Universal Orlando has announced that they will be opening up a new hotel in 2014 for guests of the park. It will be called Universal’s Cabana Beach Resort and will contain 1800 rooms. The opening of the hotel will coincide with the opening of their second Potter-land at Universal, which is rumored to be Diagon Alley and/or a Hogwarts Express ride.
Half of those rooms will be “family suites” — lower-end suites with room for as many as six people. Universal said the hotel will be modeled after a large, sweeping motor court, to evoke the road trips many Americans grew up enjoying when on vacation. Renderings of the hotel show a retro-style entrance, with clean lines accented by orange-and-turquoise flourishes.
“Our new hotel will give guests an affordable, incredibly themed on-site hotel experience unlike anything else at our resort,” Tom Williams, chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Parks & Resorts, said in a prepared statement. “Our new family suites and family-value pricing will give our guests on-site options they’ve never had before.”
Universal and Loews are positioning Cabana Bay as a more-affordable on-property option than their existing hotels: the 1,000-room Royal Pacific Resort, the 750-room Portofino Bay Hotel and the 650-room Hard Rock Hotel.
Like guests in the three existing hotels, travelers booking rooms in Cabana Bay will get early admission to Universal Orlando’s two theme parks. But unlike guests in the other hotels, they will not receive complimentary front-of-the-line ride passes.
“The Cabana Bay Beach Resort furthers our goal of operating special and distinct properties in important markets,” Paul Whetsell, Loews Hotels & Resorts president and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “This is another important step in our plan to expand the Loews system in major markets across the United States.”
The new hotel will be built on 37 acres adjacent to Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park, just off Hollywood Way and Turkey Lake Road.
Cabana Bay is being timed to coincide with the opening of a second Harry Potter-themed “land” that is also expected to open in 2014 and will likely deliver another huge attendance surge to the resort.
It’s also the latest example of Universal Parks & Resort’s new corporate owner, cable-TV giant Comcast Corp., sinking money into the theme-park business. With Comcast’s blessing, Universal is also building copies of Wizarding World in Southern California and Japan.
Screamscape has posted some new details about a rumored Hogwarts Express ride at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando Florida. The site states:
(2/29/12) While the Hogwarts Express wont be a Funicular going up a hill, or even through a tunnel, the company does also make a series of regular cable powered shuttles that transport riders on aerial tramways. You’ll find a few of these in Las Vegas or various airports around the world. Now, the insides of these cable cars will be an entirely different matter, and will appear more like the inside of what I believe is called a “sleeper car”. (Forgive me if I’ve used the wrong term… I’m not train person.) The interior will feature a narrow walkway down one side of the car, with individual doors leading into the separate rooms, each furnished with a pair of face-to-face seating bench seats, with a single large window (ie: video screen) to the outside world on the far wall end. This will be your window into the Wizarding World for the duration of your journey between London and Hogsmeade.
(2/13/12) Screamscape sources came through over the weekend with some new details about the controversial Hogwarts Express train ride that would connect the back of Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. From what I’ve been able to learn so far, which I was expecting to hear, the Hogwarts Express train ride should not be a true locomotive style train ride. There will be a locomotive and coal car, but purely for appearance’s sake, connected to a trio of passenger cars.
By design, there should be two separate train units which will load and depart their respective stations simultaneously, along a single section of track, that will split into two side by side rails only in the middle of the trip, allowing the two trains to slip past each other. The trackway between the two parks will actually be elevated up in the air the entire way, which will technically place Platform 9 ¾ on the second floor of the King’s Cross station on the London side. I’m not certain, but the raised ground elevation at Islands of Adventure may allow for the depot to appear at ground level. The elevated track system will allow for large trucks to still pass underneath along Universal’s busy back roads. I’ve also attached a graphic depicting where I believe the track and stations will be placed.
E!Online have uploaded their interviews from yesterday’s red carpet event at the Harry Potter Celebration at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. Many of the cast and crew were there to celebrate the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II on DVD and BluRay. I can’t embed the videos without them autoplaying and being annoying so use the following links to watch until I find a better way to do this:
CNBC has announced that they will be airing a documentary on Thanksgiving entitled ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Revealed.’ The website states the following:
Thursday, November 24th (Thanksgiving) 10:00 PM ET
THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER REVEALED (30 Minutes)
Hear from the filmmakers and stars of the Harry Potter movies as they take you behind the scenes of the creation of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort. Get a peek at all the amazing rides and attractions that bring the world of Harry Potter and his friends to life.
A list of the Harry Potter cast and crew attending the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Celebration this coming weekend has been announced by WB! They will be attending press conferences, a red carpet premiere, the opening gala on the evening of Sunday, November 13, and fan meet and greets and panel discussions.
• Rupert Grint
• David Heyman
• David Yates
• David Barron
• James Phelps (Fred Weasley)
• Oliver Phelps (George Weasley)
• Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy)
• Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley)
• Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood)
• Katie Leung (Cho Chang)
• Alfie Enoch (Dean Thomas)
• Devon Murray (Seamus Finnigan)
• Stanislav Ianevski (Viktor Krum)
• Nick Moran (Scabior)
• Warwick Davis (Flitwick/Griphook)
• Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley)
• David Bradley (Argus Filch)
• George Harris (Kingsley Shacklebolt)
• Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown)
Thanks SS!
E! Online will be livestreaming the Harry Potter Celebration at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, FL from the 11-13th. They will be livestreaming on Saturday, Nov.12 at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT for Live From the Red Carpet: The Ultimate Harry Potter Fan Party.
James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley), Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick, Griphook), Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley), David Bradley (Argus Filch), Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown) and maybe more will be in attendance!
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