Harry Potter Park Opens This Spring

Get your wands ready: the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens next spring, Universal Orlando announced. Muggles will enter through the village of Hogsmeade, where they’ll visit Hogsmeade station, Zonko’s joke shop, and the Three Broomsticks pub to sample some butterbeer. But the main event, called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, will be within the walls of Hogwarts Castle, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

The Journey “couldn't be farther from a roller coaster,” says a producer of the attraction. But park reps did show two roller coasters offering encounters with dragons and hippogriffs. Other attractions include Ollivanders, where fans can get their own wands; the Owlpost, where letters will be postmarked “Hogsmeade”; and Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods. The 20-acre new park will be an add-on to Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure, the New York Times notes.