A Double Dose of Harry Potter Planned for Universal Theme Parks

LOS ANGELES -- Harry Potter transformed Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park in Florida when he arrived in 2010. Now Universal hopes the boy wizard can shower its aging adjacent park with some of the same magic.

Universal on Monday confirmed what theme park bloggers have long been reporting: One of the marquee spots in J.K. Rowling’s fiction and the subsequent films -- Diagon Alley, a wizarding shopping district hidden behind London’s Leaky Cauldron pub -- will open at Universal Studios Florida in 2014.

Universal gave few details except to say that visitors will be able to move between the Wizarding World sections of the two abutting parks by train (the Hogwarts Express, obviously) and that Diagon Alley will include themed shops, a restaurant and a ride set inside Gringotts Wizarding Bank.

To make room for the expansion, Universal Studios Florida last year closed its signature “Jaws” boat ride. The studios property still attracts more than six million visitors a year, but it has suffered until recently from outdated rides built around films like “Twister,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and “Terminator 2.”

When Comcast took control of NBCUniversal in early 2011 from General Electric, Universal’s parks started investing in much-needed new rides. Universal Studios Florida, for instance, recently opened attractions based on the “Transformers” movie franchise and “Despicable Me.”

But Harry Potter, the theme park rights to which are owned by Warner Brothers, is Universal’s big draw. Attendance at Islands of Adventure soared 30 percent in 2011, to about 7.7 million visitors, compared with 2010. Wizarding World areas are now being added to Universal parks in California and Japan.