Harry Potter & The Battle at the Ministry - Reviews, Photos & Media

[boomerthom]

Is the ride confirmed to use AI for the characters’ voices?

 

[Rhian]

Is the ride confirmed to use AI for the characters’ voices?

On second thought I’m not as certain on that particular point—they may have had voice actors similar to what was done with Hermione on the Hogwarts Express. I’ll admit it was presumptive on my part simply because they were already going the AI route for other things. If they did it wouldn’t surprise me.

 

[Jones14]

I do think my personal enjoyment of the ride would jump up quite a bit if the projected faces were replaced with regular animatronics.

I know they want to push the envelope wherever they can, but to me, an animatronic needs to look convincing (Monsters), charming (Nintendo), or both (Toothless). The projected faces don’t achieve either goal, and I find them to be detrimental to the ride’s storytelling as a result.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I have 2.5 weeks until I finally get to ride this and get my review. The concern I've had - because of the enclosed ride vehicle, if you're sitting in the back, do you really get a sense for the scale of the attraction?

 

[Jones14]

I have 2.5 weeks until I finally get to ride this and get my review. The concern I've had - because of the enclosed ride vehicle, if you're sitting in the back, do you really get a sense for the scale of the attraction?

I don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything by being in the back! The vehicle’s huge, so even with it being boxed in your ‘window’ is still very large.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything by being in the back! The vehicle’s huge, so even with it being boxed in your ‘window’ is still very large.

Great! It's something I've wondered about - if sitting in the back would make it feel like you're watching a TV screen vs looking out of a window lol

 

[bagphrases]

I have 2.5 weeks until I finally get to ride this and get my review. The concern I've had - because of the enclosed ride vehicle, if you're sitting in the back, do you really get a sense for the scale of the attraction?

I've only sat in the back and I was still impressed with the scale. I think there's one thing that's obscured but it's not a huge miss.

 

[Evan]

I think the issue with Ministry is it lacks the fantastical magic we crave from the original series, and the emotional feeling it gives you. I know Forbidden Journey doesn’t work for everyone, but I still find that ride downright magical. The way it brings you face to face with so many iconic moments, the music, being in Hogwarts… it’s pure magic.

Maybe if Ministry felt more intimate, and you were racing through various halls into various rooms, having close encounters with creatures, or various characters. Some element of mystery? Maybe a little fear, and a daring escape?

But the way they put you face to face with much smaller elevators, with projected scenes inside… The way they insist we can help, but what are we even doing and how are we helping?

It has a lot of cool moments, but it doesn’t quite reach what I think I hoped for? Where as Cirque is innovative, has some pretty wow moments, and is dripping with the magic and whimsy of the wizarding world. Even if you don’t know Fantastic Beasts, it still works.

And I am someone who is very nostalgic for Harry Potter.

 

[rageofthegods]

I think the issue with Ministry is it lacks the fantastical magic we crave from the original series, and the emotional feeling it gives you. I know Forbidden Journey doesn’t work for everyone, but I still find that ride downright magical. The way it brings you face to face with so many iconic moments, the music, being in Hogwarts… it’s pure magic.

Maybe if Ministry felt more intimate, and you were racing through various halls into various rooms, having close encounters with creatures, or various characters. Some element of mystery? Maybe a little fear, and a daring escape?

But the way they put you face to face with much smaller elevators, with projected scenes inside… The way they insist we can help, but what are we even doing and how are we helping?

It has a lot of cool moments, but it doesn’t quite reach what I think I hoped for? Where as Cirque is innovative, has some pretty wow moments, and is dripping with the magic and whimsy of the wizarding world. Even if you don’t know Fantastic Beasts, it still works.

And I am someone who is very nostalgic for Harry Potter.

The biggest problem with the design imo is that rides like Forbidden Journey, Rise of the Resistance, etc. make you feel like you're part of the action, whereas Ministry feels like you're watching the action and occasionally the people involved with the action notice you. In ROTR, you're moving between the legs of the AT-ATs and watching its guns point at you - in the ministry archive battle, you're on the sidelines of everything while the Death Eaters occasionally notice you.

Everything feels like you're watching a diorama. Perhaps the one exception is the chase, and that's a screen. I think this has to do with the ride's origin as a compact building where everyone was on actual elevators, and so they couldn't really "move" through any of the environments.

Monsters Unchained does a much better job of making you feel like you're in the middle of everything.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

The biggest problem with the design imo is that rides like Forbidden Journey, Rise of the Resistance, etc. make you feel like you're part of the action, whereas Ministry feels like you're watching the action and occasionally the people involved with the action notice you. In ROTR, you're moving between the legs of the AT-ATs and watching its guns point at you - in the ministry archive battle, you're on the sidelines of everything while the Death Eaters occasionally notice you.

Everything feels like you're watching a diorama. Perhaps the one exception is the chase, and that's a screen. I think this has to do with the ride's origin as a compact building where everyone was on actual elevators, and so they couldn't really "move" through any of the environments.

Monsters Unchained does a much better job of making you feel like you're in the middle of everything.

Well some of the best attractions out there are passive in their experience (Pirates, Haunted Mansion, etc.) where you are not necessarily part of the story, just observing.

Ministry should be seen as a large-scale/more physically gifted Spider-Man/Transformers

I also think the ending hurts from that slow crawl to the unload platform where by the time the TM claps you kind of just want to get off and hit the rest of the park after waiting an hour plus for the attraction.

I think Ministry is fine, but Monsters blows it out of the water.

 

[CaretakerBajaBlast]

The biggest problem with the design imo is that rides like Forbidden Journey, Rise of the Resistance, etc. make you feel like you're part of the action, whereas Ministry feels like you're watching the action and occasionally the people involved with the action notice you.

Winky pointing at our ride vehicle: they can help us!

Me: *completely defenseless, just getting rocked by killing curses*