The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

[bubba's mom]

TMs have been reporting that they've seen this too -- there are four (or maybe it was six? I don't remember...) different stamps you can buy to send your mail from Owl Post.

I have been hearing 4.

 

[Don Pacho]

Courtesy of Screamscape
http://www.screamscape.com

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - (5/22/10) Universal has released a new Wizarding World video that shows off several of the film’s stars taking a private tour of the land, trying out the shops, Butterbeer and more. Even better, you get your first peek at the Magic Bench car on the ride just before the end of the video. I’ve grabbed a screen capture and lightened it up a bit to help you see it a little better in the dark.

.

Harry Potter film stars tour the Wizarding World of Harry Potter





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCDGOGnoF_o

​

On May 20, 2010 Harry Potter film stars Harry Potter film stars Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), and Oliver and James Phelps (Fred and George Weasley) took a sneak peek tour of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure theme park.

Harry Potter Stars Tour Universal's Wizarding World






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EDV42k0UyI







.​

 

[yaytezIOA]

Heard rumors of the soft openings. All the walls were down by JP, and things were being moved around at Dragons. My guess is any day now.

 

[KerriK85]

Heard rumors of the soft openings. All the walls were down by JP, and things were being moved around at Dragons. QUOTE]

well the soft opening for universal resort guests are this week so that may be why

 

[Claire-Bear]

Just think, all will be revealed this weekend (hopefully including FJ!) squeee : 3 1/2 weeks until we go! (well, 4 until we're at the actual park)

 

[tttessa]

Am sooooooo looking forward to the reports back from the folks lucky enough to be there over the next few weeks - we don't go til October and have booked RPR for a night so we can do early morning starts for WWoHP more realistically!! And ride everything else at the parks with the express access too of course..... that way we might - just might fit it all in.....

Tessa

 

[Sphyrna]

Any idea if the soft openings will only be for guests staying on-site or will it be for any park visitors? I'll be there next week, going to WDW but thought about popping over to IOA for a day if they're doing general soft opening. I was fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of a soft opening for IOA before it opened. They were letting anyone with a Universal ticket in to IOA. To this day it's still one of my best vacations simply for that. An amusement park like IOA is so much better without lines! There were a couple times on Hulk and DD we didn't even have to get off, they just let us stay on and go again. If they're doing a general soft opening for WWOHP I would kick myself for not taking advantage of it. If they're not and it's restricted to only on-site guests, then I'll just stay at WDW for my trip.

 

[FINFAN]

At first I thought all this secrecy was good to build excitement but now it's just weird. Sorry...it is and I wonder who's behind it. Is it Universal or Rowling or both? Frankly I'm kinda over the whole thing now.

yeah, I sort of feel like I am being punished for being excited...again, in our case we did not think about getting into WWOHP ahead of the GO until I was told by a TM at RPR that we would have entry based on our booking date. So to me, I was offered an "perk" after we booked, got excited about it, and now, when trying to follow up on it, I get confusing , unofficial information, and not always pleasant attitudes. In general, to me I tend to agree and think this stems from the JK Rowling connection, as I do not recall Universal being this uptight about anything in the past. I said a while back that I would not be surprised if the folks who have packages and "lucky room only on-site ressies" are the ones who get burned to avoid news /photos leaking out ahead of GO, ......if it means keeping the thing under wraps until 6/18, they are going to go with keeping the masses happy, not just the few( I know it is thousands, but compared to after 6/18) there for the 3 weeks ahead of GO. Remember, Grad Night kids were told the same thing, that they would see WWOHP which did not happen, and they were given free tickets to return, but I 'm pretty sure that;s not gonna happen for the rest of us. I am trying to remain optimistic, and to be honest, if I had not been told, willingly told, unsolicited, buy a TM and a guest services manager,that we would have early access, I would not have been that bummed as I walked by the closed gates on our upcoming trip figuring, I technically was there ahead of GO, but I WAS told, and I did receive a call from managment concurring the vague accessibility....(but nothing in writing)so yes, I do feel as if we should be given access, and we all know the ride is capable of running, at least that is the impression Universal gives by showing Emma etc. ending the ride, saying how amazing it is, so barring mechanical difficulty, it should be made available to those booked. I agree tho, it is starting to take the shine off a bit, and it was sad to read that JK Rowling is not hesitating to tell TM's what is "wrong"..I sure hope she is also letting them know what is right! These people will be working hard, very hard this summer, and they should be treated nicely.

 

[CLPClarinet]

I -highly- doubt JK Rowling is ONLY dwelling on the negative to the TMs. People are more likely to remember the negative comments someone gives them before a compliment. Also, there is a cultural barrier between many of the TMs and Rowling. What I mean by that is, something said in England might not seem as negative as it would seem to someone in the US. Also, different people have different views on the degrees of how negative a comment is. I speculate that she's merely trying to make the world as close to Harry's world as possible so that the people who come to the parks can enjoy it to the fullest extent possible, to feel the magic. Hopefully it'll pay off and hopefully she's not being as negative as it seems.

And also....did any of you read the Harry Potter books when they were newly released? What JK Rowling is doing shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, really. She loves secrecy (just like Dumbledore ) and wants the magic to come to the masses at the same time. She made it so the people working at book shops wouldn't get an advantage over the everyday customer. She merely just doesn't like certain things to be spoiled or leaked for other people.

Now I do understand if you've booked ahead of time and are feeling ignored and confused and frustrated with this whole ordeal. I would be too. Heck, I'm not even certain I'll be able to get INTO the park the first few days after Grand Opening. If I can't, I don't have an opportunity to try for another year or more. Even for some reason, if FJ isn't in operation while you're let in, think of all the other things you get to do and see, with alot smaller crowds. Basically, you can do everything EXCEPT FJ (if this is the case). With the crowds after opening, people will be lucky to get to do FJ and then hit up any other rides. Possible 7 hour waits !!!!!!!!!!!! So I dunno....just try to enjoy it and I'm going to try and do the same. If I don't get on FJ, will I be disappointed? Yep. But I'm going to try to not let it ruin my experience if that happens. Hopefully just being in the park, in Harry's world, being consumed by it all will be a good enough experience as it is. =]


and sorry if I came off rude or anything, it's not my intention.

 

[John316]

yeah, I sort of feel like I am being punished for being excited...again, in our case we did not think about getting into WWOHP ahead of the GO until I was told by a TM at RPR that we would have entry based on our booking date. So to me, I was offered an "perk" after we booked, got excited about it, and now, when trying to follow up on it, I get confusing , unofficial information, and not always pleasant attitudes. In general, to me I tend to agree and think this stems from the JK Rowling connection, as I do not recall Universal being this uptight about anything in the past. I said a while back that I would not be surprised if the folks who have packages and "lucky room only on-site ressies" are the ones who get burned to avoid news /photos leaking out ahead of GO, ......if it means keeping the thing under wraps until 6/18, they are going to go with keeping the masses happy, not just the few( I know it is thousands, but compared to after 6/18) there for the 3 weeks ahead of GO. Remember, Grad Night kids were told the same thing, that they would see WWOHP which did not happen, and they were given free tickets to return, but I 'm pretty sure that;s not gonna happen for the rest of us. I am trying to remain optimistic, and to be honest, if I had not been told, willingly told, unsolicited, buy a TM and a guest services manager,that we would have early access, I would not have been that bummed as I walked by the closed gates on our upcoming trip figuring, I technically was there ahead of GO, but I WAS told, and I did receive a call from managment concurring the vague accessibility....(but nothing in writing)so yes, I do feel as if we should be given access, and we all know the ride is capable of running, at least that is the impression Universal gives by showing Emma etc. ending the ride, saying how amazing it is, so barring mechanical difficulty, it should be made available to those booked. I agree tho, it is starting to take the shine off a bit, and it was sad to read that JK Rowling is not hesitating to tell TM's what is "wrong"..I sure hope she is also letting them know what is right! These people will be working hard, very hard this summer, and they should be treated nicely.

Just thought I'd comment on the J.K Rowling thing. I don't quite understand where these "sources" are coming from. While I of course do no know her personally, nearly EVERYTHING I have read/watched about her she is a modest/humble woman and would defiantely not be unappreciative of all the hard work. I have yet to hear from a direct source to the contrary, rather it seems to mostly be speculaiton. Even in the films she let filmmakers make some quite big changes from her story with her blessing.

While it may seem like I'm a Rowling cheerleader, I just think its crazy how all these comments are being posted about her when I have yet to hear any credible evidence. Rather I think people are frustrated that there is barely any news, and that its being all secretive thus they want to push the blame onto someone. This leads to the idea of a mean-bossy-billionaire being the ideal target.

I could be completley wrong on this, but until I hear evidence to the contrary I will try and keep mum about it. The reason they are being all "skethcy" about it IMHO is the reason apple don't announce their products until almost right before their release. Its a multi-million dollar investment and they have found by announcing a product and then subsequently releasing it quickly, it means less time for people to complain based on fluff and more time for them to actually experience it.

Best,

John316

P.S I am also very frustrated regarding the package thing. I have been told a multitude of things and it gets very annoying. I know its hard to predict exactly what will be open, but with less than a week to go I think it would be nice if they sent a letter of some sort explaining everything.

 

[freediverdude]

Well I just can't believe we're 4 days from the package holders arriving, and nobody has ridden this ride yet, not even the TM's who will be working the ride? What's going on here. Something is up.

 

[damo]

Well I just can't believe we're 4 days from the package holders arriving, and nobody has ridden this ride yet, not even the TM's who will be working the ride? What's going on here. Something is up.

We don't know that TM's working the ride haven't ridden. We just know that they haven't reported on it.

 

[sammielynn]

We don't know that TM's working the ride haven't ridden. We just know that they haven't reported on it.

The ones I spoke with told me that they were not allowed to ride the ride. But they may have been told to say that.

 

[freediverdude]

Yes that's what I am thinking, if the TMs had really ridden, we would have seen reports of "Yes we did get to ride, but I can't say anything about it." They wouldn't have been told to lie and say they weren't allowed to ride.

 

[FINFAN]

Just thought I'd comment on the J.K Rowling thing. I don't quite understand where these "sources" are coming from. While I of course do no know her personally, nearly EVERYTHING I have read/watched about her she is a modest/humble woman and would defiantely not be unappreciative of all the hard work. I have yet to hear from a direct source to the contrary, rather it seems to mostly be speculaiton. Even in the films she let filmmakers make some quite big changes from her story with her blessing.

While it may seem like I'm a Rowling cheerleader, I just think its crazy how all these comments are being posted about her when I have yet to hear any credible evidence. Rather I think people are frustrated that there is barely any news, and that its being all secretive thus they want to push the blame onto someone. This leads to the idea of a mean-bossy-billionaire being the ideal target.

I could be completley wrong on this, but until I hear evidence to the contrary I will try and keep mum about it. The reason they are being all "skethcy" about it IMHO is the reason apple don't announce their products until almost right before their release. Its a multi-million dollar investment and they have found by announcing a product and then subsequently releasing it quickly, it means less time for people to complain based on fluff and more time for them to actually experience it.

Best,

John316

P.S I am also very frustrated regarding the package thing. I have been told a multitude of things and it gets very annoying. I know its hard to predict exactly what will be open, but with less than a week to go I think it would be nice if they sent a letter of some sort explaining everything.

very good points and I think I should take your outlook,,,stay positive. I MUCH prefer your info on Ms. Rowling after all, lol! I would have to say, if TM's have ridden, they are unbelievably awesome at keeping a secret!

 

[Don Pacho]

Courtesy of mantaguy, Orlando United
http://www.orlandounited.com

Pictures from yesterday.

More later.....

 

[Don Pacho]

Courtesy of mantaguy, Orlando United
http://www.orlandounited.com

The rest of my pictures from yesterday.

 

[flfun]

Prince Edward and Countess Sophia(?) and the british press were there today and being let into the WWOHP. My nephew said he saw them enter and could see the cast members doing their thing. He also rode "dueling dragons" today.

 

[Planogirl]

"please respect the spell limits"

Great pics and thanks for posting.

flfun, thanks for your report too.

 

[KerriK85]

Any idea if the soft openings will only be for guests staying on-site or will it be for any park visitors? I'll be there next week, going to WDW but thought about popping over to IOA for a day if they're doing general soft opening. I was fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of a soft opening for IOA before it opened. They were letting anyone with a Universal ticket in to IOA. To this day it's still one of my best vacations simply for that. An amusement park like IOA is so much better without lines! There were a couple times on Hulk and DD we didn't even have to get off, they just let us stay on and go again. If they're doing a general soft opening for WWOHP I would kick myself for not taking advantage of it. If they're not and it's restricted to only on-site guests, then I'll just stay at WDW for my trip.

we will know exactly on may 28th, thats when they start soft openings, but they are CONFIRMED for any package holders and people that booked the universal resort BEFORE the date announcement. hold out a couple more days!