Harry Potter theme park to open in Orlando next year
Harry Potter theme park to open in Orlando next year
A Harry Potter theme park is set to open in the US next year. 'The Wizarding World of Harry Potter' is being built at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure.
The UK release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is next week, but from next year Potter fans renting
Florida villas will be able to visit Hogwarts themselves. According to The Orlando Sentinel, the centrepiece of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be a 15 storey high Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The "theme park within a theme park" is rumoured to be costing over $200m and will be set over 20 acres. The "signature attraction" is likely to be a ride housed within the Hogwarts castle - a "robocoaster", where passengers are suspended from a robotic arm and swept through more than 12 scenes from the popular series.
Hagrid's Hut, Hogsmeade Village and the Forbidden Forest are also expected to be recreated in the park. It is thought that two existing rides in the park are being rethemed and incorporated into the Harry Potter project.
However, the themes will be just as important as the actual rides to visitors. "People are expecting to immerse themselves in the whole Harry Potter universe," Robert Niles from themeparkinsider.com told the paper. "People are going to be paying a lot of attention to... detail and the atmosphere of the place, more so than the rides."
Although it is speculated that the park will open next summer, Universal would not elaborate on its plans: "We will be excited to talk about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - when we are ready to do so," said a spokesman. Whenever it opens in 2010, the park will still not be 100 per cent finalised - the resort will be required to add elements of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films, the second of which is not scheduled for release until 2011.
The UK premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince took place earlier this week. The film's stars include Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who has recovered from a recent bout of swine flu.
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