Revealed: Inside Universal's magical Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park

 

 

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 12:23 AM on 06th February 2010

 

 

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The countdown is well and truly on for the opening of the highly anticipated Harry Potter theme park in Florida.

As these artists impressions show, fans of the hit books and films will be able to experience a full-size version of the wizard's magical world when a new 20-acre area is opened at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will open this spring, with Universal still to confirm the exact date.

 

Magical: An artist's impression of Hogwarts at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida, which is set to open this spring

 

 

But fans are hoping expecting it to be sooner rather than later with a host of new adverts being released to plug the theme park.

Tomorrow, a 30 second TV ad will air for the first time during the commercials breaks for the Super Bowl - on of the biggest American television events of the year.

The official website has also been updated and yesterday fans were given the chance to experience an interactive map of the theme park.

Using a webcam, the technology blended computer images and real-life environments to provide a tour of the 20-acre park from all angles.

 

Local watering holes: Have a butterbeer or pumpkin juice at The Three Broomsticks

 

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey will take guests through scenes and rooms from the blockbuster movies with the turreted building made to look 700 feet tall.

 

Pottermaniacs will enter the 'Wizarding World' through a station archway named after Hogsmeade, the magical village near Hogwarts.

 

A plume of steam and a train whistle will sound the arrival of the Hogwarts Express.

 

Other rides include the 'Dragon Challenge,' a twin high-speed roller coaster themed after the 'Triwizard Tournament'.

 

 

Fans will be able to wander around the village of Hogsmeade where the Hogwarts students are allowed to go on some weekends to buy sweets and visit the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer

 

 

There will also be a family roller coaster called 'Flight of the Hippogriff,' named after a creature with an eagle's head and a horse's body.

 

Every shop and restaurant is Potter-themed. Honeydukes sells chocolate frogs and 'Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans,' Ollivander's peddles magic wands, Zonko's joke shop has Sneakoscopes, and the British restaurant Three Broomsticks pours Butterbeer.

 

At The Owl Post, guests can send letters with a certified Hogsmeade postmark.

 

Magical instruments and equipment are available at Dervish and Banges, including everything needed to play Quidditch - a game like soccer played on flying broomsticks.

 

 

Majestic: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey will take guests through scenes and rooms from the blockbuster movies with the turreted building made to look 700 feet tall

 

'Along those journeys they're going to be swept up into the greatest parts of the movies and the books. We've pushed every technology available to us to give guests a theme park experience unlike any they've had before,' said Paul Daurio, producer of the Potter area.

 

Art and set directors from the films, including Oscar-winning production designer Stuart Craig and art director Alan Gilmore, were hired to translate the movies into the park.

 

Rowling, known for carefully guarding the Potter franchise, hasn't yet been to Orlando, but the design team has made several trips to London for consultations with the author.

 

'The interesting thing about Harry Potter is that the stories are so rich in themselves, so deep,' said Universal Creative President Mark Woodbury.

 

 

Dragon Challenge: The twin high-speed roller coaster includes many iconic elements from the Triwizard Tournament, which featured in the fourth Potter book and film

 

 

'There wasn't so much difficulty of creating the look, it was, 'How do you execute at a level of authenticity that is unquestionable?''

 

There could even be new footage of Potter stars shot on actual sets from 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' and 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.'

 

A Universal spokesman declined comment on the issue, but the company was explicitly granted those privileges in its 2007 licensing agreement with Warner Brothers, according to the contract filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

 

Flight of the Hippogriff. A family roller coaster simulates a training flight on the creature

 

The Potter area will be Universal's third big-ticket addition in three years.

 

SEC filings from the company estimate the combined cost of The Simpsons Ride, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit and Wizarding World at between $275 million and $310 million.

 

Simultaneously, the resort owned jointly by NBC Universal and private equity company The Blackstone Group finds itself on shaky financial footing.

 

 

Tasty: Honeydukes sweetshop where treats such as Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and Fizzing Whizzbees can be purchased

 

 

Pull a prank: Zonko's joke shop owned by the twin Weasley brothers Fred and George, with a collection of tricks and jokes, including Extendible Ears, Boxing Telescopes and Sneakoscopes

 

 

If it cannot find refinancing, $1 billion in long-term debt may be maturing as soon as April, the company said in SEC filings.

 

The Potter park is sure to prove popular not just with American fans but also with visitors from Britain, Potter's home and the largest source of international tourism to Orlando, with about 1 million arrivals a year.

 

'It couldn't have come at a better time,' said Danielle Saba Courtenay, spokeswoman for the Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau.

 

 

Owl mail: Birds roost and await their next delivery at the Owlery - the magic postal service

 

Experience Ollivanders: The wand shop featured in the books is brought to life with the incredible interactive experience where the wand chooses the wizard

 

'There is such an affinity for the characters, particularly in the United Kingdom, and we do expect that the pent-up demand and having such a strong name will drive traffic to the area.

 

'It's such a huge worldwide brand, and the only place in the world you're going to be able to experience it is in Orlando,' she said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1248864/Revealed-Inside-Universals-magical-Wizarding-World-Harry-Potter-theme-park.html#ixzz0emOq9IMx

OMG is that really what it loooks like?

Pretty impressive, huh?:cool:

I'm so going to this!!!!!!

 

:P:P:P:P

Ohhhh, I really want to go to this!! :dance: :awesome:

I live right down the street.

Pretty impressive, huh?:cool:

You act as though you built it.

Doesn't look anything like what it looked like in the movies, really...

Looks like something I would enjoy if I were seven or eight.

Yeah it doesn't look like what's in the books either. The books seem to be more full of text and occasional pictures.

Looks like something I would enjoy if I were seven or eight.

Perfect for you Italian Plastic! :awesome:

You're so nice, Heatseeker :P

Ha!

Those concept images have been around for months, with the thing practically built there are actual photographs now, but I'm too lazy/disinterested to post some...

Old fucking news, those pictures have been around for AGES.

I was in Universal exactly one year ago and I saw that from the outside! :D I'm not an Harry Potter fan, but it looks really cool!! :awesome: