My Review of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride

Hogswart’s Castle, home of the forbidden journey ride

Wow have I been busy at the new Wizarding world of Harry Potter park inside Universal Studios! Today I want to give you my Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride review. Yes I got to go on it and it’s a must see for Harry Potter fans.

So let’s start from the beginning. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride is located inside the Hogswart’s castle replica, along with most of the queue line. Just outside the big entrance way made in the side of the rock wall is test seats.

You can actually be too BIG to go on the ride, so if your a large person it’s a good idea to test those out first. The seats you sit in are a bit snug, and a one piece rigid shoulder harness comes down and locks in place over you.

If your barrel shaped or your legs are too big, the harness will not come down far enough to secure you and you will NOT be allowed to ride. It must be able to make three clicks as it gets pushed down. The minimum height requirement is 48 inches tall.

As soon as you enter the passageway you will see the locker room on your right. You CANNOT have anything loose on you. No purses, loose cameras, cups, bottles, bags around your shoulders, nothing. The only thing you can keep on you is a small waist bag.

So put everything that is loose in a locker before you go any farther. I had a camera and a small camcorder in a waist bag and they let me on, but make sure it’s a small one. You can put cameras in your pocket if you think they are secure enough.

Once your done with the lockers go to your left and you enter the queue line. They have a single rider line and the normal line at Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. Going on the single rider line will save you 50% or so in time.

However there is a lot to see in the normal line that you will miss. So go on that line once to see everything. As you walk in the normal rider line you will see many things from the Harry Potter movies.

The moving and talking pictures room

Cool statues, props from the Harry Potter movies and more are on display. You go through a room that has the moving and talking pictures that look very real! You even see a big moving picture of the big fat lady.

At one point you actually walk outside the back of the castle, and into the greenhouse that looks just like the one in the Harry Potter movies. Then you walk back inside for the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride.

Finally you walk through Professor Dumbeldore’s office where you briefly see him. It’s very detailed and looks like the real room. Next is a room where you see Harry Potter and his friends as they tell you to come with them, which is what the ride is all about.

You see the divider hat as it moves and talks, as well as many other things. Finally you come to a test seat, where the operators randomly select four people to test the seats. Again, if your a large person it’s in your best interest to test them before going to the ride, which is now very close.

Finally your at the ride and ready for my Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride review! Here’s where this ride is different than most others. The ride itself looks basically like a single standard roller coaster bench that fits four across. Only it faces toward you, and it hovers over the floor, which moves at the same speed as the bench.

Because of the moving floor the ride never stops. You just walk up to the ride, step onto the moving platform, turn around once your up to your seat and sit back into it. Because of this the queue line moves quite fast and they can pass a lot of people per hour through the ride.

There is a divider between your legs that help hold you in, and a single unit shoulder harness the operator will shut down on you. It’s a snug fit, which is why some large people may not fit. If the operator can’t shut the harness down enough, you will be asked to step off and be shown the way out.

The bench is attached in the back to a giant robotic arm. Think of your arm as the robotic arm, and the bench as your hand. It can lift you up, down, around in any way as it swivels a full 90% in any direction, cool!

As soon as you take off it lifts you up and turns you so your facing up. Then the fun begins! The whole Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride is a series of rooms you go through. On the walls and ceiling is a 3D screen that meshes perfectly with the rooms. However you do not wear 3D glasses.

Combine that will real air, water, hot and cold plus solid objects and it’s an amazing feeling, like your really flying through the air on a broom. For the most part it’s dark and you get chased by many of the creepy things from the Harry Potter movies.

For instance you get chased by a fire blowing dragon, fly through a mess of those giant spiders from the dark forest (ewwww), dodge the Whomping Willow tree, the giant snake and more creatures.

You fly over Hogswarts castle, over the water and right into a Quidditch match where you help score. It ends with the whole cast from the Harry Potter movies waving and thanking you at the end.

It’s a dark, fast moving ride with great special effects. However watching the screen and being moved around by the robotic arm can give some an upset stomach. So if you get motion sick you might want to take some pills for it before you ride it.

Props from the Harry Potter movies

At the end your once again over a moving platform. So once your harness is lifted up you step off, then step from the moving platform to the solid floor. Since your a bit dizzy from the ride be careful not to stumble when doing that, I did!

You then get ushered out to the merchandise room, that finally takes you outside. So that’s my Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride review! I had lots of fun on it and I know all Harry Potter fans will love it.

If you get sick easy it might make you queasy, and if your very large you may not be able to get into the ride. But most will have a blast, it’s the best ride I have been on yet. I hope you enjoyed this Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride review. 😉