Universal announce "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley" to open in 2014

[lazyboy97o]

So I assume you would have to show a two-park ticket to board the Hogwarts Express?

Nope. Word is you'll be able to ride with a one park admission. You'll just have to get back in line and ride back when you get to the other park. It seems the attraction will be in the odd position of technically not being inside any park.

 

[JCtheparrothead]

Looks awesome. I wonder if the 7DMR opening in 2014 will give this opening a run for its money. Come on WDW do something...anything!

 

[RandomPrincess]

Looks awesome. I wonder if the 7DMR opening in 2014 will give this opening a run for its money. Come on WDW do something...anything!

One family coaster vs a whole new land? If they had opened NFL all at once it would be better race.

 

[wdwmagic]

Looks awesome. I wonder if the 7DMR opening in 2014 will give this opening a run for its money. Come on WDW do something...anything!

No. The mine train coaster is a family C/D ticket attraction. Potter 2 is most definitely in the E-ticket category - a whole different animal.

 

[muteki]

Beautiful piece of concept art

Nice to see some concept art that is real...well...art! Real nice work coming out of Universal.

 

[JCtheparrothead]

My sarcasm does not translate well to written form.

 

[NowInc]

TRYING to avoid causing an argument about this..but...is that 2014 confirmed for all attractions to be open or just the land? I know potter phase 1 was all open on day 1, but lets see what attractions are officially promised on opening day. Do i think they can do it? Absolutely! They got transformers built in mind boggling speed and it was plopped dead center of the park...where as this is on the outskirts (tho also much larger) and can only mean faster construction. Looking forward to seeing this in person (I admired phase 1..but may be in the minority that got a bit bored of it fast :/)

 

[jrogue]

I am so excited for this expansion! I think this combined with Universal's other improvements will be what gets my family to stay at a Universal hotel for a couple of days during our next WDW trip

 

[Funmeister]

TRYING to avoid causing an argument about this..but...is that 2014 confirmed for all attractions to be open or just the land? I know potter phase 1 was all open on day 1, but lets see what attractions are officially promised on opening day. Do i think they can do it? Absolutely! They got transformers built in mind boggling speed and it was plopped dead center of the park...where as this is on the outskirts (tho also much larger) and can only mean faster construction. Looking forward to seeing this in person (I admired phase 1..but may be in the minority that got a bit bored of it fast :/)

I do not know 100% if everything will be open but I would bet on it! Coaster track for Gringotts was spotted months ago so most, if not all, of the coaster hardware is already in the building. I know faux rockwork from a 365 degree viewing area can take years to build out...>cough< >cough< but it will only need a building facade on part of the overall building. I think there is more work complete then most realize.

 

[BryceM]

I was NOT expecting them to announce this today. Even though I've known about this for quite some time, the announcement makes it even more exciting.

And the concept art looks amazing.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I do not know 100% if everything will be open but I would bet on it! Coaster track for Gringotts was spotted months ago so most, if not all, of the coaster hardware is already in the building. I know faux rockwork from a 365 degree viewing area can take years to build out...>cough< >cough< but it will only need a building facade on part of the overall building. I think there is more work complete then most realize.

Wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the exterior pieces will be pre-made off site and then delievered for faster construction.

 

[TarzanRocked99-]

Wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the exterior pieces will be pre-made off site and then delievered for faster construction.

Would it suprise you to know that these pre-fabbed exteriors have mostly already been completed and are already sitting in a soundstage onsite?

 

[lilclerk]

It is great that they have finally announced this, it was the Theme Park industries most well known secret.

Scheduled to open next year as well, they really don't mess around.

I didn't seen any announcement about Hogwarts express, although to be fair they haven't spoken about specific attractions yet.

The email announcement I got mentions the Hogwarts Express. It also says you'll need a park to park ticket.
Hoping that link works. It's sent as images rather than text.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Would it suprise you to know that these pre-fabbed exteriors have mostly already been completed and are already sitting in a soundstage onsite?

Nope.

 

[magicallactose]

What is that area to the right of the concept art? It looks almost like those covered shopping arcades they have in London.

 

[SirLink]

Beautiful concept art.

So what prompted them to announce this before the opening of Transformers - that is what I want to know, instead of announce The Simpsons land.

 

[Funmeister]

Beautiful concept art.

So what prompted them to announce this before the opening of Transformers - that is what I want to know, instead of announce The Simpsons land.

I have to agree that the timing and execution is not what I expected. I thought they could have used the Transformers event as a springboard for the announcement. Maybe this news will overshadow the lack of news from Disney last week? Could be a number of things.

 

[orky8]

It is such a painful dichotomy.

Universal
Jan 2, 2012 - Jaws Closes
July 2012ish - Construction on HP2 begins
May 2013 - HP2 announced, with concept art
Summer 2014 - HP2 opens

Disney

September 20, 2011 - Avatarland announced.
May 2013 -- still no concept art and no construction -- just a poorly conceived idea that is still needlessly spurting along to save pride.

 

[novawildcat18]

It is such a painful dichotomy.

Universal
Jan 2, 2012 - Jaws Closes
July 2012ish - Construction on HP2 begins
May 2013 - HP2 announced, with concept art
Summer 2014 - HP2 opens

Disney

September 20, 2011 - Avatarland announced.
May 2013 -- still no concept art and no construction -- just a poorly conceived idea that is still needlessly spurting along to save pride.

Don't forget about Transformers, which started after Jaws closed and opened before HP2 opened.

 

[RyenDeckard]

Have you visited The Wizarding World of Harry Potter? Lots of us who had not read the books or seen the movies but were wowed by the experience.

Exactly this for me, I read the first book as a child, saw bits of the movie, and appreciated the series but didn't really care.

Went to the WWOHP mostly for my girlfriend (huge harry potter fan) and was so wowed by it I went and saw all the movies and read the books. Fantastic series.

It is such a painful dichotomy.

Universal
Jan 2, 2012 - Jaws Closes
July 2012ish - Construction on HP2 begins
May 2013 - HP2 announced, with concept art
Summer 2014 - HP2 opens

Disney

September 20, 2011 - Avatarland announced.
May 2013 -- still no concept art and no construction -- just a poorly conceived idea that is still needlessly spurting along to save pride.

You forgot about Transformers, Springfield, and the Test Track re-do. But if you're just comparing lands, yeah this is incredible.

Edit: and I forgot about Despicable Me and Ariel's undersea adventure.