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Harry Potter and the Theme Park of Financial Ruin


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I’m assuming the theme park will financially ruin fans, not Universal Orlando or J.K. Rowling. When the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens next spring, it’ll be 22-acres of pure Potter madness — designed to separate your from your Muggle Bucks, sure (or whatever they’re called) but there’s still an impressive sounding lot of it. There’s no opportunity missed to give you a chance to pay for things in the Potter-verse. Here’s the list from the HP fansite HPana:

  • Upon entering the park through the “arches of Hogsmeade,” guests
    will be greeted by the Hogwarts Express and station, and free to roam
    the 22-acre park situated in Universal’s Islands of Adventure
  • Zonko’s and Honeydukes shops
  • Three Broomsticks and Hog’s Head pubs featuring British fare and Potter-inspired beverages like butterbeer
  • An owlery, with the ability to send mail with official Hogwarts insignia and postage
  • Ollivander’s, where guests can experience a “magical” wand selection just like the book and movie, and purchase the wand
  • Dervish & Banges, featuring a variety of magical instruments, including “real” remembralls and spectrespects
  • Elements of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, including a Dragon Challenge: two high-speed rollercoasters in one
  • Family-friendly hippogryph flights across the park (after training by Hagrid, of course)
  • “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey” — very few details
    revealed about this other than phrases like “never been done before,”
    “brand-new technology” — but sounds like will be a guided adventure
    taking guests through iconic locales and experiences scenes and
    characters straight from the books and films.

And for the ultimate in accuracy to the books, one random child will die during the Tri-Wizard Tournament rides. IT’S WHAT ROWLING WANTS, OKAY