The Bloated Penguin

I’m kind of a roller coaster nutcase. I’ve done the specific trips to places like Magic Mountain and Disney World just to spend 3 hours in line for a 30 second rush. I’ve been to quite a few theme parks in my time so I would consider myself at least knowledgeable on the subject, so when I say that this brand new Harry Potter ride/thing at Universal Studios Florida looks completely off the chains, you don’t have to take it with any grains of salt.

Officially branded The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the Universal Studios Resort in Florida has pretty much created Hogwarts for people to explore. Now I’ve been to the Magic Kingdom, I’ve ridden through ET’s world, I’ve done Star Tours and I’ve taken the waterfall into Jurassic Park, but this… Oh my. I’m not even really the biggest Harry Potter fan, but after seeing this site and checking out the latest news on the production of this beast, even I can appreciate the detail being put into this experience.

Here’s a few of details you might be interested in:

They have recreated and entire street in Hogsmeade for people to walk around and explore

The kiddies (and who am I kidding, adults) can spend like crazy in Zonko’s and Dervish and Banges

You can take a ride on the Hippogriff

Hogwarts is a real castle

Okay okay, enough reading about this thing, how about seeing some stuff right?

The sheer scale of this thing is impressive enough, but it sounds like Universal Studios is planning something even bigger. They have just sent out a press release stating that on January 28th, in partnership with USA Today, they will be releasing what is being referred to as an “augmented reality map” of the entire experience. Basically what people can do is go online and experience The Wizarding World of Harry Potter live right from their computer screen. I’m sure this is simply a ploy to get people so excited to book their vacations early, but who cares… This thing looks great so far.

Check out everything on the official media site.