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Universal Orlando (Studios/IOA/Epic Universe) : General Discussion

Enter Valhalla said:
Sorry if I'm missing something but how will this link between the two parks work? Many people will have a ticket for just one park so this train will be wasted on them. I haven't really been following this construction much so may have missed a crucial point :p
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Rob said:
You have to have a ticket for both parks to use the Hogwarts Express. I guess they do park hopper tickets similar to Disney?

:)
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I don't think many people going to Universal to see HP will have just the one ticket now. There's some good buys to be found for dual park tickets. It would be impossible to do all this in a day though so I guess it would work out quite expensive for what essentially is a go on the train.
 
I've seen a couple of rumours on TPR that to manage queues and demand, the Hogwarts Express will be on a 'one way, once a day' system. Can any of the more knowledgeable members *cough* @Danny *cough* about this provide any more deets?

:D
 
I don't know if anything has been 100% confirmed at the moment, but I believe it's two queues. You'll have one for first time riders that day, and another for repeat riders. In other words, first timers will effectively be fastrack. Seems the fairest way of ensuring everyone gets at least one ride on there considering the queues its going to get. I'm sure Danny will confirm what the actual deal is though :p
 
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As far as I'm aware, Craig has it spot on. The rumours that you could only ride once may possibly come into effect around the opening period as the throughput isn't actually that high, but for the foreseeable future the first time riders will essentially have a fast track queue compared to return riders.
 
I don't really see the need for re-rides (not while the attraction is going to be new and wildly popular) as it is not a particularly strenuous or lengthy walk between the two parks anyway. I think if I was in charge (I wish!) I would stick to one ride until the crowds calm down a bit.
 
Pixie-Ro said:
I don't really see the need for re-rides (not while the attraction is going to be new and wildly popular) as it is not a particularly strenuous or lengthy walk between the two parks anyway. I think if I was in charge (I wish!) I would stick to one ride until the crowds calm down a bit.
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Each ride on the Hogwarts Express is unique, and there are numerous sequences to experience, that's why people will want to re-ride. People aren't going to be fussed about hopping from park to park, but it's the experience that the attraction offers that is the most appealing aspect to it.
 
Danny said:
Each ride on the Hogwarts Express is unique, and there are numerous sequences to experience, that's why people will want to re-ride. People aren't going to be fussed about hopping from park to park, but it's the experience that the attraction offers that is the most appealing aspect to it.
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Each ride won't be unique as there is a finite number of sequences. (Sorry, I know that is incredibly pedantic)

I personally would not bother to ride again if the queues were ridiculously long, even though I know it could be a different 'film' (sorry, don't know how else to describe it). Plus, I would imagine that the majority of visitors would purchase more than a one day ticket, so would have the opportunity to ride again on another day. Where would the people in charge rather have their guests - standing in a massive queue or potentially spending money elsewhere in the park? I am a massive Potter fan and cannot wait to visit Diagon Alley, but I think there are going to be way better attractions on offer than the train ride (or its queue line!) Obviously once I have ridden it I may be desperate to go on again and completely change my opinion, such is the way of life!
 
Pixie-Ro said:
I personally would not bother to ride again if the queues were ridiculously long, even though I know it could be a different 'film' (sorry, don't know how else to describe it). Plus, I would imagine that the majority of visitors would purchase more than a one day ticket, so would have the opportunity to ride again on another day. Where would the people in charge rather have their guests - standing in a massive queue or potentially spending money elsewhere in the park? I am a massive Potter fan and cannot wait to visit Diagon Alley, but I think there are going to be way better attractions on offer than the train ride (or its queue line!) Obviously once I have ridden it I may be desperate to go on again and completely change my opinion, such is the way of life!
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People were queuing outside of IOA for 12 hours to experience Hogsmede, and Universal were very accommodating of that. To say they'd rather have guests spending money elsewhere in the park is foolish, especially when we all know just how much money they will bring in with the new area. After all, Universal are nothing like Merlin and genuinely want people to experience the area and will be more than willing to allow people to spend hours in a colossal queue to do so. They aren't going to usher them on to another ride or attraction and tell them to spend their money elsewhere, and why should they? Universal build their rides and attractions to immense levels of detail and want guests to experience that.

Moreover, a lot of die hard fans and enthusiasts alike have been anticipating this for a long time. To be able to visit Diagon Alley on the day it opens will be a very special occasion for a huge amount of people, and the celebrations themselves that Universal will hold will inevitably be unrivaled. It's certainly an achievement to say you were there and a part of the opening of an area built to this level of detail.

I do however agree that I personally wouldn't want to spend my time in the queues either knowing how vast they are going to be, but that isn't going to stop the thousands of people queuing outside of the park past midday just to even gain access to the area.
 
I wasn't talking about opening day, obviously that is a different matter entirely. I waited for The Smiler for three hours before it opened on opening day, but I wouldn't queue for that long on any other day.
And I understand what you are saying about Universal wanting people to experience the area but they won't be doing that standing in a line. Whether it's for financial gain (which, let's be honest, is the bottom line of any profit based company) or guest experience, people spending the majority of their day waiting in line is not what Universal want, therefore limits on rides would, in my humble opinion, be a good idea while the area is still new. Maybe one ride either way?
 
They'll want everyone to get into the area eventually as once they are I'm sure money will be flowing extremely freely from people's wallets. The merch will no doubt be on the expensive side yet a lot of people are going to want to purchase all of the seemingly unique things. Same applies for food and drink. Sure I heard somewhere that the first Harry Potter area made its money back within six months of opening. No doubt this will be the same.

:)
 
Rob said:
Sure I heard somewhere that the first Harry Potter area made its money back within six months of opening. No doubt this will be the same.

:)
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That would not remotely surprise me, and that's a lesson that Merlin could learn something from - even though they're technically "bigger" than Universal...
 
It's very true that the cost of Hogsmede was made back very quickly [ quicker than Universal anticipated, I believe]. It's inevitable Diagon Alley will do the same, probably to an even greater extent.
 
Put time, money and effort into something and it will reap the rewards. I don't understand how Merlin don't understand this. :(
 
Wandering off topic a little bit I know, but a comparable investment in the UK would take WAY longer to recoup than it would in the US. Firstly, costs in general would be considerably more in the UK, top that off with such a *massive* captive audience in Orlando already there along with the existing infrastructure that's already in place (masses of hotels, decent road systems etc).

It would be amazing to have such a massive investment, but sadly it's almost impossible for something of that level to be as successful as quickly over here :(.
 
Craig said:
Wandering off topic a little bit I know, but a comparable investment in the UK would take WAY longer to recoup than it would in the US. Firstly, costs in general would be considerably more in the UK, top that off with such a *massive* captive audience in Orlando already there along with the existing infrastructure that's already in place (masses of hotels, decent road systems etc).

It would be amazing to have such a massive investment, but sadly it's almost impossible for something of that level to be as successful as quickly over here :(.
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I think I'll have to disagree with you there. If HP area similar to Universal's was opened at Towers I reckon it'd recoup its money very quickly. Maybe not within a few months as has been suggested, but certainly within a year or so. Just look at how popular the Harry Potter Studio Tour is, and that's just a tour.
 
Oh yeah I'm not denying it would recoup money, just it would take a *lot* longer than the 6 months it apparently took for Orlando to do so. I just don't think anyone is willing to take the risk and spend such a huge amount of money at the moment, especially Merlin as such a young public company.
 
Danny said:
Each ride on the Hogwarts Express is unique, and there are numerous sequences to experience, that's why people will want to re-ride. People aren't going to be fussed about hopping from park to park, but it's the experience that the attraction offers that is the most appealing aspect to it.
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This isn't true, there are just two sequences overall. One for each direction.
 
jon81uk said:
The attention to detail is amazing with the poster for the info on the train looking like a UK train station poster and a cabmans shelter as a food kiosk (Americans won't even know what a cabmans shelter is!). Also love that the hotdog from there comes with Crisps (not chips), they seem to be trying to make it all feel British.
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Is it hotdog and crisps though? That'd be a weird combination. I understand the separate crisps (for 2.99?!) but hotdog and crisps surely is a mistake on the signage departments behalf?!
 
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