Going in Depth of the “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey”

March 29, 2010

Following up on our post about the Theme Park and its opening date — June 18, 2010.

We are happy to bring you this first out of three reports about the harry Potter Theme Park attractions. What we have witnessed has been awesome and what can be said in all three reports will be very exciting to read, no doubt.

Also confirmed by a Universal representative, no specific dates are known at this time. So if you will try to get inside the park prior the grand opening you might have the chance to do it. As of right now there are no details of any kind about the Grand opening in regards to who will be there, what it would be like, are Daniel Radcliffe and the rest of the crew going to appear or not. We are very excited and curious what will actually happen on that date.

Now, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this super exciting stuff. Also, visit our Videos and Photos page to check the latest updates.

Still from the Ride

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Ride-Attraction.

The fan-site heads met with Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Creative team (and grand overseer of the project). He took our questions and described very enthusiastically what the long-awaited ride would be like, as well as what the park experience was going to be. Mr. Woodbury noted that Universal are being the most progressive. In General Universal are trying to be the most innovative place in the Theme Park Universe. According to Mr. Woodbury, the Wizarding World and its main attraction (Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey) is going to “transform the theme park experience as you know it.” We have reported that Universal will use a new technology to deliver the Robocoaster.

Mr. Woodbury outlined the details The Forbidden Journey ride is going to be an excursion into the world of Harry Potter — bringing with it “all of the chaos of his world”. The story line is you as a muggle visiting Hogwarts when Harry, Hermione and Ron are asking you to join them, during the ride you will go through the many locations where Harry had his adventures.

Inside the Castle

When you enter the Castle you will meet Dubmledore shorty after that Harry Will pop up with his friends and they will ask you to skip a lesson with them Once you step inside the castle where the ride itself is housed, you are welcomed by Dumbledore. The ride begins in the Room of Requirement, and takes you to a Quidditch match, which features Ron, Harry and Draco (presumably all playing Quidditch at the same time). You witness Quidditch first-hand, from next to Harry, once again while the ride is utilizing never-before-existent technology to make the environment real.

Also mentioned about the ride journey itself is an encounter with Dementors, the Whomping Willow, and a ride on the Floo Network thanks to Hermione.

Get Ready for the Waiting Lines

An important element of the ride is the actual Que (that seems like will take anywhere between an hour to two and a half hours). During the Que you will get to see most of the places where you dreamed about.

The beginning of the Que starts in the dungeons featured the One-Eyed Witch and the Mirror of Erised, then you will travel outside into the greenhouse where Harry and Co used to take their herbology classes. After that you will join Dumbledore again in his office.

Now, here comes the future. Dumbledore will be a Hologram projected with lasers, Total Recall style. Dumbledore looks and sounds REAL like he IS in the room with you.

Dubledore's Office

Immediately after that you will arrive at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where the encounter with Harry and friends occurs. They offer to meet you in the Room of Requirement. It is a great introduction and leads you even further into the castle.

Next up is the portrait Gallery—A very tall room, on the walls is filled with portraits of the founding fathers of Hogwarts. The portraits actually move and skip between pictures. It is the same technology used with Professor Dumbledore. But it is absolutely astounding to watch. It is clever, and well-synced. It is J.K. Rowling’s books brought to life.

Room of Portraits

All of the chambers in the castle, whether you go through the express queue, the regular cue or are just looking around, are so richly detailed and accurately aged that it’s hard not to count as a ride in itself. Meeting the Fat Lady and getting to read the latest posts on the board of the Gryffindor Common Room are among the simple delights this castle has to offer. After you journey through the Castle you enter the last chamber before the entry to the ride.

In this room there are Three portraits that explain about the ride, argue between themselves and kinda introduce you to the ride.

Prior to leaving, we saw the final character you meet before getting on the ride (in the Room of Requirement): The Sorting Hat. He speaks and gives one final warning about safety and physical conditions that may prevent the ride from being enjoyable.

After we exited the final chamber you will enter “Filches Emporium of Confiscated Goods” the merchandise in this shop should be breath taking widgets and tricks.

Harry Potter World is Real and it is in Orlando

J.K. Rowling apparently was involved in every major decision as to how the ride and the Castle feel look smell etc.
This report, once again, is the first of three that will be released in conjunction with details that Universal wishes to share in a specific time-frame.

To sum this report up, it does seem that “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey” is one step ahead of any major set of attractions built and will be the high standard years to come.

Tags: harry potter, harry potter and the forbidden journey, harry potter park opening day, harry potter theme park

This entry was posted on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 1:46 pm and is filed under Attractions, Miscelaneous. You can follow responses to this entry using RSS feed.
Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.