Construction Update- Diagon Alley at Universal Studio's Orlando

 As most of you know by now, Universal Orlando is adding in "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" to their Studio's park. This was confirmed in May 2013 after the construction had gone vertical and they could no longer 'hide' what they where up to from the public view.

 If you want to read the press released, please visit: Universal Confirmed Harry Potter and Wizarding World are coming to Studio's for 2014.

 Since then, everyone has had their eyes watching Universal Orlando to see what exactly they've got planned for this "London/Diagon Alley" area which is being placed in the location once occupied by JAWS. While I love Wizarding World and Harry Potter, I'm still not sold that this area needs a presence in the "Studios" theme park.  Rather, I wish it would have taken over the rest of the current 'Lost Continent' area of Islands of Adventure and seen Studio's get something completely new.

 Either way, I can't stop it and I am excited for it because Universal will once again do an amazing job. During a recent visit to the Orlando area we made sure to get plenty of images of the new construction taking place in Universal Studio's. My one concern is the area looks far more cramped then the 'Hogsmeade' area in Islands of Adventure which still has massive crowds.

 We hope you'll enjoy them as much as we enjoyed seeing this new area come to life.

*Pictures under the break for size reasons*

Breaking News: Universal Orlando CONFIRMS Harry Potter for 2014

..BREAKING NEWS..
Universal is a bunch of liars!

  This afternoon Universal Orlando Resort finally cracked the seal on what their new expansion will be. I'm sorry to say this but it is Wizarding World of Harry Potter London/Diagon Alley which will open at some point during the 2014 season. 

Screencap of the press release, Read the whole thing for yourself HERE

  They are toting this massive expansion as "The worlds first centrally themed, multi-park experience" since it will now span both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios.  They've also confirmed a restaurant (probably Leaky Caldron), a 'marquee' attraction themed around Gringotts Bank and several shops all inspired from the Harry Potter Books and Films. Universal also states more details will be released over time.

Image of London WWoHP

  I'll admit it, I was wrong on this one but I won't apologize for not being a huge fan of the idea. Oh don't get me wrong, it looks cool as hell! As I see it the problems I listed before in multiple posts still exist. Let me review, in short, why I suspect this may have issues.

-Without a single central ticket valid for all parks, this will create chaos with multiple gates inside of each park. Causing just as many 'return riders' as unique riders.

-Massive themeing issues with the "Hogwarts Express" as well as flow problems. Can you imagine waiting 2+ hours for a train ride between parks?

-London is narrow, very narrow. If Universal follows this unique pattern to keep the themeing accurate it's going to make moving around a headache (although I admit, I hope they do keep it to this theme for the 'feel')

  So while I can easily admit it's going to be awesome, I still have some concerns. Personally I'd have liked a unique theme that wasn't Wizarding World to move into Studios. I do love Harry Potter and I love what Universal Orlando has done with this very difficult theme. However, I don't like the idea of it taking over and dominating both parks.

Universal Orlando DENIES Harry Potter Expansion in 2014

Not-so-Breaking News

Here we go again, on one of my favorite 'ranting' topics! The rumored 2014 'London' expansion of Wizarding World of Harry Potter supposedly coming to Universal Studios.

Well we all know Universal Orlando is in the middle of a giant boom due to the wild success of Wizarding World of Harry Potter which opened in 2010. We've seen this with the new Despicable Me attraction which replaced the ailing Jimmy Neutron. We've watched a brand new Transformers: The Ride 3D go up in a matter of mere months to the point it's nearly ready to open shortly for the mad summer rush. The rumored "Springfield Project" expansion which is going up outside of The Simpsons Ride which may or may not feature carnival style flat rides.  However, does that really mean that giant construction project in the previous Amity Island location is the much rumored Wizarding World London expansion? 

Image from the awesome folks at OrlandoParkNews.Com

Alright, we can't deny whatever this project is... it's MASSIVE. It's beyond massive, it's makes my mind twist around in giddy circles like a dog chasing it's tale with the unknown possibilities of "WHAT IS IT?!".  Which, as you should know, drives me completely crazy. 

Now, the LONG KNOWN problem I have with this being Wizarding World Part 2 (WWp2 for short) is the fact that in February of this year Universal Spokesmen have flat out said that a "A Harry Potter Expansion is NOT coming in 2014" nor have they leaked a word to the press of what this huge building project could be. Now this peice doesn't deny it's WWp2 but it doesn't confirm it either. Frankly I'm still fence sitting on this project no matter how much supposed 'intentional leaking' is done through certain other websites. Personally, I still see entirely to many logistical problems around moving WWp2 into a second park and that's it's about the dumbest idea I've heard since Kings Island tore out the loop on Son of Beast and magically expected it to work right... but again, that's just me. I'm sure you've heard my "Separate Parks Harry Potter Problem" rant before so I won't bore you with it again.

Universal Orlando Resort is a master of misdirection and lately have proven to be even more stealthy then Walt Disney World with their internal secrets. Let's be serious, those of us who flow within the Theme Park circuit tend to know what Disney World is doing before Disney signs the contact papers (the exception being Avatar because NONE of us guessed that one or if we did, we thought it was a nightmare). Now I will admit, This thing has (in my opinion) about a 75% chance of being WWp2 (GROAN) because my husband KitsuneHazard and I have done some fishing and came up with one disturbing image.

Left image from OrlandoUnited.Com. Right image CallyLabourCouncillors.org.uk

Yeah. I know. It looks a LOT like Kings Cross Station in London. That alone makes me bump up my normal odds of 50% on this construction being WWp2 up towards a more respective 75%.  I'm not thrilled as I'd much rather see a new, unique 'movie themed attraction' going into this spot but I know Harry Potter is a giant money machine right now for Universal.  Although with the announcement from the Orlando Business Journal it won't be in 2014 at all, so the soonest we could see this still mysterious area open would be 2015 or later.

However, I still stand fully by my complete and utterly motionless fence sitting ways. Until someone from Universal Orlando steps out onto a platform and tells the world "Okay, you got us. It's Wizarding World of Harry Potter London Edition" I'm not moving from this fence post! So take this rather late breaking news as you will just know whatever it is that is being built, it probably won't be opening for the 2014 season if Universal Spokespeople are telling us the truth.