Harry Potter and Islands of Adventure!
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| The entrance to Hogwart's Castle. |
Our trip to Orlando last week for the yearly Casa Latino leadership summit was capped with an amazing surprise when Nicholas and myself journeyed to Hogsmeed to experience the newly-opened Harry Potter land at Islands of Adventure in Orlando.
I can't emphasize enough just how special and spectacular this new land is. It was by far the single greatest theme park experience I've ever had - the next closest being the opening of the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland - and that was back in 1995!
I can't emphasize enough just how special and spectacular this new land is. It was by far the single greatest theme park experience I've ever had - the next closest being the opening of the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland - and that was back in 1995!
Universal spared no expense, and it shows in the tiniest of details. Whether you're sipping on Butterbeer straight out of the films or listening to "Moaning Myrtle" singing to herself when you're in the restroom, this new land is an absolute experience that resonates on an emotional level.
Many times, I found myself actually touched at the love and care they brought to this new land, and to see the joyous expressions on the children who truly believed they were transported into another world was just special.
The big "E-Ticket" ride in the land is "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey," and here as well, Universal has set the bar with groundbreaking technology and epic scale the likes of which we truly haven't seen at any park. If you're curious, the ride is part "dark ride," part "roller coaster" and part "simulator."
The ride system utilized a robotic arm technology. Essentially, you sit in 4-seater cars with your legs dangling that are attached to giant robotic arms which enable your car to swivel and rotate on its own axis. So the arm can tilt you all the way up, all the way down, can make you left, right, have you do barrel rolls - whatever is programmed into the system.
This arm physically moves through a show building that takes you to various scenes. At times, these scenes are practical - physical recreations of forests, creatures, etc. that you move past. But a quick turn during the ride brings you to a giant IMAX screen which your robotic arm synchronizes to perfectly to give the illusion of moving outside into a real space. So at times, you actually experience flying outside of Hogwart's castle or through a Quidditch match.
The ride is thrilling, epic, and state-of-the-art.
My experience is best summed up by a conversation I had with the Conductor of the Hogwart's Express while sipping Butterbeer outside a full-scale replica of the train itself. The conductor asked where we were from, to which I replied, "We're from Los Angeles. Where are you from?" Without missing a beat, the conductor said, "Born and raised in Hogsmeed." In that instance, I knew this was a different experience than anything else on the planet. Had he said he was from Orlando, the illusion would have been broken. Instead, this conductor truly was from Hogsmeed and we were truly in a magical place.
