Okay, I know other communities are full of people complaining, but I can safely say those people are wrong.
It lives up to the hype. All my expectations were met. Even better, the weather forecast was wrong (never a drop of rain) and the projected crowd level of 5 turned out to be a 3
Arrived 15 minutes ahead of rope drop for early entry, and went straight to Super Nintendo World. I had to experience Mario Kart, to see if ,y decades of training had paid off. The queue alone makes the wait worth it. Was slightly disappointed that all you have to shoot are Koopa shells, but I can love with that. And both times I had the high score in our car. Unfortunately, the second time (after getting a Power Up band) I couldn’t get it to pair. Mine Kart Madness was posted as a three hour wait – I got on in 55 minutes. Poor Dixie’s fur is already sunbleached. I think you only get to fully appreciate the “rail jumping” if you’re sitting in the first row. Yoshi’s Adventure is the only dud because it’s so short. And the so-called challenge was like something created for a pre-schooler. The Bowser Junior mini games were fun, but the Piranha Plant is so frustrating.
The Isle of Berk is BEAUTIFUL. The team members playing Gobber, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut were first class. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders is a slightly tamer version of Hagrid’s. The Fyre Drill gets a bad rap, but it deserves credit for being an original idea. Dragon Racers Rally is too short; by the time you figure out the controls to barrel roll, it’s over.
The Wizarding World feels like the most unrealized. As a Potter nerd, I’ll never not find fault with the Fantastic Beasts films, but I’d rather they had fully committed to that one theme than tacking on a post Deathly Hallows attraction. You can’t have 2000s London coexisting within 1920s Paris! And Umbridge wasn’t a Death Eater, why would fugitives like Carrow, Yaxley, MacNair, and Greyback give a shit if she gets Azkaban?? But I’m rambling… the logic of the story aside, it is still a great ride and like Mario Kart the queue is unbelievable. Le Cirque Arcanus far exceeded my expectations (they were low).
I had to save Darkmoor Village for sunset. The Frankenstein Experiment is mind blowing. Curse of the Werewolf is good, but the mood was kinda ruined when the ride host kept announcing someone’s birthday every five minutes. On average, over 2 million people share the same birthday, why should we care? The vampire familiars and lab assistants wandering about were a nice touch (though it was uncomfortable seeing a fat man in a rascal constantly leering at the beautiful team member of Asian descent). Finally, I got to meet Ygor – I could honestly follow him around all night. Word of advice, UOG, he deserves his own entry in the next guidebook to Universal