Huffington Post — The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley nears completion at the Universal Orlando Resort

Jim Hill

11 years ago

There's not a stitch of clothes for sale at Madam Malkin's
Robes for All Occasions. Not yet anyway. And the shelves at Borgin and Burkes
are still bare as well.

But none of that matters. Even though The Wizarding World of
Harry Potter – Diagon Alley is still basically a construction site, there's really
only one word that describes this soon-to-open addition to the Universal
Orlando Resort. And that word is magical.

Though visitors to Universal Studios Florida will have to
wait 'til Summer before they can then grab a cone at Florean Fortescue's
Ice-Cream Parlour or discover what's hidden in the shadows of Knockturn Alley,
a few lucky reporters & bloggers got to go behind those 5 stories-tall London
facades which shield this new "land" from prying Muggle eyes
yesterday. And while onsite, they also got the chance to talk with key members
of Universal Creative. Who have been working with Warner Bros. Entertainment on
this USF expansion ever since The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade first
opened over at Islands of Adventure back in June of 2010.

"Seriously, Hogsmeade had only been open a week when we
first began talking with about ways we could possibly expand the Wizarding
World," recalled Thierry Coup, senior vice president of Universal
Creative. "I mean, we'd had such a great time working with Stuart Craig
and the production team from the Harry Potter films. And there was so much more
to the world that J.K. Rowling had created which was worth exploring. So we just
had to revisit this property."

Mind you, when it came to deciding which elements should be
included as part of Wizarding World – Phase Two, Thierry and the crew at
Universal Creative had a lot of feedback from passionate Potter fans to work
with.

"It was actually kind of funny. These people would
first tell us how much they loved what we'd done with Hogsmeade, how authentic
we'd made the place look and feel," recalled Thierry Coup, senior vice
president of Universal Creative. "But then — with their very next breath
— these Potter fans would then begin talking about all of the other things
from the books & the movies that they wished that we'd included as part of
the Wizarding World. Places like Diagon Alley and King's Cross Station. Or how
they didn't just want to get their picture taken in front of the Hogwarts
Express. But — rather — they wanted to get on that train and go for a ride."

And what was Coup's response to comments like these? "Just wait."

Well, that wait is now nearly over. Though construction of The Wizarding World
of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley only began in June of last year, hundreds of
hard hat workers are on site right now speeding this project towards
completion.

Construction workers on green boom lifts have begun to do finishing work on
the exterior London facade of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon
Alley. Photo by Jim Hill

And you have to understand that — when it comes to this
expansion of The Wizarding World — this is very much a group effort when it
comes to the Universal Orlando Resort. So while Dale Mason — who's a VP of
Creative Development at Universal Creative. Not to mention being the executive
art director for the entire Wizarding World — are inside of the Leaky Cauldron
making sure that this restaurant / pub looks just like it did in the movies
("There's not a real brick in this entire place," Mason enthused.
"Everything you see in Diagon Alley is either modeled fiber glass, steel
or carved concrete"), Steve Jayson — the Executive Chef for the Universal
Orlando Resort — is somewhere else working behind-the-scenes. Either by designing
the kitchen for this new dining facility or by working on the menu. As Steve
and his culinary team try and put their own spin with some authentic English
dishes. Which Jayson hopes will not only please Harry Potter fans but J.K.
Rowling herself.

"We're supposedly going over to Scotland
in April to present all of our new menu items to Ms. Rowling," Steve
explained.

But between now and then, there is so, so much work that
still needs to be done. Take — for example — each of the facades within
Diagon Alley. Every one of these building fronts first has to be painted and
then have its graphic treatments applied. And once that work is done … Well,
because this super-secret Wizards-Only shopping & dining district is
supposed to be hundreds of years old, teams of effects artists then have to go
back into Diagon Alley and artificially age up the place.

"You have to understand that there's supposed to be no technology from the
modern day Muggle World back here. Diagon Alley is really set in Victorian
times. So the streets are lit by gaslight and the buildings are all supposedly
heated with wood & coal," Mason
said. "Which means that — in order to make this place look authentically
old & grimy — we then have to go back in and speckle this place with lots
of artificial soot."

A construction worker horses some decorative modeling into place on
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley's recreation of
London's Wyndham Theatre. Photo by Jim Hill

And it's not just those little touches that Universal Creative is striving to
get right. There's also Diagon Alley's big main attraction, "Harry Potter
and the Escape from Gringotts." Which is this ambitious coaster-like
attraction which will recreate one of the more memorable moments from
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part II." Not to mention that
full-sized recreation of the Hogwarts Express. Which will carry Universal
Orlando visitors from Diagon Alley over to Hogmeade (or visa versa) and provide
them views of London and the
English countryside. Not to mention a few other surprises along the way.

And speaking of surprises … There's a lot more that
Universal Orlando has yet to reveal about the world's first centrally themed,
multi-park experience. So if you'd like to stay on top of what's going on with
Diagon Alley as well as hear about the changes that are coming to Hogsmeade, then
you might want to go check out the brand-new version of The Wizarding World of
Harry Potter website.

Just keep in mind, though, that the magic is about to go
global. There's a version of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter that's nearing
completion at Universal Studios Japan (In fact, Thierry Coup will be flying
over to Osaka later this month.
Where he'll then spend ten days straight riding that theme park's version of
"Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" as Thierry fine-tunes this
high tech thrill ride). Not to mention the Potter-themed project that's about
to rise on the Upper Lot at Universal Studios Hollywood.

"But what's great about all of these other Harry Potter-themed things that
are going into Osaka & Hollywood is that they're all going to have their own unique elements. Things
that you can only see & experience if you go to that specific theme park,"
Coup concluded. "Like Diagon Alley & Hogsmeade. The only place that
you'll get to experience this version of The Wizarding World — which is all
tied together with its very own working version of the Hogwarts Express — is here
at the Universal Orlando Resort."