#747476 by Ianf71
06 Jun 2010, 15:06
Some more news for those heading out to Orlando to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The seats on the new ride are apparently quite restrictive and anyone that isn't stick thin should try the test seat first.

On the test seat, there is a 'Wizard' monitoring proceedings. The over-the-head restraint has to be able to fasten down until 3 clicks are heard. Apparently there are already lots of unhappy people only getting 2 clicks but these fail-to-clicks are being monitored and recorded. (I do have a couple of pictures of the seats but no idea how to post them)

I think Universal may have shot themselves in the foot a bit here as let's face it, you see a hell of a lot of 'big' people walking round the parks - I myself am 6' and weigh 18st but am not 'fat' I'm broad and have big shoulders - and it has me thinking that I'm going to miss out.

I hope the monitoring means they'll put a bigger seat in but if not and word gets out that bigger guests are not able to ride it's not going to do them any favours PR wise.
#747480 by Mandy Hall
06 Jun 2010, 16:32
That rules me out too!

I believe the three stars have ruled themselves out of appearing at the opening too... I believe the report was in the Sunday Times, and apparently the feedback hasn't been too good about the rides themselves...
#747482 by Tinkerbelle
06 Jun 2010, 16:46
Mandy Hall wrote:That rules me out too!

I believe the three stars have ruled themselves out of appearing at the opening too... I believe the report was in the Sunday Times, and apparently the feedback hasn't been too good about the rides themselves...


They've changed Duelling Dragons for the Harry Potter land which makes me have a grudge against it before I even get there. :(!
#747483 by Ianf71
06 Jun 2010, 16:52
Also just found out that if you decide to not try the test seats and chance it anyway and they have spot-checkers throughout the line - if they think you are too tall or too big they take you out of the line and make you go into the gift shop to wait.
#747484 by SNOMO
06 Jun 2010, 17:01
when you sit on the test seats and pull the over head restraint down you either get a green light come on (good to go) or a red light (no way). The 'stars' have already been and you can check out there reactions on uTube - they loved it. There has already been a 'soft opening' over the last week the first one of which broke down within the hour but since then it has been a great success and everybody who has ridden the new ride has loved it.
Check out the Disney Information Bulletin Board (DIBB) for reviews by all those who have already done it.
#747487 by Ianf71
06 Jun 2010, 17:20
SNOMO wrote:when you sit on the test seats and pull the over head restraint down you either get a green light come on (good to go) or a red light (no way).



The green light comes on after the three clicks - I was wondering why Robbie Coltrane didn't ride FJ.

There are a lot of people who aren't saying it's great because they never got a chance to ride it!

It would seem the Spot Checkers have got the short end of the stick, pulling people out of the queue - but also word is they are aware of the size problems and are 'working on it'

Anyway, I've emailed Customer Services at Universal to ask can they clarify the size restrictions before I fly out. They are usually good at responding so we'll see..

By the way, looking at those pictures, the rumours about it being 'snug' seem to be true - imagine how crammed those places are going to be when they open it for real :0
#747490 by Tinkerbelle
06 Jun 2010, 17:50
Have been reading that you don't want to do the new ride if you don't like spiders!

If you want to read what happens on the ride then click here for all the spoilers.

It does sound though that the ride will be lost on anyone who has no interest in Harry Potter (yes that does include me). Still at least I have Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at the resort to keep me entertained.
#747497 by CHill710
06 Jun 2010, 19:07
for anyone who wants more spoilers there is this video (mostly audio) that has appeared online over the past few days.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8KHb2yIiuY

Chris
#747532 by SNOMO
07 Jun 2010, 08:50
Tinkerbelle wrote:This blog is being written by someone who was unable to ride due to their size - they have now decided to lose some weight so they can go on the ride in the future.


So perhaps its having a good effect in other ways then ? :)
#766096 by Ianf71
02 Feb 2011, 19:32
Just a little update as I haven't been on for quite a few months (see my TR)

We went to Islands of Adventure on 31st August, headed straight there instead of starting at at Universal Studios in the morning.

High-tailed it over to Wizarding World, slowed down only due to the actual wow factor when you actually see it (even Derek, my best friend, who has seen one and a half HP movies, was impressed)
The wow factor was added to because, contrary to every picture I had ever seen of the place, it was fairly empty. Few pictures of the street then off to the Forbidden Journey.

Wait time 20 minutes - could never have imagined such a short wait. Then to the 'tester' seat. There was a gaggle of people around it and a large man sitting in the seat - Derek told me to try it but the man seemed to be ok and was bigger than me so we just went for ir.
Apart from the section in the greenhouse, basically trotted through the rest of the queue, which was great to get on the ride but not so good to take pictures and see the theming as there were hundreds of people coming in behind us.

Got to the Room of Requirement, sat in the seat, pulled the bar over my head and sat back...

Just before we got to the part where Hermione tells us to follow them one of the 'wizards' came over (a tiny woman about 18 years old) and told me that I needed the bar to click once more. I tried pulling it myself, dreading what was going to happen and cursing my shoulders. She basically leant on the bar, it clicked and she gave me a huge smile and told me to enjoy the ride! YAY!!!!!!

Then it broke down right near the end, and we were stuck up in the air, with all the lights on, waiting for it to go again for about 15 minutes. Then the queues were back to the 90-120min wait so we didn't go on it again. :(

Before it broke down it was totally brilliant though. :)
#766107 by Luke085
02 Feb 2011, 20:41
We also experienced it breaking down! Was a very different experience with all the lights on, fortunately it was just after the spider bit!! LOL
#766124 by Kraken
02 Feb 2011, 22:05
I did the Forbidden Journey ride 7 or 8 times whilst in Orlando a couple of weeks back - only got stuck on it once when there was a brief stoppage. (Was a good 10-15mins of downtime when we were all but at the front of the queue though).

We had the pleasure of riding Dragons Challenge with a future Darwin Awards contender. The gentleman was "of size" and sat in a normal seat (with one seatbelt). As the train was leaving the station, he undid the seatbelt so he would be more comfortable - the staff saw him, stopped the train and he would not put the seatbelt back in. Even when the team leader told him the belt was a secondary restraint he wasn't having it. Ride power off, steps in place and he was offloaded.
#766127 by Tinkerbelle
02 Feb 2011, 22:11
Kraken wrote:We had the pleasure of riding Dragons Challenge with a future Darwin Awards contender. The gentleman was "of size" and sat in a normal seat (with one seatbelt). As the train was leaving the station, he undid the seatbelt so he would be more comfortable - the staff saw him, stopped the train and he would not put the seatbelt back in. Even when the team leader told him the belt was a secondary restraint he wasn't having it. Ride power off, steps in place and he was offloaded.


Idiot. Should have been thrown out of the park too.
#766130 by Ianf71
02 Feb 2011, 22:14
Wow Kraken, I thought I was the only person that's ever rode with an idiot like that (funnily enough, on the Kraken at Seaworld) Except it was a larger woman who insisted that she didn't need the seatbelt and undid it as soon as the ride attended had moved off from squashing her into the seat and securing her. Then her and her three friends started a big scene - firstly claiming it was racial, then upon realising thewe were dozens of other people of colour there that didn't have a problem, changed their tack to basically being fat-ist. I was also squashed into my seat, but due to my shoulders and chest, so being stuck in the seat for the time it took to get rid of the crazy ladies meant I was a bit sore when I got off.

I was 'asked' to sit in a larger seat at Busch Gardens (believe it was the Kumbaa - the one at the back of the park) even though I was within their posted size limits - the attendant saw my friend pushing my shoulder bar down and insisted I didn't fit that seat. Big shoulders and normal length arms means it's difficult to pull it right down once seated. :D
They had to move all of us to the row with the big seat and the people there to our row. The attendant was just being a tool, as we rode it again later in the day and my friend pushed my bar down and it fastened fine, and never had a problem with any other ride.

And the 2011 Darwin Award goes to.....
#766134 by Tinkerbelle
02 Feb 2011, 22:20
Ianf71 wrote:And the 2011 Darwin Award goes to.....


Prob the teenager that I saw on Splash Mountain that stood up (whilst his mates grabbed hold of him) and mooned at the camera on the drop. :0
#766137 by virginboy747
02 Feb 2011, 22:27
I went last month with the whole crew and the ride was AMAZING - loved it, wasn't what we expected at all, though if you suffer from motion sickness don't do it - one of the girls was really queazy for the rest of the day but the rest of us loved it. It did break down while we were in the queue so we got to see Dumbledore's spiel in his office about ten times so we were word perfect in the end lol - luckily didn't break down while we were on it. Then of course we had to go buy Hogwarts scarves and have a butterbeer - YUM ! They've done a really good job:)
#766141 by Neil
02 Feb 2011, 22:42
Tinkerbelle wrote:
Ianf71 wrote:And the 2011 Darwin Award goes to.....


Prob the teenager that I saw on Splash Mountain that stood up (whilst his mates grabbed hold of him) and mooned at the camera on the drop. :0


That won't happen anymore, they have just installed lap bars on splash mountain!!
#766142 by Tinkerbelle
02 Feb 2011, 22:44
Neil wrote:
Tinkerbelle wrote:
Ianf71 wrote:And the 2011 Darwin Award goes to.....


Prob the teenager that I saw on Splash Mountain that stood up (whilst his mates grabbed hold of him) and mooned at the camera on the drop. :0


That won't happen anymore, they have just installed lap bars on splash mountain!!


I know I saw the pictures which sort of puts an end to the 12-person log too! :D

That incident happened on Splash Mountain in LA though where there are still no lap bars at the moment.
#766159 by Paulhat
02 Feb 2011, 23:32
I agree, don't go on the forbidden journey ride if you suffer from motion sickness. The islands of adventure cleaning staff were lucky that the ride ended when it did!
Then my next mistake was to ride the Simpsons ride in universal studios which is also to be avoided if prone to motion sickness :$
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