Wizarding World - Diagon Alley Discussion (Opens 2014)

[Andy]

I'm just glad the original designers are all coming back! Its like the entire original cast returning for a very successful movie sequel.

 

[BJCool]

Just announce the dang thing already, Uni! I CAN'T CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT!

 

[Felipe]

In an interview with SnitchSeeker.com, the art director of the first six Harry Potter films alludes to the expansion of WWOHP in Orlando (obliquely):

SnitchSeeker: What products do you have coming up, what films are you working on this year?

Neil Lamont: I've got a little movie called Gambit coming out at some point this year, that I worked on with Stuart. We're just sort of wrapping up a project for Universal, in Orlando now, and I'm going off to do a film that starts on Monday, which I can't tell you about.

Nice catch!!

I CAN'T CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT!

Me NEITHER!!!! :happy:

 

[BJCool]

Attractions Magazine has a new article that is a fan's speculation of some possibilities for the Potter expansion, Diagon Alley specifically. Some ideas are redundant, but the Disney Quest-like broom experience sounds intriguing!

The Leaky Cauldron
This is a must-have restaurant. While it would be illogical to additionally use it as a hotel inside the park, it must maintain the appearance of a hotel with a downstairs pub. This will be a great opportunity to give us a new version of the Three Broomsticks. They should keep it similar in design, but give it a slightly different atmosphere and new menu options. The problem with the Leaky Cauldron as the entrance to Diagon Alley is that it would be extremely inefficient unless the Universal creative team is able to work their own magic and design something authentic that moves people well. Other than that, it should be very authentic to the books and movies.

Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes
This shop is a must for fans of the twins (and who isn’t one?). Adding Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes will hopefully allow for a more expansive joke shop with more items. Certain items from Zonko’s should be transferred over for authenticity (like the Pygmy Puffs), but for the most part, this new shop should offer a similar selection to Zonko’s. Hopefully having both of these shops will help with crowd control, but the Weasleys’ shop should still have a new atmosphere. It will need the presence of Fred and George. kind of. An option for this would be to have paintings of the twins up behind the register that are still most of the time, but cycle through jokes and taunts and random laughter. In addition to that, a speaker system through the shop could play recordings of their voices specific to the areas. They could explain certain products, laugh, tell jokes, etc., all in random corners of the shops. To explain the twins’ physical absence from the shop, a simple note could be hung from the door or the painting that states they are “off to visit Charlie in Romania, be back in a week” or “going to see Bill get married!”, etc.

Gringotts Wizarding Bank
This is also a big must and it would make a great roller coaster. Think of the indoor and theming aspects of The Mummy combined with the new HD technology of Spiderman. It should be based on the 7th book break in, and should start off with Hermione or someone of the gang explaining the situation, similar to The Forbidden Journey ride. Similarly to The Mummy, it should also start off slow and seem like everything is going just fine, but when the carts go through the disillusionment waterfall, it drops down into a coaster with Goblins popping out around corners trying to catch you, alarms going off and the roar of a dragon in the distance getting louder and louder. It should slow down or stop when it finally meets the dragon, heighten suspense, and then at the last second, everyone gets saved and with a little more coaster time, everyone makes it out of the bank with the horcrux.

Quality Quidditch Supplies
While this has not been mentioned anywhere else, it would be a great idea if a broom riding experience was incorporated into Quality Quidditch Supplies. Upun entrance, it could seem like a regular shop with quidditch and broom supplies, but a sign offering test rides of the newest broom would lead guests into a back room with quidditch simulation games. Guests could be seated on a quasi-broomstick in front of/surrounded by screens and play short games where they have to follow the snitch or hit a series of quaffles with their broom.

Olivanders Wand Shop
Many have said that this will be moved to the London area for authenticity purposes, and this should allow Universal to make a better version. Complaints about the quality of the Hogsmeade version should lead to this one having a much higher efficiency and wow factor.

Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor
This could be a great opportunity for Universal to create a one-of-a-kind ice cream experience, but not if they are going for complete accuracy as both Florean Fortescue’s and Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes are not open at the same time in the books. If they do choose to put this shop in, it would be a great sit-down parlor with a wide variety of flavors and a few specialty ice creams. Since the actual shop is not described in great detail, it could go in many creative directions and could become a great and unique experience. For accuracy, though, they must have an outdoor seating area, as Harry used to sit outside the shop and do homework.

Flourish and Blotts
While this is a very important shop in the books, it would be very hard to do an entire Harry Potter bookshop. Obviously, the Harry Potter series could be sold there in special editions, but school textbooks would be much harder because someone would have to write them in a short time. This definitely should be represented, but maybe just for show? Or maybe the inside could be used for an air conditioned seating area and lead to restrooms?

Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions
This would be a great clothing shop addition to the area. It could sell robes and school uniforms as well as themed T-shirts and accessories. A possible side addition to this would be to attach Madam Primpernelle’s Beautifying Potions to the side and have a small array of Harry Potter themed beauty products.

Eeylops Owl Emporium
This could be just a storefront, or it could serve a similar purpose as its Hogsmeade equivalent: to send actual mail. It should definitely not be left out, as it is where Hedwig was bought, and therefore extremely important to Harry.

Secondhand Shops
This is a possibility for a sales/clearance shop. In the books, the Weasleys mostly get their items from a various array of secondhand shops in Diagon Alley. These shops could be linked together to form a sale or clearance area that is open for special sales and promotions throughout the year. Otherwise, these could just be more themed storefronts along the street.

Storefronts that should not be forgotten
• The Daily Prophet’s main office is located on the second floor of a Diagon Alley building, as mentioned in the books, and as seen by a second floor sign in a Diagon Alley scene in the movies.
• Magical Menagerie would be hard to include as a shop you could enter, as it only sells pets and pet supplies, but it would be a great storefront to be included in the theming. Maybe they could even put a Crookshanks in the window?
• Potage’s Cauldron Shop is too specific to be a real shop included in the area, but it would still make a great storefront!
• The same goes for Slug & Jiggers Apothecary. There’s no point in including the products, but the storefront should be represented.

 

[Felipe]

At the WB Studio's HP Exhibition, they got a green screen photo op of the guests riding a broom. Maybe they could do something similar here? I'm sure it'd be a big cash grab! I'm not sure how the photos of FJ are selling, but maybe a photo spot could be successful. Another $ouvenir from the Wizarding World!

 

[Splatter]

Maybe. I just had a thought I had not seen anyone bring up. Does anyone think with this expansion having the majority of the stuff in the studios that the park may have the ability and agenda to make it not only immersive but also get away with a few things like the green screen broom idea, and other behind the scenes movie magic touch since it would be in the studios. Just a thought. This would allow them the liberty to feature movie sets/pieces/props and be more likely a setting for celebrities of events.

I highly doubt this is the way they will go, but I think it is a possibility.

 

[Disneyhead]

Phase 2 will be pretty much the same artistic direction (immersive environ) as the original WWOHP as opposed to Studio Set Realism. Remember this is going to be a seamless trip into the world of Harry Potter. I believe the goal is that from the brick wall in The Leaky Cauldron all the way to Forbidden Journey you will be immersed into that world. So I wouldn't expect any green screen photo ops. There will be plenty full blown fleshed out photo ops similar to The Hogwarts Express in the current Wizarding World.

 

[Teebin]

New Notice of Commencement posted yesterday. Bye bye frozen desserts?

Removal and proper disposal of desiqnated structures and infrastructure
http://or.occompt.com/recorder/eagl...9659.pdf?id=DOC953S5063.A0&parent=DOC953S5063

 

[USFguy]

No, that document is for Studios. Just look at the Agreement Number line, and you'll see USF. If it were for Islands it'd say IOA, for CityWalk, CW.

Not only that, but it clearly states it's simply an amendment to the Notice of Commencement filed on January 30th. They just updated the payment bond for the Jaws area demo.

What is interesting though, is this little section from the bond attached to the NoC:

Project 906 - "The Land" Demolition Package

They used similar terminology when building the Wizarding World, with the project being broken down into "The Land", "The Queue", and "The Ride".

But, getting back to The Frozen Dessert, I'd expect to see walls go up in Lost Continent in a week or so, as the construction timeline from that demolition project was April 15th - July 15th:

 

[ReelJustice]

New Notice of Commencement posted yesterday. Bye bye frozen desserts?

Removal and proper disposal of desiqnated structures and infrastructure
http://or.occompt.com/recorder/eagl...9659.pdf?id=DOC953S5063.A0&parent=DOC953S5063

USFguy beat me to it, but there were 2 filed yesterday for USF and both were for Jaws/Amity. I posted about it in the misc projects thread.

Apparently, I have wrongly been avoiding what I thought was minutia in the documents. USFguy found sound some interesting things.

 

[Teebin]

No, that document is for Studios. Just look at the Agreement Number line, and you'll see USF. If it were for Islands it'd say IOA, for CityWalk, CW.

Aaaah. I never noticed that when there is a bond that there is more than one page to a document. What is there that encompasses 1.10 acres that would cost $715K to remove?

USFguy beat me to it, but there were 2 filed yesterday for USF and both were for Jaws/Amity.

How did you know that the two were for Jaws/Amity specifically?

 

[ReelJustice]

Aaaah. I never noticed that when there is a bond that there is more than one page to a document. What is there that encompasses 1.10 acres that would cost $715K to remove?



How did you know that the two were for Jaws/Amity specifically?

First question, the $716,000 is for Amity not the IoA demolition.
Second question, it was an educated guess. Permit is for USF and is with the same same company doing the demo work.

 

[Teebin]

First question, the $716,000 is for Amity not the IoA demolition.

My first question didn't mention IOA, I was wondering what in USF would cost that much to remove per USFguy stating that it was for USF.

Sooooo, what is the amendment to that document? I cannot tell which is original to the Jan 30 document and what is new to this document. Legal minutiae stresses me out just looking at it.

 

[ReelJustice]

My first question didn't mention IOA, I was wondering what in USF would cost that much to remove per USFguy stating that it was for USF.

Sooooo, what is the amendment to that document? I cannot tell which is original to the Jan 30 document and what is new to this document. Legal minutiae stresses me out just looking at it.

The 1.10 acre project is at IoA. The buildings being demolished in Lost Continent.

The $716,000 project is at USF and is 7.49 acres.

ETA:

This is the permit the one from yesterday amended. I think they just added more information. http://or.occompt.com/recorder/eagl...6092.pdf?id=DOC914S1846.A0&parent=DOC914S1846

ETA 2: The original Project 722 plan was filed through Orlando, not Orange County, but I could never get a clean copy of it because the site was buggy, and the Orlando permit site is now offline.

 

[TheDecemberists]

Dang it, you guys are making me excited again. Stop it.

 

[Teebin]

ETA 2: The original Project 722 plan was filed through Orlando, not Orange County, but I could never get a clean copy of it because the site was buggy, and the Orlando permit site is now offline.

Sorry about my embarrassing total confusion this afternoon. I literally had too much coffee. I was reading fast and comprehending nothing. :wave:

So, is this where you had problems getting the Orlando permit info? http://198.190.151.7/tm_bin/tmw_cmd.pl?tmw_cmd=StatusQueryForm&tmw_query=PublicCase

 

[ReelJustice]

Sorry about my embarrassing total confusion this afternoon. I literally had too much coffee. I was reading fast and comprehending nothing. :wave:

So, is this where you had problems getting the Orlando permit info? http://198.190.151.7/tm_bin/tmw_cmd.pl?tmw_cmd=StatusQueryForm&tmw_query=PublicCase

No problem. It was kind of confusing. And yep that's it. I don't know how anyone finds anything via that site. You have to really know what you're looking for unlike Orange County and SFWMD.

 

[ReelJustice]

Searched Project 722 on the CityofOrlando.net permit search. Here's what came up:

Construct a new concrete wall along the northwest section of the USF Lagoon
http://198.190.151.7/tm_bin/tmw_cmd.pl?tmw_cmd=StatusViewCase&shl_caseno=BLD2012-01473

BLD 64E - Reroute existing 100AMP feeder to new 100AMP panel. Provide inground boxes to extend existing lighting circuits

Reroute existing 200AMP service serving BLD 64A

ETA: The site doesn't play nicely with Google Chrome. I had to use Internet Explorer.

 

[Teebin]

^ Yeah, that is dreadful programming on that website. They are declaring html headers and body twice which is not even possible. Good browsers shouldn't be able to display it.

This will be fascinating to see how they go about building a new wall with the lagoon filled with water. A cofferdam perhaps?

 

[Felipe]

Awesome finds, ReelJustice!

I think so, Teebin. It seems most logical they'd set up a cofferdam (there goes my word of the day! :thumbs, drain the section of the lagoon in front of Amity, and then build out. Maybe there'll be a permit filed for it