Overview
You'd think that after seven books, eight films, just as many video games, a real-life MOOC that lets you study magic and 17 years of worshipping a fictional teenager, we'd have run a little dry on news about Harry Potter. Instead, this week has featured news of a West End play, a spinoff film trilogy, and new material being written for the '2014 Quidditch World Cup'. It seems like the wizarding world is still very much alive, and nowhere more so than the Universal Studios Harry Potter theme park in Orlando.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was first established in 2010, but this year sees its first major expansion effectively doubling its size. The upgrades include a surprisingly functional Platform 9 3/4, a full Hogwarts Express experience, and most spectacularly of all, a Gringotts ride that replicates the ornate mayhem of the characters' dramatic expedition in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
It was announced today that the ride will include high-def animation, 3D projection, live special effects courtesy of Bellatrix Lestrange and the Death Eaters, incredibly realistic (if not kind of anti-Semitic) Gringotts goblins and — best of all — a 60-foot dragon.
Hurtling through the bank vaults on a rickety old cart just like the one in the film, Escape from Gringotts is definitely a ride for the hardcore fans. And, though it's a world away from our local equivalents like Dreamworld or Movieworld, it's worth keeping in mind if you're ever up for spilling a few galleons on flights to the States.
