Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey:
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is the very reason my wife and I desired to go to Universal Studios (being avid fans of the series), buying passes that allow early access to the area as soon as the park opens (and before any other rides open). It should come as no surprise then that the first ride we ran to was Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and it’s a good thing we did since the ride gained a twenty-minute line by our second turn despite immediately going on again (by the afternoon it had grown to a two-hour line). The Forbidden Journey’s (a name I can only guess comes from us muggles being allowed on Hogwarts’ ground) popularity is not without reason, as it’s one of the Studio’s best rides available. After begin strapped in to prevent jerkiness (which, believe me, is a problem with some of the other rides), the riders are “transported” to Hogwarts as they visit Harry and friends on one of their craziest days yet! During the ride’s course, the riders face an escaped dragon, intense Quidditch match, giant spiders, the Whomping Willow, the Chamber of Secrets, and a horde of Dementors.
The ride utilizes two different manners of “magic”: visual and animatronic. The visual elements are a blast and, combined with the movements of the ride’s benches, genuinely feel as if you’re soaring through Hogwarts’ grounds. I especially love the Quidditch match as the ride zooms around the field and dips under the bleachers (I was so engaged that I actually got a bit peeved when Malfoy sneeringly mocked us muggles). While the animatronics are less captivating than the visual experiences, they do offer some cool concepts such as traveling through the Forbidden Forest, getting uncomfortably close to freaky, water-squirting Acromantulas, and dodging blows from the Whomping Willow. An unexpectedly fascinating aspect to the Forbidden Journey is the ride’s line—letting us traverse through Hogwarts’ castle to see various areas from the movies such as the talking portraits (which includes the four Hogwarts’ founders bickering among themselves).
Despicable Me Minion Mayhem:
I’m not the biggest fan of the Despicable Me series…in fact, I’m not a fan at all. Even Despicable Me 2, the only film in the series I give a thumbs up to (though I haven’t seen DM3), was, at best, decent entertainment. So when I write how Despicable Me Minion Mayhem’s plot is better than the actual film plots, it speaks more negatively towards the film series’s writing quality. Minion Mayhem's plot goes that Gru has invented a device that turns humans into Minions; we the riders have generously “volunteered” to be transformed and navigate through the Minion Training Grounds to prove our worth. Meanwhile, Gru’s kids are trying to give him a present to celebrate their one-year anniversary of being adopted. Minion Mayhem’s plot exhibits the better elements of the Despicable Me films while removing some of their clogs: it’s entertaining, humorous and touching while also being short, simple and to the point.
The ride itself is a ton of fun—the 4-D implementations give the ride a rollercoaster-adrenaline feel despite the benches being grounded with minimal movement. The ride is certainly jerkier than The Forbidden Journey, but, strangely enough, works in a way thanks to the plot’s brutal training montage (you actually feel pain when “falling” several stories to the ground). Yet what truly made the ride a great experience was my wife’s reactions to everything occurring. For example, at the very beginning, she decided to put on her 3-D glasses before being told—as if on cue, Gru began talking on the loudspeakers, angrily warning us that he better not see anyone wearing their glasses yet (so help him). The cartoon character’s reprimand caused my startled wife to quickly take the glasses off, anxiously looking around as if she’d actually get in trouble. Other instances include her looking worried/surprised when Gru “uses” a fart gun on the riders, looking genuinely sad when the girls fail to give Gru his present, and trying to grab some 3-D bananas because they “were so close!” It was adorable watching my wife react to everything, and she ended up making an already fun ride ten times better. On a final note, I found it really humorous when Gru called out several random people in line for “not showering in a while”, using a spotlight and surveillance camera to point out the culprits.