Universal Futures

Universal Futures #5 and #6 have been eliminated, as King Kong will be replaced by King Kong: The 8th Wonder of the World based on the 2005 film and Fear Factor LIVE at USH already closed August 14, 2008 to prepare for the Halloween Horror Nights and Creature From the Black Lagoon. Due to a Nickelodeon show being recorded at Universal, #2 is also eliminated. Right now the main ones I'm keeping an eye on are #1, 3, 4, and 7.

#1 Timeline:

May 31, 2007 - Universal announced a new island at Islands of Adventure: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It will take some of the Lost Continent, excluding Poseidon's Fury. That area between Dueling Dragons and Sinbad will become Hogsmeade. The iconic Hogwarts Castle will be by the Flying Unicorn. The Forbidden Forest will be around Hogwarts Castle.

October 2007 - Ground breaking began.

December 8, 2007 - Electrical fences for Jurassic Park have been removed and replaced by Harry Potter construction walls. Here are the walls:



















The area where Hogwarts Castle is supposed to be is being cleared, so construction on it will begin. This was taken from the Flying Unicorn:



















February 7, 2008 - Steel support beams have been built in the site where Hogwarts Castle is supposed to be, thus beginning construction on both it and the island. This was taken by the Dueling Dragons queue:



















April 1, 2008 - Construction on a temporary bridge connecting Jurassic Park and Lost Continent begins.

Here is the progress.



















April 17, 2008 - Construction on Hogwarts Castle accelerates. This is how it looks like:



















April 25, 2008 - Steel supports for Hogwarts Castle have gone up further back. Here is the expanding Hogwarts Castle:



















May 29, 2008 - Lighting has been installed on the new bridge.

Here they are:



















June 6, 2008 - I witnessed the construction of Hogwarts Castle on my way to ride the Flying Unicorn. Little did I know that this was the last time I'll be able to ride the Flying Unicorn before it gets rethemed.

June 9, 2008 - A new bridge connecting the Lost Continent and Jurassic Park is pretty much complete.

This is how it looks like:



















Steel support beams on Hogwarts Castle are finished:



















June 29, 2008 - Universal announced that the Flying Unicorn will be closed in order for work to proceed on the new island.

July 7, 2008 - The Flying Unicorn, Enchanted Oak Restaurant, and Dragon's Keep closes. As a result, a merchandise cart has been put by the construction walls selling the Dragon's Keep gifts, at least until Dueling Dragons closes (which is unknown right now).

This is how the Flying Unicorn looks like on its last day:



















July 8, 2008 - The new bridge has opened to temporarily connect the Lost Continent with Jurassic Park until construction on the new island finishes.

This is the new bridge:



















July 17, 2008 - The Enchanted Oak restaurant begins demolition.

Here is how it looks like now:



















Bricks are starting to be put up on Hogwarts Castle. Here are the bricks:



















July 23, 2008 - The Dragon's Keep store finishes demolition.

July 31, 2008 - The Enchanted Oak Restaurant main building finishes demolition.

August 8, 2008 - Here is how the late Enchanted Oak looks now:



















And in the back, they're removing what's left of it:



















August 16, 2008 - The branch of Enchanted Oak Restaurant connecting the site and the water has been removed:



















September 2, 2008 - A model of the Spintwitches store has been built by one of the warehouses of a company helping Universal with the new island. It will be in the Hogsmeade section of the new island.

This is how it looks like:
























September 10, 2008 - Hogwarts Castle is almost completely enclosed.















September 14, 2008 - Work on a new path to Dueling Dragons begins. The new entrance will begin by the Watering Hole in Jurassic Park. Here is the progress:



















September 23, 2008 - The new pathway opens with a new set of construction walls while the area of the old entrance is being constructed for the new island. The sign, lockers, and wait time sign are now by the new entrance. Here is the new pathway:



















October 4, 2008 - The old entrance and dragon statues have been destroyed. Here is the entrance now:



















The coaster itself is still open for now.

October 27, 2008 - Hogwarts Castle is completely enclosed. Here it is:



















November 25, 2008 - Hogwarts Castle's catwalks and air conditioning units are nearly finished. Here is a picture of them:



















January 4, 2009: The A/C Vents were installed on the side of the Hogwarts building (which is expected to have a similar ride system to the Spider-Man ride):



















A mound of dirt has appeared in what used to be the old Dueling Dragons entrance:



















January 26, 2009: Theming for Hagrid's Hut (the station for the Flying Hippogriff, which is replacing the Flying Unicorn) begins as seen on this picture: