This article details the appearance of Harry Potter theming in amusement parks. In the late 1990s,

Universal Parks & Resorts Universal Parks & Resorts, also known as Universal Studios Theme Parks or solely Universal Theme Parks, is the theme park unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The company, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, operates Universal theme par ...

began discussing the possibility of purchasing the license for Harry Potter to create and theme amusement park rides. As Time Warner owns the license, a small walkthrough attraction was constructed at Warner Bros. Movie World called the

Harry Potter Movie Magic Experience The Harry Potter Movie Magic Experience at Warner Bros. Movie World in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia was a walk-through attraction which featured several recreations of sets from the Harry Potter movies. The original attraction opened on ...

in 2001. This attraction was removed two years later. In 2010, Universal's

Islands of Adventure Universal's Islands of Adventure (also known as Islands of Adventure or IOA), originally called Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. It opened on May 28, 1999, along with CityWalk, as part of an ...

park opened

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a chain of themed areas at Universal Parks & Resorts based on the ''Harry Potter'' media franchise, adapting elements from the Warner Bros.' film series and original novels by J. K. Rowling. The areas wer ...

. Similar attractions have also opened in

Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. About 70% of the studio lies within the unincorporated county island known as Universal City while the rest lies w ...

and

Universal Studios Japan is a theme park located in Osaka, Japan. Opened on March 31, 2001, it is one of six Universal Studios theme parks worldwide and was the first to open outside the United States. The park is owned and operated by a wholly owned subsidiary of ...

and are planned for Universal Studios Beijing.

History

Harry Potter Movie Magic Experience at Warner Bros. Movie World

In 2001, Time Warner used this license to construct and operate the

at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The attraction was a small indoor walkthrough featuring many re-creations of locations in the first two movies. After two years of operation this attraction was removed.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure

A ''Harry Potter'' themed attraction at a Universal Studios park or a Disney park was rumored in 2003. However, the rights to the Harry Potter franchise had been acquired by Warner Bros., who denied all rumors. In January 2007, About.com reported a rumor from a "highly credible source" that the

park's

Lost Continent Lost lands are islands or continents believed by some to have existed during pre-history, but to have since disappeared as a result of catastrophic geological phenomena. Legends of lost lands often originated as scholarly or scientific theor ...

area was going to be re-themed "to the stories and characters of one of the most popular children's franchises". Other sources followed up in the next few days with unofficial confirmation that the new area would involve ''Harry Potter''. On May 31, 2007, Universal, in partnership with Warner Bros., officially announced ''The Wizarding World of Harry Potter'' would be added to Islands of Adventure. WWOHP Coming Soon Billboards

Construction of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter began seven months after the official announcement, in January 2008. By July, the Flying Unicorn and Enchanted Oak Tavern were closed. The Flying Unicorn then began an almost two year refurbishment which transformed it into the Flight of the Hippogriff. The Enchanted Oak Tavern was later demolished. A bridge was built to connect The Lost Continent with

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

allowing guests to avoid the construction zone that was to be the Wizarding World. Construction progressed with the Hogwarts castle slowly taking shape. By September 2008, the Dueling Dragons entrance was moved to Jurassic Park to make room for construction of Hogsmeade. One month later, the old entrance was demolished. By September 2009, the top shell of Hogwarts castle was completed. On September 15, an announcement was made as to what exactly was going to be included in the Wizarding World. In early 2010, Universal increased the marketing of the area which included newspaper advertisements, billboards and television commercials. The

Dueling Dragons Dragon Challenge (known as Dueling Dragons from 1999 to 2010) was a pair of intertwined, inverted roller coasters in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter area of Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida, United States. The ri ...

were closed for some maintenance before being transformed into the Dragon Challenge. Construction was complete by June 1, 2010 when the area began soft openings. A soft opening weekend was held for the media and reserved guests, starting on May 28, 2010. The park had two opening ceremonies that took place on June 16 and June 18, 2010. The first opening was reserved for the cast and crew of the ''Harry Potter'' films, J.K. Rowling (author of the

novels A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

), Universal Orlando Resort officials, as well as representatives from the media. The ceremony concluded with a fireworks display and a performance by the

Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra is Central Florida's resident professional orchestra, appearing in more than 125 performances each season. Founded in 1993. At over $4 million, the Orlando Philharmonic has the largest endowment of any arts i ...

, led by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

(composer of the music for the first three films). On June 18, the second ceremony occurred which officially opened The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to the public. Universal Orlando representative Bill Davis introduced the area to the audience which included actors from the films including

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...

Rupert Grint Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint (; born 24 August 1988) is an English actor. Grint rose to fame for his role as Ron Weasley in the ''Harry Potter'' film series, for which he was cast at age eleven, having previously acted only in school plays a ...

Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; born 19 October 1940) is an Irish-English actor. Regarded as one of Ireland and Britain's most distinguished actors, he is known for his work on stage and screen. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivi ...

, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis,

Bonnie Wright Bonnie Francesca Wright''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 17 February 1991) is an English actress, filmmaker, and environmental activist. She is best known for her role as Ginny Weasley ...

and

James and Oliver Phelps James Andrew Eric Phelps and Oliver Martyn John Phelps (born 25 February 1986) are English actors and identical twin brothers. They are known for playing Fred and George Weasley in the ''Harry Potter'' film series from 2001 to 2011 and hav ...

. The

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'' show and

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather foreca ...

broadcast segments live from the park. On December 6, 2011,

announced an expansion plan for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The expansion has been described as "significant" by officials. Few other details have been released.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at other parks

On December 1, 2011, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reported a rumor from "people familiar with the matter" that

was going to add their version of Islands of Adventure's Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The report also detailed the possibility that

would open additional Harry Potter-themed areas at

Universal Studios Singapore Universal Studios Singapore (abbreviation: USS) is a theme park located within the Resorts World Sentosa at Sentosa, Singapore. It features 28 rides, shows, and attractions in seven themed zones. It is one of the six Universal Studios theme ...

and

as well as a location in Spain. This report was widely relayed by other media sources. On December 6, 2011, Universal officially announced plans to bring

. A replica of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Hogwarts will be constructed. On May 5, 2012, the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

reported that Universal Studios Japan would also be receiving a ''The Wizarding World of Harry Potter'' by 2014. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was also confirmed as one of the attractions. In 2019, Universal Studios Beijing announced that it would also open a ''The Wizarding World of Harry Potter'' with the park in 2021.

Locations

Attractions

Flight of the Hippogriff at Islands of Adventure

Below is a list of all of the attractions at Harry Potter themed areas around the world. The dates shown in the columns refer to the opening and closing dates for the ride under that name. It does not mean that the ride was closed and/or removed.

Notes

References

{{Harry Potter Warner Bros. Global Brands and Experiences Amusement rides by theme