Harry Potter - Islands of Adventure (Universal Studios)
 

I see an increasing amount of chatter and excitement about the opening of this new themed area in Islands of Adventure. I passed by this area in Sept 2008, and it already looked pretty cool! Though Disney will always be #1 in my book, I was impressed by the theming in this park (I'm not normally a fan of Universal)... obviously Disney has set the trend. Anyway, if your plans take you to the Orlando area and perhaps the Universal area, you should check out some of the articles and Universal's microsite dedicated to this new area.

Universal's Harry Potter site: http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

Article from Orlando Sentinel: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/fea...souvenirs.html (there are additional links to articles/photos at the bottom of the article)

The official opening date is June 18th
http://attractionsmagazine.com/blog/...ing-june-18th/

Conceptual art: http://movies.yahoo.com/photos/colle...ence/fp#photo0

I cannot wait for this to open, when we were down in December they were working on the buildings. Going to be awesome!

And two videos: http://www.examiner.com/x-9092-Flori...medium=ping.fm

Ellen and a couple of lucky kids have a look around the new area in this video
http://blog.orlandominivacations.com...with-the-World

Hoping to hit Universal to see Harry for a day when we're down in Oct.!

Anyone else?

-Diana

Wow, you get to go back already? So lucky!

There is going to be a 'sneak peek' June 6th at 7pm on NBC... hopefully I will remember!

See article here

Oops, missed the sneak peek. :banghead:

There are a ton of links out there to info. I've had several of them open on my browser for weeks - just wanted to list a few of them here (so I don't have to bookmark them) ;)

Spoiler Filled Look at the New Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

Ellen Shares Wizarding World of Harry Potter with the World

I've been reading a lot about the bait and switch Universal did with those who bought the HP Package before the official opening date. They only had the HP section open for a few hours, not the whole day. If I bought that, I would be livid! It seems to be open all day lately, but just hearing about that is the kind of thing that leaves a bad taste in my mouth about Universal, and I haven't even been there yet!

We went while we were in Orlando. And it's an incredible experience. Nothing else in Universal compares. Of course, I'm a huge HP fan so it was really amazing. I can't wait to go back and not have wall to wall people to really be able to look at everything.

As far as just being open a few hours, well, it is just one small area. Not counting the 90+minute waits for Olivanders and Forbidden Journey it's doable in less than an hour.

My hubby and I have a trip planned in December (it is my first visit to Disney/Universal) and we have a two day pass at Universal JUST so I can go to Hogwarts. I can't wait...I have been able to make so many great reservations and well I want to go now :)