Tristram Buckley says the benches in the Forbidden Journey ride gave him "shaken adult syndrome." It's safe to say Tristram Buckley wasn't swept up in the magic of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Buckley, a former visitor to the Universal Studios Hollywood location of the Potter-themed park, claims in a new lawsuit that one of the rides -- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey -- left him in pain after causing severe injury to his spine, TMZ reported Monday. According to the suit, Buckley took a seat on the ride's Enchanted Bench, which is suspended from a mechanical arm that moves along a track. The seats also pivot and sway to give riders the sensation of flying through the scenarios presented on a wrap-around screen.

Welcome to another edition of In the Loop, the Los Angeles Times' theme park newsletter. I'm Funland theme park blogger Brady MacDonald, and this week, we drop in on the Wizarding World grand opening, taste-test Disney's Food and Wine Festival, bid farewell to the last-remaining Back to the Future ride and marvel at Phantasialand's visually stunning new coaster. Times columnist Mary McNamara writes that Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood is the place where "magic comes to life, or as close as it gets." For those who have never been on the world's best dark ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey turns the traditional dark ride experience on its head by placing riders on the end of a unique robotic arm. The often-overlooked Flight of the Hippogriff at Wizarding World is a short but fun ride that's perfect for young kids eager to climb aboard their first roller coaster.

Theme park fans are in for a treat when Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey officially opens on Thursday inside Hogwarts Castle at Universal Studios Hollywood. For those who have never been on the world's best dark ride, Forbidden Journey literally turns the traditional dark ride experience on its head by placing riders on the end of a unique robotic arm as they travel past domed projection screens and animatronic characters. For those who have visited Universal's Islands of Adventure, the West Coast version of Forbidden Journey adds 3-D imagery to the domed screen segments that were only 2-D when the ride debuted in 2010 at the Florida theme park. Candlesticks float above riders aboard Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride at the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood. Candlesticks float above riders aboard Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride at the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood.