was very disappointed. It was basically vanilla ice cream with a small amount of unmixed Butterbeer syrup. Also, I couldn’t use my passholder discount due to it being a cash only cart.

^yea i witnessed this with a guest today as well... its just one more less magical thing about WWOHP Hollywood lol

 

[SnideRemarksDept]

The UOR blog announced the arrival of a new chocolate frog card coming July 2nd: Jocunda Sykes, the first witch to cross the Atlantic by broom. Like the others, the boxes containing the new card will be specially marked for a limited period before being sorted into the mix. This brings the total up to 9 cards and will be the first new card to feature a witch.

 

[Viator]

I have gotten permission to drop this, but the new Wand Experiences debut tomorrow for Hogsmeade.

 

[Viator]

As I reported last night, today is the debut of the new Wand experiences, as ITM is going to be covering today's media day.



I'll update this if IU is also going to be here, but it's good to get the word out.

EDIT: IU is covering the event as-well, as I highly recommend checking out their Social Media account on Twitter to stay up-to-date on the media day.



Also note, MouseInfo will also be at today's event as-well.



EDIT 2: We got the Osaka Wand effects.

 

[Brian G.]

Among these new experiences at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Hollywood includes the introduction of two new spells.

New experiences debut at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Hollywood | Inside Universal

 

[Rideguy70]

I was in the park yesterday, and both the spells were "jinxed". Are the spells not truly open to the general public yet? Or were they really both down? They had stanchions covering up both markers on the ground.

 

[Sydney]

I was in the park yesterday, and both the spells were "jinxed". Are the spells not truly open to the general public yet? Or were they really both down? They had stanchions covering up both markers on the ground.

At the press event on Thursday, Incendio went down for the day only a few minutes in. Alohomora worked on and off throughout the day.

 

[k_peek_2000]

At the press event on Thursday, Incendio went down for the day only a few minutes in. Alohomora worked on and off throughout the day.

Incindio only went down for 40 minutes. It was back up by 10am, unless it broke down again, which i am hearing it did. I think the issue is too many people with interactive wands standing in the same area.

 

[Sydney]

Incindio only went down for 40 minutes. It was back up by 10am, unless it broke down again, which i am hearing it did. I think the issue is too many people with interactive wands standing in the same area.

Interesting to hear. Must’ve been down every time I checked on its status throughout the day. Regardless, it’s a shame that it works so infrequently at the moment, but hopefully it will work regularly in time.

 

[Teebin]

That is such a great effect.

 

[Mad Dog]

The interactive wands are great fun.On the other coast in Orlando, we'll schedule a few hours just to go around and try all the spells in Diagon & Hogsmeade.. Alene just loves her special wand, a very prized possession.

 

[SOCAL110]

So @Al2020, should we still expect Diagon Alley to be making its way to USH at some point in the future or have the plans changed?

 

[SnideRemarksDept]

So @Al2020, should we still expect Diagon Alley to be making its way to USH at some point in the future or have the plans changed?

I originally thought Diagon would go in the cluster of soundstages behind RotM as the plot of land is roughly the same size as DA in Orlando and is almost exactly the same width as the Escape from Gringotts show building. When SNW was announced, I believe it was originally intended to go there instead, as it would allow them to remove RotM to make way for the DK coaster.

If SNW has truly relocated to 22-25 & 28, I would say things are looking better for Diagon Alley, although there's nothing concrete as far as I know.

 

[Chris]

So @Al2020, should we still expect Diagon Alley to be making its way to USH at some point in the future or have the plans changed?

I think there have been many changes for Diagon Alley. However, the more Diagon Alley merchandise we get at Hollywood...I am having my doubts.

If Universal wants to take full advantage of Diagon Alley, they need it in a 2nd gate to offer higher ticket sales similar to Orlando.

 

[Al2020]

So @Al2020, should we still expect Diagon Alley to be making its way to USH at some point in the future or have the plans changed?

Right now the park has a lot of projects going on like Jurassic World, SNW which will be in sound stages 22-25 and the stages behind it, then we got SLoP/illumination Land in the upperlot which might open late next year or early 2020, but yes Diagon Alley is coming and our Hollywood version will be very unique and different to the one in Orlando’s!!!!! SNW is coming first then after will see Diagon Alley .

 

[HereWeGo]

but yes Diagon Alley is coming and our Hollywood version will be very unique and different to the one in Orlando’s!!!!! SNW is coming first then after will see Diagon Alley .

It just seems odd that once again they are taking a very long time to get this land over to Hollywood. Yes our Hogsmeade is popular and helped to increase park attendance but definitely not as much as I think the upper management was thinking it would. I not once ever saw those timed entrance kiosks being used. And that's definitely due to the fact that it had already been open in Orlando for YEARS before that. Again, it just seems like they would have noticed that and taken it into consideration.

 

[Ron101]

Was at the Wizarding World today checking out the new wand locations and the Incendio spell (fire from chimney) was working. The Alohomora spell (locks on door and dragon) unfortunately was operating on and off. There were multiple Team Members trying to get it up and running when it would break down.

 

[Jones14]

I almost feel like it’d be better to get the Ministry of Magic in Hollywood at this point.

They’ve clearly got plans for it (glares at FF in Orlando), and it’d probably take up a smaller footprint than Diagon would. It also alleviates the repeat of “well, yeah, we saw this in Orlando already”, and Orlando will still have the draw of being the more complete experience when they finally get around to it.