Diagon Alley Preview Event and Photo Tour – Part III – Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

The details are amazing, especially in the goblins. They are all moving and incredibly lifelike. I was so excited to see them in person! What a queue! There is one talking greeter goblin. Here he is!

You can also see him talking in the video below. He tells you you need to proceed ahead to having your security photo taken in preparation for your tour. That’s the premise of the ride – you are there to take a tour of Gringotts’ vaults.

On the way to my tour, I traveled past some vaults and arrived at a place where my photo was taken for my “security ID for the tour.” I was give a card to pick up the photo later.

While in this area, there are a few desks with newspapers, which have moving photos of course. There are a few news stories about Harry and Dumbledore.

Next, I traveled through more queue space where I overheard Ron, Hermione, and Harry discussing their plans to get into the vault (they are followed by Griphook, too). You’ll see their silhouettes behind some doors in the video below, but you may not recognize them because Hermione and Ron are in the disguises thanks to the Polyjuice potion (as seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2).

When I reached the end of the queue, I was directed to enter a room to watch a pre-show video in which Blordak the goblin was preparing for our tour. During this pre-show, Bill Weasley arrives, torments Blordak a bit and says he’s going to join us on the tour of Gringotts.

Lift to Underground Vaults

After that, we entered a lift (elevator) that took us 9 miles or so below Gringotts so that we could board a cart for our tour of the underground vaults.

The elevator is an attraction in and of itself! You feel it bumping along and as if you are actually travelling deep down into the earth. If possible, I recommend you try to stand near a wall and put your hands or your back against it. The walls move and you can feel air passing by if you are in a corner. It’s hard to see in the video, but the lift is “open” on the top, so you see many things passing by as you journey down.

Once you are out of the lift, there is a chance to pick up your “safety googles” before you head through a little more queue, which includes a winding staircase.

Yay! I can’t wait!

At the time of my experience, the Team Members working there did not seem to have much experience with loading the ride vehicles, and it took a very long time. While the lines were short in terms of the number of people on them, the waits were very long. The loading process seemed to be problematic. Securing everyone and making sure loose items were put away took much longer than expected. I believe this is what caused the abnormally long wait we experienced the first time through since there were no reports of the ride being stopped or shut down. I hope this is something that improves before the ride opens to the public or the lines will be unbearable.

Those who know me and especially those who have worked with me know that I am kind of obsessed with process and efficiency. That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with Disney again as an adult. They just do it so very well. Yet, this is one of the places Universal Orlando Resort falls down in my opinion. They just don’t have the same level of rigor for process, efficiency and training and it shows in the guest experience. I often find myself frustrated as I did with the situation at Gringotts on this particular evening. In this case, the result was an unnecessarily long line and a frustrating and rushed “VIP experience.”

No video was allowed on the ride itself, so our video ends there. Enjoy your virtual tour of the bank (to this point) with the video below.

Ride Photo

There is no on-ride photo at Harry Potter and the Escape from Gingotts, but the “security photo” taken during the time in the queue becomes your photo and purchase opportunity at the end of the ride. I am not sure what exactly is available for purchase, but I would assume the two items I received at the VIP Sneak Peek are available to buy. I received an 8 x 10 photo of our group with a frame/border printed on it. It had some official looking seals, the Gringotts logo and the date. I also received a lanyard with my “security badge” for my tour. I actually really like this lanyard thing, but I wonder how many people would want to wear them around the parks. Without MagicBands, a lot of guests at Universal Orlando are still wearing lanyards around their necks with their park tickets in them. I am not sure how many people want another thing to wear, especially when it’s 100 degrees. I guess it will depend on the price point and how much they enjoyed the ride (and probably how much they have already spent at the many interesting shops in Diagon Alley).

Reaction to Harry Potter and Escape from Gringotts Ride

I loved having the opportunity to be among the first to ride Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts! As a theme park geek, it’s really cool to have a chance to experience a ride before it’s open to the public. (Andy had this experience with Disney’s Seven Dwarfs Mine Train). That alone was exciting, but the ride is really kind of mind-blowing.

The queue, the pre-show and ride itself are all spectacular and tell a great story as you move through them! This attraction is truly groundbreaking and like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It’s part roller coaster, part spinner, park dark ride and largely part simulator. It can be described a fantastic combination of the best aspects from Revenge of the Mummy and Transformers: The Ride 3D. The 3D effects are so good, at times you may think parts of the show are real! And the ride cars move in some unexpected ways, which are really exciting.

I loved the appearances by Bellatrix and Lord Voldemort, despite how much I despise them. The thrill ride (roller coaster) portions of the ride were exciting and the spinning totally caught me by surprise, so that was really fun to me. It felt as if the vehicle defied physics. It moved in ways that did not seem possible.

I don’t want to give away too much, and honestly it was all so surprising and new that it’s difficult to even recall exactly what happened in there! I cannot wait to ride again to take in more of the story and details. I know that Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts is definitely going to be a very popular attraction at the new Diagon Alley for a long, long time. I hope I’ll be able to ride again with less than a three hour wait within the next couple of years!

Continue to Part IV – Diagon Alley Food and Beverage

Back to Part II – Exploring London, Welcome Show and Entering Diagon Alley