Check out this gorgeous concept art for the expansion of Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando! Depicted here is London and Diagon Alley, which will be featured at the Universal Studios Park.
For the full press release announcing the expansion, here’s the link:
This is such the right call for Universal, which is showing a fantastic resurgence lately in its push for theme park supremacy. Universal may never take the crown from Disney, but they are certainly doing their part to challenge them. This healthy push and pull motivates both companies to strive for excellence, which always bodes well for theme park enthusiasts.
Details about the specific attractions, shops and restaurants are still being kept under wraps. But its always fun to try to look at the hidden details in the concept art to speculate on what may come to pass.
So let’s take a look at this key piece of concept art and see if we can discover any hidden gems…
Clearly the centerpiece is Gringott’s Bank. Check out that massive fire-breathing dragon perched up there! The creature looks absolutely massive. Will we actually see this in real life? Animatronic or statue? At this scale, you’d have to imagine pulling off an animatronic would be incredibly difficult, but how dramatic of an impression would that be! Even if the body doesn’t move, but the head spews a massive ball of fire down onto the crowd below, safely dissipating several stories higher, what a sight that would be!
The artwork doesn’t clue us in on the Gringott’s Bank ride experience, but based on strong rumors, this promises to be part roller coaster, part dark ride, part IMAX simulator, and all thrills. This is the signature ride that anchors this expansion, much like Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Islands of Adventure, so one has to assume this is going to be massive, potentially another game-changer in the industry.
The pathway leading up to Gringott’s looks to fully immerse us in their depiction of London, surrounding guests with appropriately themed building facades and shops. Rumor has it, Ollivander’s Wand Shop, which is hugely popular on the Islands of Adventure side, with hour-long lines just to purchase a replica wand, will also set up shop here in London.
Over to our right, we can make out what looks to be a separate open-air pathway, an obvious location for the train station. What we know for sure is that an actual recreation of the Hogwart’s Express will transport guests from London to Hogsmead, literally from the Studios Park to Islands of Adventure. Completely unprecedented territory here. I don’t think there has ever been a theme park experience where you can literally transition between entirely separate parks, give you an adventure along the way, and have it all be thematically tied together. That’s magical.
I wonder what they will do on board the train when you ride between parks. In the distance, we can see the train meandering up the hillside on its way to Hogwart’s. If I had to guess, I’d say they are going to trick your eyes by combining real-world visuals, such as actual city scenes, landscaping, etc. as you depart and enter the lands, and through certain middle sections of the trek, they’ll throw some projected epic cinematic imagery through your viewport windows, kind of like what they did with the King Kong 3D tram tour additional. Think “image tunnels” projecting magnificent landscapes along the way to and from Hogwart’s.
While you’re comfortably on board the train, Universal will have cast members dressed as students, conductors, random wizards, etc. It’s going to be a lot of fun. If this concept art is any indicator, we are in for something very special.