Wizarding World of Harry Potter: The Rides

Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Orlando, Florida, United States
I should start by doing a little expectation setting on this topic. There are only 3 rides in this part of the park.   Remember that....3.     Of those 3, one has a height restriction that will preclude all but the tallest kids under the age of 10, while the other two are probably too intense for quite of few of the children who do meet the height requirements.    So this means that this part of Universal Studios is not really for the under 6 crowd. I would venture to say that it is not for the under 8 crowd. More bad news here is that the lines are ungodly, unbelievable and all those other "un" words.   It is not out of the ordinary to wait for 90 minutes for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.  While there are ways around this (see my other section on Planning and Prep) , you need to be realistic with yourself and know that this is what you are working with...so start planning like you're part of stealth ops.  

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey:

There is no other way to say it, this is just a fantastic ride, but there are some "if"s that need to be added to this statement . But I will get back to that. The theme of this ride is that you are touring Hogwarts Castle. As you are waiting in the line, you will see Professor Sprout's class, the talking portraits, the stairs to Dumbledore's office (it of the "sherbet lemon" fame) , the sorting hat and Dumbledore himself. But just as you are supposedly entering a history of magic class, you are coerced by Harry, Ron and Hermione into cutting the class. In return, you will get to ride in a bench which Hermione has put a spell on, thus enabling it to fly.  It is these "benches" that take you on the ride. Here is where I get to the "if" parts.

 This ride is fantastic IF you are old enough, not just tall enough. In general, I have found Universal to be a bit lenient in their height restrictions. I am guessing that they set the restrictions based only on ride safety. They don't really seem to take into account a child's ability to process the ride emotionally. Perhaps they consider that the parent's job .   That is a fair point, but if this is the case then parents must have enough information to make the call. There is a level of secrecy around this park and this ride, such that transparency does not tend to be forthcoming.   There are some really scary images and sounds in this ride. There is a point where you seem to come face to face with a dragon. You actually feel the heat from his breath if you happen to be in the right seat. Dementors chase you. Giant spiders appear from nowhere. There are Basilisk skeletons. Of course, there is also a Quidditch game and lots of very real feeling flying. The level of realism that they achieve here is what makes it BOTH great and scary, particularly for the younger crowd.  My son, who is 6 and normally completely fearless when it comes to rides, found it overwhelming..and he is a HUGE Harry Potter fan who has had no problem viewing movies 1 and 2.   So, while the height requirement is such that an average height 7 year old could ride the ride, you might want to take a spin on it first before you allow your child on it .   

Another "if"...the ride is fantastic "if" you are not prone to motion sickness. This is a serious stomach drop ride. While this isn't as extreme as something like "Mission Space" , you are seating in something that WILL be spinning around. If you get sick on things like "the Scrambler", this might not be the best option for you. That being said, you might just want to suck it up and take some Dramamine...the experience is worth a few minutes of nausea.

One final "if". This ride is worth it if, and only if, you can either handle a long wait or have found a way around it. If you don't want to wait for a couple of hours, then stay at a hotel and come in the early morning. Or wait until the day cools down and come again shortly before closing. You can also choose to wait in the single rider lines, as this cuts your time significantly.   But if you are looking at the 9o minute line and you start to feel your fists clinching, please move on to another ride .  The people around you in the line won't find it "magical" if you start snarling and acting like an asshole.

Dragon Challenge:

First, let me give you the basics about this coaster. Dragon Challenge is a pair of inverted coasters.   The was originally one of a duel between two "dragons", one side being Chinese Fireball and the other Hungarian Horntail. While waiting in the line you "choose" a dragon that you want to ride on. I should also add that you have to get into the coaster fairly quick and your feet will be dangling in the air. For this reason, I quickly removed my ballet flats and put them under my butt before the thing started. As anyone who has worn ballet flats knows, these things will fly off in a heartbeat.   So be cognizant of your shoe choice before going on this ride.

 In the original design, both coasters ran and the same time and thus there was a "just missing each other" aspect to it . However, there were some incidents in July and August 2011 in which riders were hit with flying objects (my guess is shoes), so the dueling aspect of the ride has been axed. Now they are calling it a "chase". To be honest, this doesn't detract from your coaster experience but it does make the whole thing less original.  

 You must be at least 54 inches to ride this ride, which is the height of your average 10 year old boy. While I found this ride significantly less frightening than the "Forbidden Journey", the truth is that it is more important that your child be that height so that the safety gear works properly. High speed roller coasters are not a place to push the envelope, as it were.   At any rate, this is more likely to be the ride that the adults and the teens enjoy.   As I said above, it is an OK coaster, but you can tell that it is a "renovated" older ride, rather than one that is brand spanking new.

Flight of the Hippogriff:

I have some issues with this one . When I was planning our trip and saw this ride, I thought "oh good, a ride that Seb can go on". Sebastien is our 3 year old. He was well over the 36 inches required to ride (with a parent), so I figured he would at least have something to keep him occupied here. Wrong! We were "lucky" in that Seb was just getting over chicken pox when we made it to Universal, so he was quarantined to the room until the last couple of days. I say "lucky" in that this resulted in us going to WWOHP with just Lucas ( our 6 year old) where we rode all two of the rides that he was old enough to ride here. As I mentioned, "Forbidden Journey" was a bit too intense for him.   But I thought that Flight of the Hippogriff would be really boring for him, as it was designed for a younger group. Not so. This ride has more in common with "Big Thunder Mountain" than it does with "Casey Jr".   It has a classic roller coaster design, with a bar that comes over your legs.   But what got me was that it is really jerky. Both me and Lucas felt ourselves being thrown around. And while this was fun for the 6 year old and Mom, it would have been completely unsuitable for Sebastien.   As I have stated many times, neither of my boys are light weights when it comes to thrills, but this seemed to scream "potential whiplash" to me. Maybe they were running it at a faster speed than usual that day, I don't know. But I DO NOT think it is appropriate for a 3 year old. Full stop.

Takeaways

So what are the major takeaways regarding the rides. The main one is that, if you are coming with a young family, you shouldn't be coming for the rides. These rides are much more suitable for adults and older kids.   I am not saying that you shouldn't come with younger kids, it's just that the rides should not be your focus. There is Olivanders, Zonkos, Honeydukes, the Three Broomsticks, the Owl Post, Filtch's Emporium and Dervish and Banges. All of these shops and eateries are worth a look as they remain true to the character of the books. (see post on Shops and Restaurants).   They have done a great job creating the "world" of Harry Potter here, so there is quite a bit of value in wandering it with the smaller ones, if you can get the timing right and do so when it is not filled with an cockroach type number of people.

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