Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic - General Discussion Thread

[DarkMetroid567]

So that “the queue is built to handle 7 hours” claim was totally off-base right?

 

[LP159]

How’s downtime been today and yesterday? Does it seem they’ve reduced some of the seat sensor issues/ride-stops?

 

[HandsomePete]

There’s no way it’s just a couple and it held at 190 a good part of yesterday. Something has to have improved

It can't be a lot... relative to "normal" attendance numbers at other parks there haven't been that many people in the park on even the busiest of days, and a good number of people are going to decline to wait 2-3 hours for one thing when there's so many other new things to do.

 

[Clive]

So that “the queue is built to handle 7 hours” claim was totally off-base right?

Clearly. But it's also worth pointing out that the ride does not appear to be operating at full capacity in an effort to avoid downtime, much like Hagrid.

 

[HandsomePete]

But it's also worth pointing out that the ride does not appear to be operating at full capacity in an effort to avoid downtime

 

[JustLikeMe]

For what it’s worth, when we waited 75 minutes on Friday evening the line was moving surprisingly fast - at some points faster than when we toured the queue the previous day - and at dispatch they were loading four vehicles at a time.

 

[RFRees]

For what it’s worth, when we waited 75 minutes on Friday evening the line was moving surprisingly fast - at some points faster than when we toured the queue the previous day - and at dispatch they were loading four vehicles at a time.

What was the posted wait time for that?

 

[JustLikeMe]

What was the posted wait time for that?

It was 150-180 mins all day, but shortly after 7pm it dropped to 90 and then 75 minutes, which is when we got in line.

I did hear that people who got in line yesterday at around 2pm only waited around 60 mins despite a posted wait of 150 mins.

 

[RFRees]

It could just be today, but all guests (including regular admission, not just hotel guests) were able to queue up for MoM prior to 8:30am (which is around when I entered). Just an FYI in case anyone is thinking about rope dropping. Now I'm wishing I would have gotten here even earlier.

The first posted wait time today was 300 minutes. Went down to 200 pretty quickly (less than an hour). I'll update this post when I've exited the ride to give my wait time. Edit: down to 120 posted at 10:30ish. Edit: Ride is having technical issues at around 11am, no one has ridden for about 30 minutes now. Edit: Finally back up at 12, one hour delay.

Edit entered at around 8:30, exited at 12:10 pm. Had the ride not broken down, from 9am to 11am, roughly a 2 hour wait.

 

[rhino4evr]

Seeing some negativity online about this ride , not surprising coming from folks that waited like 3-4 hours. I have to say no ride will ever be “worth” that long wait. At least not to me.

I am curious to see people saying it’s the “worst potter ride” at UOR.

 

[Wesker69]

I don't know when I'll ever get around to riding it... but even just from video alone, that DeathEater animatronic is insane. I'm mesmerized by it lol

 

[rhino4evr]

I don't know when I'll ever get around to riding it... but even just from video alone, that DeathEater animatronic is insane. I'm mesmerized by it lol

I still haven’t watched any POVs.
I sometimes envy my wife who doesn’t follow any of this stuff , and rides most attractions with no idea what it even is.
Some fun reactions.
1. Not knowing cosmic rewind was a roller coaster (she assumed it would be screen based )
2. Being surprised by the stormtrooper squad on RotR.

If I can’t have these type of genuine surprise as least I can see her reaction.

These are the heavy costs of being a theme park nerd .. lol

 

[Mad Dog]

Seeing some negativity online about this ride , not surprising coming from folks that waited like 3-4 hours. I have to say no ride will ever be “worth” that long wait. At least not to me.

I am curious to see people saying it’s the “worst potter ride” at UOR.

I always remember the really bad, almost overall terrible, reviews that Gringotts received their first couple months. Mostly due to long lines, downtime, and the coaster fanatics that mistakenly thought it would be a typical thrill coaster. Now it continually has the longest lines in USF, and is very popular with the general public....The initial noise during previews, and opening weeks, of new attractions that are having technical issues disappears over time. .......................Only the really horrible attractions like Fast and Furious, and Limo at opening DCA, are rightfully deserving of the extreme negativity.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Seeing some negativity online about this ride , not surprising coming from folks that waited like 3-4 hours. I have to say no ride will ever be “worth” that long wait. At least not to me.

I am curious to see people saying it’s the “worst potter ride” at UOR.

It’s the only major Potter ride that hasn’t obviously pushed the envelope. The ride vehicle doesn’t have the “wow” factor of the Kuka arm and there’s nothing like the Hagrid’s drop track/backward section or the Gringott’s tilt drop. The story is also muddled and not recognizable from the movies. The most reductive opinions could chalk it up to Spiderman 2.0.

But the execution of it all is elite. It’s the best screen quality of any ride at UOR and the only ride to seamlessly integrate animatronics with the action. It also masters the art of directing your attention to exactly where it needs to be (which is the most common complaint about Monsters). That was enough for me to put it above Gringotts when I was able to get on in 30 minutes, but maybe those are a little too nuanced to appreciate after waiting 3 hours.

 

[TheUniC6]

But the execution of it all is elite. It’s the best screen quality of any ride at UOR and the only ride to seamlessly integrate animatronics with the action

Until I saw a video of the ride broken down/malfunctioning, I had a legit hard time telling whether or not the portions of Harry and co in the elevators where real or not lol.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Until I saw a video of the ride broken down/malfunctioning, I had a legit hard time telling whether or not the portions of Harry and co in the elevators where real or not lol.

I still don’t fully understand what exactly I was looking at in any of those scenes. Really cool effect.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

It’s the only major Potter ride that hasn’t obviously pushed the envelope. The ride vehicle doesn’t have the “wow” factor of the Kuka arm and there’s nothing like the Hagrid’s drop track/backward section or the Gringott’s tilt drop. The story is also muddled and not recognizable from the movies. The most reductive opinions could chalk it up to Spiderman 2.0.

But the execution of it all is elite. It’s the best screen quality of any ride at UOR and the only ride to seamlessly integrate animatronics with the action. It also masters the art of directing your attention to exactly where it needs to be (which is the most common complaint about Monsters). That was enough for me to put it above Gringotts when I was able to get on in 30 minutes, but maybe those are a little too nuanced to appreciate after waiting 3 hours.

I think it's by far the coolest story of any Potter ride so far--really, am I the only one who wanted a ride that works as a true sequel? Beyond that it beats Gringotts just off of having some actual AAs and physical set pieces. Forbidden Journey is obviously the most innovative and revolutionary of the bunch (one of the most so ever created) but the storytelling is just so bad that it's caused my opinion of it to slide over time.

(There's also been somewhat of an online backlash to the property since the last major Potter ride, so it doesn't entirely surprise me that there's been some negative online reactions.)