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|name=Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
|name=Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
|logo=
|logo=
|image=ХогвартсПаркГП.jpg
|image=Wizarding_World_of_Harry_Potter_Castle.jpg
|caption=Within Hogwarts Castle lies ''Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey''.
|caption=Within Hogwarts Castle lies ''Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey''.
|park=[[Islands of Adventure]]
|park=[[Islands of Adventure]]

Revision as of 15:22, 20 August 2010

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Within Hogwarts Castle lies Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.
Ride statistics
Attraction typeDark ride
Manufacturer[[Dynamic Structures, KUKA]]
DesignerUniversal Creative
ThemeHarry Potter universe
Vehicle typeRobotic arm
Vehicles47[1]
Duration4
Maximum Height80 inches (200 cm)
WebsiteOfficial Website
Ride HostsHarry Potter
Ron Weasley
Hermione Granger
Single rider line available

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is an attraction at Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is the signature ride of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter area of the theme park, and takes riders through scenes and environments in and around Hogwarts Castle from the various books and films of the Harry Potter series. Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Creative, described the ride as an in-depth look at the world of Harry Potter, which will utilize never before seen technology to "transform the theme park experience as you know it." [3] It opened with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter section on June 18, 2010.[4]

Summary

Hogwarts at the Islands of Adventure theme park.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey utilizes 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 flying around Hogwarts castle, encountering the Whomping Willow and a horde of Dementors, and being caught in a Quidditch match. The ride performs such movements as dropping, spinning around, twisting and turning. Over-the-shoulder bars are used to secure guests in their seats. At the conclusion of the ride, guests exit into the "Filch's Emporium of Confiscated Goods" gift shop.[5][3] Universal Express Plus is not available for this attraction [6], but it does offer a Single Rider line.

Queue Area

Entrance to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Islands of Adventure, United States.

To enter the ride, guests walk through the gates of Hogwarts and begin their journey in the dungeons where they see familiar items from both the movies and books.First they enter through the Castle doors and go to the lockers.Riders will then queue up out side in the green house and then enter the back castle doors. Fans will recognize the Mirror of Erised, the Hogwarts House Jewels, talking portraits and, as they proceed throughout the hallways, encounter various recreations of the rooms of Hogwarts castle, including the Headmaster's office, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and the Gryffindor common room. In the Headmaster's room, Professor Dumbledore extends a warm welcome to all Muggles, informing them that Professor Binns is hosting a lecture on the history of the school. Visitors move on, to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom where Harry, Ron, and Hermione appear from under the Invisibility Cloak, urging guests instead 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, resulting in one of several special effects to occur, such as snow falling down on visitors. Before continuing on, visitors receive a safety reminder from the Sorting Hat.[7]

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

Next, riders board a "enchanted bench", which lifts off the ground to take them on a journey with Harry. The ride combines real sets and audio animatronics with segments that utilize wrap-around projection screens.[7][8]

Ride

The ride begins with a dousing of Floo Powder from Hermione, and the enchanted bench flies off to the Astronomy Tower. The guests then come out in a set of the observatory, where they look out at a replica of the entire castle. As the guests fly out of the observatory, the ride switches back to a projection screen and they follow Harry Potter and Ron Weasley to a Quidditch match. Hagrid's new pet Hungarian Horntail Dragon begins to chase the riders. The riders fly into a set of a collapsing bridge and encounter an audio-animatronic dragon, which breathes false fire at them.[8]

The riders descend into a set of the Forbidden Forest, where giant spiders spit venom at them. They encounter a figure of the largest spider, Aragog. As the riders turn back to the castle, they encounter an audio-animatronic Whomping Willow, which swipes at them, knocking them into the Quidditch Pitch. The ride once again returns to a projection screen as the riders become caught up in Harry's and Ron's game of Quidditch. As Dementors begin to arrive at the Quidditch Pitch, Harry leads the riders away, but their bench falls into the Chamber of Secrets. The riders return to a real set as the Dementors pop out at them and chase them. The skeleton of the long-deceased basilisk (killed near the climax of Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets) 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.[8]

Dementors emerge from the darkness; 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. Harry Potter causes the Dementors to flee by using the Patronus charm.[8]

The riders are thrust back into the final video dome segment, where the Chamber of Secrets begins to cave in. They fly over the Black Lake, back to Hogwarts, where they are cheered on by a series of on-screen characters from the movies. Professor Dumbledore sends everyone back through the Floo Network to the Room of Requirement, where they exit their bench.[8]

Restrictions

While there is no posted weight limit, riders can test whether the attraction accommodates their size by using test seats at the queue entrance and again at the end of the queue. If passengers are unable to secure the ride's over-the-shoulder harness, they are not allowed to go on the ride but can still walk through the ride queue.[9] The seats at the beginning of the queue are equipped with red and green lights that indicate whether or not the rider can be accommodated; the seats near the end will actually lock properly. While the test seats may provide a rider with an idea of whether or not they will fit on the ride, often, even passengers who cannot get a green light (meaning the harness is completely secure) on the test seat can still fit in the actual ride. Persons requiring modified seating on other rides may have difficulty closing the harness. Three clicks of the harness ratchet are required to ride.

Universal is rumoured to plan on installing, by the end of 2010, additional ride vehicles designed to seat people of a larger size, but this has not been officially confirmed.

Production

History

In January 2007, rumours arose about the possibility of a Harry Potter themed island at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park[10]. This was followed by further rumours that part of the project was codenamed "Strong Arm" in reference to the KUKA robotic arm technology it would utilize.[11][12]. On May 31, 2007, three weeks before the release of the seventh and final Potter book, Universal (in partnership with Warner Bros.) officially announced The Wizarding World of Harry Potter[13][14][15]. Construction of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey began in February 2008[16]. Construction concluded in the first half of 2010. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey began soft openings starting on June 1, 2010[17]. The ride officially opened to the public on June 18, 2010.[2][18]

Ride Mechanics

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey utilises KUKA robotic arm technology[1]. The technology is already being used for other theme park attractions in stationary form (where it is bolted to the ground) and on a much smaller scale[19]. The revolutionary part of this ride is that the robotic arm is mounted on a track.[1][20][21][22][23] The downside to this intricate machinery is that if the ride breaks down, some guests are left stuck in an uncomfortable position, such as being tilted backwards in dark enclosed spaces , contributing to the longer lines at the attraction.

Cast

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey features many of the main characters of the film series including:[24]

References

  1. ^ a b c Lance Hart (April 4, 2010). "Islands of Adventure". Screamscape. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Universal Orlando Resort (2010). "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Only at Universal Orlando Resort". Universal Orlando Resort. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Eric Scull (2010). "The Wizarding World 'Forbidden Journey' ... ride preview". Muggle Net. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  4. ^ Universal Orlando Resort (2010). "Islands of Adventure: Live the adventure of a lifetime". Universal Orlando Resort. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  5. ^ Universal Orlando Resort. "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Media". Universal Orlando Resort. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  6. ^ "UNIVERSAL EXPRESS PLUS PASS". 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  7. ^ a b Inside the Magic (May 29, 2010). "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey queue at the Wizarding World in Universal Orlando". Video. YouTube. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d e Barbara Nefer (June 18, 2010). "Blow by blow account of Forbidden Journey ride at Wizarding World of Harry Potter". Examiner. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  9. ^ The Harry Potter Automatic News Aggregator (June 19, 2010). "Follow-up: 'Forbidden' fatties at 'Wizarding World of Harry Potter'". The Harry Potter Automatic News Aggregator. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  10. ^ Levine, Arthur (2007-01-28). "Universal to Float New Island at its Florida Park". About.com. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  11. ^ "Harry Potter / Lost Continent Transformation". Screamscape.com. 2007-02-01. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  12. ^ Hill, Jim (2007-02-05). "Monday Mouse Watch: You'll believe a car can fly". JimHillMedia.com. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  13. ^ Sturcke, James (2007-05-31). "Harry Potter theme park to open in Florida". The Guardian.
  14. ^ "Harry Potter theme park swoops to Fla". USA Today. 2007-05-31.
  15. ^ "Harry Potter theme park planned". BBC News. 2007-05-31.
  16. ^ The Leaky Cauldron. "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Theme Park". The Leaky Cauldron. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  17. ^ The Leaky Cauldron (June 1, 2010). "Wizarding World of Harry Potter Soft Open Report RoundUp". The Leaky Cauldron. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  18. ^ Jennifer Sangalang (June 18, 2010). "'Harry Potter' movie stars help christen Wizarding World". USA Today. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  19. ^ Robocoaster. "History". Robocoaster. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  20. ^ Harry Potter World Orlando (March 22, 2010). ""Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" Attraction Details". Harry Potter World Orlando. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  21. ^ Kuka Entertainment. "Kuka Entertainment - Robocoaster". Kuka Entertainment. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  22. ^ Kuka Industrial Robots. "Kuka Industrial Robots - Robocoaster". Kuka Industrial Robots. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  23. ^ Robocoaster (March 22, 2010). "Large & Theme Park Solutions". Robocoaster. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  24. ^ Universal Orlando Resort (March 25, 2010). "Grand Opening Of The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter At Universal Orlando Resort Set For June 18". News Article. Universal Orlando Resort. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
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