It’s a sad day at Universal Orlando Resort where workers are mourning the loss of two team members who were killed in the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Luis Vielma, who worked at on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey attraction… Read More »Universal Orlando Resort family suffers losses in Pulse Nightclub Shooting
After Comcast’s CEO made it clear yesterday that Universal plans to challenge Disney for a larger slice of the Orlando travel market, it makes sense to check in on the progress of Universal Orlando’s next salvo in the theme park wars – the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley expansion.
It’s 2014. At some point this year, Universal plans to open Diagon Alley to teems of Harry Potter fans young and old. They’re definitely making progress.
The London facade that faces into the park is absolutely huge. You can’t even see much of the Diagon Alley area beind those walls, but it’s big too. But the real giant of the bunch is the show building for the Gringott’s bank attraction. That will disappear behind theming, I hope, although you can see a little bit of it poking through right now.
Follow below the jump for many more photos:
Read More »Diagon Alley – Harry Potter Photo Update from Universal Orlando
While the rest of the world focused on Comcast Chair and CEO Brian Roberts statement regarding a return to growth in subscribers to their legacy cable network business, the Orlando Sentinel picked up on quotes from Roberts that signal the theme parks wars in Orlando are well and truly on.
Okay, no one is actually declaring a theme park war, but when Roberts spoke today in Las Vegas at a Citigroup event and said, “We’re doubling down on theme parks. We think that there is a lot of ‘there’ there in the theme-park business for many years to come and that we have a low market share — and only one way to go,” that’s a sign that in Comcast and Universal’s mind, it’s game on.
When Comcast bought NBC/Universal, they took on the theme parks with an eye to selling them at some point in the future. But after some small investments in the parks paid off with an sizable increase in cash flow, they were convinced to invest in the larger Harry Potter land, which has been an unqualified success for the resort. Since that point, Universal has been going full speed ahead with other expansions including: The Simpsons, Transformers, a huge new resort, and more. Read More »Universal Studios Parent Company Declares Orlando Theme Park War
Universal Studios just released a teaser poster for it’s upcoming expansion of Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley themed area. Last week Universal Orland Resort uploaded two trailers for the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion. The first is a not so subtle jab at Disney’s… Read More »Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley Trailer and Teaser Poster
There’s one thing Universal Orlando wants you to know. It is not content playing second fiddle to Disney’s Orlando theme parks. They want to challenge for the lead, well, they at least want to close the gap between them and Disney’s least attended park.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom attracted 9.9 million last year and Islands of Adventure just 8.0 million. Universal Studios Florida did not experience the same boost as IOA did with the addition of Harry Potter, but they’re making up for it in 2013 with a better parade, Transformers 3D, and soon more Harry Potter with Hogwarts Express and Diagon Alley.
But even if you add in all that additional ride capacity it won’t be enough to match the people eaters that are Disney’s parks. So Universal has committed to spending $500 million more on its domestic theme parks. We know that Universal Studios Hollywood will get a Harry Potter attraction or two (construction walls are going up now). But what does that mean for Orlando? How about two new rides for Islands of Adventure.Read More »Universal Orlando Plans to Hold Disney’s Feet to The Fire
Walt Disney World managers may not publicly admit they’re in a battle for tourist dollars, but there is an arms race going on in Orlando and one side is bringing out the big guns. After the success of Harry Potter and Despicable Me themed attractions,… Read More »Universal Orlando’s Transformers Attraction Rushes Past Milestone, Park Already Moving On
Universal Studios Florida has an expansion of its own going on at one of its popular lands based on The Simpsons animated TV show. Sure, it’s not New Fantasyland, but it does make you feel like you’re in the city of Springfield. In addition to… Read More »The Simpsons Kang and Kodos’ Twirl ‘N’ Hurl Testing at Universal Studios Florida
Leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, and his sidekick Bumblebee have arrived at Universal Orlando Resort to get ready for the grand opening of Transformers: The Ride – 3D – which will take place this Thursday, June 20. I’ve been able to sneak on a… Read More »Transformers: The Ride – 3D at Universal Studios Florida Time-Lapse Video and Autobots