Hey Thrill Seekers,
Yeah Star Wars Land is a cool idea and everything but for me the new attraction I’m most excited about is the new Potter ride. Due to open this year at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, we’ve had little to no formal information about what we can expect from the new attraction not even a name.
Name Rumour
So we’re hearing that the icon for this new ride will be Hagrid and therefore the name will be based around the character played by Robbie Coltrane. Last week the strongest rumour was Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure which yep I agree is a bit of a mouthful but does tick boxes in terms of IP. We’ve already seen what we believe are the ride vehicles which look remarkably like Hagrid’s motorbike and side car (pictured below).
This week several sources on the internet have been suggesting that the name maybe shortened to Hagrid’s Magical Creatures which is perhaps catchier but doesn’t really tell a newbie anything about the attraction.
I’m not 100% in love with either of these suggestions to be honest and to remind you all these are just rumours.
What will it look like?
Well we might have more information on that, orlandoparkstop.com yesterday received what they claim is an artistic rendering of how the area will look.
From this leaked image I think it’s fair to say that this is going to be an extremely detailed and beautifully designed ride.
Hagrid’s hut instantly stands out as to me it is the most recognisable part of this concept art (and is the main link between the ride theme and the name). Images taken by OrlandoParkStop show how the hut is coming along in real time. It looks as though in the Scene involving Hagrid’s Hut that riders will shoot out of a hole that has been burned in the ceiling of the hut – possibly caused by a mis-hap when Hagrid was showing off his Blast Ended Skrewt (which is said to be one of the scenes we will see)
Another cool part of the ride experience is the below ruins and the way the coaster will shoot through them. If you look closely at the photo on the left side of the rendering you can see how the track takes a sharp left turn as it travels down and out of the ruins.
The cave is an interesting one, as we are not too sure what this part of the ride could entail. However from the rendering and ariel view you can see that the track goes directly into the cave which looks as though is going to be a very dark section of the track.
There was also a rumour surrounding a ‘spike’ element, which if the rumours are true, could be part of the cave section. As you can see, the back of the cave is surrounded by dense foliage which could be covering the high point of the spike which was also rumoured to have a ‘fall back’ feature. This means riders will climb up several stories and then immediately fall back down. There are however no clear pointers to this element in the concept image which is the newest piece of information that we have.
@bioreconstruct
There has also been some speculation regarding ‘Fluffy’ – Hagrid’s famous three-headed dog and we think he is going to feature during the ride, maybe in a hidden rocky building (circled in red is where we think Fluffy may be hiding)
Something else we have had a long chat about here at OAT today is what we think the queuing experience is going to involve.
Here’s an idea that we think would work best with the theme.. (remember we aren’t qualified coaster designers even if we like to think we are) ..a pre-show experience involving a lesson on magical creatures, maybe even being taught by the big hairy man himself. This would fit in so well with the rumoured name ‘Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure’ and i’d love to see Hagrid be the star of the show as he’s one of my favourite characters.
Another thing to think about is that when you’re queuing for Gringotts you know you’re in the bank and when you’re queuing for Forbidden Journey you know you’re in Hogwarts.. so surely when you’re queuing for this ride you should know and feel exactly where you are. And to us this would be the forbidden forest.. could we see the Weasleys car, unicorns, centaurs, pixies, Hippogriffs and spiders?.. there is so much that can be featured in the forbidden forest!!
What do you think the queuing experience will involve?
What bit of the ride that you can see from the leaked image are you most looking forward to?
I didn’t think it was possible but i’m more excited than ever about the new potter ride!
Remember the above is still just rumour as Universal haven’t confirmed (nor denied) and of the information or the name of the coaster but we will of course let you know as soon as they do!
Smiles Included,
Abby
