First off, Universal confirmed that the expansion is happening on December 6th (along with the long-rumored Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Hollywood, that I'll get to later):
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is going to get bigger at Universal Orlando. And it will have a sister world at Universal Studios Hollywood theme park in California, the company revealed Tuesday.
Details about the Florida expansion — such as cost, new attractions, time frame or which of the two Universal Orlando theme parks it would be located in — were not shared. The original Wizarding World of Harry Potter, based on the books created by J.K. Rowling, opened at Universal's Islands of Adventure in June 2010.
"We've not announced a time frame, but it's going to take years for us to create something on the scale and scope we envision," said Tom Schroder, a Universal Orlando spokesman. Details will be announced "over time," said a Universal news release.
Universal Orlando announced last week that it would close the Jaws ride at Universal Studios theme park on Jan. 2. Since then the rumor mill has churned with chatter about what could go in that space. If Potter replaced Jaws, the boy wizard would be in both Universal parks.
"I think it's very interesting that Universal Orlando announced the closure of Jaws a mere few days before the confirmation of an expansion," said Ricky Brigante, owner of InsideTheMagic.Net, a theme-parks website.
He would be surprised if Potter elements spilled over into the Studios, but "anything is possible," he said.
"Looking at a map, I can see a clear route between where Jaws is now and the existing Wizarding World of Harry Potter," Brigante said. "A Hogwarts Express [train] could be built between the two, but that would certainly be a major construction project involving both parks and backstage and reworking of facilities."
Previously, buzz centered on Wizarding World expanding into the adjacent Lost Continent area of Islands of Adventure, he said.
"With all this going on, there are certainly doubts that that would happen," Brigante said.
Other speculation calls for the expansion to be themed on London scenes of the "Harry Potter" movies. The resort's contract with Warner Bros. requires it to have elements from the final Potter films, the last of which opened in theaters this summer.
Most industry analysts considered a Harry Potter expansion in Orlando inevitable given the financial success of Wizarding World. Universal's attendance jumped 20 percent in 2010 — to 11.2 million — even though Wizarding World didn't open until halfway through the year. It soared 52 percent — to nearly 6.4 million — during the first half of 2011.
"Normally, you put a new attraction out and you're delighted if you get a 5 percent bump in attendance. Harry Potter came out and we were seeing 40 percent and 50 percent bumps, just a gigantic sea change in the profitability," NBCUniversal Chief Executive Officer Steve Burke said at a conference with analysts this fall.
The Wizarding World expansion would be part of a flurry of construction projects at Central Florida theme parks. SeaWorld's TurtleTrek attraction is set to open next year, and a major Antarctica-themed area will open there in 2013. The first phase of the Fantasyland expansion at Disney World's Magic Kingdom is scheduled to open in 2012, and Disney's Animal Kingdom plans to add a land based on the "Avatar" films in 2016.
In Hollywood, details about the Potter plan there were thin, although a news release boasted it "will be as impressive as what has been created in Orlando." At the Tuesday news conference, it was confirmed that Hollywood would include a Hogwarts castle and its signature ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.
No details about a Hogsmeade village, other rides or restaurants were shared.
"I am sure that the teams at Universal and Warner Bros. will bring their expertise and attention to detail to Hollywood to make this new experience equally as exciting," Rowling said in the release. She was not on stage for the announcement.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-12-06/travel/os-wizarding-world-harry-potter-orlando-expansion-20111206_1_wizarding-world-potter-elements-universal-orlando
Permits have also been filed for "Project 722":
http://hhnrumors.com/index.php?a=148
It looks to have some connections with four people who made a Harry Potter film (Deathly Hallows 1 and 2, Half-Blood Prince, and Order of the Phoenix). One of them even worked on "Project Strongarm" which is the original Wizarding World of Harry Potter at IOA. With these involvements, I am now pretty sure that the boy wizard is coming to the Studios.
Meanwhile, here are some really interesting rumors spreading on Screamscape (that can make one's JAW (haha pun!) drop):
2014 - Jaws Replacement / Potter Phase 2 / Project 722 - (12/22/11) Some great detective work linking the demolition permit of Jaws to the rumored new Harry Potter expansion project has been posted to HHN Rumors this week. Really worth checking out to see just what kind of people are linked to “Project 722”.
As for the meaning behind the 722 codename... it could just be nonsense... or on a hunch I did pull out a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to see what it had to say on Page 722. Sure enough... there is a line about being in King’s Cross where it would be possible to board a train. Of course I may just be reading a bit too much into that, but you never know.
(12/21/11) I’ve got a quick Studio item today, plus another interesting piece of the puzzle over at the Islands of Adventure side of things. Today… we’re going to talk about The Hogwarts Express. Most of the Naysayers out there immediately bring up the fact that any train that runs between the park’s backstage is going to run through some very unattractive behind the scenes areas along the way.
The report I keep getting on this issue is that the riders view of the world from the train will not be of the backstage area, or even the real world at all, but instead be an artificial view of the journey from London to Hogwarts. What is not clear is just how this will be accomplished… either through the use of video screens instead of windows… or the rumored use of the King Kong 360 technology that wraps projection screens around both sides of the Backlot Tour tram ride at the Hollywood park in an enclosed building.
Personally, I’m kind of hoping for the later, as it would allow for some unique thrills and sights to be had along the way during both sides of the journey. In the end, you never know… Universal Creative has some fine clever folks on the payroll like Thierry Coup. As the masterminds behind projection based attractions like Spiderman, Kong 360, Harry Potter and Transformers) who constantly break new ground, anything is possible for the Hogwarts Express.
(12/8/11) While I did speculate that the proposed Potter Phase 2 project could also take over the Fear Factor stadium area, I’ve heard elsewhere that is not planned to happen, and that the show theater will remain. No word on if they will keep it running as Fear Factor returns to the airwaves, or if there is some other kind of plan in the works.
While on the subject of Phase 2 of the PotterVerse (London), as I had suspected, the rumors of the Knight Bus attraction were wrong. This doesn’t mean that we wont see the King Kong 3D 360ยบ technology put to use somewhere… it just wont be themed as the Knight Bus. The ride focus seems to be entirely on the Gringott’s Wizarding Back dark ride / coaster concept, as they apparently have some really grand ideas for this project. What kind of ideas? Remember that uncovered technology patent Universal files a couple of years ago that would have a coaster car ride up onto a detachable piece of track that was hooked up to the top of a simulator style motion base platform able to tilt and rotate in any direction? (Click here to see it) The latest Screamscape rumor claims that we may see this new idea brought to life as part of the Gringott’s coaster ride.
Meanwhile it seems like the Diagon Alley Olivander’s location will be much larger than what we’ve seen built at Islands of Adventure. Rumor has it that the store will feature up to three different “wand shops” instead, but a single queue that will keep them hidden apart from each other, so it looks like you are entering the one and only shop. I’m also hearing something about a possible Wizard’s Duel show… though I’m hoping this isn’t true, as I think the “magic” needs to stay indoors for the most part.
(12/7/11) During the big announcement in Hollywood confirming that a version of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would be coming to the California park, the company also confirmed that the Orlando Wizarding World would also be expanded, with details about that promised to come sometime in the future.
“This is an incredible moment for Universal Studios and the millions of guests who visit our theme parks,” said Ron Meyer, President & COO, Universal Studios. “The Harry Potter stories are some of the most powerful of our time and we are honored to expand our Orlando experience and bring The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to Hollywood, forever changing family tourism in Los Angeles.”
Keep in mind that they did not confirm if the Phase 2 expansion was coming to replace Jaws, or if it may go into Islands of Adventure instead, but at this point, every source is in agreement as to the location, confirming what I reported previously about the London focused expansion taking the place of Jaws, Amity, and very likely... the seldom used Fear Factor show theater as well.
(12/5/11) In case you missed the late breaking announcement on Friday afternoon, but Universal Orlando announced that the Jaws attraction and the entire Amity themed area around it will be closing down forever after January 2nd to make way for a new attraction. While they were not ready to disclose what is in the works yet… I’ve done a good bit of digging since then and have come up with an amazing proposal that is going to both shock and likely amaze you at the same time.
If my various sources are correct, the Amity / Jaws area will be replaced by the proposed Phase 2 expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Now, before you flip out… lets go over it all, because for starters this really isn’t going to be the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at all. Instead, from what I’ve been able to gather, the new land to be build in Universal Studios Florida will actually represent the “London” side of the PotterVerse… including an entrance to the infamous Diagon Alley.
Diagon Alley, as seen in the movies, is home to infamous locations such as The Leaky Cauldron, Gringott’s Wizarding Bank and the true Ollivanders wand shop location, as seen in the films. The London location is also said to be home to King’s Cross station, where students would board the Hogwarts Express train from Platform 9 ¾.
Many of these locations have been mentioned in the rumored development plans for Phase 2 of the Wizarding World for months now, including an innovative indoor dark coaster ride said to take place inside Gringott’s Wizarding Bank. It’s no secret that the Wizarding World has been popular…so much so that it needed to be expanded to spread out the crowds, and come up with a way to provide new locations for guests to buy Butterbeer, Ollivanders wands and more. But it seems that Universal Creative really decided to try a new idea… and think really outside the box this time. Literally… because this new expansion is going to allow for guests in both parks to get a taste of the PotterVerse… but to get the ENTIRE experience, you’d going to have to have a 2-park ticket.
Speaking of having access to both parks… connecting the dots is said to be a true recreation of the Hogwarts Express, allowing guests with two park passes (and Universal Resort guests) to recreate the true journey from the Muggle world of London and actually board travel to the train station and board the train for a trip over to Hogwarts and the rest of the Wizarding World at Islands of Adventure.
Now if all that wasn’t enough, I’ve heard some rumors about another possible new attraction likely to go into this Phase 2 project, that may attempt to take advantage of the new 3D projection tunnel technology Universal created for King Kong 3D 360 at the Hollywood park earlier this year. I don’t know if this may be put to use during your train ride on the Hogwarts Express, or if this will be an entirely separate ride experience. (One source suggested it could be a trip on the 3-decker Knight Bus, but I’ve heard that this isn’t likely to happen).
Either way this is huge… and apparently it all has a rather aggressive construction timeline as Universal is said to be shooting to have it all up and running by 2014. I’ve also heard that an official announcement or teaser could be released very soon, so stay tuned!
This has made JAWS removal become not so sad. This is literally an AMAZING idea (though I hope Fear Factor's theme gets removed from the stadium if it stays. Harry Potter Duel Show >>>> FREAK Factor)!
For those wondering about the system the Gringotts coaster is rumored to use, check it out here:
We all know how much Universal Studios likes their motion based ride systems. Several attractions utilize some form of motion base technology including Men in Black: Alien Attack, The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman, and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. But it’s expensive for every vehicle in a ride to contain it’s own motion base. The engineering, maintenance, and per seat cost can be enormous. So what do you do if you want to build a roller coaster type ride experience but also have the unpredictability of a simulator type ride system? What options are there for amusement parks who want to create a ground-breaking attraction but are limited by cost or real estate?
The Universal engineers have recently come up with a motion base track segment. The invention consists of a fixed track roller coaster or dark ride with at least one section of track which can be de-coupled from the main track and rotated in almost any direction- even raising or dropping vertically. Rides such as The Mummy do contain turntables but the movement is only in one degree of freedom- a rotational movement. This new motion base track can not only rotate but pitch back and forth and tip side to side.
“An amusement ride has a track defining a ride vehicle path with a section of the track that can be decoupled from the main track and is subsequently movable on or about up to three axes with between one and six independent degrees of freedom.”
How does it work? The motion base track invention is actually very similar to the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman ride at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park. The track is mounted to six actuators in an arrangement called a six axis or “Stewart Platform.” Fixed to the top of the platform is a ring and pinion gear which enable the track to rotate 360 degrees, both clock and counterclockwise. This entire assembly could then be mounted on another component allowing the entire track to slide back and forth from side to side.
How does this save on space and cost? Cost is saved by only needing one motion base instead of multiple bases for every vehicle. The footprint of the ride can be reduced by reusing portions of the ride path. This can be accomplished by utilizing theme elements on rotatable turntables- first time you pass through a room you see one thing, the second time the tables have rotated 180 degrees and you think you’re in a totally different room when it’s actually one and the same (see the Carousel of Progress).
Or more likely they could have different projection effects. Imagine being in a cylindrical room with video projections being played 360 degrees around you as your coaster cars pivots and spins all around. Next, the motion base tips at a 45 degree angle and your car is released and plunges down a huge drop backwards, followed by a typical roller coaster experience featuring breathtaking drops, helices, and airtime.
In fact, the patent specifically mentions the motion base track could simulate a collapsing bridge or “…may be used to simulate a flying vehicle evading a pursuer…” Could this be a future Harry Potter attraction? A flying car perhaps? The possibilities are endless. What do you think?
http://www.coaster101.com/2011/09/19/universals-motion-base-track-patent/
(9/21/11) Universal’s been busy coming up with a new ride concept… mixing a motion base with a roller coaster. It’s simply too much weight to build a motion base into the actual coaster car, but Universal has applied for a patent for a section of detachable track that would have a motion base under it. In other words… just imagine the turntable section of track on Revenge of the Mummy… if it detached and went off for it’s own Spiderman style wild ride segment through a dark ride environment, then reattached to another section of track to let you continue your high speed coaster journey. Check out the patent over at Coaster101.com.
This whole concept = WOW! I am very interested to see how the ride will be if it comes to life! I am also pretty interested to see how King Kong 360 3D tech will be used in this expansion.
I am very interested though in how the Hogwarts Express connection will work. My guess is that the existing Hogwarts Express train (at the entrance in IOA's) will be removed to make room for the Hogsmeade Station (with the two bazaar shops by the existing entrance getting the axe). The Hogwarts Express would travel from the station right next to Sinbad and then travel right and turn left on the existing 5th Ave. Then it would go behind the soundstage next to Rockit's treble cleff, behind ROTM, Beetlejuice, and Disaster. After, it would stop at Kings Cross station.
About the Wizard duel show, I'm going to guess it will replace Fear Factor, and the show theater will become the Ministry of Magic (since London will also be included outside of Diagon Alley). Apparently the contract with Warner Bros says that Universal must add some elements from the final film (Gringotts, and possibly the Ministry of Magic duel).
I'm most excited for the Gringotts coaster. It looks so innovative!! =D
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