Wizarding World - Diagon Alley Discussion - Part 2

[Vyrus]

Beautiful :happy:

 

[justibbs]

Wow, what a money shot of the dragon completed. Only thing missing is a little bit of fire!

 

[Badgeking]

I really think that date was just a place holder. Granted, it should have been some FAR off date like June 30, 2100 or something, lol.

Either way, I never managed to get that screen to load on the main website with the 30th date. All I kept getting was the Summer 2014.

What is also very odd, and something nobody has mentioned yet, is all the TV Guide websites still list the Red Carpet event with the word OPENING in the description of the show. Add on top of that the fact that the Variety article STILL lists June 20th as the date. Now, wouldn't you think Universal would have been jumping on these websites to have it changed based on how fast they changed their own website? The fact that the June 20th date is still listed in multiple locations all claiming to be the OPENING date, and Universal has yet to correct any of them, seems a little strange.

I see this June 30th thing to either be an honest mistake that some poor programmer made and nobody was ever meant to see it. He just wanted it to be mocked up so when the date was official he could quickly change the date and publish it. Or, Universal did this as a PR stunt to increase the hype and maybe even increase the HP package booking for June 29th (people thinking OMG, we can go in a day early!). Either way, I don't see the land opening after the 30th at this point. It has to open sometime in June or else they are going to be facing some unhappy customers that say the date all over twitter and booked. Plus, lets face it, if the land is ready to take in guests, why would they not let people in? You have TONS of people waiting to spend thousands of dollars in the land so keeping it locked up makes no sense.

 

[freediverdude]

How close is that dragon's head to the building across the street? It looks like when fire shoots out he will set the buildings on fire, lol.

 

[s8film40]

How close is that dragon's head to the building across the street? It looks like when fire shoots out he will set the buildings on fire, lol.

This is why you HAVE to go to soft openings, you never know what kind of unforeseen things can happen. It would be unfortunate if that happens but wouldn't it be spectacular to watch!:smiley:

In all seriousness though that's from a helicopter presumably using a very good zoom lens, that can really mess up the perspective of things.

 

[Teebin]

I think the dragon is still missing a part of his underside... the area where it connects to the center of the dome. His underside should end up lightly resting on the dome itself.

 

[BusyBee]

Just food for thought...so take it with a grain of salt lol...but MuggleNet mentioned in their article http://www.mugglenet.com/2014/06/diagon-alley-at-universal-orlando-resort-opening-on-june-30th/ one of the THEA Award deadlines is July 11th and says the project has to have been open by June 30th to be able to be entered. http://www.teaconnect.org/thea-submissions#node-5778

 

[CWood5678]

on a note to the Live Red carpet on tv, Remember what they did for hogsmeade? they did a ceremony at night even though they did one during the day

[video=youtube;rCP-E9HDd1I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCP-E9HDd1I[/video]

and also when the stars walked the red carpet when hogsmeade opened

[video=youtube;x2R7Yu0fQ1I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2R7Yu0fQ1I[/video]


So maybe they will be doing some type of ceremony at night on the 20th like directTV and others are showing? just a thought, not entirely sure. I will be going to Universal hopefully on the 20th. So I will see what is going on.

 

[TheLastAshen]

Does anyone happen to know when Jimmy Fallon will be on the Rockit stage?

 

[theuoleaker]

Does anyone happen to know when Jimmy Fallon will be on the Rockit stage?

Probably won't be his show tapes at 5pm and performances at 9pm.

 

[OLSinFLA]

So a friend of mine told me there will indeed be a media event on the 20th in the evening.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

So a friend of mine told me there will indeed be a media event on the 20th in the evening.

Based on what was told to us so far the media is leaving the 20th, so this could be another sort of event that hasn't been disclosed yet.

 

[Frogki]

It'd be nice to be there and see some pyrotechnics that night, sounds pretty awesome (even if I'll only be watching from the hotel)...

 

[Felipe]

Dragon on the dome looks great! BTW, here's another pic of it, from @bioreconstruct:

"The scaffolding came down today on the Diagon Alley dragon perched on the roof of Gringrotts. Note the workers."

And he also posted another pic showing more set up for the events coming up:

"Additional side added to this facade at Diagon Alley. Mimics and hides the same archway behind it."

 

[GGGhost]

Dragon on the dome looks great! BTW, here's another pic of it, from @bioreconstruct:

Awesome. Looks like they've added the chains around the dragon's neck.

 

[DragonSlayer]

^ Just thought the same, looks ace.

 

[badlactose]

That dragon looks very fetching perched atop that dome!

I'm eagerly awaiting the day a seagull lands on its back.

 

[kimlovesfl]

I've researched this. I believe CityWalk doesn't allow guests till 5am, so once garages open head on over. You'll still beat them and you will have a good spot.

Unless you are staying at one of the on-site hotels, and NOT Cabana Bay, you can't get to the turnstiles that early. CityWalk is cleared of day guests starting at 2 AM, the parking garages don't open until 6:30 on a 9 AM opening day (5:30 for 8 AM days), and even if you did manage to somehow get into the parking garages, you can't get past the security checkpoint. I've seen guests who have arrived really early, and security holds them up (BTR concert perfect example). Don't forget we have security in the entire resort 24 hours a day, so I don't recommend trying to get there super early on whatever day grand opening is.

 

[kimlovesfl]

Does anyone happen to know when Jimmy Fallon will be on the Rockit stage?

He isn't taping on the stage, that's for the performances; he is taping in SS 20, and the show tapes at 5 PM.

 

[rinacee]

Unless you are staying at one of the on-site hotels, and NOT Cabana Bay, you can't get to the turnstiles that early. CityWalk is cleared of day guests starting at 2 AM, the parking garages don't open until 6:30 on a 9 AM opening day (5:30 for 8 AM days), and even if you did manage to somehow get into the parking garages, you can't get past the security checkpoint. I've seen guests who have arrived really early, and security holds them up (BTR concert perfect example). Don't forget we have security in the entire resort 24 hours a day, so I don't recommend trying to get there super early on whatever day grand opening is.

When I went for Phase I, I was able to get into the garages and past security at around 5 AM. I got in line by Jurassic Park at around 5:30, and there were at least 1,000 people ahead of me, if not more. I don't know if it's changed or not...but that's what happened last time around for me.