The fourth clue for The Today Show’s Diagon Alley Sweepstakes has been shared by Al Roker. To enter, visit this sweepstakes website, and answer the question Al gives (you don’t have to get the answer right to be eligible to win.) 25 winners (with 3 guests each) will win trips to the Grand Opening of Diagon Alley, which is expected to be in June.
View the video, showing some footage of the goblins in Gringotts, below:
USA Today has an exclusive video preview of the Diagon Alley expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. They also shared a bunch of new photos that can be seen in the gallery.
They detail the Escape from Gringotts ride:
inside Gringotts bank, after guests pass through the grand lobby, there’s a hallway with magical portraits and armor fit for goblins and trolls.
Turn the corner, and you realize you are in the office of Bill Weasley, who greets you in a similar way that Dumbledore does in Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure. Then, you board souped-up elevators that make you feel as if you are going deep into the cavernous vaults.
Once you exit, there are massive stalactites above and 12-person ride vehicles, each with its own steam-pumping chimney. That is impressive in itself, but what about the ride?
“Is it part roller coaster, part 3-D-motion-based ride?” I ask.
Not exactly.
“It would be a real understatement to call it a roller coaster, because it does so much more,” Coup says. “It’s way beyond that.”
Here’s how it works: Riders put on 3-D glasses and race through a labyrinth of underground vaults, where they encounter the villainous Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldermort, Harry’s archrival.
At one point, “a troll grabs the vehicle and starts shaking it,” Coup says. At another point, hot lava surrounds guests just as the villains reappear in a full, 360-degree scene. It’s all thanks to 4K digital high-definition animation, state-of-the-art 3-D Infitec projection systems and live special effects.
It’s clearly very different from Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, a wildly popular ride at Hogsmeade. The distinguishing factor: Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts “is thrilling and dynamic, but not as dynamic as Forbidden Journey because we wanted everyone to be able to ride it.”
We even get some new tidbits about the Hogwarts Express ride that connects the two worlds (Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade):
In a final stroke of brilliance, there’s the Hogwarts Express, which transports parkgoers from Hogsmeade Station to London’s King’s Cross Station and back. As you trundle along, you are treated to a four-minute Harry Potter movie made for this ride. Each carriage is “basically your own little audio theater,” Gilmore says. “The characters are all around you in this experience.”
[…]
Indeed. As I sat in a train carriage on the Hogwarts Express, with the sound of the engine rumbling and smoke bellowing outside, I started to feel less like a Muggle and more like a wizard.
In a new interview with The Daily Beast, Daniel Radcliffe addresses a bunch of recent rumors as well as discussing some plays. The full interview will be out later this Summer. First, he squashed the rumors that he and his girlfriend are engaged:
“No! Absolute bollocks. Absolute bollocks,” says Radcliffe, adding, “I don’t think we can even give the Daily Mail credit for that one. It was Star, I believe. It was funny. I got a text from my English teacher saying, ‘Is it true? Congratulations!’ and I had to text her back, ‘I’m afraid not! We’re very happy, but we’re not getting married.’ Marriage is not a thought that is even remotely close to me at the moment.”
That was followed by some Potter talk. It was recently announced that Dan, Emma and Rupert filmed new scenes for the Diagon Alley portion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. And while that may be true, many news outlets were reporting that the trio were set to reunite AGAIN. Dan said:
“I know nothing about that,” he says. “They may very well be using existing footage that we’d already filmed for the movies, but I have had no calls or involvement in that. A while ago they asked me to do more stuff for the theme park, and that was my moment to try and draw a line because that theme park is going to keep expanding, and keep going to more countries, and there’s going to come a point where I’m going to be 30 years old, and if I was still doing that then, that would be a huge problem.” He adds, “I wish them all the luck in the world and I genuinely think that what they did with the theme park in Florida is fantastic, and they really did a great job.”
Finally, he mentioned that he is not involved with the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themfilms and it has been quite a while since he and his Potter co-stars have hung out.
“The last person I saw from Potter was Rupert, actually, and I saw him a couple of months ago at a theater awards thing in London,” says Radcliffe. “I also saw him in this play in London he did, Mojo, and he was brilliant in it. It’s a dark play about gangsters in the ’50s. But yeah, that’s really the extent of my contact. I haven’t spoken to Emma in a long, long while, but we’re all busy, and it’s been exciting to work with different people.”
The third clue for The Today Show’s Diagon Alley Sweepstakes has been revealed this morning by Al Roker. To enter, visit this website, and answer the question Al gives in the video below (you don’t have to get the answer right to be eligible to win.) 25 winners (with 3 guests each) will win trips to the Grand Opening of Diagon Alley, which is expected to be in June.
Just a quick reminder that Wand Week is approaching for those visiting Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter. Wand Week takes place from Friday 23rd May – Monday 2nd June so get your tickets now! The activities are included in your admission ticket.
Discover first-hand how fight scenes were developed and see original moulds, concept art and wand designs as well as the iconic duelling table from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We’re also welcoming Death Eaters back to the Studio Tour, giving you the chance to test your wand combat skills by challenging them to a duel. Head Prop Maker Pierre Bohanna’s team will be in residence to showcase some of the techniques they used to hand-carve wands for the Harry Potter film series and you can see a special effects demonstration in Diagon Alley created by BAFTA-winning Special Effects Supervisor John Richardson.
More details from a previous press release may be read below:
[…] visitors will discover first-hand how duelling scenes were developed and the incredible amount of planning that went into each wand movement. They’ll get the chance to duel with a Death Eater after learning wand battle choreography with an interactive experience created by expert Paul Harris. Paul composed the battle scene between Dumbledore and Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and is the world’s only Wand Combat Choreographer.
Those exploring Diagon Alley will be able to see a special effects demonstration created by BAFTA-winning Special Effects Supervisor John Richardson. By pointing a wand, visitors will be able to cast a spell that will make the sign above Potage’s Cauldron Shop bang and flash as if by magic.
Original moulds, concept art and wand designs will be displayed in the attraction and members of Head Prop Maker Pierre Bohanna’s team will showcase some of the techniques they used to hand-carve wands for the Harry Potter film series.
The iconic duelling table, as seen in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, will also be on display in the iconic Great Hall set.
