The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

ushioz · Post time 9-2-2010 12:04 AM

Wizarding World of Harry Potter will open in spring 2010 at Universal Orlando
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is set to open in spring 2010, Universal announced today.

'Wizarding World Of Harry Potter' Park: We've Got The Entire Scoop On Ollivander's Wand Shop

Posted 1/28/10 3:44 pm ET by Terri Schwartz in Hot Stuff, Movie News, Movies, Videos

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is still months away from a set opening date, but that doesn't stop us from being excited for it. Today we were lucky enough to chat with Thierry Coup, the vice president of creative development for Universal Creative who is heading the Wizarding World project about one of the more exciting elements of the park: Ollivander's Wand Shop.

Much like everything else about Wizarding World, Coup and theworkers over at Universal are working as hard as they can to keepeverything about the park as close to the books and films as possible.They teased back in Septemberthatthe wand shop would be an “incredible interactive experience” where,like in the "Harry Potter" universe, the wand picks the wizard, and itseems as though they've succeeded.

When the guest enters the wand shop to speak with the wand keeper,he or she will be asked a series of questions to start the matchingprocess.

"The questions that will be asked from the wand keeper to the wizardare very individual, very tailored to each person based on their birthdate and other questions which will determine the kind of wood and kindof narrow down the choices of wands," Coup shared.
From there, the wand keeper will offer the guest a series of wandoptions until the right match is found. Like in the "Harry Potter"story, a series of "magical mishaps" will occur before the right wandis found.

"One of [the effects could be], as you're asked to wave the wand,may be wilting flowers. As you're asked to water the flowers actuallyis the reverse effect may happen," Coup said. "Lightening, thunder, wehave a whole series of effects. We want enough variety so everyone getsa very unique, individual experience."
It will be obvious once the proper match is found, though, Coupsaid. "Ultimately the right [wand] will be found — will choose thewizard — and then will have this mystical magical effect, very similarto the film where you have the light going on the desk and other thingshappening, whether it's music voices and things that make it very clearthat this is the right wand for you," he said.

Even though the Ollivander's shop is technically a shoppingexperience, actually buying anything in the shop is not a requirement.If a guest goes through a wand-selecting experience, they are notobligated to buy the wand that "chose" them. According to Coup, theexperience is as much of a draw to the shop as buying the wands.
But even though it sounds like it should take a while to go throughthe process, Coup estimated the wand-choosing experience should onlytake two to five minutes per guest. Since the shop stays true to thebooks and films, Ollivander's will be very "intimate" — meaningprobably only 25 people can fit in at a time. Especially within thefirst few months of the park opening there will probably be a wait toget into the shop, but it seems like it would be well worth the time.
Coup also acknowledged that not all visitors will want to go throughthe wand-selecting process and said there are going to be otherwand-purchasing options available. There are 13 Ollivander's wandvarieties created by the "Harry Potter" films' production designerStuart Craig and author J.K. Rowlingthat can be purchased, as well as 12 wands from Noble Collectionand a build-a-wand area geared towards younger guests. Visitors canselect items to put in the core of the wand and choose the wood to maketheir own unique wand. However, Coup and Universal weren't able torecreate all the elements of the "Harry Potter" wands.
"It probably won't be a phoenix feather," Coup said about thedifferent items that could go into the wands. "We're looking for thatstill."

One of the big concerns that "Harry Potter" fans had when it wasfirst announced that the Ollivander's shop would be in the park'sversion of Hogsmeade Village (conceptual drawing pictured above) wasthat, in the story, Ollivander's Wand Shop is actually in the Londonwizarding shopping area, Diagon Alley. Coup and the folks at Universalclarified the situation, stating that putting the Ollivander's inHogsmeade got Rowling's stamp of approval.
"What we have is Ollivander's Wand Shop, which is kind of an annexto the Diagon Alley wand shop and this wand keeper we have here atHogsmeade Village works for Ollivander, but he's not the Ollivander,"Coup said. "The way it was designed and fitted properly in this entirewizarding world of Harry Potter makes complete sense."