Some of the best news to come to Harry Potter fans in months is that the new Harry Potter park in Orlando will be opening some time in spring of 2010. With the final Harry Potter novel being old news, and the new Harry Potter movie still being months away, news of the park's opening couldn't come at a better time.
Technically, the new Harry Potter theme park isn't a theme park at all, but actually a section of an existing theme park. At one point in time, Disney was bidding on the rights to build the theme park, and because they didn't make the cut, not much has been known about their plans. Perhaps they would have built a full park devoted to all things Potter, but more likely they would have done what Universal Orlando, who did win the bid for the park, is doing which is knocking out a section of one of their theme parks and retheming it to fit Harry's World.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Orlando is taking up a section of Universal's popular Islands of Adventure theme park. While all of the theming is new, there will be only one new ride in the park section. Two former rides are merely getting an overhaul to fit in. Although the Flying Unicorn would have fit into Harry's world, it is being rethemed as the Flight of the Hippogriff. Dueling Dragons is now Dragon Challenge, themed after the challenge in the Triwizard Cup Tournament. The new ride is top secret and is called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, or Forbidden Journey for short. It is known that the ride is built by Robocoaster, and that the height restriction is rather high for a theme park ride, but little else is known.
Universal will also be featuring Hogwarts Castle and Hogsmeade. The shops in Hogsmeade are modeled after the Hogsmeade shops in the books, and will serve up products from the Weasley brothers, popular candy from the books, and even offer food and drink, including pumpkin juice and butterbeer, at the Three Broomsticks.
Unique to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando, interactive wands will be for sale for use in and out of the theme park. Details are not known, but wands are supposed to be priced between $25 and $75 for the most part, and perform different actions. Some special wands will even work outside of the theme park, including one that is rumored to function as a TV remote control. "Wandmakers" will be on hand to help your wand choose you, or you can simply choose a wand from the available stock.
There is so much to see and experience at the new park, but despite the wonderful theming and options, some Harry Potter fans may be disappointed at the lack of original rides. We'll know for certain if the park is a hit or miss when it opens in Spring.
Author Description :
Lori Fox is excited to visit the new Harry Potter park in Universal Orlando this Spring. She hopes that the park will live up to it's hype and has been building web pages and writing articles as an overflow of her excitement. For more information, visit http://www.squidoo.com/wizarding-world-of-harry-potter
