As we reported last year, Warner Bros. and Universal Orlando Resort are teaming up to bring a new Harry Potter-based theme park to the popular tourist destination, and both companies have released a raft of images and videos explaining their intentions for the project.
Slated to open in spring 2010, the park will contain a number of locations from the books, with the visual style inspired by the popular film franchise. There will also be a number of rollercoasters, naturally.
The list of locations includes The Three Broomsticks and Hog’s Head pubs, which the press release states will serve Butterbeer and “traditional British fare”. There will be replicas of shops such as Zonko’s, Ollivander’s, and Dervish And Banges, while visitors will arrive into the park via Hogsmeade station, including a steam-powered replica of the Hogwarts Express.
The rides include Dragon Challenge, a twin high-speed rollercoaster based on the Triwizard Tournament, Flight Of The Hippogriff, a family-based rollercoaster, and Harry Potter And The Forbidden Journey, based inside Hogwarts Castle. There will also be a shop in the castle named Filch’s Emporium Of Confiscated Goods.
Harry Potter continues to be a global phenomenon. The latest film adaptation, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, netted a worldwide gross of well over $922 million, while the books are estimated to have sold 400 million copies in over 200 territories, having been translated into 67 languages. JK Rowling, the author of the books, now has an estimated personal wealth of £560 million, according to an assessment by the Sunday Times in 2008. The pictures and videos are embedded below.
