Play-and-Stay Blog

As anyone who has read this blog or spoken to me for over 25 seconds will know, I am very excited about the upcoming Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park. My excitement has now reached a level which forces me to obsessively scour the internet for any news on what is clearly going to be the single happiest, funnest and potteriest place on earth. Today’s fevered clicking has actually uncovered some legitimate news which may be of interest to the general public rather than just me.

Firstly, Universal’s Flying Unicorn coaster is now hidden behind construction walls. Apparently this kid-friendly coaster is being redesigned to fit in with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Considering unicorns in the “potterverse” don’t fly I should imagine that the ride will become a hippogriff or thestral theme coaster. As the coaster is aimed at children a hippogriff seems the more likely choice, thestrals are a bit scary after all.

Elsewhere, Hogwarts itself seems to be well underway. A gargantuan framework has been constructed and speculation is rife as to what will be housed inside. Rumours have been fuelled by patents recently filed in the US. They describe a very exciting interactive dark ride which uses RFID technology to allow guests to cast spells with specially designed wands. These spells will apparently effect the outcome of the ride, very very exciting stuff (and pleasingly similar to my predictions made months ago). Although these patents have been filed that does not necessarily mean that Universal intend to use them, they could well be a red herring but this is doubtful as there is little evidence of any other conflicting patents being filed. Chances are, in my humble opinion, that the interactive RFID wand ride will go ahead, and that is most certainly good news.

Other similar attractions, such as Magiquest in South Carolina allow guests to purchase and customise their wands. This allows guests to have a perfect souvenir of their day and the wands interact with various objects outside of the attraction, a nice touch that I doubt Universal will have failed to notice. The potential for a highly interactive Hogwarts environment is the best news I have heard since they invented crustless bread. The Various applications of the RFID wand are equally awesome. Fans of this blog will have no doubt heard about Alton Towers Resort’s use of RFID bracelets to track and film guests in their park allowing them to create customised movies of guests days out. I would not be surprised if Universal had similar intentions, after all they could have simply used IR or Bluetooth® in the wands design. The use of RFID suggests (to me) something far more impressive than simple point and click interaction.

The RFID wands are not the only exciting new technology being used in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Kuka, the designers of the robotic arms behind Islands of Adventure’s breathtaking The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man simulator have apparently granted exclusivity on the use of their newest and most sophisticated arm to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This is exciting enough in itself, the Kuka arms really are the Rolls Royce’s of the robotic arm industry. Having personally ridden the Spider-Man simulator several times myself, I can honestly say it is the best simulator I have ever ridden and I’ve been on more than my fair share. We are talking about technology far more advanced than those overpriced space-shuttle simulators you get at upmarket games arcades. Kuka’s arms produce a totally immersive, believable experience when combined with the correct visuals. This impressive technology has been the subject of a great deal of online chatter. Some have suggested that it will be used to create a simulation of Mr. Weasley’s flying Ford Anglia. Others have suggested that it will be used in combination with released and hastily retracted designs for a flying bench type ride which takes guests to a variety of locations from the second novel including the Basilisk’s Lair, Aragog the Acromantula’s nest and the Forbidden Forest.

Needless to say I’m ridiculously excited about the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Not only will it be a theme park based on my favourite series of books ever, it will also use cutting edge technology thus catering for both my love of all things Potter and my technolust. Patents for a “punch-through waterfall” and “transforming scenery” have only served to further inflame my childlike excitement. See you at the front of the queue sometime in late ‘09.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 3:23 pm and is filed under Theme Parks, Alton Towers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.