H is for Harry Potter and Hollywood Studios

I boarded the plane. I figured, if the interview was a complete bust, at least I could get some decent food with my awesome cousin up in Gainesville or visit some relatives in South Florida. It was my way of locking down that fact that the future is not set and I needed to be ready to find some good with the reality that I had not gone to a job interview in over 20 years. I liked to think I was more than qualified, but, hey, it’s not always about skill and experience.

Sometimes it’s just the glasses you have on during the interview.

Glasses. They were all over the plane that I boarded in Denver. Every kid, and a few hygiene challenged women, had a pair.

A bad lightning bolt drawn on their forehead.

Apparently, "Bad Hair" is part of the costume...and lack of personal hygiene...

I was confused. See, I was going to an interview just outside of Disney World. Last I had checked, the wonderful worlds of creativity was certainly shared, but Mr. Potter was a Warner Bros creation.

Alas, a mere youth before me explained with his hand sewn cloak in the seat before me, Harry Potter was getting a new land over there at Universal Studios, nearby.  I should go see it, they recommended.

I knew better than to spend extra cash. It was taking all my inner strength to not even go near Disney World this trip. Just to stick to business and get the heck out of Dodge.

Business, apparently was good. I had been avoiding the interwebs prior to that little jaunt to Orlando, so as not to let my heart burn with the fact that I was heading to Florida for business, not pleasure in any manner. Yes, I did get the job.

And so did, apparently, Harry Potter. They opened to great fanfare, but, alas, I wouldn’t get over there until selling our house in Colorado finally sold and the cash was available for taht special treat. What I saw at Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure was incredible. Truly on par with anything that Disney had ever done, and, in many ways, surpassed it. As I rode the ride, something like nothing I had ever done before, I realized, whoa, it wasn’t a simulator like EVERY RIDE DISNEY HAD BUILT. It wasn’t rehashing of other rides at other parks, LIKE DISNEY HAD DONE.

The unique ride vehicles make it feel like it's a very personal experience. I recommend it.

For the first time, I had heard on my various podcasts and websites, people were cutting off one to two days of their Disney vacations to head over to Universal, because, yes, their kids loved the books. Two years later, basically twice as long as it took to make the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, “New Fantasyland” opened.

An empty New Fantasyland. Sometimes? If you build it, no one will come.

No one changed their vacation plans. A small coaster with 4 hour waits, a dark ride copy-catted from three other parks and a new show. And a restaurant that no one can get into.

I had not only moved to the place of my dreams, I was at ground zero for the vacation wars.

This made me feel good, not bad, believe it or not. Maybe it’s the teacher in me, but it seems like I enjoy to see people grow and thrive.

That Harry Potter attraction drew me over to those parks and I was impressed with their approach. Yes, there are things there they do better than Disney. And there are things that Disney does waaaay better. It’s all a good thing for me, the avid consumer of such things. For, with two years, we now have a Tomorrowland, of sorts, coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, based on the lands from Avatar. And if the rumors are proven to be true, they’ll actually have a new style of ride there.

Please?

Yes, I agree, it’s a poor choice, given that the movie had little cultural impact and pretty much sucked moosepenis as a flick, but, hey, it’s NEW. And, yes, Disney, having been sitting on their haunches and riding the money machine that is Disney World, actually realized something.

They had to keep going.

The fact is, the Parks are a fixed asset. It’s not like a movie theater where you slide shit in and out. One ride just sits there. And if it’s a dud, people won’t go on it, nor pay to fly out and see why it’s a dud. You have to keep tweaking the rides, plussing the system, adding or subtracting something and letting social media chat it up as much as possible so that you get the free advertising that fanboys, like myself, can chat about.

Which brings me to Hollywood Studios. When you have an annual pass, your perception of the parks changes. I LOVE the parks, so for me professing the love of one park over another is really just lip service. Still, there are favorites. EPCOT Center used to be on the top of my list. As a teacher, it made me emotionally erect. Then I started attending the parks a bit more regularly.

Hollywood Studios moved up on the list. As I rode the Great Movie Ride over and over, I realized the quality that you don’t really see on the other rides. Star Tours, now with it’s changeable storyline? So much fun. Seeing the street performers create a world that was never really true is a gas. But the identity was in a state of flux. It was built as a competitor to Universal Studios, offering a view into Hollywood with a backlot tour, stunt shows, and animators’ offices.

Hooray for Hollywood! Well...sorta.

Fact was, no one wanted to make movies out in Florida. Let’s face it, Hollywood really is the capital of Hollywood, in California. They didn’t want to uproot their families to Florida for something as short term as a television series.

The Studios suffered because of this. It started to come off as a really creative Six Flags, with exciting rides for the teenage set and unique experiences that the classics heralded over in the Magic Kingdom just could not approach. Let the families go to MK. Maybe the thrill seekers will like the Studios.

Then that whole Harry Potter thing happened up the road a bit.

The gloves came off.

We win.

Hollywood Studios is getting a full makeover. They’ve already closed down a good ¾ of the park to install TWO new lands. Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land.

The nine hour queue starts over on the right, there.

Good.

The line for Toy Story Land starts over there on the left...for 57 hours.

Seriously. Yes, my cinephile self will not be satisfied until it’s done, but the fact is, the only thing I like slightly more than the Parks?

The movies.

And seeing love come to this wee park warms my heart. The fight has been brought on. Universal fired the first salvo; Disney is responding.

For the first time ever, you can see where corporate America really does benefit us. Their greed for money benefits us. They’ll escalate with more fun items, all we ahve to do is wait on 3 hours lines.

What’s not to love?

So I’m, for one, happy for Harry Potter and Hollywood Studios.

To wit, I was actually going to start this piece about my hatred to the Potter books. Look where we went?