Just in Universal, you have Spider-Man, Simpsons, and others which I believe pull this off FAR better than Forbidden Journey or Gringotts.
I feel like this more of a case by case basis. Sure Spiderman works for the basic fans and the super fans, but also consider that Spiderman is well known and has MANY interpretations including comics, rebooted comics, spin offs, tv shows, and movies, and movies that are spun off of it, not to mention the many, MANY references to it in other media. It's like a basic standard to know at least how Peter Parker got his powers, his basic job and maybe one of his main villains. There is a preshow queue room for Spiderman, and unless you're really good at listening or can pay attention to the slightly discolored screen long enough for subtitles you may be able to get the jist of what's actually happening. I can name maybe two villains on the ride, idk who the others are and I don't care to know either. But, other people do know those characters and are excited to see them represented. it boils down to a "Spiderman is the hero, and I want him to win" which is the only feeling you need to get out of a person for the ride to work. Do we know why they're trying to dismantle the statue of liberty? Prolly, if we could pay attention enough to know. I'm sure it's explained, but I certainly couldn't tell you.
Simpsons works similarly with that it's had a long running TV show. But to the Simpsons credit they have small private preshow rooms that explain to you what is happening and what you're about to experience, as I'm sure the Simpsons aren't nearly as popular in other countries as it is here,and even then the popularity of the Simpsons has been dwindling for years. I couldn't tell you what Sideshow Bob's motivation to kill the Simpsons. (Something about him losing his job? Idk. Don't care enough to know either) Im not sure how super fans of the series would react to the ride, it could be great could be terrible I haven't seen it either way. Same with Spiderman (in Spiderman's case though it's more likely been too long to see those complains since it's an opening day attraction) not to mention the fact that I'm pretty sure Simpsons, much like Spiderman will rewrite it's own canon to either fix something vastly out dated or just for funsies.
Versus Harry Potter, which has a much larger and much louder fan base. With a much more "strict*" guideline as to how the story and the world works. I don't honestly think most fans notice the issues as they just stood in a stupidly long line for a ride, and are likely only going to ride it once before moving on, as things happen VERY QUICKLY on the rides, that it would require multiple rerides before you'd notice the problems.
Here are some random scenes that one may or may not see or experience on the Hogwarts Express, strung together in no apparent order. We don’t think you are clever enough to notice, because the ride vehicle is so cool!
You get to encounter every character we can think of at Gringotts. Why are they all there and interacting with you (completely out of character)? Who knows! But we don’t expect you to care, because you either love HP too much to object, or have no idea who any of them are anyway!
That is exactly what they're counting on. And it's worked. Most people don't object to the story. They just want to see their favorites on the rides.
How could Rowling approve scenes that are simply impossible within the universe she created? It honestly boggles the mind.
* Have you seen the stuff she's come up with or approved of recently? Like I understand you're a fan, but also it's not impossible to see where she'll instantly contradict herself or have something that's beyond stupid written. I've been told that they compared the possibility of murdering witches and wizard to the fucking Holocaust. Like you just don't do that. You wanna compared it to something do the Salem witch trials, not the Holocaust.
