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Harry Potter Attraction To Open At Universal July 8

Harry Potter is the centerpiece of a huge attraction at Universal Studios Orlando, and starting next month it will be expanded to include a new ride that takes thrill-seekers inside Gringott’s W...
Harry Potter Attraction To Open At Universal July 8
Written by Amanda Crum
  • Harry Potter is the centerpiece of a huge attraction at Universal Studios Orlando, and starting next month it will be expanded to include a new ride that takes thrill-seekers inside Gringott’s Wizarding Bank.

    The theme park has housed an impressive section of Harry Potter-themed shops and rides since 2010; fans can sip a butterbeer while strolling through Hogsmeade Village or ride the Hogwarts Express to the new section, which takes visitors on a trip through the bank to retrieve something magical. The attraction has caused a giant bump in visitors since it first opened, and the new section is expected to do the same.

    “There are heightened expectations for this expansion,” said theme park consultant John Gerner of Leisure Business Advisors.

    The bank ride will be located in Diagon Alley, which is its own separate park and requires a two-park pass for visitors, which will jack up the price a bit. A one-day adult ticket for both parks is $136.

    Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry in the hugely successful films, spoke recently about the pressure of being such a well-known pop culture icon at such a young age, and said that alcohol gave him a reprieve from the worries that plagued him during filming.

    “I would have benefited from not drinking as it was not making me as happy as I wanted to. It is not a real pressure, but it is a pressure of living with the thought, ‘Oh, what is all these people are saying I am not going to have a career?. What if they are all going to be right and will be laughing and I will be consigned to a bunch of ‘Where are they now?’ lists?'” he said.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

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