Harry Potter theme park to open in UK

[Mikey]

It’s wizard news for all JK Rowling fans... a Harry Potter theme park is to open here in Britain.
Film company Warner Bros have earmarked a site at Leavesden Studios near London where all eight Harry ­Potter movies have been shot.
And they have hired the same team who worked their magic on the first Potter theme park in ­Orlando.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling is an enthusiastic supporter of the idea of a UK park, saying: “I would love it if they could do it as well as they have in Florida.”
Warner Bros bought the ­sprawling 170-acre site outside Watford in a £100million deal last year. At the time they outlined low-key plans for a modest “visitor attraction” at the former Rolls-Royce factory.
Just 6,000 visitors a day – half the number which visit Alton ­Towers on average – were ­expected to walk through the Potter film sets, including the Great Hall at ­Hogwarts and Dumbledore’s study.
Costumes worn by actors Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione) and Rupert Grint (Ron) would also be on show when the attraction opens in 2012.
Now it is clear that Warner Bros’ plans are much more ambitious. The firm has now registered The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the title used at the Florida park, as a trademark in the UK. And this explicitly covers amusement park rides. A range of souvenirs have been covered too from swimwear and snow suits, through to board games, masks, “flying discs” and even Christmas tree ornaments.
It is significant Warner Bros has engaged Thinkwell Design and Production to design the park since it is also working on the Wizarding World at the MGM Movie Resort in South Korea, which is due to open in 2014.
Attendance at Universal Studio’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando have leapt by 20 per cent since the Potter attraction opened there last June.
There is a steam-belching ­Hogwarts Express train, a Flight of the Hippogriff rollercoaster and reproductions of Hogsmeade ­village and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The news about Leavesden will delight millions of Potter fans. There was even a political row last summer when London Mayor Boris Johnson ranted: “We must be mad to leave it to the Americans to make money from a British invention.
“Harry Potter isn’t ­American, he is British. The train for ­Hogwarts goes from King’s Cross, in London not Grand Central Station, New York.”
A Warner Bros spokeswoman declined to comment on plans for the Leavesden theme park.
She said: “Warner Bros ­routinely registers trademarks associated with its properties worldwide in order to protect its rights.”

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/...#ixzz1FBAn97V6

[Eoin247]

Personally i've had enough of cheesy theme parks to last me a lifetime, but hey maybe some people and small kids would like this.

[Jake]

Hp is a phase give it 2-3 years after the last film and there will be no more (hopefully)

[Eoin247]

Hp is a phase give it 2-3 years after the last film and there will be no more (hopefully)

I actualy kind of agree with this. Disney is a huge thing that branches out in to so many more things, and so a theme park is fine for it. Harry potter is a series of books and movies that are now pretty much near finished. Unless they plan to add more harry potter content to the world, i can't see this harry potter phase lasting more than a few more years.

[Mathew]

Personally i've had enough of cheesy theme parks to last me a lifetime, but hey maybe some people and small kids would like this.

The WWoHP at Islands of Adventure is in no way cheesy. We've been several times now, in August and then again a couple of days ago. Universal's end of year report came out a couple of weeks ago and they are up 10% on profits on last year. They've seen a significant boom in attendance, because it is an absolutely amazing re-creation of HP's world. While there, you can buy souvenir mugs filled with Butterbeer; when the section first opened, Universal thought they'd have enough of the mugs to last them a whole year... due to the amount of demand, it managed to last them just over one month.

It's hit them by surprise. Just last week, you had to get a ticket to go back to the area at a later time because there is too many people in there. There is lines of 50 mins just for a ticket to THAT section. The line for the ride is well over 100 minutes long. Universal really hit the nail on the head and I bet Disney are kicking themselves that they didn't offer to do something... but then again, I don't think Disney would have done as good of a job with it.

It also helps that the WWoHP at IOA is just a small section of a large park, so you're not just paying for that in your ticket price (although, they are hopefully extending it (A)).

However, I do fear if a specific "theme park" is made for it in the UK, it will be a major failure. The only reason the WWoHP is popular in Orlando is because it's already a tourist destination. People go to Orlando on holiday and do several theme parks while they're there. I highly doubt people will specificially take a flight to the UK, just to visit the new HP Theme Park. My family also have a slight disapproval for theme parks in the UK - it's just tacky and ugly. Leave theme parks to the Americans because they really do know how to pull it off. Maybe it would be "cheesy" if the UK did it, but once you visited the Universal one, it is far from.

Hp is a phase give it 2-3 years after the last film and there will be no more (hopefully)

This is what I was thinking while walking around the WWoHP and I was a bit worried that Universal may have made a severe mistake in investing so much time and money in one thing. However, due to the success of the area.. Universal has already got it's money back for all it spent on it and it's made high profits. Whether Harry Potter will be a famous set of novels is another question, but I don't think it's time is limited just yet.

[Conservative,]

I actually want to go there, just to see what it's like. And I think that actually the HP books and films will live on. I think they're the type of books parents will give to their children, like Terry Pratchet etc.

I enjoy theme parks like these though because they're not rollercoaster or high adrenaline based like others such as Thorpe Park and Alton Towers - because I can actually do something.

But I knew there was always going to be a "hate it"/"love it" split.

[paddy140]

Personally i've had enough of cheesy theme parks to last me a lifetime, but hey maybe some people and small kids would like this.

I agree

[Stephen]

Tbh I'm glad they're making one over here. Can knock the american one into the water 4sure

But yeah I understand what the mayor of london said cos like it's true they're technically making money from a british thing. We need to fight back and steal the money back and I think some of the hardcore hp fans in america and around the world would definitely choose the uk one over america's one cos obviously that's where the film was set etc.

In america all the little kids will be like "OMG IM GOING TO HARRY POTTER THEMEPARK PLACE" and all his friends will be like omg are you really thats so cool and then when he says he's going to the american one he will get bullied and commit suicide or something

[Neversoft]

About time.

[Niall!]

ALL OF MY MONEY

TAKE IT