Until now, the only Harry Potter rides you could take were of the illicit, vibrating broom variety. But the marvelously named Nikki Finke has details about the new theme park opening up at the Universal Orlando Resort in 2010. Apparently, it’s called “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” which, you know, doesn’t completely suck as a name, I guess.
There’s a full description of the park over here, but it looks like it’s mostly a series of gift shops:
— At the entrance of Hogsmeade, billowing steam and an iconic whistle signal the arrival of the Hogwarts Express into Hogsmeade station
— Across the way is Zonko’s, a joke shop with a collection of tricks and jokes, including Extendable Ears, Boxing Telescopes and Sneakoscopes
— Honeydukes is next door and full of treats like Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans
— The Three Broomsticks and adjacent Hog’s Head pub will feature traditional British fare and drinks including Butterbeer and pumpkin juice
— Across from the Three Broomsticks is The Owlery, where owls roost and await their next delivery
— The Owl Post sends letters with a certified Hogsmeade postmark and sells official stamps from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
…with two roller coasters and a Captain EO-like faux-interactive ride at the end. Is this normal for Floridian theme parks? I’ve never been. I hope this literary themed park takes off, because I can’t wait for “The Sartre-an Town of Being and Nothingness.”
Don’t knock the gift shops and rides that begin/end in them. When Ian and I went to Parc Asterix north of Paris they were really fun.
Now, if they’d just institute real wizard’s chess …
this is totally what its like, i lived in ft lauderdale and the orlando area is one big mish mash of theme parks. that and living in the state you get more than enough commercials for them all most of all disney, which out here we don’t get nearly the same number that air. thank god.
haven’t been there in 20 years, but it sounds very much like the “foreign country” area in Disney World, building of some country or other, surrounded by giftee shoppees, the smell of grease, and local teenagers waiting the tables of whichever restaurant was supposed to be serving food from that country.
Well, they needed something to take over for Marvel’s Island of Adventure rides- seeing as those are probably jumping ship for Disney’s Hollywood Studios sometime in the near future.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is NOT a new theme park. It’s a new “land” (albeit a large one) inside Universals existing Islands of Adventure theme park. The dragon and hippogriff coasters mentioned are existing coasters that are being re-themed. They are supposedly putting in some cool new stuff however.
@4 – My understanding is that the Universal’s contracts for the rights to characters they use on rides at “Marvel Island” at Islands of Adventure are pretty long term, its just that now, if they will be paying royalties, they’ll be paying them to Disney.
I imagine that as they are re-creating a town that sells items to wizards, they have to have a few shops in there to kinda make it look, ya know, like a town. I’d like to see a few replicas of regular wizard’s homes, and a guided tour through the Shrieking Shack, but nobody’s perfect.
@3 – Employees of EPCOT’s World Showcase pavilions are actually from the countries represented.
@4 – They’re not.
Funny – though I think Satre’s theme park is just existence, right?
Every attraction at Disney and Universal built in the last 10 years or so exits into a gift shop. And they’ll send your purchases directly back to your hotel for you, so you don’t have to carry them around all day (and you don’t realize how much stuff you just bought)
How about an Enfield Tennis Academy ride. You’d get on in the middle and bounce all over the place to the soundtrack of Linda McCartney’s part on a Wings album. You’d exit somewhere before the beginning and then troop through a long path covered in text (foot notes, get it?) that explain part of what just happened.