SnitchSeeker got a chance to exclusively tour around Hogsmeade village at Universal Studios Hollywood yesterday.
We were escorted by Alan Gilmore, art director for the Harry Potter films and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. He showed us what’s new and different at this Hogsmeade, opening April 7 at Universal Studios Hollywood, versus the Hogsmeade at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida.
We weren't allowed to take photos inside the gate, so here’s a rundown of what we saw that’s different:
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Shop Locations
Ollivanders has moved across the street in the Hollywood Hogsmeade, and features two rooms for guests to have their wand choosing experience. It also features an extended queue, the back of which leads to The Three Broomsticks patio dining area.
A new street has been added behind the Owl Post featuring four facades – The Magic Neep (in front of which is a cart selling Pumpkin Juice, among other items), an as-yet-unnamed cauldron shop, Brews and Stews café and Dominic Maestro’s music shop. The scale and spacing on this side street offers a nice view of the Hogwarts Express train station and, as Alan Gilmore says, “It has a nice proper village feel.”
Brews and Stews has a snowman cake on display in its window, similar to the one featured in Sorcerer’s Stone. Also, while there is a Dominic Maestro’s in the Orlando Hogsmeade, it is up on a second floor, whereas the Hollywood version is on the ground floor. The display in the window, which activates with interactive wand use, is pretty much the same as this one from Orlando:
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New Shops
Gladrags Wizardwear is located where you would normally find Ollivanders situated in the Orlando Hogsmeade (plus the Gladrags shop in Orlando is in Diagon Alley). Hermione Granger’s Yule Ball gown and Viktor Krum’s tuxedo can be seen in the front window, and Ginny Weasley and Fleur Delacour’s Yule Ball dresses are displayed inside the shop.
Wiseacres Wizarding Equipment is next door to Ollivanders, whereas you would normally find it in Diagon Alley in Orlando. (There used to be a façade of it in the Orlando Hogsmeade, but it was later replaced by Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop.) It’s a very small shop, but slightly larger than Gladrags. Although a beautiful shop, featuring wizarding astrological graphic designs on the walls by the films’ graphic designing duo Mina Lima, it doesn’t offer much in the way of merchandise. Alan Gilmore did note, though, that it is expected to grow over time.
The smallest shop of all is Zonko’s. It’s the first one you’ll see as you enter Hogsmeade and it shares a space with Honeydukes. While the exteriors of Zonko’s and Honeydukes are the same size, once inside you see that the building is about 7/8 Honeydukes and 1/8 Zonko’s. Alan Gilmore said they “felt it was important to have some presence of Zonko’s interior” here in Hollywood.
Of note, the Orlando Hogsmeade used to have a Zonko’s Joke Shop as well, but turned it into a façade once the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes opened in Diagon Alley. Perhaps the same plans are on the horizon for Universal Studios Hollywood? They’ve certainly made it easy to remove Zonko’s, if and when they need to.
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Hogwarts Castle
While located in the same area as Hogwarts Castle in Orlando, Hogwarts in Hollywood has an upended flying Ford Anglia near its entrance – as though Harry and Ron had just unceremoniously crash landed there. Inside the castle, the layout is pretty much the same. The queue starts in the Slytherin dungeons and winds upward through the Herbology greenhouses and eventually to Gryffindor Tower. However, this Hogwarts is filled with actual props form the Harry Potter film sets.
For example, if you check out the glass case in the Herbology queue, you can see the earmuffs worn by the first years to muffle the screams of the mandrakes. Inside the castle, there is a woven Hogwarts map tapestry on a wall, as well as a stained glass window (just before the moving painting of the Fat Lady) that was also used on the set of the films. As you exit the ride through Filch’s Emporium, on the left there is a glass column that has an animated Marauder’s Map, footprints and all.
Additionally, next to this Hogwarts Castle is the Forbidden Forest, while in Orlando there is bridge over a river. (Osaka, Japan has a lake.)
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Other Cool Stuff
In Orlando, next to the Hogwarts Express engine, is a ticket station containing lockers for guests riding the Dragon Challenge coaster. Since that ride doesn’t exist in Hollywood, the park creators have instead put in a Hogwarts Express train carriage in the ticket station as a photo opp for guests.
The seats are made from the same fabric that was used during filming, and the overhead luggage racks are actual props from the Harry Potter film sets. The window of the carriage contains a green screen, which presumably will show the English countryside, Forbidden Forest or some other Potteresque scenery.
There are 11 interactive wand stations throughout the Hollywood Hogsmeade. While watching a wizard cast a spell, we noticed that his interactive wand wasn’t the plain Jane type we’d seen before. It was, well, cool-looking. He told us that guests now have several interactive varieties to choose from – including characters’ replica wands, as well as Ollivanders’ original 13 designs which correspond with the Celtic zodiac – so visitors can now get a wand that matches their birthdate. These custom interactive wands have been added to the Ollivanders shops in Orlando, as well.
The back patio of The Three Broomsticks is larger than the one in Orlando and is completely covered with canvas tents to provide shade for guests (as seen in the photo below).
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In Dervish and Banges, you can purchase House sweaters that are made in Scotland, from the same woolen mill that made the jerseys for the films. They are really well made and good quality, but pricey – expect to shell out over $100.
As in Orlando, there is a performance stage for the Hogwarts choir, and Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. However, there will be some new details added for guests in Hollywood. Universal is keeping just what they are under wraps for now though.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood opens April 7, 2016.
SnitchSeeker has much more to come, including our full chat with Gilmore, who talks about J.K. Rowling's thoughts and input about the three worldwide Universal attractions, and what's in store this April for Harry Potter fans.