What is new outside, however, is a large erected golden statue of the bank’s founder Gringott the goblin, standing atop a large mound of golden coins, surrounded by benches. That stands before the actual entrance to the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts attraction. Sadly, the ride itself only worked for a little while so many who attended the VIP/press preview did not get to go on it (including us), but the walking tour through the queue was available. You walk into Gringotts and there it is, the jaw-droppingly stunning lobby to Gringotts bank.

As Universal showed earlier this year, Gringotts' lobby features several goblins that are life-like animatronics that stare at you if you get close enough to them - it is a little creepy, truth be told, but then, so are the goblins, aren't they? The entire place is nice and cool, and it would have to be, given that the queue could probably easily hold a few thousand people once it does open. There's no actual queue set-up in the Gringotts lobby itself, so people can just peruse around to their leisure, though this is with the assumption it doesn't get too crowded. Plus the chandeliers are beautiful, containing 17,000 crystals. Every detail is worth taking a good look at.

Once you pass the lobby, you walk into the inner dwellings of Gringotts, set up with a lot of cabinets, a few vault entrances and office. Once you reach Bill Weasley's office, Domhnall Gleeson, of course, reprises his role as the eldest Weasley son, where he gives a few pieces of advice on how to take on the Gringotts ride while he chats with a goblin in his office. Bill's office has a great deal of Egyptian artifacts, along with some family photos, which is lovely. One odd part was that there was no photo of Bill with his wife Fleur, even though this should have taken place sometime after they met, which was after Goblet of Fire. Not sure on the timeline there.

As you venture on through the labyrinthine walkway toward the Gringotts ride, you come across a portrait of a goblin who gives you a few instructions on the attraction itself. We were able to take the elevator, but we never really saw any further on. All the photos previously released by Universal show that the entry to the ride looks to be a cavern underneath the bank itself, where you get on the ride and see Harry, Ron, Hermione, Bill, Bellatrix and Voldemort.