EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Hill was one of the lucky folks who actually got to tour Universal Orlando's still-under-construction Diagon Alley earlier this week. Today's article is the first in a new series for BestofOrlando.com about how the Universal Orlando Resort is bumping out the borders of its Wizarding World. So what should you expect when The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley opens this summer? Well, for starters, you should anticipate that the actual entrance to this new "land" at Universal Studios Florida might be a wee bit hard to find. Yep, according to Dale Mason -- the Vice President of Universal Creative as well as being the Executive Art Director for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter -- you won't find the usual things that indicate that there's a multi-million theme park attraction somewhere nearby (i.e., lots of signage, a huge marquee, plenty of neon) as you stroll along USF's new London embankment area. "Stuart Craig -- the production designer of all of the "Harry Potter" films -- believes very strongly in the mantra that 'Magic only happens if you believe in the reality of the place.' And since Diagon Alley is hidden away in London ... Well, that's why we had to hide The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley behind some full-sized facades which then recreate a handful of famous buildings from London," Mason explained. "We've got highly detailed recreations of King's Cross Station, Leicester Square and the Wyndham Theater -- not to mention that fountain from Piccadilly Circus with the statue of Eros on top -- which are all meant to throw Muggles off the scent. Make them think that there's nothing magical or mysterious going on in the immediate vicinity." Ah, but for fans of the Harry Potter books & films, there'll still be plenty of signs that they've come to the right place. Take -- for example -- that London facade which looks just like Grimmauld Place, the ancestral home of the House of Black, which also eventually became the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Then there's that full-sized recreation of the Knight Bus which is parked right alongside that fountain from Piccadilly Circus. Mind you, if visitors to Universal Orlando actually walk up to the door of this triple-decker purple London bus, they can then interact with Dre Head (You know? That shrunken head with dreadlocks which dangled from the Knight Bus's rear view mirror? This gruesome character -- who was voiced by British comedian Lenny Henry -- chatted with the boy wizard as they zoomed through the streets of London on their way to the Leaky Cauldron during the third film in this series, 2004's "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.") And speaking of the Leaky Cauldron ... If you pay close attention once you arrive at USF's London embankment (or -- at the very least -- if you're able to follow the flow of the crowd as they move through this area) you should soon be able to find your way into this popular wizarding pub and inn. Where -- if you stand in front of the right wall and tap a few bricks in the correct order -- you'll then be able to gain access to Diagon Alley. And -- yes -- just in case you're wondering, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley will in fact feature this very memorable moment from the first movie in the series, 2001's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". "We had lots & lots of discussion about this particular aspect of Diagon Alley," Mason admitted. "We knew that it was something that Harry Potter fans really wanted to see happen with their own eyes. So after a lot of models, we think that we've actually come up with a way to have that brick wall magically pull itself apart and then reveal Diagon Alley's main drag." Mind you, what's particularly great about this follow-up to Islands of Adventure's Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade is that it then allows Craig to build a full-sized version of something that he designed 'way back in 2003. "You have to understand that -- as they were getting ready to shoot 'The Prisoner of Azkaban -- Stuart got word that Universal Creative & Warner Bros. Entertainment were already talking about maybe doing something together that would then put the Harry Potter characters in this highly detailed theme park setting. So rather than just designing only what could be seen by the cameras during the shooting of the scenes in this film which were set inside of the Leaking Cauldron, Stuart decided to go ahead and design the entire interior of this wizarding pub & inn," Dale said. "And now -- more than a decade later -- visitors to Universal Studios Florida will get to experience a complete version of Stuart Craig's original vision for the Leaky Cauldron." That's what's really going to be amazing about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley. It's going to take all of the lessons that Universal Creative learned while working on Hogsmeade & Hogwarts Castle for Islands of Adventure and then building on those. "Take -- for example -- Ollivanders. The satellite shop that we set up in Hogsmeade Village is already hugely popular with Universal Orlando visitors. But here in Diagon Alley ... Well, this is supposed to be a recreation of the place where Mr. Ollivander himself helped the boy wizard chose his very first wand. So Harry Potter fans are going to expect big things when they enter the Diagon Alley version of Ollivanders," Mason continued. "So the scale of this shop has to be bigger. There'll be thousands of boxes of wands on display, piled up high in this nearly three story-tall space. And we'll even have some show elements down at street levels, which you'll only be able to see if you make a point of looking down into Ollivanders' basement level windows as you stroll up the street." That -- in a way -- is the most impressive aspect of the still-under-construction The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley. The effort that the folks at Universal Creative have put into making this new USF "land" seem like it's a real city. This tight collection of historically-accurate buildings that weren't all built at the exact same time or even out of the same sorts of building materials." "Take -- for example -- the left side of Diagon Alley. Most of the structures here were supposedly built during the Tudor period. So they've settled a little more than the buildings across the way, which were all supposed to have been built during England's Victorian era," Mason said. "And since there's absolutely no modern technology to be found in this hidden-away part of London, Diagon Alley is lit by gas lamps and all of its buildings are heated by coal & wood, which means that -- before we can actually open up this new part of the theme park to the general public -- we've first got to get our detailing team back in here so that they can then artificially age up all of these buildings. Speckle all of these structures with grime & materials." And then when you factor in Diagon Alley's somewhat confusing layout (Alan Gilmore -- an art director on both the "Harry Potter" films as well as the Wizarding World theme park project -- likens this convoluted corner of Universal Studios Florida to " ... a maze within a maze"), you really do get the sense -- as you come to the very top of Diagon Alley and then aren't then sure if you should go left to Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor, right to Carkitt Market or straight ahead to the Gringotts Wizarding Bank (which is where you'll then experience this new land's big attraction, "Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts") ... Well, it's just like that feeling you get when you're exploring a city that you've already read about but you've never actually been to before. You're excited but disoriented. You're not quite sure which way to go but you're eager to start exploring. That -- in a nutshell -- is how I felt as I was wandering around The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley construction site earlier this week. Even though much of this corner of USF was still under construction, there was still so much to see (i.e., a statute of a house elf stashed just above the entrance to a fine home, the painted silhouette of an entire family riding this one enormous broomstick, while a painted sign below proudly hyped the "Fambus Station Wagon,” the latest addition to the Nimbus fleet, the ultimate family travel solution") that I can't wait to go back to the Universal Orlando Resort this summer and see what Diagon Alley looks like when it's finally finished. And speaking of finished ... This new BestofOrlando.com series is far from finished. So come back in the following months and we'll then take a close look at some other aspects of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley. Including how Warner Bros. Entertainment and Universal Creative plans on connecting this new "land" to Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure. Orlando, FL – 01/24/14 By: Jim Hill | 
