An 8 year old’s experience on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. It was scarier than she expected it to be.
Our family recently visited The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. My husband and our older daughter had visited 16 months earlier, however, it was a first-time experience for my younger daugher and I.
Katie was excited to learn about her return trip and immediately started bugging me about going on the park’s signature ride, The Forbidden Journey, with her. I don’t do roller-coasters so I wasn’t sure whether or not I would but the one thing that I was certain of was that Emma would not be going on that ride.
Emma is 8 years old, however, she can be sensitive and easily scared by rides that are loud, dark or scary. She had been absolutely terrified by The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland last year so, as far as I was concerned, this ride was out of the question.
She asked about it a few times but seemed to accept my judgement call UNTIL we arrived at the theme park and she saw Hogwarts. At that point she became determined to experience the ride with everyone else.
The four of us rode on The Forbidden Journey, which can only be described as intense, and when we stepped off the ride, Emma burst into tears. She was so frightened that she sobbed hysterically for several minutes and I felt like the worst Mom in the world.
My saving grace was that the ride exited into the gift shop (Filch’s Emporium) and, after a few more moments, Emma recovered sufficiently to ask if I would buy her Hermione’s cat Crookshanks since the ride had been so scary – needless to say we left the park with a new stuffed cat.
Emma wrote about the ride in detail in her travel journal and has agreed to let me share this excerpt which describes her experience.
Today I went to Universal Studios! First we went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to go on Forbidden Journey! It was the scariest ride I have ever been on! Spiders pop up and spray water at you, dementors jump in your face, a dragon breathes fire at you and you feel like you are upside down! You tip forward, backward, left and right. I felt like I was going to let go and fall.
I liked when it was Ron, Harry and Hermione. I also liked it when it was Harry on the Quidditch field. That part was cool. But you still tip and turn. I still felt like I was going to fall off. I also liked the line. You go through Hogwarts and into the green house. It was really, really cool! At the green house Katie was telling me about the ride. It sounded really cool! It did not sound scary at all.
I must of had my eyes closed when this happened but something happened with the Whomping Willow. That is the tree Harry and Ron fly in to when they are in the car. Katie and Daddy liked it. Well, Katie really, really, really loved it. Mommy looked really scared in the picture. As you know I did too. Also it seems like Ron, Harry, Hermione and Dumbledore were really there, talking to you in line. Also it snowed in line.
Emma has concluded that she is glad that she went on the ride, however, she would rather not do it again until she is at least 11. Children over 48″ tall are allowed on Forbidden Journey, however, my advice to parents would be to carefully consider the temperament of your child before taking them on this ride. There were children as young as Emma on the ride who clearly were not affected by it in the least. On the other hand, I spoke to a grandmother and her 11 year-old granddaughter in the gift shop who said that she was too afraid to attempt it.
Emma was very upset by the experience, however, the trauma was short-lived and I think she’s a bit proud of herself for having done it. This is an instance where there can be no hard and fast rule about the minimum age – just be sure to have considered the issue ahead of time.
Related Articles
Experiencing the Magic of Harry Potter at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London
A Day at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
London Taxi Tours – Harry Potter
The World of Deej
Believe it or not, I can actually relate to Emma. I don’t do scary stuff. The Mummy ride at Universal…not for me. Tower of Terror…not unless my wife makes me. But I did Forbidden Journey because I love Harry Potter. I found the ride to be amazing, but yes, I wasn’t a fan of the Dementors. My trick…just pretend to use a Patronus…that seemed to work:)
PS…ask my wife, I’m totally serious here…
Lisa Goodmurphy
Never thought of a Patronus – my trick was to close my eyes and hope it was over soon!
Lisa Wood
Gosh I am not sure what I would have done if that was one of your children….they are all so determined to “experience” everything that they see in life…I am sure that they would have wanted to go on.
Our six old is so very brave, and is almost as tall as our 10 year old. I reckon that Kyle (our six year old) would go on the ride before Cameron (our 10 year old) wanted to!!
At least she can now cross that one of her bucket list 😉
Cheers
Lisa
PS – congratulations on being brave enough to get on the ride…no way would you get me on there!
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thanks, Lisa! I was regretting it about 20 seconds in and I don’t think much of it registered on me BUT Katie was very pleased that I did it with her so it was worth the terror!
Steve
Great job Emma! Way to be brave! And congratulations on getting a new stuffed cat out of the deal!
So you didn’t stand in line a second time Lisa? My daughter doesn’t like scary rides, but she hates it more when her picture doesn’t come out well. She’ll ride something she hates a second time if it gives her a chance to look better on film.
Lisa Goodmurphy
Steve, I definitely considered it…
walkingon travels
Ok, now I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan, but I do NOT do roller coasters. I went on a pathetically small one when I was 5 and have never gotten on one since. My hubby and 2 year old might be able to convince me to do this one, but it will take a lot of convincing. And Butterbeer. And Fire whiskey. And…well you get the picture. I am so proud of Emma though. She tried something she wasn’t so sure of. And now she knows she has to go back when she is 11. Ask her if she will hold me hand so I can be brave enough to do it too in 3 years 😉 I may cry louder than she did.
Mary @ The World Is A Book
Lisa, we missed each other by a week at Harry Potter. We were just there the past couple of days to end our cruise. Our family went on this ride last Sunday and “intense” was actually what hubby and I thought. Although it was great, I was a little dizzy from that ride. Glad to hear Emma still enjoyed it despite the tears. Our 6 year old son (who barely passed the 48 inches) enjoyed it while my 9 year old daughter held on to my hand for dear life I thought she was going to break it. Luckily, no nightmares. The Poseidon’s Fury show with the absolute darkness scared them more. 3 more years of mental preparation for both of you =)
Lisa Goodmurphy
It’s too bad we didn’t cross paths – it would have been nice to meet up and our kids could have scared themselves silly together! Glad we avoided Poseidon’s Fury now. Emma wanted to go on it because Poseidon is her favourite Greek god but I had heard that it was dark and loud and fortunately I was able to talk her out of it.
Camels & Chocolate
I am a huge fan of roller coasters, and surprisingly it was the Forbidden Journey that made me super ill (not the Hulk…not the Dueling Dragons). In fact, all five of us who went to the park together rode the Forbidden Journey three times (gluttons for punishment) and each time, came off of it very motion sick. Still, I think it’s a very cool concept for an attraction and I just adore WWoHP as a whole.