[Callum]

Anyone planning or want to go there when it opens on June 18th in Orlando, Florida?

There was a preview event last night and the reviews have been amazing!

There are many shops that you can’t walk in that are still interactive as you walk by. Spintwitches was probably my favorite. It has a Quidditch set with a Quaffle, two Bludgers bouncing up and down trying to get free and a Snitch that’s seen flying about the shop inside (via hologram). The level of detail here is top notch. Dogweed and Deathcap has exotic plants in the windows that move while Tomes and Scrolls has an enchanted quill that magically writes names in a book of future Hogwarts students. Other shops include Wiseacres Wizarding Equipment and Outages Cauldrons. We were told that many of the props in the window are actually from the Harry Potter movies.
Dragon’s Challenge looks great. Before you walk into the castle you walk through a forest with banners advertising the challenge and see the Weasley’s crashed car. Once you enter the que you walk into the Champion’s Tent with the Goblet of Fire in the center. The goblet has smoke/mist shooting up out of it lit by blue LEDs from inside. You then see the Triwizard’s cup, along with the 3 golden eggs. You then enter a hallway filled with floating candles above you. This was probably my favorite room of this ride. The rest of the line is very similar to the Dueling Dragon’s line, except at the end you choose to battle between the Chinese Fireball or the Hungarian Horntail. Once in the station there are shadows of dragons flying projected onto the tent above you.
The que for Flight of the Hippogriff takes you past the pumpkin patch where you hear Hagrid warning students to stay out of the forest. You then pass Hagrid’s hut which looks almost lifesize. The station is filled with ropes/tools etc. As you leave the station there is a HUGE animatronic of a Hippogriff on his nest. He bows at the train as you pass by (we of course bowed back). Let me tell you, this thing looks amazing. The feathers look real and I’m pretty sure it blinked.
Overall I was very very much impressed. This is obviously the first night so I’m sure there are bound to be things added (hopefully it snows outside). The costumes for the employees all look great. I think my favorite are the Forbidden Journey costumes. They are full black robes just like in the movies. It’s just an entire experience that anyone who knows anything about Harry Potter will fall in love with.