the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
if you've been following along on Twitter or Foursquare today, you know that today was about the title of today's entry. i'll come right out and say it: if you consider yourself a pretty big fan of the world Rowling created, you're going to absolutely fall in love with this physical manifestation. from top to bottom, we were just inundated with everything Potter. it is, simply, an astounding feat and a testament to what what is possible when people who love the source material put their minds to it and make something incredible. but, there are a few "buts."
lets get the small negatives out of the way...
- its hot right now. REALLY freaking hot.
- because everything is so new and the demand to get in is overwhelming, Universal has actually implemented a line to get in. yes, although it is part of the whole park, there is a line to enter that section of the park. and it is very long. and it took us about an hour and a half to even step foot in to that section. smartly, about 3/4 of the way in, they start handing out cheap little carnival tickets that you hand over once you get to the entrance, preventing would-be line jumpers waiting to sneak in. the line sucks, yes. it snakes all the way from one end of the park to the other, but i suppose its necessary at this point.
- if you're wanting to really explore every nook & cranny, you've got two options: go to wired.com and check out the stuff they're posting, or prepare to wait, LITERALLY, all day long to go inside anywhere. we didn't go inside anywhere in Hogsmeade (a major disappointment) because of the insanity that was the crowd. wanna see Ollivander's Wand Shop? be prepared to not do much else the rest of the day. no, really.
- this may only pertain to our experience today, but we sorta' had to rush through the inside of Hogwarts which was a shame. the interior is absolutely ridiculous with detail and brilliant little touches. more on that later. just know, if you're getting rushed through for some reason, you're missing out.
NOW, on to the big awesome things!
- inside Hogwarts is absolutely breathtaking. the moving portraits from the books & films? yeah, they're there. and brilliantly, its not just big LCD flatscreens with video. the front of the "portraits" have been textured to look like oil paintings, so instead of a gawdy glossy finish on the screen, it (honest to God) looks like a moving portrait. they move, they speak, they talk to each other, they talk to you... its incredible.
- there are two rooms where a video projection pops onto a screen, one with Dumbledore and one with Harry, Ron, and Hermoine. its really difficult to explain, but the way its done is such that if you squint your eyes juuuuuuust right, you'd convince yourself the actors are in the room with you. this is state of the art stuff, really immersing you the "story" of the Forbidden Journey ride (this is the ride that takes you in and through Hogwarts). and yes, these aren't chintzy lookalike actors playing the parts; these are the actual actors, from the movies, doing everything.
- the Forbidden Journey itself is a whole lotta' fun. part giant screen/shaking & jostling car experience, part actual set pieces (like Dementors and spiders), all combined flawlessly. whole lotta' fun.
- the other ride we did was something about Dragons. its my understanding (from Jackie) this ride was already at Universal, merely repurposed for the HP experience. its a hella' crazy rollercoaster, full of corkscrews, sharp turns, near-misses with the other Dragon car... lost of fun.
- butterbeer is great! we shared one cup between the four of us and that was enough. its quite sweet (and obviously, nonalcoholic), but really, really good. suffice it to say, demand was super high and that one cup cost us a whole lot of time, but it was one of those non-negotiables that we had to do before we left.
- the staffing and details in costuming and tasks were great. there was even a group with the Frog Choir singing 'Something Wicked This Way Comes...' when we got in. and they were actually singing. amazing. top notch.
i tweeted earlier in the day how sorta' jarring it is that when you look around and see the whole set surrounded by palm trees and all the other accoutrements of Universal. i felt i needed to try and consciously make myself unaware of those surroundings, but i may have been alone in that sentiment.
you can probably gather whatever advice you want from context clues, but here's one piece i'll thrown straight out: when you're inside Hogwarts, put down the camera and just enjoy. its really dark inside (like a castle) and you'll have to use your flash to get anything, and the Hogwarts set just isn't meant to be seen like that. we got a couple, but it just plays like a poor imitation upon further inspection. soak it in, really enjoy what you're seeing. no, seriously: this from the guy who will shoot anything & everything. put down the camera and enjoy it, or you'll miss it.
and now... pictures!
