Category: Other

We are off to school this week as Getting to Know Universal boards the Hogwarts Express. The cross-park transportation attraction opened in 2014 as part of the Diagon Alley expansion to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The Hogwarts Express, along with Diagon Alley, replaced the Jaws attraction which closed in early 2012.

Quick Glance

• Location: Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure
• Attraction Type: Transportation attraction with special effects
• Scope: Headliner
• Touring Plans Rating: 4 1/2 stars
• Height Requirement: No

The Experience

Hogwarts Express is a slow train ride that simulates the trip between King’s Cross Station and Hogsmeade Village. Guests ride in the iconic train, just like Hogwarts students, in movie-replica cabins that seat up to 8. Cabins feature a virtual window to the outside world that show familiar sights from the Wizarding World. Windows facing the trail passageways are frosted and a unique projection system casts shadows giving guests an immersive experience.

The ride experience starting at the Hogsmeade or King’s Cross stations is completely different. Guests beginning at King’s Cross have a large air-conditioned queue to cross from the muggle world to the Wizarding World at Platform 9 3/4 and board on a grandiose train platform straight from the movie. The ride film from King’s Cross to Hogsmeade features owls, Dementors, the trolley lady, and Hagrid. Comparatively, the Hogsmeade Station queue is entirely outdoors (but covered), and the ride features the Weasley Twins, Voldemort, and the Knight Bus.

Unlike most attractions, Hogwarts Express encourages guests to carry food and drink onto the ride. In fact, the King’s Cross station even includes a snack stand in the queue featuring crisps, candies, fruit, drinks, and even beer!

The Opinion

Thanks to its accessibility and a memorable ride experience, the Hogwarts Express ranks as one of the best attractions at the resort. There are not many iconic experiences in a theme park quite as memorable as a ride on the Hogwarts Express – from riding in movie replica cabins, crossing over to Platform 9 3/4, and even disembarking the ride in a totally different park. The ride experience lives up to the hype–make sure you ride in both directions to see the complete experience.

Restrictions & Accommodations

• Hogwarts Express is accessible by ECV or wheelchair
• All guests must be able to sit upright unassisted or be accompanied by a supervising companion
• The attraction might cause motion sickness
• The attraction includes closed spaces, flashes of light, and scary imagery

Touring Tips

Because the attraction is park-to-park transportation only guests with park-to-park tickets can ride, a sneaky upsell by the Universal pencil pushers. The queues for King’s Cross and Hogsmeade vary in waits throughout the day; in the mornings and evenings the lines remain at or under 15 minutes while queues will surge in the late mornings and mid-day as guests who experienced Potter land transfer over to the other park.

The post Getting to Know Universal – Hogwarts Express appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Harry Potter, Universal Orlando Resort, Hogwarts Express, Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida

Yesterday morning, Disney’s Hollywood Studios experienced a major disturbance in the Force. The star attraction of the park, Rise of the Resistance, failed to produce boarding groups at the 10:00 a.m. park opening. This led to the most eager of guests being unable to secure return times at park opening to ride what is the most anticipated attraction of the park. It is easy to imagine that this would increase wait times throughout the park. Not only that, but it could throw off the plans of many guests.

A Few Unexpected Closures at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

In addition to the unexpected lack of early morning availability for Rise of the Resistance yesterday morning, Tower of Terror experienced some unexpected downtime too. Thankfully our TouringPlans Lines App makes it possible to adjust your plans in real time, without having to use a Jedi mind trick. Our app uses real-time data to show expected wait times compared to Disney’s posted wait times. Recommendations on which attractions to experience when are updated throughout the day based on changing conditions.

Around 11:30 a.m. both Rise of The Resistance and Tower of Terror were unavailable. Here’s how wait times looked then. We’ve included the wait times that Disney posted as well as the expected wait times our Lines app calculated.

• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
  • Posted Wait Time 60 / Expected 50
• Slinky Dog Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 50 / Expected 39
• Rock N’ Roller Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 50 / Expected  41
• Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run
  • Posted Wait Time 45 / Expected 37
• All other attractions were 20 minutes or less

Now, let’s look at the Observed Wait Times from yesterday that are available on TouringPlans.com.

With the morning’s disruptions it would become necessary to adjust plans based on real-time data. Our Lines app directs users how to adjust their plans to reduce their wait times. For example, on the current day, the Lines app would indicate to wait until later in the day for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway as the wait time always goes down. But Toy Story Mania was going to stay at 10 -15 minutes throughout the day and would be good to ride anytime. Furthermore, with the unexpected downtime of Tower of Terror, the wait time at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster was higher than normal since it is right next to Tower — so our Lines app would recommend waiting until later in the day. The same is true for Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run as well.

It seems the outage for Rise of The Resistance Boarding Groups was due to a nationwide outage of a major internet provider. Other digital Disney services were disrupted too. The disruption led to distribution of boarding groups taking place at 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.  As boarding groups were distributed and guests could begin riding Rise of the Resistance, we saw wait times throughout the park decrease. Tower of Terror came back online as well.

At 1:40 p.m. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway had a Posted Wait Time of 60 minutes, but our Lines app showed an Expected  Wait Time of 45 minutes.  Slinky Dog Coaster had a Posted Wait Time 40, but our Lines App showed an Expected Wait Time of 31. This is not a drastic change in wait times, but as the evening rolled in wait times decreased significantly.

By 5:30 p.m. the wait times across Disney’s Hollywood Studios were half of what they were during the morning and early afternoon.

• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
  • Posted Wait Time 35 / Expected 29
• Slinky Dog Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 30 / Expected 25
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
  • Posted Wait Time 15 / Expected  14
• Tower of Terror
  • Posted Wait Time 13 / Expected 20
• Toy Story Mania
  • Posted Wait Time 12 / Expected 20
• All other attractions were 20 minutes or less

To give more context about how the unexpected lack of availability of Rise of the Resistance Boarding Groups and the unexpected downtime of Tower of Terror impacted wait time at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, let’s look at the past three Sundays.

Wait times were a little higher than the previous Sundays during the morning, and then they leveled out in the afternoon. Overall the loss of Rise of the Resistance and Tower of Terror did impact guests in the morning, but wait times improved significantly in the early evening. In a situation like we saw yesterday it would be very helpful to have our Lines app along with you so your day can be adjusted on the spot, allowing you to save lots of time.

When was the last time you were at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Have you had a chance to experience Rise of the Resistance yet?

 

The post Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group Failure Leads to Longer Wait Times at Disney’s Hollywood Studios appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Hollywood Studios, In the Parks, Trip Planning, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Rise of the Resistance, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

The Walt Disney World Resort has been utilizing a phased reopening for its resort hotels and due to the ever changing nature of the travel industry currently, they have decided to make a change in regards to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort’s reopening.

Originally slated to reopen on August 12 and then pushed back to October 4, the resort will once again have its reopening date pushed back. This time, for a more lengthy period of time. Disney has announced that Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort will now not reopen to hotel Guests until next summer. This adjustment in the schedule is allowing the Walt Disney World Resort to complete some refurbishment work on the hotel. Work will be done to not only the Guest rooms, but also to the Great Ceremonial House. According to the Orlando Sentinel, changes to the rooms will include a move to a new color palette as well as details, patterns and textures from the film Moana.

Work will begin in early October. The Villas and Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort will remain open during this refurbishment.

Those impacted will be emailed by Disney about their upcoming reservation.

The post Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort to See Refurbishment and Delayed Reopening appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: News, Resorts, Walt Disney World (FL), Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

The magic of a visit to Walt Disney World starts before you even arrive.  It’s fun to plan out your trip and anticipate the experience. Arriving to Walt Disney World’s theme parks for the day is a quite different than it used to be, so let’s review what you need to know.

Parking Process

When pulling through the parking toll plaza of each park, I’ve been asked if I have a reservation for the park. Then my MagicBand is scanned and my ID confirmed, since I am an annual passholder with parking included. Disney is encouraging everyone to use contactless payment as much as possible. Each parking booth Cast Member I have encountered has been wearing both a mask and a protective clear face shield.

Parking is rather delightful right now because every other spot is filled first. Then after guests have moved on from loading up and walking to the park the empty spots are backfilled. Having the extra space makes it very nice for everyone, especially families who have kids to wrangle into strollers and such.

I have found that the parking lot can be a challenge for safety compliance in that some guests do not have their mask on yet and have not adjusted to physically distancing practices. I generally wait in the car for the majority of folks in my row to head toward the park, and then I finally get out and get moving. Parking trams are not currently operational so you will have to walk through the parking lot to the park entrance.

If you won’t be driving to the parks, here’s our guide to Walt Disney World Transportation.

Temperature Screening

As you approach the entrance you’ll probably notice a few white tents. Staffed by one of Florida’s largest hospital groups, AdventHealth, every guest has their temperature taken with a no-touch thermometer. Disney states on their website that; “Based on guidance from health authorities, anyone displaying a temperature of 100.4 F or above will be directed to an additional location for rescreening and assistance. Those with temperatures 100.4 F or above will not be allowed entry; those in their party will not be allowed entry either.”

During my visits everyone has been extremely friendly, always joking around with my son. It is a quick, touchless scan. Every guest I have witnessed has been great about the screening too.

Bag Screening

I recently visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom and EPCOT. At both parks the bag screening process has changed to a touchless systems. For safety reasons I will not go into detail about the process, and I did not take pictures specifically of the bag check area. During my recent it was just my son and I so I had to manage the bag check with my son in the stroller. The Security Cast Members did a great job of directing me and helping me navigate the screening process with bags and a stroller with no additional party members. Cell phones can stay in bags as they are checked. Larger metal items (like umbrellas) may need to be removed.

Physical Distancing

During busy hours such as park opening, the entrance and ticket scan area can get backed up. There are markings throughout the main gate area in order to allow for safe physical distancing. Plenty of Cast Members are on hand to direct guests and ensure everyone is following the procedures. Members of the “Mask Enforcement Squad” are around the park, and definitely have a strong presence at the front of the park. They not only ensure guests are wearing masks, but that their face coverings comply with specifications such as no exhalation valves.

No Bio-Metric Finger Scan

To reduce touch points, the bio-metric finger scan is turned off when you scan you ticket or MagicBand. Of course having reservations just to get into the park helps with some of the reasons bio-metric scans exist in the first place. It also speeds up the process of getting into the park, which is welcomed. Between walking to the park entrance, going through the temperature screening, then the bag check, it can seem like a lot of work to finally walk into the Most Magical Place on Earth.

Are you planning on visiting Walt Disney World anytime soon? What other aspects of visiting Disney are you curious about? Let us know in the comments.

The post What to Expect When Arriving at Walt Disney World Theme Parks appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Dos and Don’ts, In the Parks, Observations, Trip Planning, disney entrance, disney parking, disney procedures, disney reopening, disney temperature screening, walt disney world