MuggleGuide

Month: May 2007

  • Muggles to be able to Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando at Universal Studios

    Muggle fans of Harry Potter will be excited to know that Universal Studios has announced that they will be building a Harry Potter Theme Park in Orlando!  Universal plans to open the park in 2009!

    According to the Today Show:

    “Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Universal Orlando Resort plan to open The Wizarding World of Harry Potter within Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park in 2009, Tom Williams, chairman and CEO of Universal Parks and Resorts, announced Thursday on TODAY.  The “theme park within a theme park” is the first fully immersive Harry Potter-themed environment based on the bestselling books by J.K. Rowling and the blockbuster feature films.”

    According to the Press Release:

    J.K. Rowling, says “The plans I’ve seen look incredibly exciting, and I don’t think fans
    of the books or films will be disappointed.”

    HogsmeadeExpected to open in late 2009, the new environment will feature
    immersive rides and interactive attractions, as well as experiential shops and restaurants that will enable guests to sample fare from the wizarding world’s best known establishments. Also debuting will be a state-of-the-art attraction that will bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life in an exciting way that guests have never before experienced.

    The Academy Award-winning production designer Stuart Craig, who has worked to bring the world of Harry Potter to life in all of the feature films to date, leads the creative design for the area to ensure it remains faithful to the look and feel of the films.

    “Our primary goal is to make sure this experience is an authentic extension of Harry Potter’s world as it is portrayed in the books and films,” said Craig. “I am very excited to be working closely with the
    Universal Orlando team to bring the area to life.”

    Universal has setup a website with some FAQs and more information.  Visit www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter for more details.

    Although the press release didn’t mention anything specific about what rides and areas might be there, here are some of our common sense speculations as to what you might find there:


    • Weasley’s Wizard Weezes Joke Shop


    • Gringotts Bank Roller Coaster Ride


    • The Forbiden Forest Ride


    • Hogwarts Express Ride


    • Azkaban Ride


    • Ministry of Magic Restaurant


    • Quiddich Field / Ride


    • Hogwarts Castle Ride (Maybe even a Hogwarts Hotel)


    • Shriking Shack Ride


    • Diagon Alley Shops


    • Knockturn Alley Shops


    • Hogsmead Shops


    • Olivanders Wand Shop

    Any other interesting ideas of what you might expect to see?

    More Resources / References:

  • Harry Potter and the Marauder’s Map Lego Game

    Here is the Harry Potter and the Marauder’s Map game from Lego, enjoy and don’t forget to post your scores in the comments!

  • The Harry Potter Crystal Ball Game

    This one takes some very good observation skills, remember to post your scores in the coments section below!

  • Harry Potter Casting Spells Game

    How good are you at waving the wand?  Give it a try and post your scores in the comments, honor system applies, no cheating.  I got 7 on my first attempt, so I clearly need some work at it.

  • Harry Potter on Myspace?

    It looks like the publisher of the Harry Potter books plans on creating a section on MySpace according to Steve O’Hear over at ZDNet.

    We noticed that there is a site: http://www.myspace.com/harrypotter but that this doesn’t appear to be the official site.  We highly doubt they would have that ugly Adsense block at the top…

  • Harry Potter Book 7 Release on July 21 May have Company

    According to the Wall Street Journal, Barnes & Noble is predicting an uptick in sales in the quarter that “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” is released.  The company’s CEO, Stephen Riggio says "Don’t forget about the political books!"  Barnes & Noble expects two books about Hillary Clinton — “A Woman In Charge” by Carl Bernstein and “Her Way” by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta to also lift sales. “We expect of course many more titles by and about the candidates for the presidential election season to be coming over the next year or fifteen months.”  says Riggio

    So will these muggle presidential books beat Harry Potter?  Don’t count on it…  Here at the MugglGuide, we expect this latest edition of Harry Potter to be the largest selling book in History!

  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Movie Trailer

    Here is a trailer for the Order of the Phoenix which comes out on 7/13/07:

  • Lord Waldemart Forces Local Diagon Alley Shops out of Business

    This create muggle video is funny, and shows what might happen to Diagon Alley when Lord Wal-de-Mart comes to town!

  • Harry Potter Lego Video Spoof

    Here is a creative and funny Harry Potter Lego Video Spoof:

  • Harry Potter Order of the Pheonix Movie Sneek Peek

    Here is a sneek peek and commentary on the latest Harry Potter Movie based on the 5th Book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix.  Due to be released in theaters on July 13th, 2007: