Rumor: Universal Orlando’s ‘Jaws’ Will Be Replaced With ‘Harry Potter’s’ London, Diagon Alley And The Hogwarts Express
By Germain Lussier/Dec. 5, 2011 5:00 pm EST
Adding to the debate is a recent quote by a Comcast executive that called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter a “reset mechanism” for their parks. Read more about all of this after the break.
The rumor of the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion out of Islands of Adventure and into Universal proper comes from the theme park website ScreamScape. Here’s a sample:
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.
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.
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.
Back to Orlando, though. The other rumor is that at King’s Cross, people who have passes for both parks will be able to catch a working Hogwarts Express and ride it in between. And they also believe, in addition to the rumored Gringotts ride, a 3D ride could be built there too.
If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, this is all terrible exciting. With a rumored 2014 opening date for this potential area, expect an official announcement soon. If it’s true, of course.
