The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Spoiled and Boiled
We are halfway into the first day of our immersion into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort's Islands of Adventure Theme Park. As part of the group of 250 elite media who were invited to this incredible opening, we have been treated like royalty, with Universal staff paying attention to every detail. Other than the hotter-than-usual weather (close to 100 degrees today, hence the boiled) we have had an amazing time so far.
Fortunately, as we are discovering, everyone who experiences this fantasy-world-come-to-life will agree: the devil's in the details. And though you won't all have backstage passes to Harry's private world, any visitor attending the park will appreciate the creators' meticulous fine-tuning of the Harry Potter experience.
As media, we were broken up into a small groups, just like first year Hogwarts students, and our VIP tour guides took care of our every need (including holding our bags while we rode the rides). We were even given individual buttons on our press passes. Mine was the official Hogwarts seal, as used by Professor Dumbledore when sending 'official Hogwarts mail.' I have also seen buttons featuring Hedwig, Harry's owl. My husband got a Sorting Hat, and I believe I even saw a Hippogriff button. Too cool.
To add to the magic, when we arrived in our room, we discovered a chocolate frog just like in the films (this one was inanimate however,) and it came with a Salazar Slytherin card. Kids loved that. (So did I!)
Today's events centered around experiencing the park, and we had opportunities to meet with Thierry Coup, VP of creative development for Universal Creative and the brains behind the Harry Potter project at Universal's Islands of Adventure.
Above is video of a one-on-one interview opportunity we had with Thierry, who was also the creative force behind the Spider-Man virtual reality attraction at the park.
Tonight, we get to enjoy Butterbeer...we will update you on the results.
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