The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was one of the greatest marketing schemes to come out of the J.K. Rowling’s franchise. So good in fact that the folks at Warner Bros. and Universal are planning to duplicate the success of the Orlando, Florida attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood in California. You know what that means…double the Butterbeer!
The Wall Street Journal broke the story about the planned expansion and the L.A. Times followed it up with some more details. No one is authorized to talk about it publicly yet it seems an almost done deal. “A contract between Comcast Corp.-owned Universal and Warner Bros., which made the Harry Potter movies and controls licensing rights to author J.K. Rowling’s books about the boy wizard, is being finalized and should be done within the next few weeks,” according to those the L.A. Times spoke to.
“The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando has drawn more than 7 million people and was a primary driver in a 36% boost in attendance at the theme park in the first three months of 2011,” they wrote. The attraction is situated in Universal Parks and Resorts’ Islands of Adventure and features a recreation of Hogwarts castle as well as the village of Hogsmeade. Rides include Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Dragons Challenge and Flight of the Hippogriff. The companies have also been looking toward expansion in foreign markets as well.
“Universal was not the only entertainment company seeking to replicate The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Southern California,” writes the Times. “Walt Disney Co. also held discussions with Warner to secure the rights for Disneyland in Anaheim. Recently, Disney signed a partnership to create attractions based on 20th Century Fox’s Avatar, the first of which will begin construction in Orlando in 2013.” The only problem that lies in duplicating the Wizarding World in Hollywood is space at the park itself. Whether they’d dismantle current rides or find some other way to fit it in remains to be seen.
It will be quite some time before the West Coast gets to go to Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks in their backyard though, apparently the attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood won’t be opening any earlier than 2015.
(via L.A. Times)
