Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, Harry Potter continues to cast his spell — from a London hotel whose website crashed Monday due to high demand, to a new "Potter" short story from J.K. Rowling released online last summer, to the eagerly awaited Potterworld movie spinoff "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," due in theaters in 2016.
But if magic-seeking Muggles can't wait till then or can't get a London hotel room, something just as amazing materialized in July — not at Hogwarts, but at Universal Orlando in Florida.
And for fans of the “Potter” movies, it’s as if you’ve stepped right in the screen.
Opened as an immersive new addition to the four-year-old Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure, Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter-Diagon Alley is as close to being in the Potterverse as one can get.
Fans will recognize No. 12 Grimmauld Place and the Knight Bus as they walk along a London street. But behind a brick wall, the extraordinary Diagon Alley reveals itself, rewarding those who look in every colorful cranny.
With its red-headed jokester statue looming just inside the entrance (watch for the sneaky rabbit under the hat), Weasellys' Wizard Wheezes is the place to go for Screaming Yo-yo's, Fanged Flyers, Pygmy Puffs and other wacky novelties. At the Quidditch shop next door, pick up a Snitch or a Bludger while ogling a moving poster for the Chudley Cannons. To get a wand for a young wizard — or have a wand choose them, in a very special ceremony not to be missed — Ollivanders, of course, is a must-stop.
Nourishment is essential, and across from all that giddy wonderment sits the Leaky Cauldron, serving fish and chips and delicious carmelly Butterbeer for famished families. The sturdy wooden tables are strong enough to support Hagrid; look skyward to see the unicorns in the beams.
In a half-moon shape to the left of Diagon Alley, next to the Cauldron, is nocturnal Knockturn Alley. Its full moon sky is ever-dark, and rises above skull-filled Borgin and Burkes dark magic store, where you can spy skeletal, slithery stuff. Check out the singing shrunken heads in a window across the way, but even cooler is the window of the nearby tattoo shop, where ink stamps leap from one picture to another.
Stop for a Butterbeer ice cream (or maybe four) at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, then veer in the other direction to Carkitt Market, where you can find Scribbulus — for parchment, quills and unique implements — and Wiseacres, for cool armillaries and telescopes. There's also a stage for brassy, witchy blues singer Celestina Warbeck, whose Rowling-titled tunes fill the street every few hours.
But at the top of Diagon Alley is the coolest bit of heat: a Ukranian Ironbelly dragon perched atop Gringotts bank, who releases a stunning belch of flame every 15 minutes or so (listen for a rumble, and watch for Muggle heads turning skyward). A shiver of hot air can really be felt at the dragon's hello, but the cheers that spontaneously erupt are even warmer.
The dragon sits atop Diagon Alley's signature ride, "Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts." Like the nail-biting, put-you-in-the-action ride at Hogsmeade, "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey," "Escape from Gringotts" puts parkgoers right in the 3D action. There's a troll attack, a face-to-noseless-face meet with Lord Voldemort, and a dramatic return of the dragon. Tip: Sit near the back of the coaster, so that when Bellatrix Lestrange casts her spell, you experience an almost-completely vertical tilt. ("Potter" actors including Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter and Domhnall Gleeson returned to film ride scenes.)
The music that plays across all of Diagon Alley adds to the experience, filling the visit with emotions. To complete the experience, an additional ticket lets you take a ride on the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade, or vice-versa. At King's Cross Station, located next door to the brick wall that hides Diagon, Platform 9 3/4 and its transparent wall really exist.
The train arrives every five minutes to take some 150 riders in cozy compartments to the snow-capped village of Hogsmeade. Outside the window, the Whomping Willow, Bill Weaselly and Hagrid roll by. At the compartment door, Harry, Ron and Hermione's shadows chat before a Dementor's image pops up.
After all that magic, a calm night in a hotel is just what Dumbledore ordered. Universal's newest themed hotel is the Cabana Bay Beach Resort. Here, it's forever the magic hour between the 1950s and '60s, as stylish space-age swoops and sassy starbursts abound. (Want a real gas? Check out old cars parked out front: a '57 Ford station wagon seen in "Two for the Road," a '58 Chrysler Imperial from "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" and a '61 Chevy Impala from "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.")
Every detail of the Cabana Bay is set to swingin' mode, from the names of the buildings (Thunderbird, Castaway, Starlight) to the retro drinks at the Atomic Tonic bar, the lanes at the Galaxy Bowl and even the pens used by the lobby attendants.
After a day of wizards, witches, wands and wonder, it beats returning to the cupboard under the stairs.
But if magic-seeking Muggles can't wait till then or can't get a London hotel room, something just as amazing materialized in July — not at Hogwarts, but at Universal Orlando in Florida.
And for fans of the “Potter” movies, it’s as if you’ve stepped right in the screen.
Opened as an immersive new addition to the four-year-old Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure, Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter-Diagon Alley is as close to being in the Potterverse as one can get.
Fans will recognize No. 12 Grimmauld Place and the Knight Bus as they walk along a London street. But behind a brick wall, the extraordinary Diagon Alley reveals itself, rewarding those who look in every colorful cranny.
With its red-headed jokester statue looming just inside the entrance (watch for the sneaky rabbit under the hat), Weasellys' Wizard Wheezes is the place to go for Screaming Yo-yo's, Fanged Flyers, Pygmy Puffs and other wacky novelties. At the Quidditch shop next door, pick up a Snitch or a Bludger while ogling a moving poster for the Chudley Cannons. To get a wand for a young wizard — or have a wand choose them, in a very special ceremony not to be missed — Ollivanders, of course, is a must-stop.
Nourishment is essential, and across from all that giddy wonderment sits the Leaky Cauldron, serving fish and chips and delicious carmelly Butterbeer for famished families. The sturdy wooden tables are strong enough to support Hagrid; look skyward to see the unicorns in the beams.
In a half-moon shape to the left of Diagon Alley, next to the Cauldron, is nocturnal Knockturn Alley. Its full moon sky is ever-dark, and rises above skull-filled Borgin and Burkes dark magic store, where you can spy skeletal, slithery stuff. Check out the singing shrunken heads in a window across the way, but even cooler is the window of the nearby tattoo shop, where ink stamps leap from one picture to another.
Stop for a Butterbeer ice cream (or maybe four) at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, then veer in the other direction to Carkitt Market, where you can find Scribbulus — for parchment, quills and unique implements — and Wiseacres, for cool armillaries and telescopes. There's also a stage for brassy, witchy blues singer Celestina Warbeck, whose Rowling-titled tunes fill the street every few hours.
But at the top of Diagon Alley is the coolest bit of heat: a Ukranian Ironbelly dragon perched atop Gringotts bank, who releases a stunning belch of flame every 15 minutes or so (listen for a rumble, and watch for Muggle heads turning skyward). A shiver of hot air can really be felt at the dragon's hello, but the cheers that spontaneously erupt are even warmer.
The dragon sits atop Diagon Alley's signature ride, "Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts." Like the nail-biting, put-you-in-the-action ride at Hogsmeade, "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey," "Escape from Gringotts" puts parkgoers right in the 3D action. There's a troll attack, a face-to-noseless-face meet with Lord Voldemort, and a dramatic return of the dragon. Tip: Sit near the back of the coaster, so that when Bellatrix Lestrange casts her spell, you experience an almost-completely vertical tilt. ("Potter" actors including Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter and Domhnall Gleeson returned to film ride scenes.)
The music that plays across all of Diagon Alley adds to the experience, filling the visit with emotions. To complete the experience, an additional ticket lets you take a ride on the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade, or vice-versa. At King's Cross Station, located next door to the brick wall that hides Diagon, Platform 9 3/4 and its transparent wall really exist.
The train arrives every five minutes to take some 150 riders in cozy compartments to the snow-capped village of Hogsmeade. Outside the window, the Whomping Willow, Bill Weaselly and Hagrid roll by. At the compartment door, Harry, Ron and Hermione's shadows chat before a Dementor's image pops up.
After all that magic, a calm night in a hotel is just what Dumbledore ordered. Universal's newest themed hotel is the Cabana Bay Beach Resort. Here, it's forever the magic hour between the 1950s and '60s, as stylish space-age swoops and sassy starbursts abound. (Want a real gas? Check out old cars parked out front: a '57 Ford station wagon seen in "Two for the Road," a '58 Chrysler Imperial from "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" and a '61 Chevy Impala from "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.")
Every detail of the Cabana Bay is set to swingin' mode, from the names of the buildings (Thunderbird, Castaway, Starlight) to the retro drinks at the Atomic Tonic bar, the lanes at the Galaxy Bowl and even the pens used by the lobby attendants.
After a day of wizards, witches, wands and wonder, it beats returning to the cupboard under the stairs.
