The signature attraction of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood has gotten an upgrade, the park announced today. When it opened last year, Forbidden Journey West was similar to the Orlando version, but with the addition of 3D. The 3D was then removed from the attraction last December after it received mixed reviews (including from me), and reverted to the 2010 Orlando version of the footage. Now the ride video is majorly upgraded, going to 4K-HD resolution and 120 frames per second (fps).
“Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey” at Universal Studios Hollywood has gotten a visual upgrade.
“This progressive enhancement replaces the earlier 3D film component of the ride to create a seamless integration between the ride’s elaborate sets and its spellbinding media. The attraction’s storyline remains the same,” the press release states.
The original projections were shown at 60 frames per second, so the upgrade to 120 fps, combined with the increased resolution, should offer much crisper images. My main complaint from the original ride was that the video imagery looked outdated and kind of fuzzy, in stark contrast to the highly detailed animatronics and practical effects. Hopefully this cleans up the juxtaposition between the video and practical sections of the ride.
It looks like the 3-D isn’t coming back, at least not in the short term. Park spokeswoman Audrey Eig told the LA Times, “We continually evaluate our attractions and made intentional enhancements to the Forbidden Journey ride to effectively transition from 3-D to state-of-the-art 4K-HD at 120 frames per second. As a progressive theme park, we determined the increased frame rate would offer an even more intense and immersive experience for our guests.”
Hopefully the new visual effects will mesh better with the practical effects inside Hogwarts.
The upgrades have already been implemented, so if you’ve been to Univesral Studios Hollywood recently and ridden Forbidden Journey, or if you’re about to go, let us know if you can tell the video’s been enhanced and how it looks!
You can learn more about Wizarding World West on the Universal site here, and you can learn more about RoboCoasters like Forbidden Journey here. Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest news as we get into the Spring and Summer seasons, and hey, while you’re here, why not go vote in our 2017 “Park Madness” March Madness Tournament?
Recent Discussion