The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hollywood

[12th Man]

Really hoping for a soft opening of both the land and the ride. I just want a butterbeer!!! Some people have told me that the big yellow-ish office building with blue windows to the right of the castle is very visible from inside the land Very disappointed

 

[HereWeGo]

Dang. I was really hoping that they were going to add really tall trees at the back of the land to try and conceal the office building as much as possible. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

 

[12th Man]

Yeah, guess we can't complain too much. A Wizarding World with an office building visible is way better than no Wizarding World.

 

[Aaron]

Really hoping for a soft opening of both the land and the ride. I just want a butterbeer!!! Some people have told me that the big yellow-ish office building with blue windows to the right of the castle is very visible from inside the land Very disappointed

There are two large trees placed in the back slightly covering the Showbuilding better haha. There isn't much they could do considering how close Wizarding World backs up into the AMC theater. What bugs me is the backside of Shrek! Doesn't seem like they did much to cover it from what little we can see in Shrek 4D's queue. 

 

[William]

They did their best to cover the side of Shrek facing the main pathway of Hogsmeade, but what I'm worried about is how obvious it'll be from the Triwizard Spirit Rally stage and the Flight of the Hippogriff queue. They did recently add a few big trees alongside the Shrek queue to try and mask that view, but guests leaving Forbidden Journey or Flight of the Hippogriff will still see it. It's a shame they couldn't have added a large stone wall with a few more trees to hide that.

 

[WhyDoYouHateFun?]

Im hoping that the acoustics of the land will compliment any 'spillage' from those areas of the park that basically share borders with Hogsmeade.

Im assuming-based on the solid/stonelike contruction, that may help to mask any music from Springfield, Effects from WaterWorld, or obnoxiousness from CitiWalk.

And i love all those placed individually, but i want to be transfixed as much as possible.....

 

[Chris]

There are two large trees placed in the back slightly covering the Showbuilding better haha. There isn't much they could do considering how close Wizarding World backs up into the AMC theater. What bugs me is the backside of Shrek! Doesn't seem like they did much to cover it from what little we can see in Shrek 4D's queue. 

Hopefully the entire Panasonic Theater will be demolished the day Shrek goes.

 

[Aaron]

Im hoping that the acoustics of the land will compliment any 'spillage' from those areas of the park that basically share borders with Hogsmeade.

Im assuming-based on the solid/stonelike contruction, that may help to mask any music from Springfield, Effects from WaterWorld, or obnoxiousness from CitiWalk.

And i love all those placed individually, but i want to be transfixed as much as possible.....

Yea I hope they adjust the noise levels around the park. USH is always so loud! 

 

[Davidisallright]

With this talk of seeing the 'outside world' from Hogsmeade, I just hope they're not visible as you're walking down the main part of the main street towards Hogswarts. If it's just as you're exiting the rides, along the side paths, it's more forgivable, given the limitations of the space in USH.

 

[Davidisallright]

Official First Look at the land!

http://www.ew.com/gallery/Wizarding-World-of-Harry-Potter-exclusive-photos/2474313_hogwarts-goes-hollywood?xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter

 

[Ryan]

Nice timing! 

Hogwarts Express photo op confirmed (and it looks dead-on with the actual Hogwarts Express cabins in UOR), along with this interesting quote:  

a green screen window behind them depicts scenes from the train ride we all wish we could be on every Sept. 1.

Green screen? Really? That sounds pretty tacky for Wizarding World if I have to be honest. I know it's a photo op but ehh... 

 

[Mhysa]

We can sit on the Hogwarts Express?! That's a fun little addition!

I can't wait for soft openings! (I did have a dream last night that someone walked up to me & said it has been confirmed that there are going to be NO soft openings. hahahah)

 

[Imdbman]

Is a Friday or Saturday soft-opening date still possible?  I'd love to go this Friday when the park won't be as crowded.

 

[Freak]

When I saw that article, I thought that was a mistake when I saw the Hogwarts Express cabin. Didn't realize that was a photo op!

I'll be there Friday but will have to leave around 1:30 to get to a class. If they start softs at that time, I will cry. I will be out of town the entire weekend. Hopefully I can catch one during the week next week if I can't Friday. 

 

[Aaron]

This caught my attention:

"The Wizarding World’s Hogsmeade resembles the films so closely, from the cobblestone streets to the colorful storefronts to the Gringotts ATM and Honeydukes candy wrappers, that you’d have to be a real Squib not to feel the magic."

So does this mean we will be able to exchange our real money for Gringotts Bank Notes? 

Edit: Never mind looks like it's just a regular ATM. 

 

[HalfGlass]

Is a Friday or Saturday soft-opening date still possible?  I'd love to go this Friday when the park won't be as crowded.

If they are going to have a first opening on any day, I say Friday. Why open it on what will be the most crowded day of the weekend? Better to start with softer crowds, no pun intended.

 

[Imdbman]

If they are going to have a first opening on any day, I say Friday. Why open it on what will be the most crowded day of the weekend? Better to start with softer crowds, no pun intended.

I'd love to be able to walk into the land 2 days from now, and I would be over the moon if that's the case  

 

[William]

Something I noticed in that Entertainment Weekly article is that we'll be getting regular, frozen, AND warm Butterbeer. Can't wait to try the warm version.

 

[Opie]

When I saw that article, I thought that was a mistake when I saw the Hogwarts Express cabin. Didn't realize that was a photo op!

MINOR SPOILER FROM EW ARTICLE

An article quote: "Guests can sit in a Hogwarts Express carriage and recreate Harry and Ron’s first meeting by swapping the sweets they bought at Honeydukes while a green screen window behind them depicts scenes from the train ride we all wish we could be on every Sept. 1. There’s a hidden gem in this carriage, too: “We don’t call them out, but many of the props are actually authentic to the films, brought over from London’s Leavesden Studios,” Gilmore says. “In this train carriage, the luggage racks are the actual ones from the Hogwarts Express.”

I wonder if this is what some were calling a "stationary" version of the attraction. Obviously this is likely small in scale, but I believe this is similar to the experience at Warner Bros. Studios in the UK. That this was included here makes it feel less likely that building a functioning HE is/was (at least originally) in the plans.

 

[12th Man]

Is anyone worried that the greenhouse doesn't look complete at all? They haven't finished (or even tried) putting up the shade type things fully on the windows of the greenhouse. That gives you full view of the Studio Tour bridge.