Spill

More on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Jim Hill Media has more details on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando. I’d consider it all rumor for now, but it’s still incredibly fascinating. I thought that the Harry Potter area would be a new part of Islands of Adventure, but apparently the plan is to convert the Lost Continent area of the park.

A lot of people aren’t familiar with Islands of Adventure, so here’s some background. (Full disclosure: I think it’s the best theme park ever.) It has five main areas: Seuss Landing, Marvel Superhero Island, Cartoon Lagoon, Jurassic Park, and the Lost Continent. Seuss Landing is the kiddie area. Marvel Superhero Island has The Hulk, an amazing roller coaster, and Spider-Man, which is quite simply the coolest ride ever. No description can do it justice, but it’s an indoor 4-D ride that’s completely exhilarating. Cartoon Lagoon has the best log flume ever and river rapids. It’s fun to run around Jurassic Park because they blare that John Williams music, and it’s got a great dinosaur-themed Splash Mountain-type water ride.

The Lost Continent is a great world, but as you can tell by its wimpy name, it doesn’t have a good theme. Everything fantasy-ish is there: the eatery is at the base of a giant gnarled tree, there’s a Poseidon walkthrough attraction, and a stupid Sinbad-themed show. It’s also got another amazing roller coaster called Dueling Dragons. It’s two suspended intertwined coasters, and it’s tons of fun. The waiting area is in a castle, and the interior has to be seen to be believed. There’s moving stained-glass windows, skeletons, frozen knights suspended in air — fantastic. But what does that have to do with Sinbad next door? Not much. While the nostalgic part of me is sad that the area will get revamped, it is really desperate for a unifying theme, and this will enable Universal to get the Harry Potter area done quicker and more cheaply. The stupid Sinbad show will give way to a Weasley flying car ride, and if it’s anything like the Spider-Man ride, it’ll be a huge success. The dragons coaster is a perfect fit with the Triwizard Tournament, so that’s a good move.

But what of Hogwarts Castle? I assume they’re going to redo the Dueling Dragons castle, but it’s not big enough to be Hogwarts. In the concept drawing, it looks like they’ll build Hogwarts from scratch, but I wonder if that’s really the case. I’d also like to see one more attraction planned for the area, maybe Knight Bus-themed. Whatever happens, I’m sure Universal will do an amazing job.

Harry Potter gets his own world

Exciting news!  The best theme park ever, Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, is adding a new island: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!  The Leaky Cauldron site has all the info.  They’re putting in a big Hogwarts castle — now Universal can finally conquer its castle envy.  Supposedly J.K. Rowling has been extremely demanding about the layout (which is a good thing), but I hope they do manage to have some Harry Potter rides, not just shopping/dining.  I’d like to see something similar to their Spider-Man ride, which is sick.

Step away from the horse

Harry Potter fans the world over are cringing at the news that Daniel Radcliffe will play Alan Strang in the forthcoming London revival of Equus.  For those who aren’t familiar with the play, I’m about to ruin it for you: Alan wants to bang horses.  No, Harry, nooo!

Watch out for the Golden Snitch!

Warner Bros. is in talks to have scenes from the IMAX version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 3-D.  Dude, I hope there will be Quidditch in this movie.

I would also like Ron and Hermione to survive, please

J.K. Rowling will be killing off at least two more characters in the final Harry Potter book, according to this interview.  Seriously, if she kills off Harry, I will be infuriated.  Infuriated.