Harry Potter Universal Orlando interpark transportation

Ensign Smith said:

Have projection "windows" been employed for such a use (i.e., deceiving passengers during transport between real-world locations) anywhere else in the theme park universe?

It sounds similar to the virtual portholes on the Disney cruise ship interior staterooms.

Is anyone using 4K resolution (possibly 3D as well) for this type of thing? I think that has the potential of being really effective. And expensive.

RideMan said:

This is something they're going to have to be very careful with, I think, because if the motion you see is too far off from the motion you feel, the result can be...shall we say...unpleasant.

Kang and Kodos wouldn't be the only thing twirling and hurling over at Universal Studios...

Forbidden Journey uses 4k projection at 24fps.

This will not be a projection system like Kong. It will be Flatscreen TVs built into the car windows. It's interesting that this is going to be a pulley/shuttle type system, where there are only two 'trains' that both have to move at the same time (in opposite directions) That means any loading delay in the first train will delay the second. The lines for this thing are going to be longer than the lines for Forbidden Journey.

Also I'd like to point out that I predicted the details of the train ride correctly, back on December 2, 2011, when the idea was first floated that the expansion would happen in the Studios park with a train connecting them, and people said there's no way they would put the expansion in the Studios and you couldn't pull off a train between the parks (cough Rideman cough)

"... it wouldn't even have to look like a train on the outside. Imagine if the station contained a train engine and the first passenger car, and the rest of the 'train' went back into a dark tunnel. You board the first passenger car and walk down into the trains in the 'tunnel', at this point you have actually entered the ride vehicles which look nothing like a train on the outside, and are basically trolleys or shuttles that move from one park to the other, back and forth all day. As I said before, they could have LCD screens for "windows" which show the outside world as the train moves to the other station, where a similar dummy engine and first car are set up. Use parallel tracks and/or some switch tracks and you can have as many ride vehicles on the track as you need to reach your desired capacity.
I'm not saying this is how they'll do it, I'm just saying it is technologically very feasible to pull off a train ride from Diagon Alley to Hogwarts that moves backstage at USF, that remains fully immersed in the HP world."

Who cares if the train is a pulley type system? It's not like they would be able to stack trains on a full-circuit system anyway. There isn't room for that. Countless airports use systems like these and they move people just fine.

One attraction does not a park make. However Diagon Alley will be the crowning achievement for Universal's latest expansion projects (all within the last 4 years!) that have included:

-Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

-Hogesmeade retheme of Lost Continent

-Rip Ride Rockit

-Spiderman refilm/update

-Springfield USA

-Transformers

-Gringots Bank Coaster

- Hogwarts Express

-Diagon Alley

-Cabana Bay

In total 4 new E-tickets, 3 highly themed lands, 1 D-ticket, 2 E-ticket refreshes (Spidy and Dueling Dragons), new resort, 1 C ticket refresh(Hippogriff) and for the fun of it a brand new park entrance for both parks.

That is insane. Most new theme parks wished they opened with that many attractions. Its the sum of all these additions that I feel will push UO equal to Disney.

Edit, forgot about Despicable Me, the new night show and parade. Thank you Comcast subscribers for financing this expansion!

So the question I have is this: Is Universal Orlando going to become a single gate? Are you going to have to exit the park to ride the train? Are they splitting into THREE parks? I'll be interested in seeing how this will work for a park that traditionally insists on treating itself as two gates with two admissions.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Seems increasingly likely that your "train ticket" is either an annual pass or a combo ticket. Riding the train at all means you have admission to the second park. Single park tickets wouldn't be able to board.

Simplest system to implement, anyway....

It's the perfect way to increase the sales of more two-park tickets, that's for sure. If you want to see the rest of the Harry Potter themed area, you'll have to pay extra, but you get another entire park to go along with that admission price. Ingenious!

They could probably just get rid of the multi-day single-park ticket altogether. People would choose to either do one-day one-park, or 1+days multi-park ticket

If you think the new ride in the studios is a coaster, I think you're going to be disappointed.

Really? Hmmmm... What else is there?

Weren't there photos of track being installed into the building at one point? I thought that it was a highly themed coaster with a drop element like Verbolten. Humph!

Now I suddenly feel intrigued over this ride. Thanks a lot.

Me too, everything Ive seen of the "leaked" information pointed to a highly themed coaster/dark ride combo like the Mummy; which absolutely fits with what is seen in the movies of the bank and what is described in the book.

Any way you can deluge some more info Jeff?

The only way I think I would be disappointed is if it were a 3d shoot em' up.

I bet Jeff's inside information is a deluge of quietness.

I kept coming back to what Jeff said yesterday, and going over it again and again in my own quiet thoughts.

J.K. Rowling probably planned that her creation was going to be re-imagined in an amusement park setting. Scenes with Gringotts bank sometimes included a roller coaster type ride. Just something to think about...

Also, Universal built Transformers, a similar ride to Spiderman, at the Studios park. Perhaps this new Gringotts Bank ride is another Robocoaster, similar to the other Potter ride at IOA?

But then again, what would be the point of making two rides with similar ride systems if they are themed to the same license, especially considering that this addition is going to encourage people to visit both parks on the same day.

And now, I am wondering what in the world Universal could possibly build inside this building that would be new and innovative. Will everyone be surprised, or will it be something we have already seen before?

I only said your expectation of "coaster" should be tempered. :)

While the Hogwarts Express will boost Park-to-Park Tickets. Disney's My Magic+/Fastpass+ in the test has squashed the ParkHoppers. In the test I have set up for my clients the Fast Pass+ choices spread the ride times out over the entire day. While you can refine the ride times if they are available, you really have to know how to work the system to make it happen. It is not first time visitor friendly.

I don't expect there to be Airtime with the Gringots "coaster". I expect it to be an immersive ride that has speed elements and twist and turns like mad mouse on steroids with a great story line and high quality scenes.

With little swinging cars, or something.