On any given day, herds of people can be seen shuffling through the faux Diagon Alley at Universal Studios’ Wizarding World of Harry Potter, anxiously awaiting to ride The Forbidden Journey and perhaps buy a chocolate frog or two. Harry Potter fans all over the world have mourned the end of an era, but the fun doesn’t have to stop just because the books and movies have.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando has proven to be a hot spot since the day it opened in June of 2010. Now Hogwarts can be experienced firsthand, not just with a strong imagination.
Rides such as The Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge are just a few of the attractions at this section of Islands of Adventure. Theme park-goers can also sip a few rounds of butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks, meet Ollivander of Ollivander’s wand shop and explore the shelves of Honeydukes Sweetshop.
There have been rumors that Universal is expanding the Wizarding World due to sightings of little orange construction flags near the back of the park. Although, Universal Media personnel were unable to confirm any of these rumors.
In other wizarding news, registration for the Pottermore website, which is a virtual continuation of the wizarding world, will open at the end of October. Viewers can create their own potions, learn more about magical creatures, post artwork and further explore all things Harry Potter. It is more of an online community, where Potter fans can unite under one virtual roof and discuss Potter gossip together.
“The site is very interactive,” said Sarah Brick, a freshman communications major who was a Beta tester for the site. “It’s divided by books, then chapters. Each chapter has its own games and activities. J.K. Rowling also appears in several videos, explaining things that maybe people were left wondering about in the books.”
In August, a small number of site-viewers were asked to be Beta testers to scope out any issues the website may have before the site is completely open to the public. In order to become a Beta tester, these hardcore fans had to wake up at the crack of dawn, get their email account into the system, then refresh the web page over and over to ensure that they would get a set position as a tester.
So many people tried to do so that the website became too crowded, and many people were not able to receive early registration. Upon getting their email accounts on the exclusive list, they had to complete the Magical Quill Challenge. For an entire week, a new question was posted each day, and if all the questions were successfully answered, only then could one become a Pottermore Beta tester.
“My friend and I had to wait for the page to refresh practically every 15 seconds. We were on the computer for nearly seven hours before we finally got our emails onto the site around six in the morning,” said Brick.
Unlike many other Potter-based websites that fans created, J.K. Rowling herself played a huge role in helping to produce Pottermore.
“The digital generation will be able to enjoy a safe, unique online reading experience built around the Harry Potter books,” said Rowling during her promotional video for Pottermore. “I will be sharing additional information I have been hoarding for years about the world of Harry Potter.”
Rowling and Scholastic have also published a few supplementary books. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages were books that Harry read during school at Hogwarts, mentioned in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, but now they are available in bookstores for anyone and everyone to buy. They feature fictional drawings and notes on the sides of the pages that Harry, Ron and Hermione wrote, giving the books a more personal touch.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a collection of children’s stories mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is another fictional book that Rowling decided to publish. It highlights famous children’s stories of the wizarding world, such as Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump and The Tale of the Three Brothers.
Even though there will not be any more midnight book releases or movie premieres, Harry Potter still generates a sense of wonder. The wizarding world will never seize to allow muggles into its magical realm.
“I’m thinking about getting an ‘expecto patronum’ tattoo,” said Brick. “I just feel like I can relate everything in my life to Harry Potter somehow. It truly is a way of life.”
Natalie Hicks can be reached at natalie.hicks@spartans.ut.edu.
There is no indication that there are a billion potter fans worldwide. Especially seeing as how the entire series has only sold 400 million copies. Since there are 7 books, if each fan just bought one complete series you’re looking at less than 60 million people. I love Harry Potter, hate Pottermore, but don’t misrepresent the scale of Pottermania. It makes all of us look like ignorant fanboys.
Pottermore itself is a cheap solution to JK’s desire to stop writing Potterbooks. Each chapter is a three level picture with just the smallest amount of information added, most of which has already been told in some other forum, whether it be a Q&A or whatnot. ChaCha On!
Phil…the magical quill challenge was up for a whole week. i woke up at 1 in the morning one day and finally was able to get into the site at 7 am. And if you think about how many Harry Potter fans there are worldwide (like over a billion) one million beta testers isn’t that much. And Katie… I am a beta tester, and the site is AMAZING not crazy. and everything J.K.Rowling turns her hand to has to do with Harry Potter, which is why Harry Potter fans are so eager to buy them. And the HP set tours are expensive because that’s where the magic took place. You are clearly not a Harry Potter fan, and do not realize that the stars walked through that set, acted in that set, and created the Harry Potter movies on that set for ten years.
something is wrong with the whole set up .. good intensions perhaps but. there is an underlying feeling which, in basic terms is inappropriate, it would seem quite rightly so, potter fans are willing to embrace everything and anything that JK turns her hand to – BETA has a fab rep, but complications and stalling a world wide audience is – to be polite – crazy. On a different note – having checked out the prices on the opening of WB studios for the HP sets (which they would and have destroyed as with other movies) making a massive buck out of those coupled with the revenue from the movies is criminal – please someone stop this – its wrong
ermmmmm….. no ……….u need to get a life i was up early that morning i answered 1 questions wrong by one word i didnt get in
You only had to do the magical quill challenge one day to get into beta. Also, they let 1 million people in, so it’s not all that exclusive.