As mentioned on TLC Main there are now concrete plans afoot to open a Harry Potter-based theme park in Orlando, Florida, as part of Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. In the latest article on TLC we learn --


That announcement is here in the TLC Video Gallery.

Here is some concept art for the theme park --

Very exciting news! I'm sure we will see more about this as plans continue.

i read about this in the newpaper. apparently they're also going to have hollograms of HP characters around the park that can just appear and disappear!
i like the idea of the theme park but it'll never be anywhere near as popular as Disney.

Holy!....based on that concept art, and not just the fact that I love HP and everything associated with it, I would so pay big bucks to be in a place like that! I mean look at that castle! If they build it, wow!

it would be supper cool if they had diagon alley as well, ive heard that peope will be able to dine in the great hall

this is going to be amazing! some may say it wont be as popular as disney... well if you think about how many people are hp fans... hundreds of thousands all of the world... once this opens i think many people will be flocking from different countries to see it... i think this is what a lot of people have wanted to do... to be able to read about harry and hermoines stay at hogwarts, and then to travel there and hang out would be amazing... they deffinatley should have a diogon alley... that would be cool. and the weasleys or the other joke shop there that would be a big hit with the kids! oh and i wonder if they will have the swinging staircases or something along those lines! im also guessing they will have they characters lurking around like dumbledore and harry. oh that would also be cool if to travel around, if they had a mini hogwarts express... kinda like disney monerals! anywho... so many predictions! i just cant wait till it opens! and that its in orlando so i only have a 4 hour drive

O dear have we really come this far only to obsess abouts ome stupid theme park which will turn the magnificent series of books into a desperate corporate ploy for cash. Let us as key fans not bow to the forces of capitalism, and ruin the books for future readers.

Think it over!

I want to try out Hogsmeade. I wonder if the Three Broomsticks and the Hog's Head will be there.

WOAH! i heard a rumor... i'm so glad it's true! those pictures look amazing. wow, i can't wait. i'll move to orlando just so i can visit everyday. lol

imagine how jo feels, from scribbles on a napkin to a theme park in orlando. wow. just... wow.

I've had mixed feelings about this since it was announced. I'd hate for the books to be cheapened in an attempt to make some extra cash, but this could be awesome if they do it right.

For that to happen, they have to go all out to create an immersing experience. No walking into the Three Broomsticks and ordering Coke (or if you do, at least come up with some really original drinks or menu items), or going to Zonkos to buy Harry Potter™ whoopee cushions. If they can create a really believable Harry Potter park that allows guests to really lose themselves in the world, I think it's great (and, truth be told, the concept art is beautiful). But I pray they don't create a commercialized, cheap version of the Harry Potter world.

It all depends on if they do it right-it shouldn't really be ALL about Harry and the trio-it should be about the Harry Potter universe in general. I'd really love to hang around with Peeves.

AND DON'T FORGET THE FORBIDDEN FOREST AND THE QUIDDITCH STADIUM!!

Wow, That concept art is amazing!

I agree that it would be a shame to overly commercialize it. I think WB should ask for fans to input as many concepts as possible.
My 6 year old daughter and I are saving our change to take a once-in-a-lifetime vacation when she's 10 and the new theme park has been moved to #1 on our "fun fund" list. it has been put above Disney World.
I'm actually hoping to do both but we'll see how much we've saved up.

When it opens though, there will be a whole new set of HP fans arising they wouldn't have been in on the amazing ride we've been on for the last few years. This will be a new sense of anticipation for us all.

I think WB will do a good job as long as they listen to the fans, because of the strong fan base , we can make or break them.

Well, that's my 2 knuts

Since the park is taking quite a few years to build the park,I imagine that they'll do everything possible to make the park as authentic to the book as possible,or at least that's my hope.From the amount of revenue that comes from the book,movies,and other misc. merchandise sold,I don't think they'd really spare any expense. I'll cross my fingers with you though.

I think that the reaction of many here, that ta theme park commercializes HP, is the same reaction that many had when the movies were announced. There was this fear that the HP fandom would transform into something different, which would be used only for money making purposes. While I do think that HP has become more commercial since being released as movies, I do not think it has been done in a way to ruin the books, or the fandom. I think the same will be true of the theme park. JKR is VERY VERY careful about who she allows to use the HP name, and is very watchful of what they do with it. She held off on giving the theme park rights for many years because she felt others plans were fitting of the HP name. I believe the reason that she did finally sign a contract is because she felt the vision would be carried off in a way fitting of the fandom, and not because she saw dollar signs. JKR is more protective of the fandom then we are, and as long as that continues I do not worry about the theme park in anyway, and can't wait to go visit it!

Oooh this is so exciting! It could be really unbelievably amazing if they pull it off right... going there would be so great, imagine being able to actually go into the castle and walk around Hogsmeade... i'd probably start crying when i got there lol.

For those fans lucky enough to have seen the ITV documentary, "JK Rowling: A Year in the Life", you might have noticed a brief scene near the end in which Jo meets with the folks planning the Harry Potter Theme Park, including HP-films production designer Stuart Craig. Here are a couple exciting additional images screen-capped from that documentary.

Here in the TLC Image Galleries

The first picture is of the exterior of Hogwarts castle, and, excitingly, the second shows the interior of Olivander's Wand Shop! I am DYING to know what adventures they have in store! In the fantastic Rowling interview on Pottercast she would only say that it would be "the very best thing of this kind."

I have to say that at first, I was pretty skeptic about the entire idea of having an Harry Potter Theme Park since I was a bit afraid that this might end up in a rather trashy version of a Pseudo-Disneyland ... but now seeing the plans and sketches I have to admit that this stuff does indeed look pretty promising, especially Olivander's Wand Shop. (Alone the thought that I'll get to buy my next wand in a real wand shop makes me kinda freak out already )
But yeah, especially after seeing the itv documentary I'm now pretty confident that those theme park planning dudes will not only do their best to make this vision come true but also to be truthful to the series itself and therefore giving us fans exactly what we always dreamed about ... namely finally being able to be a part of it.

It's all so exciting and seeing these screenshots brings it all to life.

If Jo really is as involved as she said in the documentary, then it shouldn't disappoint. I was recently at the WB Theme Park on the Gold Coast and they have a shop there called "The Chamber of Secrets". It was very disappointing inside, although the outside was very cool - (would you like some images from the Gallery, Goddesses? I was a bit of a dork and took some photos!!)

Inside it was full with merchandise, but very little actually related to Harry Potter. There were countless books on wizards and mythology and tarot cards and even jewellery - just not the kind of thing a Potter fanatic would want.

So I am hopeful the Harry Potter Theme Park in Florida will not be a commercial rip-off and will be everything we all hope it will be. I don't want mass dining of hamburgers and fries in the Hogwarts Main Hall - I want the dining to be as creative as Jo made it in the books.

Butterbeers all round!

I am very excited to see how the launching of this theme park goes over. A couple things that I hope will be included in the Harry Potter Theme Park are Diagon Alley, Swinging Staircases and some of the creatures. I think that if they incorporated very authentic stores where people could play with possibly virtual wands at Mr Ollivander's wand shop or go into James's handmade quality broom shop and have like a virtual center where you can try out different brooms. It could be in a room where the walls are screens and it could simulate flying over Hogwarts and around town. I also think that it would be amazing to have the swinging staircases inside of Hogwarts School. With the technology theme parks are capable of accessing today it is definitely possible. Another thing I think would be cool, if it could be made realistic enough, is either have robotic magical creatures roaming around the theme park or possibly holograms. I don't know how life-like these creatures could by with the technology available, but if it could be made realistic I think that would be a huge addition to the park. I also think it would be neat if they could have a monorail traveling around the park to get to different areas of the Harry Potter Park and even take tourists to places outside the Harry Potter theme park that resembles the train that leaves from platform 9 ¾. It could serve candy on a trolley similar to the books. I wonder if the Park will have the characters from the books walking around similar to what they have in Disney World and other theme Parks. Whatever the outcome of the contents of the park are I'm sure it will be a very out-of-this-world experience tourists of the park will not soon forget.

Although no new videos, we do have a couple exciting new images for the theme park. The first is some new concept art for the Three Brooksticks pub --

Here in the Galleries

This next one is part of a batch showing recent construction of a shop, done off-site, with the name of "Sprintwitches." It looks quite a bit like Zonko's from PoA to me.

Here in the Galleries

I am so excited for this!!!!!!!

Where's Madam Rosmerta!!

Well I don't think it can be truly immersive with tourists all over the place with their hawaian shirts and huge cameras LoL.

I don't see how you could get past that without requiring people to wear hogwarts uniforms when they come in or something. Hey they could hand out free cloaks at the entrance!