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Have to agree with my right honourable friend above. When watching the POV the music was really getting the heckles on my neck standing up - and I am not even a Potter fan!!
Music is a uniquely powerful tool, that train is a sensory overload in immersion - it is BREATHTAKING.
And those shadows inside the train - WOW. I mean WOW. When the shadow thing came along on put it's hand on the screen I thought - I'd actually crap it at that point lol!!
Really absolutely stunning - and in this case, I really think any criticism smacks of utter and total nit picking. Respect everyone's opinions, but really, the EMIRATES stadium LOL!
Of course I've never watched the films, but feel free to correct me if it features in any of the films.
Well, you DO go past it when you venture north from Kings Cross, why shouldn't they have accurately depicted the proper journey?
Of course, criticising this is nothing more than taking the mick out of America's ability to get geography of cities completely wrong; see also Thor 2's magical ability to get from Charing Cross to Greenwich on a Northern Line train in 2 stops...
I think the term 'Artistic Licence' is required. Why put in things people might not recognise as landmarks? Same goes for the Thor reference as a film would be mighty boring if it accurately depicted a London tube ride.
I think some minor reworkings of London to fit the ride are quite acceptable when the whole thing is so nigh on perfection.
Hehe. That was my first thought as well. Where is the long boring tunnel under Regent's Canal?
Interesting factoid; One of the few major films to ever be "geographicaly accurate" with the city it's set in was Ghostbusters. Or so they say. Having never been to New York I'll have to take the internet's word for it.
My first impressions from that POV are that the queue area looks more like London Bridge than Kings Cross. The loco of the train looks dissapointingly dead when the camera got to the platform. Hopefully they will be adding some smoke and sound effects before it opens.
Most of what is seen through the window seems to be a case of "what can we have flying along side the train next?" Though what else could they do? I'd be interested to see it for myself, I wonder how far the screen is behind the window? It's got to be better than Charlie's lifts, at any rate!
The shadows outside the compartment look great, I wasn't expecting that.
Overall, (and I'll say this again) even as someone with zero interest in Potter, this looks insanely good.
I'd assume that (to recreate the visuals of the films) on arriving on the Platform the Hogwarts Express should be smoking and puffing away - maybe it just isn't working yet or only does it periodically. Don't know for sure though.
More photos! This time from jedimaster1227 over on TPR so all credit goes to him. He's posted loads so here are some of my favourites including some things that I certainly hadn't seen before.
A look down towards Gringotts:
Gingotts:
The buildings look stunning:
The way to Knockturn Alley:
Knockturn Alley is a fully enclosed experience:
Looking towards Carkitt Market, another part I didn't really know much about:
Can't say I recall it from the films but it looks lovely:
Another wand shop:
Not sure what this is but hey it looks great:
Kings Cross depature board. Seems somewhat surreal to see things like 'First Capital Connect' and 'East Coast' on there, however all the trains are showing as on-time so it's not very accurate! Would be good if they played station announcements as well:
Undoubtedly the best themed area in existence. I have my doubts over the inclusion of Gregorovitch's Wand Shop (Gregorovitch was an Eastern European wand-maker and certainly never had a shop in Diagon Alley), but I suppose it allows them to sell wands without having to go through the Ollivander's experience.
What on earth is that triangle of unfinished theming!? I assume it must be something that's unfinished as it looks very out of place otherwise! Maybe it shows that Universal are still human after all!
Inside The Magic have posted a review of Gringotts and some stunning photos of the dragon atop it. It contains spoilers, which goes without saying really.
Look, people spend money on the stuff they love. Whether it's cars, cosplay, or theme park souvenirs, many of us love to express our passions through purchases. We buy this stuff because we want to feel authentic, and all this stuff around us helps to feel that. Harry Potter fans want their wands, their robes, their house scarves, and their Butterbeers. Universal (or some other theme park company) could have slapped some posters on a wall, piled stock-ordered desks with merchandise, ordered an off-the-shelf ride system with a Harry Potter skin, and raked in the cash.
But Universal didn't do that. Instead of letting us into Harry Potter's world to meet its needs of selling stuff, Universal sells stuff because it met our need to get into Harry Potter's world.
This for me sums up exactly what's gone wrong with Merlin, and the likes of myself and @Rob IIRC just don't get excited my merchandise from them anymore.
Universal made this experience first, money after, and because of that, they will make their money back in droves as people are going to absolutely mesmerized by this, literally, it is trance inducing in the most literal of senses.
And yes it is a strong IP no doubt I'm under no spell (chortle) or illusion (chortle) that it's simply too big for here on that scale (though I think only a slightly smaller scale is most definitely possible, we have many visitors in the UK from the states for example - Stratford being the prime example - people WILL travel for something high quality/unique - there's no reason it would not work).
The USA is romping forward in terms of visitor experience, Universal are setting a benchmark and the UK are now disgracefully far behind.
Merlin DO have the resources financially to build something spectacular and using the same principles, but they wont, because they've got neither the desire nor the bottle to do it.
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