The ride, which uses sets and various technologies, including animatronics and film projection, gives riders the sensation that they are flying with Harry Potter around Hogwarts Castle and through a Quidditch match while escaping a dragon, Dementors and an enchanted willow.
It is the centerpiece ride of the $500 million Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion that opened last April, the latest in a series of new attractions added to the park over the last two years. Although Universal Studios Hollywood remains a smaller rival of Disneyland, its latest offerings have improved its ability to compete.
In December, the park quietly removed the 3-D feature from the ride, eliminating the need to put special glasses on each rider. The 3-D technology was touted as setting the California ride apart from a similar attraction at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Fla.
At the time the 3-D feature was eliminated, park representatives declined to explain the reason. But several riders and theme park enthusiasts had said the Forbidden Journey ride made them nauseated.
Visual 3-D effects have been in use for years in other Universal Studios attractions, such as Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Transformers the Ride: 3-D and King Kong 360: 3-D. But the Harry Potter ride’s sense of motion can feel extreme as seats are lifted and tilted dramatically while riders watch moving images on a wraparound screen.
Universal Studios Hollywood officials now say they had long planned to convert the 3-D technology in the ride to 4K-HD.
“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, which is double the original film’s speed,” park spokeswoman Audrey Eig said. “As a progressive theme park, we determined the increased frame rate would offer an even more intense and immersive experience for our guests.”
About the Author