This post is in Disney Blog Carnival #5! 
Last night, NBC broadcasted a piece of Islands of Adventure’s new Wizarding World of Harry Potter (if you missed it, you can watch it online here). I saw it, and have some pretty conflicting thoughts on it. (Please note: I will be discussing some book spoilers in here. Consider yourself warned.)
My biggest problem with the show was that I felt it was misleading. If you have half a brain, you could probably figure out that this was pretty much an infomercial for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWoHP). I knew this would be the case going into it, which is why I feel that this show was deliberately misleading. My first issue is around the way the WWoHP was portrayed. I was bothered by the fact that they still seem to be pushing the “Themepark within a themepark” concept around. I don’t know about you, but two old rides, one new ride, some stores and a restaurant do not a theme park make in my book. Tangentally, the way in which the actors were discussing Dragon Challenge and Flight of the Hippogriff made them sound as if they were new attractions, not just merely re-themed attractions. As many non-Universal fans would be watching this show, I would think that they would feel a bit bamboozled if they were to discover that two of the “new” rides weren’t that new. For crying out loud, the mobile Universal Orlando site still lists them under their old names.
I found it interesting that they were spending such a long time discussing authenticity, but that they did not discuss the fact that a number of stores which are in Diagon Alley, including the focal point of Ollivander’s, are in the Hogsmeade -themed WWoHP. (Apparently the store will be selling Nimbus 2000′s. Please tell me I’m not the only person this makes giggle).
I liked how they included the interviews with the actors. Tom Felton referring to people touring the parks as “muggles” was a funny moment which didn’t seem too contrived. I also learned I have been mis-pronouncing J. K. Rowling’s name-they pronounced it as rawl-ing, I’ve been pronouncing it as roll-ing. I also liked that they referred to her as Jo, as I think trying to appeal to young boys is a pretty moot point at this point.
One thing I will be curious to see is how continuity plays out. It sounds like much of the attractions are based upon the first few movies, which leaves some questins open as to how it will work. I also think they could have used a better clip for the Dragon Challenge-had they gone with one that included Robert Pattison many people would be more interested in going ;). In general, I also wonder how the hype will play out-so much was made of the living paintings, but people who cannot fit on the Forbidden Journey cannot see it, will people complain?
One thing I do have to give NBC/Universal credit for is having this special on TV. It seems that their competitors have given up on this medium. Once upon a time, Disney used to do these specials for guests on NBC.
Related posts:
6 responses so far ↓
1 Scott // Jun 8, 2010 at 9:10 am
I thought the show was okay. Much of it was very misleading, especially the Dragon Challenge/Flight of the Hippogriff section. I have to be honest, the videos (Harry and Ron flying on brooms) that seemed like they were taken out of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey were not very impressive. It looked like a video game that was a couple of years old.
They did make a mention of the shops in Diagon Alley that opened locations in Hogsmeade in the beginning IIRC.
I’m a bit confused as to when in the Harry Potter series this land is supposed to represent. Dragon Challenge includes the Goblet of Fire, so somewhere around Order of the Phoenix maybe?
Scott´s last [type] ..Where Have the Sponsors Gone?
2 Hedy // Jun 8, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Purportedly, the FJ takes places in books one and two. It seems like Dumbledore is still around, though.
3 Blog Carnival #5: June 15th, 2010 | DisMarks - Disney Social News // Jun 15, 2010 at 1:52 am
[...] Walt Disney World: It's Not Just For Kids looks at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Revealed [...]
4 Marisa // Jun 24, 2010 at 7:09 am
It’s Marisa… just wanted to comment. As I’ve said before, feel free to ask me ANYTHING about the land… I know it all, unfortunately.
ANYWAY… with the whole Diagon Alley shops in Hogsmeade – JK Rowling approved Hogsmeade “branches” so as to have Hogsmeade next to Hogwarts and not Hogwarts next to Diagon Alley.
The reason they didn’t show any R Patz is there is literally NO MENTION of Cedric Diggory AT ALL in the land. That surprises me a bit because uh… most middle aged men are kind of clueless about that connection, but I’m fairly certain that choice was intentional. His only mention is that there are 4 golden eggs. Some people say only 3… one of them is in the DC Arch entryway… haha. The land is fairly centered in books 2 – 4. But not entirely… 3 Broomsticks is late in the series. But the land is also pretty timeless. The beauty takes away the discontinuity.
As for trip plans, if you are staying on site… show up for your 8 AM entry. Unless things change, mornings hold a 5 hr wait. And the land more or less smells like a scary bus station by midafternoon… I know, horrible.
And as for the people not getting on the ride issue… It’s definitely an issue, but it’s pretty subjective, I recommend everyone trying the seat out at the load area. It’s also fairly easy to walk the castle queue and see the sights and then just exit. The ride has not been holding a huge line, especially at opening, so it’d be about 10 minutes until you enter the castle, and then it’s all moving pictures and preshows.
All right… resident citizen of WWoHP signing off…
5 Bröllop // Jul 10, 2010 at 11:57 am
lol, Tom Felton is cool!
6 Cleta // Nov 19, 2010 at 4:09 am
Couldn’t be composed any better. Reading through this blog post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept discussing about this. I will forward this article to him. Rather sure he will have a very good read. Kudos for discussing! Best wishes, Cleta.
Leave a Comment