New Details Revealed About Harry Potter Diagon Alley, Gringotts Ride
For Muggles, a trip to the bank involves long lines, tellers and pens attached to metal chains. But for wizards, or visitors to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the trip includes dragons, goblins, a Death Eater and a lot of adventure. At least, that's what Universal Orlando Resort is promising with its Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts attraction, which opens in the theme park's new Diagon Alley area this summer.
Universal Orlando revealed today more details about the attraction based on the scene in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2." In the film, Harry, Ron and Hermione break into the famed goblin bank to steal a Horcrux in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. After entering the Main Hall, where visitors will see goblin bankers at work, visitors to the attraction will race through the labyrinth of underground vaults, face off against Voldemort lackey Lestrange and encounter a 60-foot, fire-breathing Ukranian Ironbelly dragon.
Take a peek behind the curtain on the magical world, and Universal also shared that it had been working closely with Harry Potter film production designer Stuart Craig to, according to a press release, "immerse guests in this pivotal scene from the final Harry Potter book and film."
The resort also promises that the attraction will revolutionize theme park entertainment by seamlessly integrating a "compilation of the most innovative technology ever created, 360-degree themed sets, 4K digital high-definition animation, state-of-the-art 3-D Infitec projection systems and live special effects."
In everyday terms, Universal makes it sound like theme park goers will live the movie with lots of neato, whiz-bang magic that will likely include cameos by familiar characters from the franchise based on J.K. Rowling's books. The 2010 attraction Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey won "best new ride" from Theme Park Insider, and it is a safe bet Universal Orlando is trying to outdo itself for the Wizarding World/ Diagon Alley expansion.
Check out the video above for more details about Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts.
-Aaron Sagers