The Wizarding World heads to California

Photo by CubedLink

Step aside Orlando. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is about to get a second location! The first location in Orlando, Florida at Universal Parks and Resorts’ Islands of Adventure has attracted more than 7 million people to the park and was the cause of a 36% boost in attendance in the opening three months of the year in 2011. Although nobody can officially talk about the matter yet, it seems as though this second location, to be placed at Universal Hollywood, is practically a done deal.

"A contract between Comcast Corp.-owned Universal and Warner Bros., which made the "Harry Potter" movies and controls licensing rights to author J.K. Rowling's books about the boy wizard, is being finalized and should be done within the next few weeks, the people said."

One of the main issues to deal with now is where exactly would the Wizarding World be placed at Universal Hollywood. The park is already strapped for land and does not have enough room to house Hogwarts Castle and the wizarding town of Hogsmeade. We'll have to wait to see if they somehow try to squeeze it in or if current rides and attractions will have to be taken down in order to make room. But don't get excited just yet, west coast Potter fans! This replica of the wildly popular Orlando, Florida park wont be up and running until at least 2015.

Source: Los Angeles Times

If you would like to take a look at photos from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, you can take a look at my two sets of photos from my own experiences there during July of 2010 located inside my flickr. Set 1 and Set 2