We’ve been posting rumors on a possible expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida for months and today Universal has finally made it official! A new high resolution photo, as well as a press alert, have been released. More will be posted as news develops!
THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES: THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER – DIAGON ALLEY IS COMING TO UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT.
Building on the global phenomenon that is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Universal Orlando Resort and Warner Bros. Entertainment today announced an expansion of historic proportion with the entirely new themed environment, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley.
Scheduled to open in 2014, the world’s first centrally themed, multi-park experience expands The Wizarding World of Harry Potter across both Universal Orlando theme parks and allows Universal’s creative team to bring an unparalleled vision to this unique project. The new area will bring to life some of the experiences and places found in and around London in the Harry Potter books and films, offering brand-new adventures for fans and theme park guests from around the world.
Diagon Alley and ‘London’ will be located within the Universal Studios Florida theme park, which is adjacent to Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park, where guests now experience Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. The new area within Universal Studios will be just as expansive, immersive and authentic as the existing themed environment.”
The Huffington Post also has some more details on the expansion from Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Creative:
“Given the strong response that we got from our Guests as well as from Harry Potter fans, we knew that we had done something truly special in bringing to life this great body of fiction with such a high level of detail and authenticity,” Woodbury explained. “But even so, we knew that there were other great Harry Potter-related tales to tell. That there were stories, characters and experiences that we just hadn’t been able to fit into Hogsmeade & Hogwarts Castle.”
“So we then began to wonder: Given that we had these two great theme parks sitting right next to each other, could we maybe turn that to our storytelling advantage?,” Mark continued. “By placing Diagon Alley & London at Universal Studios Florida and Hogsmeade & Hogwarts at Islands of Adventure, could we maybe use the distance between these two theme parks as a way to echo the natural geographic separation that the readers find between Hogwarts & Diagon Alley in J.K. Rowling’s own stories?”
[…]”Those meetings [with Jo] are fascinating and wonderful opportunities to have, to be able to talk and collaborate directly with J K Rowling and the Warner Bros. film-makers. This was a big idea. And everybody immediately saw that when we initially laid it all out. And the fact that we wanted to continue to tell the Harry Potter story, the places that we had chosen to develop — Diagon Alley & London & Gringotts & Hogwarts Express — were really big ideas and bold moves, I think that the ambition behind that was very much appreciated,” Mark stated.
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“As we went into this project, the folks at Universal Orlando & Warner Bros. Entertainment set the bar very high and we weren’t about to compromise. We knew that London & Diagon Alley & the Hogwarts Express had to be equal to and better than Hogsmeade & Hogwarts Castle in every way and at every level. And that’s exactly how we approached this expansion project right from the get-go,” Mark said.
“Our goal here is to fully immerse people into the Harry Potter stories. So the architecture plays a big role in that. And starting with the London area, which is totally authentic and recreates & captures the essence of the iconographic parts of the fiction in that space, we went big,” Woodbury continued. “And then we find our way into Diagon Alley in much the same way you do in the books and movies. And that’s a totally different environment that gives Guests an even deeper immersion into the world of Harry Potter. And those buildings are big as well. Four and five stories-tall in some places.”
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“After teasing people with that static version of the Hogwarts Express in Hogsmeade, we’re now going to give them the opportunity to climb aboard that train and go on an actual journey. And we’re not going to do the usual theme park thing, where you get on an attraction that promises to take you on a journey, but then when you exit your ride vehicle, you’re actually back in the exact same spot where you began that ride,” Mark enthused. “After people climb aboard the Hogwarts Express at Universal Orlando Resort next year, as they exit that train, they’re going to find themselves in an entirely different environment, in a completely different place. Whether they’ve journeyed from London to Hogsmeade or visa versa. And we’ve made sure that even your train trip aboard the Hogwarts Express will be part of the ambitious immersive storytelling experience that we’re trying to create for our Guests with this Potter expansion.”
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I will have it’s television debut on Sunday May 12th during ABC Family’s Red Carpet Weekend. The full lineup is as follows, other films will be airing before and after, such as Hocus Pocus, Hairspray and Twilight, we’ve only listed the Potter times below:
Saturday May 11th
1:00pm – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
4:30pm – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
7:30pm – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Saturday May 12th
9:30am- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
1:00pm- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
4:00pm- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7:30pm – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
The Telegraph has posted a couple videos from Prince William, Duchess Catherine and Prince Harry’s visit to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. Those may be watched below:
The Prince and Duchess learn how to fight with wands:
Part of Prince William’s speech:
WB Studio Tour has also released a video from the visit:
We’ve learned that J.K Rowling along with many of the Harry Potter cast and crew were also at the inauguration of the updated WB Studio Tour London with The Royal Family. Additionally, Prince Harry’s Facebook page has been updated with numerous photos of the trio – not the Potter trio of course; Harry, William and Kate – touring the Harry Potter section. UPDATE: The Duchess’ Facebook also has an album with photos from the day.
The following members of the Potter family were in attendance: David Heyman, David Yates, Mike Newell and Matthew Lewis . We will have photos of them as soon as they become available. For now view these (which will be updated as more appear online):
Prince William, Duchess Kate and Prince Harry visited Warner Bros. Studio Tour London today to open up the brand new facility housing props from other WB films. At the inauguration, Prince William made a wonderful speech about the attraction which can be read in its entirety here.
All three of us have been looking forward to being here with you all today, and so far it’s lived up to our expectations.
To be honest, I’m over the moon just to have seen the real Batmobile and Batpod – Josh, Barry, you don’t do baby seats for those cars, do you, by any chance? On the other hand Harry’s just excited to see a real life talking owl in the Harry Potter studios. I haven’t told him yet that Harry Potter is fictional, so please keep the secret for a little longer.??
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??The journey to today began most obviously with the now legendary story of an aspiring author – J K Rowling – translating her phenomenal imagination onto paper in the form of the Harry Potter series. But in another sense, the journey to today began way before, since this country has a long and proud literary and visual arts history – a history that is unmatched in the world for its variety, its commercial success and its longevity.??
[…]Our Nation’s extraordinary capacity for talent is not a thing of the past. It is worth reminding ourselves that the Harry Potter book series has become the most popular series ever to be printed, and the Harry Potter movie series – filmed right here – is the most successful in history. ??So, what of the future? How can we possibly continue these successes of the past?
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Catherine, Harry and I are very much looking forward to the Harry Potter Studio Tour coming up shortly, and thank you to Warner Brothers for hosting hundreds of children from the charities of which we are fortunate enough to be Patron.
As we posted way back in December 2011, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be opening up at Universal Hollywood in Los Angeles. Today Variety is reporting that construction for the park will begin this Summer! According to the article, “NBCUniversal was given the go ahead after the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the company’s plan to invest in production and tourism projects over the next 25 years, worth $1.6 billion overall.” They will apparently be spending $500 million to build this new park, starting later in the Summer. The Gibson Amphitheater will be closing in September to make way for the new park. More from the article may be read below:
Venture, a collaboration between Warner Bros. Entertainment and Universal Parks and Resorts, will essentially replicate the Wizarding World of Harry Potter that opened in 2010 at Universal’s Orlando resort, and is currently being expanded after it’s proved a huge success there.
“We thank Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, the entire Board of Supervisors, and County staff for providing us the path to bring much needed jobs and investment to Los Angeles,” said Corinne Verdery, chief real estate development and planning officer, NBCUniversal. “The working relationship we have built with the community was invaluable in developing our future plan and we are grateful to our nearly 7,500 supporters and union partners who have been with us every step of the way. We look forward to bringing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to Hollywood, forever changing the face of tourism in Los Angeles.”
NBCUniversal plans to begin construction this summer on a $1.6 billion, 25-year expansion of its Los Angeles-area theme park, offices and production facilities.
The company owned by Comcast Corp. announced Tuesday that it would start building The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at its Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, along with upgraded TV production studios and office space on the studio lot.
The project would eventually include a hotel and retail outlets, adding nearly 2 million square feet to the studio complex. The plan initially called for nearly 3,000 residences, but that was dropped last year after objections from local residents and politicians.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors tentatively approved the plan Tuesday, unanimously directing its lawyers to prepare documents for final approval.
