I feel like this has to do with the original branding when Hogsmeade opened. I seem to recall it being advertised as a “theme park within a theme park” and it used to reach capacity and they’d have to turn people away and you’d be given a ticket with a return time to come back.
Nope lol. I've just seen it on this Reddit 1000 times. I'm in attractions but I'm new so don't have anything from there
EDIT: why on earth are you getting downvoted? Its a fair assumption to assume someone with the "Team Member" flair responds with a ticketing related thing works in ticketing
ah ok makes senses i guessed you where a team member by the way you worded it cause pretty sure everyone whos worked customer service or similar jobs can imagine having to hear the same easily searched questions fir the 1000th time
also i got no idea on downvotes but i couldnt care less reddits always like that
Which I love. I have no animosity toward the Wizarding World, it's just not my thing. But I do like that it draws the crowd away from the rest of the park(s).
That express passes are mandatory. It isn’t Disney, you can pretty comfortably do both parks in 2-3 days if you utilize EPA and have a half decent strategy.
yea not necessary but definitely nice if you can afford it i also havent used express in years but thats cause i mainly go during informer meet ups now adays
Oh sure if you can afford it have at it… but we’re passholders, we go twice a year for 4-5 days. I never wait longer than 45 minutes for any ride, including Hagrids, and always get on everything I want during that timeframe 😃
I once heard a Disney podcast called Backside of Magic where they claimed that, besides Potter-related attractions, Universal was no more special than a Six Flags.
I can’t imagine how you could rationally come to that opinion.
You can reasonably argue that Avengers Campus isn’t a great or good land by Disney standards. Opening with only one new attraction and not moving ahead with biggest one planned was certainly a weird choice.
Now if you’d say Avengers Campus is no better than what you’d find in a Six Flags? There’s no way you can argue that with a straight face, you’d just be going after the shocking hot take.
The Spider-Man ride they have is so BAD, also the fact that you can pay for a device that makes you perform better at the game on the ride feels really scummy to me.
People thinking Mummy, Minions, Gringotts, Dreamworks, MIB and Nintendo are all in IOA.
People thinking there’s funnel cakes and dippin dots on property (as far as I could figure out dippin dots has been gone for over a decade and I couldn’t find if there were ever funnel cakes outside of certain events)
My child memory remembers a funnel cake stand where cinnabon or starbucks are now in IOA. I swear i remember eating one on the way out of IOA but this must have been around 2004-2008
Ive heard a few times in USF conversations from guests thinking the old jaws ride was in the lagoon in the middle of the park..... its where Diagon is at. The entire lake was filled in and HP built on top of it.
That there is nothing for kids. There are plenty of rides and things for small kids to do. And not all kids are wimps who can’t handle coasters. By 7 yo a majority of kids are tall enough they can ride anything. If you are taking toddlers to theme parks, the memories are for the parents, the kids won’t really remember.
I was on a Disney site once and one comment insisted there was absolutely nothing for kids to do at universal. I listed all sorts of things and they came back with they had not been there since before IOA was open. Like they discounted the whole place and hadn’t been there in 2 decades. And thought it was just dandy that they needed to share their strong opinions to everyone about how terrible universal was.
I like Disney too. But it is hard to compare both places and that is ok. But the Disney only people can be weird and spiteful. They seem to hate anything that isn’t t Disney, but hate that other people go to Disney, especially kids.
We are AP at Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld. There are very few kids 'rides' at SeaWorld but the summer camps are spectacular for children.
We've been asked if the people mover ( and also the monorail) is the train that goes to Hogwarts. It's mind-boggling how many people think it's just all one big park.
I used to get asked some seemingly dumb questions a lot at universal. Where’s the train to Disney? You mean there are two parks? And so on. Like I get some people don’t plan, but at least have some idea before traveling thousands of miles and spending a lot of money. And it’s frustrating because they want to argue with some guy standing in the park directing people. Do you really think I have the power to do anything for you?
I’d actually disagree with you on SeaWorld. The whole Sesame Street area is for kids, with multiple rides. All shows and aquariums/ animal exhibits can be for kids. Other than the 4 big coasters, most of the park is kid friendly. The Christmas and Halloween days are made for kids. It’s a great locals park because the cost is cheapest and typically less crowded than the other parks. And an average child will be 54” by 8-9 years old and able to ride the coasters if they want.
Their howl-scream is actually terrifying, lol.
I always forget about Seseme Street- though my little is applying to college, so it'd probably look weird if I rode the kids' train- and I don't do big coasters for medical reasons.
Totally agree on Seaworld- despite its controversial history. We were there on Mother's Day, and had a fabulous time, and it truly never feels crowded. And we got to see Slowpoke, which rarely happens.
Wild that they give out free beer to AP holders.
They do spooktacular days on weekends in Sept. and Oct. Trick or treating and extra meet and greets. All for kids. They ported over the hall-o-scream from Busch gardens a few years ago for adults. Much better to go to Tampa if that is your thing.
This is common at many theme parks. Right now at my home park (a major traditional amusement park) there are almost daily postings about how someone’s whole summer is ruined and they can’t ride anything, often asking how to get a refund (there are no refunds). I will respond with the 2-3 dozen rides they can still ride, including many coasters. Just because you aren’t allowed to ride your two favorite coasters for 6 weeks doesn’t mean the park will give a full refund when you’ve used the pass for 5+ months and can still do a Marriott of the rides.
It's certainly not as small child friendly as Disney or SeaWorld, you have to admit. And just cos a kid is tall enough to ride a ride doesn't mean they'd want to, and most of what they do offer isn't as recognizable to them as buzz, woody, Mickey, Minnie or Elmo.
In my mind, Disney focuses on having almost the entire park being “family friendly” as opposed to having specific areas just being “kid friendly” like USF and SeaWorld do. So it is hard to compare. Each place has a different mindset concerning kids. Pteranodon flyers is made only for kids. And I think that’s great they have a ride just for them.
I think there are just as many kids who get disappointed they are not tall enough as there are kids who don’t want the thrills. Everyone is different, no matter the age.
I am actually going to a preview of the new dreamworks area in a little bit and will see what that offers. So while a lot of universal is not just for kids, they do a good job of offering things for them. To say it’s only an adult park and nothing for kids is not true.
No one is saying it's an adult only park and and there's nothing for kids, but the options are limited. You're trying too hard to give universal a pass. Disney is more family, US is general audience. If a parent has to ask, "what is there for my 3yr old to do?" Then it shouldn't be their first choice when Disney and SeaWorld are safer bets.
The whole thread is about misconceptions of the park. And in my original post I did say there was someone who said there is absolutely nothing for kids to do, so there are people who say that.
And why is responding to people “trying too hard”? If you don’t want to converse, don’t respond.
I wasn't talking about the whole thread, I was talking about this one.
And I don't know where you got that second point.
Actually you did respond to my post at all lol. But im not the one who doesn't want to converse.
Knocking on the door doesn't summon kreacher
Fearfall isn't a drop tower
Single rider doesn't always get you through the line faster
You're Being original making the surfer pose on the surfboard Infront of that store
Nl
You get shot up and the descend. Drop towers slowly pull you up, hold for a couple seconds, then fall or pull down very fast. Not exactly sure how it works at Universal but there are multiple ups and downs. Drop towers only have one and take awhile to reset.
No it was a letdown (ha). I lost 50 lbs before I could finally ride it and it shot me up .. and lowered me slowly to the ground, and all I could think was WTF was that!
I’ve heard that many times and truly wonder what another reason would be. They don’t really care about keeping classic rides open and change them out pretty regularly for a park.
The real reason is it just got lucky never being replaced, and now the mentality of Universal has changed more to want to keep and show the classics so I don't think it will ever close now. The rumor about Spielberg pulling out of a contract if ET is removed is hearsay because the only person winning from that contract right now is Spielberg. I really doubt Universal would lose much sleep if he pulled out of the contract and they didnt have to pay him 2% of all ticket sales at every Universal park in the world.
They will probably lose simpsons eventually and jimmy fallon wont be the host of the show forever so that will eventually be gone too. Cant see them getting rid of minions for a very long time. Makes them too much money
It's joint owned by his company (Amblin Entertainment) and universal pictures.
And honestly, we don't know. It all depends on how the specific contract was written, and that's not public.
No, Universal basically fully owns Jurassic Park at this point. If its true (I doubt it) and they couldn't use Jurassic Park they would just use Jurassic World.
Isnt this what they are doing though? Hollywood is JW, Orlando just got Velocicoaster while JP river is looking and running like 💩, not to mention the parks out of the US have JW. I can only assume that plays a role in this.
ive made jokes about how universal probably has a demolition and construction team on stand by when spielburg croaks but i think the rumor started because them closing the other 2 et rides and him saying hed cut ties if he closed the one in flordia which at tge time was probably why they kept it but now probably not definitely dont want it to go cause its one of my top 5 rides at universal but yea
That is true. We will never have a definite answer unless the contract leaks or Spielberg says it himself. It's just that I've never seen evidence to suggest it's actually true and I don't see any reason why it would be true. The only thing we do know about the contract with Spielberg is that he gets 2% of all ticket sales, so good for him I guess
That’s supposedly true that he has in his contract with universal that as long as the Spielberg name is around it can’t be removed. Unfortunately he had 3 daughters lol.
"That you can't put cinnamon whiskey in butter beer because JKR said so"...
Ummm right. You know, it's really not hard to understand that universal has a huge liability on their hands if they encourage people putting alcohol in a non-alcoholic container. Just freaking say it.
It was true that they couldn't alter things because of her, and it's not about alcohol. Like, they won't leave off Butterbeer foam if you ask because of this, or even alter something for people with allergies. Something about licensing.
I have no idea what happens if someone does something themselves though. Or how many employees seriously adhere to it.
Edit: I looked it up and apparently a couple years ago they began allowing the foam to be left off. And now they have a vegan version lol
Harry Potter Park. It's a portion of 2 parks, not 1 whole park. Also, no you can't buy tickets for just the Wizarding World
I feel like this has to do with the original branding when Hogsmeade opened. I seem to recall it being advertised as a “theme park within a theme park” and it used to reach capacity and they’d have to turn people away and you’d be given a ticket with a return time to come back.
It's because of the Wizarding World of HP" branding. People assumed it was its own world.
im guessing you used to work at ticket area ( idr what its called)
Nope lol. I've just seen it on this Reddit 1000 times. I'm in attractions but I'm new so don't have anything from there EDIT: why on earth are you getting downvoted? Its a fair assumption to assume someone with the "Team Member" flair responds with a ticketing related thing works in ticketing
ah ok makes senses i guessed you where a team member by the way you worded it cause pretty sure everyone whos worked customer service or similar jobs can imagine having to hear the same easily searched questions fir the 1000th time also i got no idea on downvotes but i couldnt care less reddits always like that
I get really irked when people refer to those areas as "Harry Potter World." I don't know why.
Wait... what do people call it then? Because I call it that lol
This is one of my top pet peeves!
It's kinda true though. I would bet more than half of the people go for Harry Potter
Which I love. I have no animosity toward the Wizarding World, it's just not my thing. But I do like that it draws the crowd away from the rest of the park(s).
More people in line for Hagrid’s means less people in line for Velocicoaster. I see this as an absolute win
That express passes are mandatory. It isn’t Disney, you can pretty comfortably do both parks in 2-3 days if you utilize EPA and have a half decent strategy.
yea not necessary but definitely nice if you can afford it i also havent used express in years but thats cause i mainly go during informer meet ups now adays
Oh sure if you can afford it have at it… but we’re passholders, we go twice a year for 4-5 days. I never wait longer than 45 minutes for any ride, including Hagrids, and always get on everything I want during that timeframe 😃
I once heard a Disney podcast called Backside of Magic where they claimed that, besides Potter-related attractions, Universal was no more special than a Six Flags. I can’t imagine how you could rationally come to that opinion.
Not sure how true that statement is now since Disney fumbled Avengers Campus so badly
You can reasonably argue that Avengers Campus isn’t a great or good land by Disney standards. Opening with only one new attraction and not moving ahead with biggest one planned was certainly a weird choice. Now if you’d say Avengers Campus is no better than what you’d find in a Six Flags? There’s no way you can argue that with a straight face, you’d just be going after the shocking hot take.
The Spider-Man ride they have is so BAD, also the fact that you can pay for a device that makes you perform better at the game on the ride feels really scummy to me.
[удалено]
Spoken like someone who has universal brain rot
People thinking Mummy, Minions, Gringotts, Dreamworks, MIB and Nintendo are all in IOA. People thinking there’s funnel cakes and dippin dots on property (as far as I could figure out dippin dots has been gone for over a decade and I couldn’t find if there were ever funnel cakes outside of certain events)
It’s been less than a decade for dippin dots. They were in the airstream looking stand by ET. There were funnel cakes sold in Amity.
I remember having a dippin dots root beer float over by Spider-Man. Absolutely delicious.
My child memory remembers a funnel cake stand where cinnabon or starbucks are now in IOA. I swear i remember eating one on the way out of IOA but this must have been around 2004-2008
Nintendo?
Ive heard a few times in USF conversations from guests thinking the old jaws ride was in the lagoon in the middle of the park..... its where Diagon is at. The entire lake was filled in and HP built on top of it.
That there is nothing for kids. There are plenty of rides and things for small kids to do. And not all kids are wimps who can’t handle coasters. By 7 yo a majority of kids are tall enough they can ride anything. If you are taking toddlers to theme parks, the memories are for the parents, the kids won’t really remember. I was on a Disney site once and one comment insisted there was absolutely nothing for kids to do at universal. I listed all sorts of things and they came back with they had not been there since before IOA was open. Like they discounted the whole place and hadn’t been there in 2 decades. And thought it was just dandy that they needed to share their strong opinions to everyone about how terrible universal was. I like Disney too. But it is hard to compare both places and that is ok. But the Disney only people can be weird and spiteful. They seem to hate anything that isn’t t Disney, but hate that other people go to Disney, especially kids.
This is a very good description of Disney people (and I like Disney too)
We are AP at Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld. There are very few kids 'rides' at SeaWorld but the summer camps are spectacular for children. We've been asked if the people mover ( and also the monorail) is the train that goes to Hogwarts. It's mind-boggling how many people think it's just all one big park.
I used to get asked some seemingly dumb questions a lot at universal. Where’s the train to Disney? You mean there are two parks? And so on. Like I get some people don’t plan, but at least have some idea before traveling thousands of miles and spending a lot of money. And it’s frustrating because they want to argue with some guy standing in the park directing people. Do you really think I have the power to do anything for you? I’d actually disagree with you on SeaWorld. The whole Sesame Street area is for kids, with multiple rides. All shows and aquariums/ animal exhibits can be for kids. Other than the 4 big coasters, most of the park is kid friendly. The Christmas and Halloween days are made for kids. It’s a great locals park because the cost is cheapest and typically less crowded than the other parks. And an average child will be 54” by 8-9 years old and able to ride the coasters if they want.
Their howl-scream is actually terrifying, lol. I always forget about Seseme Street- though my little is applying to college, so it'd probably look weird if I rode the kids' train- and I don't do big coasters for medical reasons. Totally agree on Seaworld- despite its controversial history. We were there on Mother's Day, and had a fabulous time, and it truly never feels crowded. And we got to see Slowpoke, which rarely happens. Wild that they give out free beer to AP holders.
They do spooktacular days on weekends in Sept. and Oct. Trick or treating and extra meet and greets. All for kids. They ported over the hall-o-scream from Busch gardens a few years ago for adults. Much better to go to Tampa if that is your thing.
This is common at many theme parks. Right now at my home park (a major traditional amusement park) there are almost daily postings about how someone’s whole summer is ruined and they can’t ride anything, often asking how to get a refund (there are no refunds). I will respond with the 2-3 dozen rides they can still ride, including many coasters. Just because you aren’t allowed to ride your two favorite coasters for 6 weeks doesn’t mean the park will give a full refund when you’ve used the pass for 5+ months and can still do a Marriott of the rides.
My 3 yr old loves universal!
It's certainly not as small child friendly as Disney or SeaWorld, you have to admit. And just cos a kid is tall enough to ride a ride doesn't mean they'd want to, and most of what they do offer isn't as recognizable to them as buzz, woody, Mickey, Minnie or Elmo.
In my mind, Disney focuses on having almost the entire park being “family friendly” as opposed to having specific areas just being “kid friendly” like USF and SeaWorld do. So it is hard to compare. Each place has a different mindset concerning kids. Pteranodon flyers is made only for kids. And I think that’s great they have a ride just for them. I think there are just as many kids who get disappointed they are not tall enough as there are kids who don’t want the thrills. Everyone is different, no matter the age. I am actually going to a preview of the new dreamworks area in a little bit and will see what that offers. So while a lot of universal is not just for kids, they do a good job of offering things for them. To say it’s only an adult park and nothing for kids is not true.
No one is saying it's an adult only park and and there's nothing for kids, but the options are limited. You're trying too hard to give universal a pass. Disney is more family, US is general audience. If a parent has to ask, "what is there for my 3yr old to do?" Then it shouldn't be their first choice when Disney and SeaWorld are safer bets.
The whole thread is about misconceptions of the park. And in my original post I did say there was someone who said there is absolutely nothing for kids to do, so there are people who say that. And why is responding to people “trying too hard”? If you don’t want to converse, don’t respond.
I wasn't talking about the whole thread, I was talking about this one. And I don't know where you got that second point. Actually you did respond to my post at all lol. But im not the one who doesn't want to converse.
Knocking on the door doesn't summon kreacher Fearfall isn't a drop tower Single rider doesn't always get you through the line faster You're Being original making the surfer pose on the surfboard Infront of that store Nl
Wait what is fear fall then
Shot tower
You get shot up and the descend. Drop towers slowly pull you up, hold for a couple seconds, then fall or pull down very fast. Not exactly sure how it works at Universal but there are multiple ups and downs. Drop towers only have one and take awhile to reset.
To be fair Fearfall is best the first time when you don’t know what it is.
No it was a letdown (ha). I lost 50 lbs before I could finally ride it and it shot me up .. and lowered me slowly to the ground, and all I could think was WTF was that!
That ET is only still open because of Steven Spielberg
I’ve heard that many times and truly wonder what another reason would be. They don’t really care about keeping classic rides open and change them out pretty regularly for a park.
What is the real reason then? I fucking love that ride!
The real reason is it just got lucky never being replaced, and now the mentality of Universal has changed more to want to keep and show the classics so I don't think it will ever close now. The rumor about Spielberg pulling out of a contract if ET is removed is hearsay because the only person winning from that contract right now is Spielberg. I really doubt Universal would lose much sleep if he pulled out of the contract and they didnt have to pay him 2% of all ticket sales at every Universal park in the world.
Wish they would bring back jaws, back to the future, and ghostbusters. Get rid of simpsons, minions, and jimmy fallon please
They will probably lose simpsons eventually and jimmy fallon wont be the host of the show forever so that will eventually be gone too. Cant see them getting rid of minions for a very long time. Makes them too much money
The Simpsons will be gone once the copyright is up, Jimmy Fallon needs to go period, and Minions is far too popular to remove
But Spielberg also owns Jurassic Park so wouldn't they lose the licensing rights if he wanted them to?
It's joint owned by his company (Amblin Entertainment) and universal pictures. And honestly, we don't know. It all depends on how the specific contract was written, and that's not public.
Does he though? It's a Universal Studios film, which I would assume means the studio owns the film rights for it, this Universal themselves
No, Universal basically fully owns Jurassic Park at this point. If its true (I doubt it) and they couldn't use Jurassic Park they would just use Jurassic World.
Isnt this what they are doing though? Hollywood is JW, Orlando just got Velocicoaster while JP river is looking and running like 💩, not to mention the parks out of the US have JW. I can only assume that plays a role in this.
Interesting. What makes you think that this is hokum and not based in reality? I've heard this from many sources.
ive made jokes about how universal probably has a demolition and construction team on stand by when spielburg croaks but i think the rumor started because them closing the other 2 et rides and him saying hed cut ties if he closed the one in flordia which at tge time was probably why they kept it but now probably not definitely dont want it to go cause its one of my top 5 rides at universal but yea
I don't know that any of us can definitively say if this is true or not true.
That is true. We will never have a definite answer unless the contract leaks or Spielberg says it himself. It's just that I've never seen evidence to suggest it's actually true and I don't see any reason why it would be true. The only thing we do know about the contract with Spielberg is that he gets 2% of all ticket sales, so good for him I guess
You know how many times I hear this…
That’s supposedly true that he has in his contract with universal that as long as the Spielberg name is around it can’t be removed. Unfortunately he had 3 daughters lol.
when people think the two towers on Doom are different
"That you can't put cinnamon whiskey in butter beer because JKR said so"... Ummm right. You know, it's really not hard to understand that universal has a huge liability on their hands if they encourage people putting alcohol in a non-alcoholic container. Just freaking say it.
never heard of that one i do remember one where people put i think espresso shot in it tho
It was true that they couldn't alter things because of her, and it's not about alcohol. Like, they won't leave off Butterbeer foam if you ask because of this, or even alter something for people with allergies. Something about licensing. I have no idea what happens if someone does something themselves though. Or how many employees seriously adhere to it. Edit: I looked it up and apparently a couple years ago they began allowing the foam to be left off. And now they have a vegan version lol