Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Universal Orlando Reveals New Details on Gringotts Ride



Today was the big release of new details and photos of Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringotts, the "revolutionary new attraction" that will be the centerpiece of the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley.

The attraction follows the story from the books and film where Harry, Ron and Hermione break into Gringotts bank in order to find a horcrux needed to defeat Lord Voldemort.  One part of the attraction takes visitors through the marble hall seen above, lined with goblin bankers hard at work.


Universal Studios Florida released several images of the goblin bankers up close.  The main banker is seen above - each of these characters is a full animatronic that looks really great in action.  Here's a couple more photos just released of the banker goblins:


Since a great deal of the ride takes place deep inside the vaults there is only so much of the queue to show off, at least without giving too much away.  The park did released the following photo of the load station, which looks equally amazing:


As you can see there really was no detail left unchecked.  The ride vehicles, as expected, will fit twelve passengers at a time for a ride into the vaults.  Well before they even even arrive at this loading station, visitors will marvel at a 60 foot, Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon atop the entrance to the attraction.  That's going to be pretty amazing!


These last two images are from what I believe are filmed segments of the attraction.  Once in the vaults riders will encounter both Bellatrix and Lord Voldemort, as well as that nasty dragon.  Guests can expect only the latest and greatest from this ride - the park is using "360-degree themed sets, 4K digital high-definition animation, state-of-the-art 3-D Infitec projection systems and live special effects" to bring the story to life.


“Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts will change the way you think about theme park attractions,” said Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Creative. “We’ve created an entirely new type of ride that propels guests into the story like never before, and guests will remember it long after their visit to Diagon Alley.”

And right at the top of the park's press release about the ride, as if it get it out of the way first, there's still no official opening date for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley.  They only say it will be announced at a "later date."  So we shall continue to wait on that big news.


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