Tag: the wizarding world of harry potter

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Wrapping up Winter Break with The Wizarding World?

January 2, 2012 at 4:22 PM | by | Comments (0)

Not only have we entered 2012 this week, but it's also the last few days of winter break for schoolchildren. If we're talking about college-age kids, then they've got a little longer. Regardless, this is the last dash time for family vacations at the theme parks in Orlando, FL...specifically at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

We've been a few times now since it opened 1.5 years ago, and each time we return with photo galleries and tips aplenty. If you're about to jet down to hit the park or are contemplating a last-minute mini-vacay, here's everything you need to know:

· Changes to ticket prices & ride seating
· Our complete, first-hand survival guide to the Potter park
· Photos from November 2011
· Photos of the all the FOOD
· Inside the Forbidden Journey castle & ride
· The souvenirs! Oh man, the souvenirs.
· Photos & video of the Hippogriff and Dragons roller coasters
· Even more photos (from the night before opening)

[Photo: Jaunted]

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BREAKING: Universal Studios Hollywood to Get Its Very Own Wizarding World of Harry Potter

December 1, 2011 at 3:32 PM | by | Comments (0)

Not gonna lie—our June 2010 visit to the opening of Universal Studios Orlando's Wizarding World of Harry Potter is definitely a highlight of our travels from the last few years. To some that might sound perfectly stupid since we're adults and can just as easily jet off to Phuket as to Orlando, but to those who've been and also found themselves similarly taken in, the sentiment is shared.

That's why today's news that Universal Studios Hollywood will get a Wizarding World of its own in 2014 or 2015 is so thrilling. That means, if all goes according to plan, that in a span of five years the United States will have become home to two Harry Potterlands selling chocolate frogs, running roller coasters and otherwise thumbing their nose at the UK, which doesn't even have one to call its own.

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Celebrate the Harry Potter Films One More Time at Universal Orlando's Wizarding World

November 11, 2011 at 12:24 PM | by | Comments (0)

As the final Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 makes its way to the DVD today, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando is hosting “A Celebration of the Harry Potter Films” this weekend.

Special vacation packages (which were sold out an hour after going on sale this summer) will give fans a chance to attend Q&A sessions and autograph signing events with Harry Potter cast members, including everyone's favorite ginger Rupert Grint. There will also be red carpet arrivals, galas and screenings of all eight movies at the AMC Universal Cineplex 20 at Universal CityWalk.

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What You Need to Know as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Celebrates One Year

June 20, 2011 at 5:27 PM | by | Comments (0)

Has it already been a year then? Universal Studios' The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park just celebrated its first anniversary, after opening last June to much fan fare and continuting right through the winter and spring with crazy crowds. We were there on opening day, and although we're adults who travel around the world all year, being in the midst of that excitement still counts as one of the coolest things we did in 2010. The Wizarding World absolutely has the Jaunted seal of approval.

So, if you're heading down this summer for an icey mug of Butterbeer, a ride on the Chinese Fireball Dragon and maybe even a chocolate frog, there's a few things you need to know one year in:

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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Celebrates Its Millionth Mug of Butterbeer

January 6, 2011 at 12:29 PM | by | Comments (3)

Who would've guessed that, prior to the Harry Potter phenomenon, so many people would be willing to shell out $13 each for a frothy souvenir mug full of a sweet swill that tastes like a cross between butterscotch and shortbread cookies? Butterbeer, a favorite warming drink taken straight from the Harry Potter books, has been adapted as a cold and frozen drink at Universal Studios' The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and today they announced that they've now sold over 1 million Butterbeers to visitors since the theme park-within-a-theme park opened back in mid-June, 2010.

According to our friends at MuggleNet, the occasion is being celebrated today as the park staff hand out vouchers for free Butterbeer to Wizarding World visitors.

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Harry Potter Has His Own Plane and You Can Fly on It

September 15, 2010 at 3:44 PM | by | Comment (1)

Okay, so we don't know how we missed this back in June—probably because we were too busy reporting on the theme park opening itself—but AirTran partnered up with Universal Studios to promote the newly-opened Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando with some new livery. The paintjob went on one of the airline's Boeing 717s, and although there's not Harry Potter on it, his hand is pictured almost coming out of the jet's engine to case magic from a wand pointing towards the nose.

We think we learned long ago that flying in an airplane isn't magic, but this is still a cute livery idea. The disembodied hand is a little unnerving, perhaps AirTran should have paid a little more to get Harry's likeness up on the tail? If Southwest can put Sports Illustrated supermodel Bar Refaeli on the side of one of their jets, then AirTran should be able to get a teenage boy on theirs.

We think there needs to be yet another Harry Potter movie: Snapes on a Plane!

If you're flying to Orlando International Airport anytime soon, keep an eye open for the magical wand plane and let us know if the hand creeps you out too.

[Photo: FlyingJ21]

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Maintaining a Wizarding World is Expensive: Universal Ups Ticket Prices

August 16, 2010 at 9:01 AM | by | Comments (0)

Is your theme park budget kind of hurting now that Mickey Mouse raised prices to access his kingdom? If so, you’re going to be a little short if you also want to visit Shrek, Spiderman, and Harry Potter as Universal Studios has gone the way of Disney when it comes to ticket prices.

Reacting to the parks right down the interstate, Universal Studios Orlando raised the price of a single park ticket to a whopping $82 per adult. No luck to save money by purchasing multi-day tickets either, as those passes are going up around $5 on average, depending on the length of the ticket. It’s pretty much across the board whether you’re ordering online ahead of time or waiting in line at the ticket booth—so do a little online banking to ensure you have enough cash for you and the crew before you leave for the park.

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'Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey' Ride Malfunctions; Is Voldemort to Blame?

Where: Universal Studios [map], Orlando, FL, United States
July 26, 2010 at 8:41 AM | by | Comments (0)


Hogwarts at sunset. This is where the Forbidden Journey ride is housed

This weekend, all was not so magical at the Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure theme park when the newest and most anticipated ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, malfunctioned and stopped on Friday night, leaving 138 riders briefly trapped.

The ride, an experience coaster within Hogwarts Castle at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, only opened to the public a little more than a month ago. According to CBS4 in South Florida, the ride suffered a technical glitch, and when the ride stopped, a rider even panicked and called 911. All riders were quickly evacuated without injuries and the ride resumed regular operations Saturday morning.

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A Complete Survival Guide to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Where: Universal Studios [map], Orlando, FL, United States
June 22, 2010 at 11:44 AM | by | Comment (1)

Thinking of heading to the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter park at Universal Studios Orlando? You better be ready to sweat, wait in long lines, and yet enjoy it all along. But still, it's a good idea to do your homework for something like this, which will see record visitors for the next few months at least and which will try your spending power to the max.

We've been to the park many times now over a period of several days, from quiet evenings to raucous mornings with 2-hour Forbidden Journey waits, and we've come away with a slew of priceless tips for getting everything you want out of the park with the least amount of stress.

Jaunted's Quick and Dirty Survival Guide for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter:

· Give the Wizarding World two half-days; go once early in the morning when it opens to enjoy the rides before the long lines hit, and go again around dusk, as everything seems far more magical lit up for night (not to mention that the temperature is cooler).
· The first place people rush to is Hogwarts Castle, for the Forbidden Journey experience. Instead, go to the Dragon Challenge roller coaster in the morning when there aren't any lines and you can ride both the Chinese Fireball and Hungarian Horntail right away.

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The Official Opening of The Wizarding World Comes with a Nine-Hour Line

Where: Universal Studios [map], Orlando, FL, United States
June 18, 2010 at 5:12 PM | by | Comments (0)

And that's a wrap for both this week and for the long period of waiting that Harry Potter fans have endured. This morning at 10am EST, the Hogsmeade archway at Universal Studios' new Wizarding World of Harry Potter finally allowed regular muggles to pass beneath it.

The story of the time however, is not that Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint (Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in the movies, respectively) did the honors of opening the park, but that those who had come to be the first in, had camped out for almost twelve hours outside of the Universal Studios entrance before they were let into the park earlier this morning. Since The Wizarding World only has a capacity of somewhere near 9,000 people, the almost mile-long line (a 9-hour wait!) of guests barely had a dent made in it.

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Forget Corn Dogs! The Wizarding World Sells Cauldron Cakes and Sugar Quills

Where: Universal Studios [map], Orlando, FL, United States
June 18, 2010 at 4:05 PM | by | Comments (0)

If there's one thing you'll learn from a visit to Universal Studios' Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it's that if all the fanciful food they serve was actually part of the regular diet of Harry Potter and friends, that they'd have lost their teeth long ago.

As you might be able to imagine of a place that looks like Halloween settled down for the long haul, the majority of the specialty food items at The Wizarding World are sugar monsters. To counteract this, head into the Three Broomsticks for traditional British fish & chips and Scotch pies. Or there's always the Hog's Head pub, with it's own unique brew.

We did manage to put our camera down to try a few goodies ourselves, and so how did we like them? Well...

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Why 'Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey' Beats All Other Amusement Rides

Where: Universal Studios [map], Orlando, FL, United States
June 18, 2010 at 1:20 PM | by | Comments (0)

This is something of a personal tale, a yarn that spins from a childhood growing up within a stone's throw of the famous Cedar Point amusement park and reaches its zenith inside of a British castle in Florida. Yes we're speaking of Hogwarts and their new experience ride Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey. It just might be the best amusement park ride currently offered anywhere on earth.

This is a difficult thing for us to say, partially owing to our Cedar Point training—only the tallest and fastest roller coasters for us—and because we are not obsessive fanatics about the Harry Potter series. Sure, we've read all seven books and really enjoyed them, but you won't see us sporting a wool Gryffindor cape in 90-degree Orlando weather. But back to the ride and its awesomeness...

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