While there have been many articles written about the multimillion-dollar questions of how much did Harry Potter world cost to build, who is making money off it, and the value of J.K Rowling’s franchise — very little has been written about the actual construction of the Harry Potter theme park. Sure, the financial aspects are fascinating and worth analyzing, but they don’t tell us much about what it actually took to build this world class tourism destination.
How much did harry potter world cost to build
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened in Universal Orlando on June 18, 2010. The land includes a collection of rides and attractions based on the fictional world created by author J.K. Rowling in her Harry Potter book series.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was built at Universal Orlando Resort, a theme park owned by NBCUniversal that also operates Wet ‘n Wild Water Park and Universal Studios Florida.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a theme park located within Universal Studios Florida, one of the parks of Universal Orlando Resort. The park officially opened to the public on June 18, 2010.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has a total area of 100 acres (40 ha), including the land for Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay and Springfield. The total cost of the project was approximately $400 million.[1]
The project began in 2005 as part of a planned expansion to Islands of Adventure, which would have included an additional theme park based on Jurassic Park.[2] However, when Universal decided to instead build another park in partnership with Warner Bros., it decided to use some elements from its Jurassic Park plans for this new park.[3] In late 2007, it was revealed that this new addition would be themed after the Harry Potter series.[4][5] On May 29, 2008, Universal Parks & Resorts announced an agreement with J.K. Rowling for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.[6] Construction began on July 21, 2009,[7] and was completed on March 31, 2010[8]. The grand opening ceremony took place on June 18
In June 2010, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened its gates at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida. The new area was a monumental accomplishment for the park and for the fans who had been waiting for years to step inside Hogwarts Castle, ride the Flight of the Hippogriff and sip pumpkin juice at Hogsmeade Village.
But how much did it cost? According to estimates from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: A Fan’s Guide to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley by Scott Andrews, the total cost of building both parks was $265 million — not including salaries or operating costs.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened on June 18, 2010. The park was built at a cost of $265 million and took more than two years to complete. The park is divided into two sections: Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.
Hogsmeade (the original part of the park) includes Hogwarts Castle, the Flight of the Hippogriff roller coaster, Ollivanders Wand Shop, Honeydukes Sweet Shop and other shops from the books and movies. You can also get a butterbeer at Three Broomsticks Restaurant or Hog’s Head Pub.
Diagon Alley (added in 2014) features Escape from Gringotts ride, as well as Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes joke shop and other stores that appeared in Deathly Hallows Part 2 movie.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort is home to two theme parks, a water park and numerous hotels. The entire complex opened in 2010, with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade opening in June and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley opening in July.
How much did it cost?
The total estimated cost for all four parks was $1 billion. That’s about $500 million for each section. The individual sections were budgeted at between $200 million and $300 million each. The total land area is 1,800 acres (7 square kilometers).
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort opened to the public on June 18, 2010. On this date, the first Hogwarts Express train transported guests from the Hogsmeade station at Islands of Adventure to Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Florida.
The official opening ceremony took place two days later on June 20 with a special appearance by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling herself!
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is located within Universal Orlando Resort on both sides of the Universal Studios Florida theme park and adjacent to Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a themed area at the Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida. The area, which was designed by Universal Creative and opened on June 18, 2010, is based on the Harry Potter series of books written by J. K. Rowling.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is set in both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, the two main settings for the first four books (and films). The area also includes a Hogwarts Express train that travels between both locations.
The land was built over an existing Gentlemen’s Club known as The Lost Continent Water Park, which closed permanently on September 5, 2009.[1] It became part of Islands of Adventure when that park opened in 1999.[2] In May 2010 it was announced that there would be an additional expansion to Islands of Adventure called “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” taking up about 25 acres (10 ha; 40,000 m2) adjacent to The Lost Continent.[3]
In addition to rides and retail outlets themed to the books and films,[4][5][6] there are also live shows featuring animatronic puppets that perform close-up magic tricks,[7][8] along with other entertainment throughout the day such as
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a themed area at Universal Studios Florida, which opened on June 18, 2010. The area was designed by Universal Creative from the ground up just for Harry Potter.
The Hogsmeade portion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter features shops and restaurants inspired by those found in the books and films, including Honeydukes, Ollivanders wand shop, Zonko’s Joke Shop, and more. The Forbidden Journey ride is located in this section.
The Diagon Alley portion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter features shops and restaurants inspired by those found in the books and films, including Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Gringotts Money Exchange and Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment. Three rides are located here: Escape from Gringotts (banked coaster), Dragon Challenge (double launch roller coaster) and Flight of the Hippogriff (family roller coaster).
Universal’s Islands of Adventure also has a small section called “The Lost Continent”, which contains shops and restaurants based on characters from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort opened on July 8, 2010. It is located in the Universal Studios Florida theme park, and was built on the former site of Amity Island from Steven Spielberg’s Jaws which closed in 2007. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is the second park to open at Universal Orlando Resort, and it opened a year before the Tokyo resort.
The park features two rides: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (a 3-D ride in which guests wear special glasses) and Flight of the Hippogriff (a roller coaster). There are also shops that sell merchandise based on the books and movies.
The park has been wildly popular since it opened, with long lines throughout the day to get into it.
Universal Orlando Resort opened the Wizarding World of Harry Potter on June 18, 2010.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal’s Islands of Adventure was the first theme park to feature the Harry Potter franchise. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Florida opened in June 2016, and the original Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood opened in April 2016.
Universal Orlando announced the expansion in 2007, with an expected opening date in 2009. However, construction was delayed due to logistical issues with building in two parks simultaneously and a decision by Warner Bros. to move some filming from London back to Leavesden Studios in England. The second phase of construction began in October 2010 after park construction was completed on Transformers: The Ride – 3D and The Simpsons Ride, while the first phase continued until 2012 with Diagon Alley being built on top of Seuss Landing.