New expansion in Orlando is expected to lure more guests into the Universal Studios park, which operates next to Islands of Adventure, but hasn’t been much of a draw in recent years because of its lack of the kind of thrill rides that its sister park offers. It took five years to build the first “Wizarding World” and bring Rowling’s world to life. Sales of food and merchandise rose 29% in the first nine months after the park’s opening in 2010, while ticket sales rose 20%. Park instantly turned around Universal’s theme park business, and Universal is now building additional versions of the Harry Potter park in Hollywood and Osaka, Japan, with Warner Bros., which controls the license. Universal has wanted to expand “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” since it opened in 2010 and attracted long lines of guests. Hogsmeade will also get some updates, with an expansion of the Honeydukes candy shop, for example.ĭetails were revealed in a webcast as Universal is hosting its “Celebration of Harry Potter” event. “It will be just as authentic as Hogsmeade,” the town from the books which has the Hogwarts Castle looming overhead in “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” the executive said. It was key to make the expansion as detailed as the first, Woodbury added. “This is the place where Harry Potter got his first wand,” he said. Woodbury said it was key to build Diagon Alley, since it offered more stories for Universal to tell and turn into attractions. In addition to the secret magical brick wall through which guests enter Diagon Alley, the “Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts” ride inside Gringotts Bank will feature a fire-breathing dragon outside. Rowling’s books and the film adaptations, eight new stores, including a second Ollivanders wand shop, and the Leaky Cauldron restaurant.
But the main attraction will be Diagon Alley and spooky Knockturn Alley from J.K. New addition, expected to cost around $400, according to analysts, will include a recreation of London’s riverfront embankment, and the Hogwarts Express, a train that will travel between the parks. “Guests with a park-to-park ticket will be able to travel between these two lands in a seamless adventure,” said Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Creative for Universal Parks and Resorts, with “ Wizarding World of Harry Potter” getting two separate entrances in both parks.
The theme park operator revealed new details of the expansion of one of its most popular attractions inside Islands of Adventure, in Orlando, that will extend into Universal Studios Florida when it opens this June as the first themed multi-park experience. Like any producer of a successful franchise, Universal Studios is ready to give its guests more of “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.”
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