Harry Potter ride hits 1 million riders

by Leigh Caldwell on

It has been just 60 days since the Wizarding World of Harry Potter threw open the gates of Hogsmeade at Universal Orlando Resort, and already, more than 1 million people have ridden the theme park’s centerpiece attraction.

Universal says the ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, has set a new record. The 1 million riders claim follows second quarter numbers released last week that showed Universal Orlando had its first quarterly attendance gain in two years.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is best described as a robocoaster. Riders sit in robotic arms that are held above a track that moves along through the ride. During this forbidden journey, riders fly around Hogwarts castle, meet up with a band of dementors and even get caught up in a quidditch match.

The ride is intense and features a tight over-the-shoulder harness system for safety. But riders of size don’t fit on the new Harry Potter ride, and that has caused some controversy. There’s also a long list of medical restrictions.

Even if you think you can’t ride for whatever reason, you should walk through the queue – it’s your only way to get inside Hogwarts Castle, and it’s some of the most immersive stuff in the Wizarding World. There’s a “chicken exit” before you board your enchanted bench for the Forbidden Journey.

Walt Disney World changing plans for Fantasyland expansion

by Leigh Caldwell on

The construction walls have been up for months, but Walt Disney World says its plans for expanding Fantasyland are being redrawn in an attempt to broaden its appeal.

When the Fantasyland expansion plans were introduced last year, the first thing most Disney fans noticed was that the new area of the theme park was aimed squarely at one demographic: young girls. There was a Little Mermaid theme park ride, castles for Belle and Aurora, and three interactive princess meet-and-greet areas.

Sure, the marketing of the Disney Princesses has been one of the company’s biggest wins ever, but where was the boy stuff?

Apparently, it’s a question that Tom Staggs, the new chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts, was asking, too. He is the dad of three young sons, after all.

Orlando Sentinel writer Jason Garcia interviewed Staggs this week and confirmed the rumors that the Fantasyland plans are being redrawn. Staggs indicated that the new plans may involve more thrills, as planners are reviewing the mix of “aspirational rides” with thrills or tension and rides that are for everyone.

Staggs said that the changes to Fantasyland shouldn’t delay the 2012 and 2013 opening dates of the new attractions. Testing and research on new guest experiences that are to be incorporated in the new attractions, such as Disney’s new queue-less wait system, have also been going on at Walt Disney World for several months.

Daily Pampering: Graceland Suite at Hard Rock Hotel, Universal Orlando

by Melanie Nayer on

There’s a luxurious side to rock ‘n’ roll, and it doesn’t involve tour buses and groupies.

The Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando recently set up the “Graceland Suite” for guests who want to reconnect with their Elvis days, and embrace their luxurious side like the King himself so often did.

The 2,375-square-foot Graceland Suite features authentic Far East artifacts and subtle nods to Elvis in the wall art. You’ll also find older images of Graceland, a master bathroom with a whirlpool tub, a glass-encased, double-sided fireplace that can be seen from the master bedroom and master bathroom, a baby grand piano in the living room, wall-mounted 65-inch plasma TV in the living area, and a 42-inch plasma TV in the master bedroom.

If Elvis were alive today (and maybe he is), we think he’d totally shell out $2,175 a night for the posh Graceland Suite.

Want more? Get your dose of daily pampering right here.

Nostalgia reigns: Main Street Electrical Parade to remain at Walt Disney World indefinitely

by Leigh Caldwell on


The Main Street Electrical Parade, which was slated to end its run at the Magic Kingdom on Aug. 14, will continue at Walt Disney World‘s Magic Kingdom indefinitely.

The Disney Parks blog says the Main Street Electrical Parade has gotten high ratings from guests since it returned in June. Disney executives call it “an overwhelming success.”

It has been a Disney classic since 1972, but it hasn’t been seen at the Magic Kingdom since 2001. I remember watching from atop my dad’s shoulders in the 1980s, waving at the Disney characters as they rolled by. So, I was excited to share the Main Street Electrical Parade with my daughter this year.

Nostalgia like mine is apparently driving a lot of the parade’s popularity. I have talked with numerous Walt Disney World guests this summer who traveled to Orlando to pass the parade tradition on to their children.

Even many Disney employees have been excited to share the parade with a new generation.

Disney Ambassador Clay Shoemaker remembers first watching the Main Street Electrical Parade when he was 6 years old.

“I can remember seeing the lights coming closer and closer, and then Cinderella waved at me,” Shoemaker said. “You would’ve thought I was the only child in the park.”This summer, Shoemaker waved at Cinderella with his 2-year-old daughter by his side.

The parade, with its 23 floats, 80 performers and more than 500,000 lights, is an undertaking “bigger than any rock concert,” according to Forrest Bahruth, show director.

But there’s a pervasive belief among the Disney employees I talked with that the parade is more than the production.

“Underneath it all, it’s steel and copper and computers. Cold and heartless. But it’s more than that. It’s emotion and character and life,” said Marc Hurst, the parade’s technical director.

Bahruth even describes that parade with that “M” word you hear so often at Walt Disney World: magic.

“When we’re out there in town square and that gate opens…music, magic, memories.”

The Main Street Electrical Parade is performed nightly in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

Cougar attacks 14-year-old boy in flight

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Southwest Airlines is being sued. A passenger claims that the airline’s flight attendants weren’t able to protect his 14-year-old son from the prowling of an in-flight cougar. The older female passenger, he claims, offered his son illegal drug and made sexual advances during the flight to Orlando on July 13, 2008. The teenager was traveling alone, according to the Associated Press, and “was so frightened by the experience that he refused to return home by himself, so his father flew down to accompany him home.”

According to the family’s attorney, Jeffrey Deutschman, the kid asked to be moved to another seat “repeatedly,” but the flight attendants wouldn’t let him do so. Southwest isn’t commenting on the lawsuit. The family is looking for more than $50,000.

[photo by Harlequeen via Flickr]