July 29, 2009
All right, I'll admit it, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. And I couldn't be more tickled that the oh-so popular wizard boy is getting his own theme park down in Orlando. Some enterprising Potter fans have unearthed the patents for some of the names of the restaurants, rides, and shops inside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The park will most likely be aimed at youngsters, but with Academy Award winner Stuart Craig on staff -- he's designed all the sets for film series so far -- it might be a cool place to check out. Though Universal Studios is determined to keep much of the plans secret before the opening in 2010, industrious Potterphiles have cracked some of mysteries behind the scenes. The most intriguing find: The large ride under construction at the back of the Florida theme park will be called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Universal Studios describes the ride as a state-of-the-art attraction that will “bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life.” Two other existing rides will be re-themed to fit into the Wizarding World:


Calling it: three times = trend. That would be the ploy of running a contest in search of some lucky SOB who'll get to partake in a super-fun gig in exchange for a good chunk of change and a larger hunk of publicity for the contest sponsor.