Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Within Hogwarts Castle lies Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.
Islands of Adventure Area The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Status Operating Opening date June 18, 2010 (2010-06-18)
Universal Studios Japan Area The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Status Under construction Opening date 2014
Universal Studios Hollywood Area The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Status Announced
General statistics
Attraction type	Dark ride
Designer	Universal Creative
Theme	Harry Potter universe
Vehicle type	Enchanted benches (Robotic arm)
Vehicles	47
Riders per vehicle	4
Rows	1
Riders per row	4
Duration	5 minutes
Height restriction	48 in (122 cm)
Track system	Busbar
Manufacturer	Dynamic Structures, KUKA
Ride Hosts	Harry Potter Ron Weasley Hermione Granger
Single rider line available

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is the signature amusement ride of the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida. The ride takes guests through scenes and environments in and around Hogwarts Castle from the Harry Potter series of books and films. Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Creative, described the ride as an in-depth look at the world of Harry Potter, which utilizes never before seen technology which transforms "the theme park experience as you know it". The original attraction at Islands of Adventure opened with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter section on June 18, 2010. Duplicate rides are currently under construction at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka and Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City; the former is scheduled to open in 2014.

Summary

This summary describes the attraction at Islands of Adventure. The attractions currently under construction may have significant differences.

Entrance to the ride at Islands of Adventure

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey uses KUKA robocoaster technology, which allows the seats to pivot while being held above the track by a robotic arm. However, the ride is not a roller coaster but a scenic dark ride. The experience includes a flight around Hogwarts castle, an encounter with the Whomping Willow and a horde of Dementors, and a Quidditch match. The ride drops, spins around, twists and turns, but does not turn upside down, though passengers sometimes lie flat on their backs. Over-the-shoulder bars are used to secure guests in their seats, and a single parabolic metal bar is used as a hand grip. At the conclusion of the ride, guests exit into "Filch's Emporium of Confiscated Goods" gift shop. As of August 2012, Universal Express Plus is not available for this attraction, but a single rider queue is available.

Queue area

The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom forms a portion of the queue at Islands of Adventure

To enter the ride, guests walk through the gates of Hogwarts and begin their journey in the dungeons where they see items featured in the movies and books. Passengers enter through the castle doors, go to the lockers, queue outside in the green house and then enter the back castle doors. Objects recognizable from the series include the Mirror of Erised, the Hogwarts House Jewels, and talking portraits. As guests proceed throughout the hallways, they encounter replicas of the rooms of Hogwarts castle, including the Headmaster's office, the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and the Gryffindor common room. In the Headmaster's office, Professor Dumbledore extends a warm welcome to all Muggles, informing them that Professor Binns is hosting a lecture on the history of the school. In the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, Harry, Ron, and Hermione appear from under the Invisibility Cloak, urging guests to meet them in the Room of Requirement in order to sneak everyone down to a Quidditch match. Ron tries to perform a magic trick which goes wrong, and one of several special effects, such as falling snow, is triggered. Before continuing on, visitors receive a safety reminder from the Sorting Hat and several paintings in the next two rooms.

Station

Four guests board an "enchanted bench" for the ride.

Next, riders board an enchanted bench inside the Room of Requirement, which lifts off the ground and through the Floo Network for a journey with Harry. The ride combines real sets and animatronics with segments that use wrap-around projection screens.

Ride

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) in a scene from the ride-film of the attraction.

The ride begins with a dousing of Floo Powder from Hermione Granger, who asks the guests to say, "Observatory" in order to transport them to their desired location, and the enchanted bench flies off through the Floo Network to the Astronomy Tower. The guests leave the Astronomy Tower through its fireplace and enter the Observatory, where they look out through the open arches to the hills and lake outside Hogwarts' boundary. As the guests fly out of one of the Observatory's arches, the ride smoothly switches to a wrap-around projection screen and they follow Harry Potter and Ron Weasley around Hogwarts' buildings and towers to a Quidditch match. As Harry and Ron travel under a bridge, Hagrid yields the riders and asks them if they have seen a dragon. As Harry redirects the riders' attentions back to their journey, Hagrid's pet Hungarian Horntail dragon begins to chase the riders. The bench flies out of the projection screen and into a set of the uneven bridge that crosses the valley behind Hogwarts and, after falling out of a hole in the floor of the bridge, they encounter an animatronic dragon, which breathes false fire at them.

The riders descend into a set of the Forbidden Forest where they encounter a figure of Aragog a large, sentient spider who spits water at them. As Hermione tries to help the riders away from Aragog and towards the castle, encountering many spiders on the way, they encounter an animatronic Whomping Willow which swipes at them, knocking them into the Quidditch pitch. The ride returns to a projection screen as the riders become caught up in Harry's and Ron's game of Quidditch. As Slytherin scores into Gryffindor's goal, Dementors arrive at the Quidditch pitch and Harry attempts to lead the riders away through the structure of the pitch and back to the school, but their bench falls into the long-abandoned Chamber of Secrets through a hole. The riders return to a real set as the Dementors appear from the pipelines and chase them. The skeleton of the long-deceased Basilisk lies on the floor of the Chamber, and expels Lord Voldemort's Dark Mark into the air as the benches are drawn into the mouth of Salazar Slytherin's statue.

Many Dementors emerge from the darkness while one descends and attempts to suck out the rider's souls. This effect is achieved by projecting the rider's faces onto a cloud of fog in front of the Dementor, blasting cold air towards the riders, and using a heartbeat-like sound played through the sub-woofers built into the benches. After shaking the riders out of the trance, Harry causes the Dementors to flee with a protective Patronus charm. After the final Dementor, and while Harry uses his Patronus, the riders enter the final video dome segment, where the cliffs outside the Chamber of Secrets cave in. They fly over the Black Lake, back into Hogwarts and through the Main Hall and Grand Staircase, where they are cheered on by a series of on-screen characters from the movies who appear three-dimensional. Professor Dumbledore sends everyone back through the Floo Network to the Room of Requirement, where they exit their bench.

Restrictions

Test seats exist at the entrance of the queue at Islands of Adventure.

While everyone may walk through the queue, all riders must be at least 48 inches (120 cm) tall. The ride has no maximum weight limit, and riders can test whether the attraction accommodates their size using test seats at the queue entrance and again at the end of the queue, which are equipped with red, yellow, and green lights that indicate whether the rider can be accommodated. Persons requiring modified seating on other rides may have difficulty closing the ride's over-the-shoulder harness. If passengers are unable to secure the harness, they are not permitted to ride the attraction. In an attempt to alleviate this problem, Universal has modified the restraint system on some of the seats to accommodate larger guests. These modifications will not affect the size of the seat nor create a dangerous situation for smaller guests. Guests who receive a yellow light on the test seats may sit in modified seating.

According to the Universal Orlando Resort Rider's Guide, both legs must protrude from under the restraint and form a lap. In practice, above-knee amputees will not be permitted to ride unless their residual natural limb reaches the edge of the seat (or at least includes a knee), even if the lock-bar appears to successfully engage the limb. Lower-limb prosthetics will not offset this requirement since they must be removed prior to boarding the ride. These particular restrictions are not clearly posted at the ride or on the website, which lists the height requirement only. The lower limb prosthetic removal requirement can be found at the "Accessibility Information" page under "Guests with Prosthetic Limbs." The residual limb length requirement is not listed there but will be enforced at the ride prior to boarding.

Production

History

In January 2007, rumors arose about the possibility of a Harry Potter themed island at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park. This was followed by further rumors that part of the project was codenamed "Strong Arm" in reference to the KUKA robotic arm technology it would utilize. On May 31, 2007, Universal, in partnership with Warner Bros., officially announced that The Wizarding World of Harry Potter would be coming to Islands of Adventure. Preparation of the site for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter began in late October 2007, and the construction of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey began in February 2008. Construction ended in the first half of 2010. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey began operating on June 1, 2010, and officially opened to the public on June 18, 2010.

On December 6, 2011, Universal Parks & Resorts announced that it would open The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood, and that one of the attractions would be Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. On May 5, 2012, the Los Angeles Times reported that Universal Studios Japan would also be receiving a The Wizarding World of Harry Potter by 2014. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was also confirmed as one of the attractions.

Ride mechanics

KUKA robotic arms, similar to those used on Robocoasters (pictured), are used on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey in conjunction with busbar track technology.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is manufactured by Dynamic Structures, a Canadian company responsible for several attractions at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Dynamic Structures used KUKA robotic arm technology previously used on stationary amusement rides. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey differs from the previous attractions because it uses multiple robotic arms mounted on a Busbar track. The ride's seats are mounted on robotic arms which are in turn mounted on a track. This allows the arms to travel through the attraction while performing their movements in synchronization with the ride's show elements (animated props, projection surfaces, etc.). This concept first appeared in the 2004 International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Trade Show. The disadvantage of this intricate machinery is that if the ride breaks down, some guests are stranded in uncomfortable positions, such as being tilted backwards in dark enclosed spaces.

Design

The attraction was designed by Universal Creative in association with Warner Bros. Recreation Group. Thierry Coup, who worked on The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Shrek 4-D and Revenge of the Mummy, was the Creative Director for the ride

Cast

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey features many of the main characters of the film series including:

• Harry Potter as portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe
• Ron Weasley as portrayed by Rupert Grint
• Hermione Granger as portrayed by Emma Watson
• Albus Dumbledore as portrayed by Michael Gambon
• Rubeus Hagrid as portrayed by Robbie Coltrane
• Draco Malfoy as portrayed by Tom Felton
• Ginny Weasley as portrayed by Bonnie Wright
• Fred Weasley as portrayed by James Phelps
• George Weasley as portrayed by Oliver Phelps
• Professor Flitwick as portrayed by Warwick Davis
• Neville Longbottom as portrayed by Matthew Lewis

Reception

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey has been widely praised for its innovation and theming. Arthur Levine of About.com stated that he felt he "had been taken to a truly magical place. For a few glorious moments, the Floo Network, flying benches, and willows that whomp seemed not just possible, but actual." He gave the ride a rating of 5 stars out of 5, and wrote that the ride was the best of its kind. Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider commended Universal Creative for its attention to detail on the ride. Niles wrote that the company had set its expectations almost impossibly high, and that the ride is "the most advanced and engaging attraction in theme park industry history". Ricky Brigante of Inside the Magic described the ride as a "jaw-dropping journey that no one should miss", and criticized the lack of continuity with the story.

See also

• The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
• Transformers: The Ride

External links

• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at the Islands of Adventure website