Orlando 2010 PTR - Part 1: Most of WWHP, and a cat!

[AdamY]

It was with great excitement that I set off with my mum and sister on the 25th July for our long-awaited summer holiday to New York, Washington DC and most of interest to me, Orlando! After going to Orlando last year I was very excited to return this year, and of course one significant addition is now present which wasn’t there last year…WARNING: I will be posting spoilers without any further warning. If you don’t want to see, skip my writing on that attraction.I doubt many are interested in the details of the first part of the trip, so on to Orlando! On the 30th we were off to Newark airport for the flight to Florida. We stayed in the same place as last year, so we jumped off the plane, dropped our bags at the apartment and headed straight out to the parks at what was now about 4pm. Somewhat unsurprisingly, our first port of call… Was Islands of Adventure As can be seen, quite a few people were already leaving despite the 10 pm closing time. This was encouraging, given the expected throngs in WWHP!^ Port of Entry is my favourite ‘main street’ style area in any theme park.So we headed through Seuss Landing and Lost Continent, and soon enough, there it was…The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter! Words cannot describe the feeling of stepping under the arch and into Hogsmede for the first time – it’s totally awe inspiring! I won’t show that many outside pictures now because the twilight made it difficult to get any decent ones. They’ll follow from our other day at IOA. So we started a clockwise sweep around the shops and sights of the village, and I have to say the detail is astounding. I’ll review the shops in detail later but for now I’ll just say the entire feel is just ‘right’.When we reached the Hog’s Head we decided it was time to try some Butterbeer – debate has been raging for weeks on which version is better – regular or frozen – so I decided to try regular first. I got the souvenir stein too The drink itself – very nice! It’s very sweet – I think if the serving was any bigger I’d struggle to finish it – but it’s great. The taste is hard to describe, the best I can place it is cream soda with butterscotch and treacle mixed in. It’s very smooth and goes down very nicely at any rate. The separately added ‘head’ is delicious, I hate to think of the calorific content!Afterwards, it was time to sample the crowning glory of the Wizarding World – Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.So much was expected of this ride. Will it live up to the hype? Will it be the new world’s best dark ride? In order to claim that title from most people’s current holder – will it beat Spiderman? First off though, let’s talk queue. I’ll go ahead and leave it to the pictures for a while.So yeah, pretty amazing detail. You start off in the dungeons, passing the Mirror of Erized among other things. There is a door to the potions room, from behind which voices emanate. This is the kind of thing which makes the WWHP seem so ‘alive’ and less staged – the tiny touches of life, like voices in the corridors. Coming outside, you emerge in the main cattle pen area of the queue – the greenhouse. This area is brilliantly done for what is essentially a people eating area. Mandrakes in cages are just one of the things to grab your interest. The ride ops constantly have to do announcements asking people to stay off the walls and railings out here, but even these are fantastic and in-character. The say things along the lines of, “Attention muggles! Please do not sit on the railings or walls! Also, please stow any magical artefacts in the lockers provided to avoid having them confiscated. Enjoy your tour of Hogwarts!” Just brilliant. Back inside and through the portrait hall – the effect of them talking to each other and moving in their frames is fantastic. Next up you’re in Dumbledore’s office. The musion effect of him standing on the balcony is very well done, and it’s great to have him standing there talking to you. His books, dusty desk, pensieve and cupboards of magical odds and ends are all present, correct and beautifully realized as well. Onwards, and we meet Harry, Hermione and Ron in the Defence Against the Dark Arts room. More exquisite details accompany this pre-show video, of which there are two versions. In the first, some thunder and lightning happen and some great light effects go off. In the second, Ron accidently makes it snow – and you actually get snowed on. The ride shut down for about 15 mins when we were in here, and consequently we got snowed on 6 times. After this you’re past the Fat Lady, through the Gryffindor common room and past the sorting hat into the Room of Requirement. After all, where else would you put a massive dark ride in the middle of Hogwarts?So finally, the ride. Firstly let me say – if you think you’ve seen it on a POV, they do not do it justice in any way. I was glad I managed to avoid any spoilers and videos, if I’d seen them beforehand I wouldn’t have expected much. So anyway, the soaring, swooping, dragon-evading, willow-whopmed ride is absolutely brilliant. Does it beat Spiderman? Resounding yes. For many people, that makes it the new holder of the best dark ride award. I agree. It’s utterly sensational. The motion of the Kuka arms is perfect for recreating the floating, bouncing style of movement we’ve all seen so many times when Hermione enchants something in the films.The ride scenes take the form of a mixture of screen-based film clips and real 3D props, all narrated by the trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron, which blend together seamlessly. Appearances by other characters such as Hagrid, Draco and Dumbledore are also included. The way you move from screens to real props is amazing, you literally get flung from a screen into the middle of the action – for example the scene where you end up on the bridge being attacked by the Hungarian Horntail is a seamless blend of animatronics, film and effects – all combining to give you a relentless ride experience from start to finish. The dementor-filled finale is also brilliant, combining animatronic dementors on their own Kuka arms with film clips and projections in smoke. You exit the ride utterly amazed at what you’ve just experienced, and my heart was racing. 10/10 doesn’t congratulate it enough.You exit though Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods – a great idea for post-ride gift shop. I bought some stuff in here.So, any criticisms? A few. The first is that the ride system is very noisy. The effects are turned up very loud anyway so for the most part it doesn’t matter, but in some of the more extravagant manoeuvres you can hear the Kuka arm straining a bit. Second, the slight oversight in the design of the attraction which enables you to skip the entire outside queue which regularly stretches down into Hogsmede. If you walk into Filch’s from the outside, you can go through to the locker room and dump your stuff, then cut straight into the dungeons because the TM in the area has no way of knowing that you haven’t just come from the queue into the lockers. I usually don’t do this kind of thing on principal, but so many people were doing it that it makes queuing outside pretty pointless. Lastly, the one everyone complained about from the get-go: the show building. Obviously it was hard to hide from all angles, but it is very visible in many places such as the back of Jurassic Park, Hogsmede itself and the greenhouse area of the queue. Such is life I guess. These small niggles do nothing much to detract from what is a mind-blowing attraction.Next up – the ruination of Duelling Dragons? I thought it might have been – I was wrong.Dragon Challenge is the re-imagining of DD as part of the Triwizard Tournament. Many thought it would destroy one of the best-themed coasters in the world, but I was pleasantly surprised. The queue remains mostly dark tunnels and castle-dungeon type rooms, with the obvious addition of the outside section and the Champion’s Tent. I was wearing my DD top, and the TM outside the queue said to me “I see someone’s already a fan!” I had my first ride on what was formerly known as the Ice side, now Hungarian Horntail. It’s a fun coaster, but I think Fire (now Chinese Fireball) is better.A bit more exploring around the village, like I said I’ll review the shops in my next WWHP part but I snapped a few pictures – it’s so atmospheric at night.We queued again for FJ, but it went down. After about 30 mins we decided to leave the queue – it was about 9:45. As we walked out of the gate between the gargoyles, we heard the announcement which just felt like a knife straight though me – it was back up. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve never felt so annoyed in my life.We finished up for the night with a walk-on ride on The Cat In The Hat. A very different kind of dark ride to FJ, but I love it! The narration is great and the Cat says some very funny things! Shame that after the incident earlier this year the ride doesn’t spin as much any more.I’ll leave it there for now… Still to come: Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Uni Studios and the rest of IOA and WWHP. I’ll get it posted soon. Hope you’re enjoying it! The rest won’t be as long and boring as this part, I just had a lot to talk about

[Aliice.]

Glad you had a great trip, and looking forward to the next instalment! Love the pictures :')

[thorpeparkjack]

Fantastic report, great read.

[Luke_A]

Excellent Report , can't wait to see the other trips too, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter looks amazing, I would say that looks like the best themed area in any Orlando park!

[Pickles]

No! Whilst the themeing is good you cannot compare it to another park, this is just basically one area =/But anyway brill trip report for WWHP! Makes me wanna go even moree.

[AdamY]

Thanks everyone, good to know people are actually reading it!So day 2 arrived, we decided to split it between Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom.The first attraction we headed for at DHS was Star Tours. Now, Star Tours is an interesting one. Seems to have a special place for many people, but the GP have seemed less than interested for a while now. Since the first time I rode the attraction in Paris, I never remember it having much of a queue. Now it’s walk on all day. I think the refurb it’s about to receive is desperately needed then, but I’m not sure if it will make much difference in a park where most of the target audience are too young to remember Star Wars as ‘first generation’ anyway. Time will tell. Anyway, I took a few snaps to commemorate my final tour to Endor.Next up we headed for Streets of America and the Backlot Tour. A stable enough attraction, it still holds interest because of the room for constant renewal to reflect the latest film releases. Rumour has it that if Cars Land makes the trip from the West Coast this is where it’ll end up, so we may find ourselves devoid of this attraction at some point, watching Radiator Springs Racers speed over it’s former site. Anyway, that’s far off in the future so no worries yet.Next up was a fastpass-ed ride on Rock n Rollercoaster. I still love this coaster, it all fits together so well with the fast-paced ride, the music and the bright lights of the LA street signs. A slight adjustment may be on the cards at some point – the contract is up with Aerosmith soon and with the band nearly splitting up not so long ago, people are questioning if it will be renewed or not. For now though, still a star attraction and instant crowd pleaser.And to your left…Tower of Terror! A certain contender for best ride on Disney property. I was very much looking forward to sampling the new drop cycle put in place for Summer Nightastic, and it delivered as you’d expect. Some great new audio and lighting effects improve the ride no end, plus an extra full height drop really gets the heart beating! One thing I did notice was that the CMs were slightly disappointing. Last year I remember them acting very intimidating, creepy and generally a bit crazy. They must have been told to tone down the act a bit, which is a shame as it really built tension for the ride and created a great atmosphere.Next on the agenda was another favourite, Toy Story Midway Mania! This is a fantastic attraction – great fun and very entertaining.As can be seen the queue stars everyone’s favourite, Mr Potato Head! The way he reacts to the crowd is really very clever, and adds another level to the experience. Once on the ride itself the fun continues with the various midway-style amusement games for riders to take part in. All round a great little attraction!After a spot of lunch at 50’s Prime Time Café (an excellent restaurant just oozing nostalgia and character) we did the Narnia experience, watched the Little Mermaid show and had a look through One Man’s Dream. The Little Mermaid was very sweet The age of some of the clips really shows now but mixed in with the live action on stage it doesn’t really matter. One Man’s Dream was really fascinating, telling the story of Walt’s early life and describing how he ended up designing theme parks with the mouse. There were also some very rare models from WDI on display, great for a geek like myself : PAfter that we left and headed for the Magic Kingdom.First up we went for a classic, and one of my personal favourites – Pirates Of The Caribbean. This timeless attraction just gets better with age. It’s little wonder that when the Magic Kingdom opened without PoTC in the line up, the public cried out to Imagineering to add a version of the classic attraction from Disneyland as soon as possible. The excitement and atmosphere feels just as great every time I board one of those boats as it did the first time. The humour, the music, the rich storytelling and the sheer historical value of the attraction mark it out as a favourite every time, and the now rather old-fashioned looking Animatronics and ride system don’t even come into the equation. A true classic, and it always will be.Jungle Cruise was up next, Pirates’ next door attraction. An average ride in itself, Jungle Cruise’s success really relies on the Cast Members who captain the boats. They can turn it into a star ride and make it very funny, or they can ruin it and make it rather cringy. Last year I had an excellent skipper, who made everyone laugh and the cruise was great fun. Unfortunately this year I wasn’t so lucky, the CM captaining our boat wasn’t really very funny and everyone was just kind of looking at each other thinking, “How much longer is this ride?” Although the ride is officially scripted perhaps it could be improved if the CMs were allowed slightly less control over the bits they change.Undeterred, we set a course for another classic dark ride, Haunted Mansion. While usually considered a classic for the same reasons as Pirates, the experience was slightly marred this time by the ride shutting down in the graveyard scene. Unlike when we got stuck on DINOSAUR last year, the effects carried on while we just sat. It is actually quite scary having a skeleton keep bursting out at you, singing a song while the ride isn’t moving! People started to panic fairly quickly and we could hear people shouting from the doombuggies surrounding ours. After about 8 minutes a CM came over the PA and said the ride would restart shortly. Sure enough it did, but when we got off there were some very unhappy looking faces crowding the CMs on the platform. So yes, quite an unpleasant experience. Add to that the ridiculous and unsafe overcrowding in the station which happened before we boarded, and it was not a great experience on one of Disney’s star rides.Slightly shaken, we continued to Country Bear Jamboree. This is a fun little show, which had minimal wait time. We grabbed some food from Pecos Bill’s and called it a night, just as the Summer Nightastic fireworks erupted over Cinderella Castle. We’d return to Magic Kingdom a few days later.On our third day we headed back to Universal and visited the Studios. After being beaten by the ride’s horrendously late opening last year by about 2 weeks only, I was thrilled to finally get on Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.I was a little surprised by how rough the ride is already, but it’s still good fun. Manta certainly stole it’s limelight as the new coaster of 2009 in Orlando but with the lights and the music it comes out overall as a solid attraction for Universal. They really do need to sort out the problems which are still plaguing it though. To run a coaster with a capacity for 7 trains on the track at once on just 3 is really bad. My understanding is it has been running 5 most of the time recently, so we must have caught it on a bad day. It did go down later on for an extended period. I chose MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This as my soundtrack.We then crossed over to Krustyland for a meeting with The Simpsons Ride!I went on this over in Hollywood when it was brand new back in 2008. Right now it’s still as hilarious and fun as it was then, and seems even more appropriate in Orlando given the vast number of jibes at a certain other theme park operator, and the industry as a whole. Jokes such as “Don’t be stupid, they won’t kill you at a theme park while you have a dime left in your pocket!” litter the commentary, as the family embark on such rides as “Captain Dino’s Pirate Rip-Off”.Next door is Men In Black: Alien Attack! so that’s where we went next. I shot a new personal best of 128,700 B)Heading on around the lake, we reached Amity – home of Jaws!We jumped aboard Amity 6, and were given a true masterclass in handling a ‘live commentary’ attraction from our skipper. I’ve never had such a great commentary on a ride like this. Our TM was enthusiastic, great at acting the ‘panic’ look when something went wrong, and still managed to keep to all the cues – including the very difficult shotgun ones – amongst the brilliant ‘organised chaos’ of repeated attacks from Jaws. A 5-star performance! Also, I got soaked!From one great Team Member to another, next up was Beetlejuice’s Rock n Roll Graveyard Revue. “Any Brits in the audience?”, he enquired as we waited outside the theatre. “Well put down your tea and scones and drink plenty of water! It’s very hot today!” He was brilliant. Once inside, he had the whole crowd singing along to various songs as we waited for the show to begin. He even played air guitar with his walking stick! Oh yeah, did I mention he was an older guy on a mobility scooter? The show itself was great too, in fact starring those cheerleaders I could have watched it all day :PAfterwards, we visited the Museum of Antiquities, to ride…Revenge of The Mummy! Whilst I prefer the ride in Hollywood (they aren’t exact clones) this version is still great fun and very thrilling, and the queue is interesting as you move from the sets to the tomb ect. I’d be interested to try the version just opened in Singapore which dispenses with the film set idea all together, and plunges you straight into ancient Egypt!We finished off with Shrek 4D and Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast. Another excellent Team Member was to be found in Shrek, she was brilliantly in-character and threatened us with many floggings for rule breaking! She really got everyone involved. I found it surprising that so far, we’d come across far better TMs in Universal parks than we had CMs in Disney parks.I’ll leave you with a final shot of Rockit, next up will be Animal Kingdom and the rest of Magic Kingdom. After that, our final day of IOA. Thanks for reading!

[TP Daniel]

Another great report with some nice pictures! I absolutely loved One Man's Dream. It is so fascinating and to get that sort of insight into his life and the creation of the Disney parks is excellent. I like how it doesn't just cover the parks but it shows film exhibits such as old versions of Mickey Mouse.It's also great to see that HRRR has an electronic wait sign now! Previously it was a stuck on card thing which was barely updated throughout the day.

[Sam P]

Great reports and pictures I'm going to Orlando on the 18th for 2 weeks can't wait.

[Aliice.]

Loving the report Adam :')

[MikeyT]

Aww Adam! Sounds like you had an awesome trip! You're making me want to go again so badly. I totally get where you're coming from with the staff from the Disney and Universal parks. On the whole, all the parks have awesome staff, it's just that Disney have a huge reputation and PR when it comes to their Cast Members, so we expect more,I've had wonderful and not so wonderful experiences at every single park I've been to, the best experience being at Epcot. Outstanding Customer Service! But yeah, like I said, awesome trip report so far! Looking forward to Animal Kingdom one!

[AdamY]

Thanks again, everyone! This was longer than I expected so I'll finish with IOA tomorrow.----So, next morning was off to Animal Kingdom! We wanted most of the day for Magic Kingdom so we just flew around the main attractions at AK in a few hours. First up, we headed over to Serka Zong for Expedition Everest: Legend Of The Forbidden Mountain.Well, it’s pretty obvious what I’m going to say here. It’s just a stunner. Everything about this attraction is brilliant, it really feels ‘Disney’. Following on from the long history of Big Thunder, Splash, and Space, Expedition Everest seems the natural progression. A dramatic and thrilling ride, a queue with detail second to none, a clearly presented story, this ride really has the lot. I still take great vindictive pleasure in listening to the screams of first time riders who don’t know the backwards section is coming! The only shame at the moment is the attraction’s crowning glory, the massive Yeti Audio Animatronic, is still on ‘disco yeti’ mode, and that won’t be changing any time soon. It was thought that a repair to the foundation would be made when the ride is shut down for a major refurb, but the rumour mill suggests Imagineering are now working up designs for a new Yeti AA, which unfortunately won’t be as wild and scary as the original. Such a shame that the pure magic of that creature swooping down at the train won’t be seen again.Anyway, onwards! Time for a trip on…DINOSAUR! The ride formerly known as Countdown to Extinction is still one of the scariest and most violent Disney dark rides, delivering plenty of pitch black moments and sudden evasive manoeuvres to escape the dinos. The storyline is perhaps a bit cliché, but it’s still a decent and fun attraction – especially as it’s often walk-on now. I’m going to deviate slightly onto a different but related topic here – Dinoland USA itself. It’s no secret that Dinoland USA was built on a shoestring, and my goodness it shows. Even the Imagineers hate it – the random collection of un-themed, ‘plonked down’ fairground-style rides ruin what is otherwise one of the best gates on Disney property. So, time for a plea. Disney, get rid of it!. When you think also that it was built with some of the budget intended for the construction of Beastly Kingdom, it hurts even more. For anyone who knows the whole story of Beastly Kingdom, you’ll know what I mean. If anyone who doesn’t is interested in the biggest ‘might have been’ in Disney history, I’ll post a link.But on a more positive note, it’s on to Kali River Rapids! I must point out at this time, we later found out we had chosen the hottest week they’ve had for a decade to visit. It hit 102 degrees, which apparently felt like 110 bouncing off the concrete according to the TV. So understandably, we were very glad of Kali! We weren’t so glad to find the 70 minute queue, but this just proves the continued popularity of one of the best rides in the park. Once we finally beat the huge queue, we were given the customary soaking which this ride dishes out to everyone who rides it. Fantastic!After that, over to Harambe…Kilimanjaro Safaris is probably the attraction with the most variable ride experience in Orlando! Not only does it rely on having a good guide, it relies on the animals wanting to come out – something it’s impossible to control. Luckily, this time on it we had both an excellent tour guide and a good run of animals. It’s a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the park, to come on board and just sit for a while and watch the animals. So, another winner for Animal Kingdom. Still pulls a decent queue, but at least it’s under cover.With that, we left for Magic Kingdom.After a much-needed break from the sun and bite to eat in the Main Street Bakery – with our first experience of the week of the kind of service you expect from Disney, the girl in there was all smiles – we headed for Tomorrowland. Looks like I’d finally get on the ride which has for various reasons escaped me all my life…Space Mountain! Must say, I loved it! One of the true Disney greats, I was expecting a lot and it delivered. I was slightly surprised at how very rough it is, given it was completely re-tracked just last summer, but it didn’t impact on my enjoyment of it. The star effects are very cool, and I thought the station area was very nice. The seats are like armchairs! Definite thumbs up from me. We emerged just as the storm clouds you see in the picture above cleared off, having dumped their contents over the Magic Kingdom while we were inside. Good timing!We headed for Fantasyland next. Time for a major rant. Brace yourselves.I would have pictures to show you, but I couldn’t bring myself to take any. In a nutshell, the area is a complete mess. It honestly looks terrible. It’s a giant building site, and the charm and character which used to be present is gone without a trace. Understandably, one entire side is covered up with construction walls for the Fantasyland Forest project. Ok, fair enough you can’t build a huge project without a bit of disruption, I’d even have excused the massive piles of dirt and JCBs clearly visible over the walls normally. BUT. Who on earth decided to destroy the other side at the same time!? Small World is closed, and completely covered in construction walls, tarpaulins and scaffolding. Pooh has been given the same treatment as well, but at least it’s still open. So the result? You walk into fantasyland flanked by construction walls on both sides of you, with temporary queue lines all over the place, temporary drinks stalls littering the midway, and no cheerful facades or traces of what was there before. Oh, and a towering pile of dirt in front of your face. Not very impressive. Whoever decided to refurb all the dark rides simultaneously, and during FF construction as well, needs some sense knocked into them.So having come to the building site, we went on some of the building site attractions. Luckily, Snow White’s Scary Adventures and The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh are still just as charming inside as they ever were. Such simple yet brilliant attractions really made Disney what it is today, and they’ll always have a place in a Fantasyland which will hopefully look much nicer soon.With some time to fill until a Fastpass slot on Peter Pan, we took a circular trip around the Magic Kingdom on the Walt Disney World Railroad. It’s a nice relaxing ride, but I’m yet to use it as an actual means of transportation!So a bit later we returned to Fantasyland for Peter Pan’s Flight. The façade was still intact which was a pleasant surprise, and inside much the same applies as to the other two dark rides here I’ve already discussed – it’s an enjoyable classic.Doubling back across to Frontierland, we took a trip on the Wildest Ride in The Wilderness: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This is another ride like Pirates, like Splash Mountain, which will never lose that distinctive ‘Disney’ feeling. It, like Expedition Everest, is a great blend of thrill ride, themeing and story. A fastpass took us straight past the fairly lengthy queue, and we were on quite quickly. This though, like EE, is a ride for which I don’t mind queuing because there’s so much to look at! Another all-round star attraction.Time for more pictures!The Main Street Electrical Parade made a welcome return this year as part of Summer Nightastic! and will now be staying on a permanent basis, it has been revealed. We grabbed a spot in Liberty Square to watch this glittering, shining spectacle pass by, and I was very impressed! Lead by Tinkerbell at the front, the parade stars all the usual characters from the day time parades, but in a much more magical and exciting setting! Some of the floats are stunning, and some even include effects such as smoke geysers. The music is fantastic too. A great addition to the entertainment at the Magic Kingdom.We decided to call it a night, and headed for the monorail. Completely by accident, we got the most spectacular view of the fireworks I’ve ever had, as our monorail encircled the lake opposite the Magic Kingdom, and we got a bird’s eye view of the glittering sky. Beautiful.Finally, our last day at IOA is up next.

[James6]

Just gotta re-iterate everyone else's opinion, awesome TR :oLoving it and can't wait till my trip next year

[MikeyT]

Awesome reports from the two Disney Parks there. I've got to say I agree with you on Dinoland and Fantasyland. Dinoland especially is really a let down next to a truly phenomenal park.Animal Kingdom really does need sorting out though, it shouldn't be in a position where they cannot close one of its main rides for any prolonged period of time. If EE did close, it would be chaos and the park would struggle to cope. Animal Kingdom need another E ticket attraction before they can close Everest for any amount of time IMO! Disney World Orlando really needs shaking up: right now it's something more Akin to a Six Flags park, rather than what you'd expect from Disney.Fantasyland also, even without construction, it still feels a bit dated (also like Tomorrowland). I would love for Orlando's Fantasyland to be something similar to Disneyland California's, that one truly is beautiful! In short, I'm not too pleased with Disney World Management recently. Other Disney Resorts are still doing their awesome thing though!

[Aliice.]

Those pictures at the end are beautiful :')

[AdamY]

Thanks, James and Alice. Mikey - I agree about AK needing another E-Ticket. Trouble is, the attraction which would have been it's next E-Ticket ended up at IOA (not that I'm complaining >: ) ) And to quote a certain Imagineer, Tomorrowland has gained a nasty habit of becoming 'Todayland', so I agree with you there too ------------So our last day in Orlando dawned, and we’d decided to use it for IOA – my favourite park.We were exhausted by this point, after a week of sightseeing and then another almost-week in Orlando so had quite a late start. We went over to Studios first just to hit Rockit, my sister had missed out on it the few days previous when I went on it. The queue was already 105 mins so we did it via SRQ. I already reviewed it before, but this time I chose Hella Good by No Doubt as my soundtrack, love No Doubt!We grabbed some breakfast then walked across to IOA, by which time it was about 12. We started a clockwise sweep of the park in Marvel Super Hero Island, with Dr Doom’s Fearfall. I’d forgotten how thrilling this ride is, the sheer speed and force of the launch is breathtaking! Gave me an idea for later on…We could see the queues were starting to get crazy, so we opted for Universal Express Plus passes, for the first time. We got 2 between the 3 of us because I go on everything, my mum hates the ‘scary’ rides and my sister hates the wet rides, so they shared one while I had one for myself. Worth every cent, I must say.So with Express in hand, we headed for the Incredible Hulk Coaster and skipped a 70 minute queue.I know I’ve criticized the ride on here before, but I think this go on it has converted me. I found it to be great fun! I’ve never criticized the opening though – and it didn’t disappoint me here. The launch, Zero-G, huge Cobra Roll and massive Vertical Loop are brilliant, and very exhilarating. The very steeply banked helix into a corkscrew is great, too. So, Hulk, I’m sorry!We carried on around into Toon Lagoon next, and did Bilge Rat Barges and Ripsaw Falls, in that order. I never could find a favourite between Kali and Bilge Rats before, but I think after this most recent trip, Bilge Rat Barges just edges Kali. You just get incredibly[/b] wet on this attraction – the raft itself soaks you, and the masses of cannons, waterfalls, squirt guns ect just add insult to injury! This kind of interaction is what is missing from Kali – on that ride only the ride itself gets you wet. So I finally have a favourite! As well as the soaking, BRB has a very fast drop which is great fun! I love the cartoon-ized world around it too, like the rocks. 80 Minute queue beaten with Express.Ripsaw Falls is a mediocre attraction, probably the weakest at IOA in my opinion. It’s fun, yes, but it tries to be something it isn’t. The whole point of the ride is the drop, but it tries to be a Splash Mountain-esque dark ride at the same time, but it doesn’t quite manage it. I still love the drop though! Skipped a staggering 115 minute queue for this.After Toon, we skipped through Jurassic Park, intending to return later but in the end not doing so, and returned to the Wizarding World.We headed directly for Flight of The Hippogriff.I’d never experienced this when it was Flying Unicorn, but could pretty much tell what to expect anyway! It’s a fun ride, and a much needed people eater to soak up some of the crowds. The new details are great – Hagrid’s Hut looks very good, and the full-sized Buckbeak animatronic at the foot of the lift is very cute!We headed back over to Dragon Challenge, for a go on the new ‘Chinese Fireball’ side. Fire was the only side I tried last year, and having now tried Ice / Hungarian Horntail as well, I can safely say Fire / Fireball is the better side. I think it keeps a much better pace throughout the ride, and I think it gives a better view of the near miss elements. Plus, the Immelmanns are great fun! I forgot to mention last time too, the new TM outfits are brilliant – they are dragon keeper costumes! They have extra padded trousers ect, it looks great!I said before I’d review Hogsmede and the shops separately, so here goes! Here are a few pics first.The Verdict? Much like FJ, brilliant. The whole place feels very cosy and intimate, and despite actually being very big it feels very small and the streets very narrow, which is good. All the shops have great displays in them, the vast majority of which are enchanted and move in some way. Some examples are the self-playing cello in Dominic Maestro’s, and the very graphic demonstration of Puking Pastilles in Zonko’s!Let’s take a sweep around the village, starting on the left of the arch and working around.The first store you come to is Zonko’s Joke Shop. This store looks great inside and out, and is very quirky and fun looking. Unfortunately, as far as actual items inside are concerned, there’s not much doing. The exception is the Pygmy Puffs – they sell like hot cakes, and had been sold out for weeks, re-appearing just the day before my final visit to the Wizarding World. The long-rumoured Extendable Ears are due to appear here at some point too, but no sign yet.Next door, and joined inside, is Honeydukes. This place, like Zonko’s, looks brilliant – the bright green interior with chess board style chequered flooring looks striking! There are dozens of varieties of sweets in here, including Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, Acid Pops, Treacle Fudge, Cauldron Cakes, Coconut Ice, literally everything you could imagine and more! I tried quite a few things, and I just have some Liquorice Laces and Orange Slices left now The only problem here is price – I know theme parks rip you off at the best of times, and Harry Potter always had potential to be even worse, but $9.95 for a Chocolate Frog is quite disgraceful!Further up the street is the Three Broomsticks and adjoining Hog’s Head pub. We had dinner in 3B, and it is an absolutely charming place. The crooked wooden beams, old styled furnishings and TM costumes really set the scene. This place was actually designed before the one for the films – bit of trivia for you there! More excellent TMs were in evidence here – various Potter music pieces play in here all the time, and we were finishing dinner at about 10:15 as they started clearing the place up. Suddenly the Potter Waltz started playing, and some of the TMs started waltzing to it! That was pretty magical! I personally recommend the Strawberry and Peanut Butter ice cream, its lush! The Hog’s Head has all the charm of a quaint pub here in England, with the addition of the great puffing Hog’s Head animatronic growling away behind the bar.Not a shop as such, but a special mention to the bathrooms at this point! Myrtle haunting the place is quite un-nerving! Some rather cool signs denote 'witches' and 'wizards' sides.Further up from here are several empty façade shops, but they still look fantastic and have some great window displays. The Magic Neep sells Pumpkin Juice from an ice cart outside.Returning down the other side, you encounter Ollivanders. I can’t comment, we didn’t fancy the hour-plus wait to watch a stranger get a wand chosen.Further down are Owl Post and Dervish and Banges. D&B has the most ‘buy-able’ merch if you see what I mean, selling solid souvenirs rather than random little bits. In here you can buy Hogwarts uniform items, Quidditch equipment, stationary, pins and keyrings, random WWHP themed clothing, and the Quibbler! Of course, the Monster Book of Monsters is locked away in it’s cage in the centre of the store. Periodically it awakens from it’s sleep, and screams and growls, attempting to escape it’s cage at the same time. I bought some things in here. Owl Post is a nice area to sit and take a break, and watch the many owls sitting in the rafters hoot and ruffle their feathers.After FoTH, we returned to Hogwarts for another spin on FJ. The only major attraction still not accepting Express, we joined a queue with a posted wait time of 60 minutes. Unfortunately when we got to the greenhouse, the dreaded announcement came over the PA…

Ladies and Gentlemen, we apologise for the continued delay. We are working to resolve the situation, and will keep you updated with any developments. Thank you for your patience.

Despite saying ‘continued delay’ this is the announcement used to tell people in the queue the ride has gone down, not just to tell them it is still down. Kind of strange, one minute all is rosy, then there’s a ‘continued delay’? Anyway, we had plenty of time to ponder this unconventional grammatical puzzle, as the ride was down for about 40 minutes. After what happened last time we left the queue in a shutdown, we weren’t going anywhere! Once the announcement went over that the ride was back up, the most tremendous cheer I’ve ever heard went up, followed by rapturous applause! Was quite a moment actually!So finally, after a queue totalling 2 hrs 5 mins, we boarded. Just as we neared the end of the moving belt, the ride stopped. Joy. Luckily, it was only a dodgy restraint not locking, triggering the belt and hence the entire ride system to stop, not an actual malfunction. We were soon off again, after hearing some very cool announcements, geek B)We stepped out and caught the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students in the stone circle.We crossed back over to MSHI and did The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman next. Still a stunning attraction, knocked off the top spot through no fault of it’s own. The blend of props and film clips is very impressive, like FJ but somehow in a different way. Either way, it works. Add in the fire effects and water, and 3D projection, and it’s still a winner 11 years on. Islands should be proud to have the 2 best dark rides on the planet in their park.Another go on Dr Doom’s Fearfall was next up - it gives stunning views at night, and I left a few inches on the OTSR which gave crazy airtime! Cat in The Hat rounded up our quota of rides for the trip, and we made a quick trip back to WWHP for dinner in 3B.So overall, another fantastic trip to Orlando. Plenty to think about and look forward to until next time, with Universal and Disney both having big projects coming up / ongoing. The Wizarding World has strengthened the already brilliant park that is IOA, cementing it’s position as my favourite park in the world. Hopefully now it will get the gate figures it has always deserved but struggled to achieve. Thanks for reading, I hope you’ve enjoyed the view over my shoulder through the trip!

[TP Daniel]

Once again, brilliant report, you've taken some very nice pictures. The summary on the shops was very good too, D&B sounds like my kind of shop! Thanks for putting the effort in for the reports.

[Aliice.]

I feel like I've actually been there aha. Well done Adamm (:And No Doubt (;

[Mark9]

Just got back from my holiday and I think Harry Potter is one of the best rides in the world amazing...Frozen Butter-beers the best, I had 3 Chocolate frogs are nice two and the atmosphere at night is amazing.

Thats all well and good.. but did you spray the riders of Incredible Hulk with silly string?