Altogether, WWOHP is a fantastic land, and an even better, a fantastic addition to USH. Due to its size and available land space, the Hollywood park has always lagged behind Florida. It gets by on the tram tour, but it’s never really had anything like themed lands. Remember, USH is ground zero for the “studio park,” where barebones soundstages house whatever IP was randomly deemed most profitable at the time of installation. Much of USH’s “place-making” has been with post-modern silliness – the studio park trick of admitting to their own fakeness. This helped set USH apart from Disney at the time.
But they’ve been edging ever closer to being a true theme park lately. With Harry Potter, USH can boast a whopping nine rides (6 or 7 of those E-tickets), where once they just had the tram tour and some supporting shows. With tiny acreage, attractions alone can only do so much. The brilliance of WWOHP in USH is that the land itself extends the time a guest spends on its acreage, much more than “Forbidden Journey” could do on its own. It’s a very different way to tour USH than one does on the Lower Lot, where you just run between the three (awesome) rides, then wander off. And the guests I saw used WWOHP as it was intended: grown men in wizard costumes, children testing wands on every storefront, nearly every guest fully engaging with each minor nicety (except for the random fandom of vocal, vulgar Magic Mountain maniacs).
By USH standards, this WWOHP is immersive. You can still see some outside distractions, most beyond Universal’s control. Nearby skyscrapers loom over the quaint cottages. Heck, I glimpsed the Warner Bros. backlot from within Hogwarts! Plus the distant mountains covered in suburban sprawl. These are all unavoidable facts of USH’s location.
Immersion breaking moments which Universal could control – Springfield is visible from the “Forbidden Journey” entrance. (Springfield is USH’s former most immersive spot, a complete “Simpsons” land, but it’s too garish and cartoony vs. Potter’s semi-realism to work as well in a theme park environment.) From the Three Broomsticks and other spots I could see the “Forbidden Journey” show-building beside its façade. And there are prominent speaker poles and misters erected in queues, useful, yet odd for a land which wants no detail out of place.
But WWOHP’s batting average is great! People talk about how in Florida it created a new degree of immersion never before seen in any theme park ever, ever, ever. Every product, every cast member interaction, all work towards immersion. There’s no Coke, only Pumpkin Juice. I’m surprised they accept U.S. currency. In truth, Universal just fine-tuned and rediscovered something which has been around at least as long as Main Street U.S.A. or Knott’s Ghost Town. In ’55, Main Street was a lot closer to a genuine small town, with a barber shop and bra store and such. New Orleans Square was similar. Disney’s error has been to oversaturate every section of their parks with the same generic Disney style, until Main Street became just a really nice looking mall. (Eisner’s self-conscious attempts to undermine theme for profits, this is what Disney stood for when Potter first premiered.) But Disney is moving away from that, slowly.
I think the reason people would call Potter more effective than these old-school lands is due to Potter’s one-franchise focus. This is a near-literal duplication of locations seen in some films and books, so it’s really, really easy to connect with audiences. Who today could connect to a 1900 small town as easily? It takes more imagination and more effort (on the guest’s part) to engage with a non-branded, semi-historical location. But as Potter fades with time, as “Cars” fades, will their lands still work? I think so, at least with these examples. If the settings appeal regardless of IP, they’ll last. I sort of detest the “Cars” films, yet I adore Cars Land’s retro desert vibe. I’m indifferent towards Potter, but the idea of a wizard’s village could have worked even without an IP. I think WWOHP leans a little heavy on the guest’s familiarity with the source material. But it works.
“Forbidden Journey” is a fantastic experience, queue and all! The queue is Indy-level brilliant. The locker setup is a bonkers free-for-fall. My only complaint with the ride is, curiously, the addition: the 3D. The spex blocked my field of vision, and they darkened the non-screen parts of the ride. My second time through, I took the glasses off for the dark ride sections, and my experience improved immensely. (Reportedly, these soft opening glasses were stolen from “Transformers” using a Cloak of Invisibility, so some upcoming spectacles might improve the spectacle.) I also suspect that the ride’s intensity has been toned down in order to keep the glasses from magically vanishing. Perhaps this is Universal’s sneaky attempt to lower the height limit and make a (slightly) more family-friendly ride.
“Flight of the Hippogriff” – the family coaster – is bipolar. Where it is themed, it is beautiful. Hagrid’s cottage, the wicker ride baskets, the bric-a-brac in the loading station. And yet…it’s a bare-naked roller coaster. The track is painted the same tones as the local landscaping, but still. I’m fine with a coaster, in the proper setting, but when Potter does so much to appear accurate, this stands out. I understand they needed more than one ride, and in IOA this was grandfathered in from the pre-Potter land. It’s a minor intrusion, but it grates.
Food and snacks and such were all fine. Butterbeer is neat, though it’s no vodka. The pub grub was slightly below the quality served at my local watering hole, which means for a theme park it was exceptional. I loved exploring the shop interiors, admiring every item for sale, and every moving, animated detail in the nooks and crannies. That right there, those animated details, those are the best thing about WWOHP. I looked up from a Butterbeer queue once and saw a magical imp dash into a chimney. (This wasn’t my first Butterbeer, so I might’ve just been hallucinating.) Some say they could visit WWOHP, do no rides, and still be satisfied. This is true.
These kinetic movements, lived-in details, sensible products, in-character employees – the best of what a theme park can do. WWOHP combines these qualities more consistently than you’ll usually find. Potter is the perfect vehicle for this, a world which was already fully-realized and pleasant.
I had fun!
Previously:
I would hate to see Universal (and Disney) just copying success at the parks by just building new thing just for money. I know it is the nature of the game, but I would come up with new ideas! I think Star Wars land should only be at DHS by the way!
There's a bit of talk above regarding USH's tram tour. I agree with others that it is the true highlight of USH, and it shall remain that way even with Harry Potter. I'd say the tour shows Hollywood's hybridized identity: it is a tour through a genuine working movie studio (the last ride of its type in a theme park, to my knowledge), and yet it includes Kongfrontation, Supercharged, and other "enter the movies" moments. Some guests prefer these fantasies. Others (myself) enjoy the movie sets and history more. USH needs to provide both, and Potter provides the strongest theme park fantasy escape they've yet had. It balances against the tour; it doesn't undermine it.
@Rob Figures. Universal Hollywood barely has enough attractions to justify one park and yet they are thinking about building another. The greed of these companies simply knows no bounds. I guess I'll just stay home and drink my Reed's Flying Cauldron Butter Beer instead. Honestly, whether USH builds another park or not, I bet they add an upcharge to the train. How can they resist?
Although I do agree that cloned attractions is something of a necessity. I'd be pretty jealous if Anaheim kept Haunted Mansion and POTC all to themselves, and it's just fun to compare cloned attractions to see how alike and different they are from each other.
First off, the ride isn't even a decade old yet, so I don't think that such a drastic change could be justified yet. Second, FJ is one of the most if not the most popular ride in the resort; many consider it one of the greatest rides ever! So it doesn't need to add any gimmicks to maintain relevance. Third, everyone seems to be complaining that the 3D is taking away some of the ride's quality; do why then add it to the only existing version that wasn't intended to have 3D and has been doing just fine without it? And lastly, one of the biggest complaints Universal gets is that they're overly-reliant on 3D, so why add more fuel to the flame?!
This is the theme park equivalent of when George Lucas digitally "remastered" the original Star Wars trilogy.
The soft opening is supposed to last all the way until the official opening day on April 7th. However, the land may not operate every day and may have different hours from the rest of the park. This information will not be announced, you will either have to check at the park or search through social media. If you are going to USH primarily for Wizarding World of Harry Potter and you do not have a pass to come back if it isn't open, you would be better off waiting until after the official opening date.
I don't think they'll be a backlash against 3D at USH-- just a lot of grumbles. Ha. It's totally subjective for people. Gimmick or not, in ways it enhances a ride. On FJ, I found it cool... but everyone's right, the original ride is one of the worlds best so why tinker? But on other rides, like Despicable Me, to watch children reach out to "touch" the minions and things floating in front of them is fun to see.
K... that's all from this employee. Back to work.
I'll end my involvement in this comment section here. The OP wrote a great, thoughtful article about USH and the WWoHP soft-opening, which we all are very excited about. It's a beautiful land, and so important for USH. Many of us can imagine Hogwarts Express choo-chooing it's way down the mountain toward Diagon Alley on the backlot, if in fact that's were it goes... if it's even built. But for now, thank you for engaging with me, James. I do hope you have more positive experiences at Universal Theme Parks in the future. Best to you and your family.
And I do get your POV - it is the POV of a park hopper. To non-park hoppers, the only "perk" of the $50 upcharge is riding the train.
You are welcome back to this site anytime. Don't be a stranger. And best of luck with your career at Universal Studios!!!
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