Snoops reveal Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park secrets

Some industrious Internet snooping through public records has revealed the names of several rides, restaurants and shops at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the theme-park-within-a-theme-park that Universal Studios Orlando has sought to keep secret.

Theme park fansite IOA Central turned up a series of trademarks related to the new Harry Potter theme park — filed by Warner Bros. in May — during a search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office website.

The most intriguing find: The large ride under construction at the back of the Florida theme park will be called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Universal Studios describes the ride as a state-of-the-art attraction that will “bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life.”

Two other existing rides will be re-themed to fit into the Wizarding World:

* The Flying Unicorn kiddie coaster becomes the Flight of the Hippogriff

* The twin-tracked Dueling Dragons steel coaster becomes Dragon Challenge

While a few details of the 20-acre land have been revealed — including the themed areas of Hogsmeade Village and the Forbidden Forest as well as a walk-through Hogwarts Castle — the trademark search divulged the names of previously secret restaurants and retail shops.

Among the restaurants:
* Three Broomsticks
* Magic Neep
* Butterbeer

Among the stores:
* Dervish and Banges
* Zonko’s
* Owl Post
* Ollivanders
* Honeydukes

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is scheduled to open in 2010 at Islands of Adventure theme park, part of the Universal Studios Orlando resort.

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland. Follow Funland on Twitter and Facebook.

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer

Image: Universal Studios Orlando

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 8:30 am by Brady MacDonald and is filed under Family & Kids, Florida, Islands of Adventure, Southern States, Theme Parks, Universal Studios Florida. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.