MuggleCast 180 Transcript
Show Intro
Andrew: All right this is a mini – a MuggleMiniCast, meaning: one, its unplanned; two, it lacks the wonderful audio quality you’ve come to know and love, but that’s okay because it’s a MuggleMiniCast. Hey Micah.
Micah: What’s going on?
Andrew: Oh well…
Micah: How’s Florida?
Theme Park News: Concept Art and Opening Date
Andrew: …I’ll tell you what’s going on there. We got this theme park – we’ve got these big them park announcements today, and Eric’s going to join us in a minute. I wanted to have Laura on today, too, because she’s been to Universal, but she has class and stuff, and we have to do this now before my flight and blah, blah, blah, blah. But we wanted to talk about this, because Universal revealed some really cool stuff today. I’m in Orlando for this press event they did this morning. Basically they revealed a lot of concept art right?
Micah: Yeah that’s what it seems like. They confirmed that the theme park is going to open as well in the Spring of 2010 which I don’t really think is anything new.
Andrew: Right.
Micah: We kind of had that information before hand. I think a lot of people were looking for a specific date.
Andrew: Yeah they were and we didn’t get it, but I understand why we didn’t get it because I mean the weather down here, it’s raining and thunder storming every other day and it’s like you can’t – you can’t set a date so far ahead because there could be so many reasons that things could get delayed in construction when the weather’s so unpredictable here.
Micah: Yeah plus hurricane season.
Theme Park News: Rides and Buildings
Andrew: Right. So I don’t blame them for that. Although it is a shame we didn’t get an exact date. But we saw some – we got the map finally – a map of the park, and it was a pretty cool map. And it was designed by the same people who did the Marauder’s Map in the movie, so it looks like it – it kind of looks like it was part of the Marauder’s Map.
Micah: Yeah, it does.
Andrew: And there’s a couple of interesting things on it, for one, we see – we have all of the rides now, we have “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey,” which is going to be in Hogwarts. That’s like the big ride, they keep hyping it up, they say, “It’s something that’s never been done before.” And then we got “Flight of the Hippogriff,” which is actually based on a ride – I don’t have my notes with me right now, but it’s based on a ride that was already at Universal, called “Flight of the Unicorn.” So they’re basically just redo-ing it.
Micah: Sounds like much more of a family ride.
Andrew: It is. And if you look at the concept art from that, you see Hagrid’s Hut behind the ride, and it’s the same exact – it’s already built. I saw that, and its part of the video I took the other day on Twitter.com/MuggleNet, I wrote on there – I wrote, “Is this Hagrid’s Hut?” And now that we have the concept art, that is definitely it.
Micah: That might be the most rebuilt building in all of movie history.
Andrew: Oh it is, yeah. But like, I can only see the roof from my perspective – I’m adding Eric in here now. Hello Eric.
Eric: Hey guys.
Andrew: We’re just doing this live to tape, and hopefully there’s not too much feedback, but it won’t come through on the recording, so.
Eric: Excellent.
Andrew: We were just talking – I don’t know, did you have a chance to see all this stuff yet? Have you seen it?
Eric: Yes, I’ve seen the concept pictures, and I read your posts.
Andrew: Yeah. So we were just talking about – what’s it called?
Micah: The rides.
Andrew: “Flight of the Hippogriff,” yeah, and Hagrid’s Hut.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: It’s – it looks – yeah – Micah, like you said, it looks like a family ride and it’s based on “Flight of the Unicorn.” Eric, have you ever been to Universal?
Eric: Yeah, I was in Universal, Orlando.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: In about 2003, I think it was.
Andrew: Oh okay. Were you ever on “Flight of the Unicorn”?
Eric: No – no.
Andrew: If so, you’ve pretty much already rode “Flight of the Hippogriff.” Because I think they’re using the track that’s already there, but, you know, they’re re-theming it.
Eric: Well that’s what struck me about all these concept photos, is you know how family-oriented they are, and I’m not going to say I was disappointed at all.
Andrew: Mhm.
Eric: But, I don’t know. It’s just like – it’s like, I mean, that’s their main ride, too, and it’s – I guess it’s – I mean, it’s a roller coaster. But I think the cars, the trains, I guess they’re called, look awesome. And…
Andrew: That’s not the main ride. I mean, it’s one of the three, but…
Eric: Well…
Andrew: And the main thing is going to be “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.”
Eric: Okay, and there’s no concept art for that, is there?
Andrew: No.
Eric: There’s one for “Dragon Challenge,” so – the one for the “Dragon Challenge,” if I can ask, it has a bunch of flags in the concept art, and it’s actually, it looks like a really cool looking post. But do you know anything about that ride and what kind of a ride it’s going to be?
Andrew: Well that is going to be based on an existing ride too…
Eric: Okay.
Andrew: And that structure, the castle structure, already exists, and I was there, and I mean – it’s going to be – the ride right now – it’s called the “Dueling Dragons,” and the cars don’t look like dragons, but I didn’t ride the coaster because honestly, I’m kind of a wuss, when it comes to coasters like that. But, like they’re two completely separate tracks, but, you know – its two cars, and they go at the same time…
Eric: Oh right.
Andrew: And apparently there’s a few times where you run within like twelve inches of the other car, and…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: So like, you feel like you’re going to crash into them. Have you done that ride?
Eric: I’ve done one similar, at Hershey Park…
Andrew: Oh okay.
Eric: It’s a wooden coaster, but basically the same idea where the two trains interweave and nearly collide, it’s a very cool and very popular idea, I think for – as far as coasters go.
Andrew: Yeah, that’ll be based on the Triwizard Tournament, it’s going to be the Hungarian Horntail versus the Chinese Fireball dragon.
Eric: Cool!
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: It’s interesting looking at some of the comments though, because, at least from what I’ve seen, people feel a little bit jipped from the Dragon Challenge and the Flight of the Hippogriff because Universal went ahead and just made existing rides into something very similar.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: You talked before about “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey,” and that seems to be the big mystery as to what it’s going to be all about.
Andrew: Right.
Theme Park News: Level of Detail
Micah: It’s seem though, that they spent a tremendous time working on
a lot of the other places in Hogsmeade.
Andrew: Yeah, I mean the level of detail – they just kept going on and on about how the level of detail is going to be incredible. You know, in fairness to them, they do have to leave some things to surprise, so
I think they’re going to wait for Hogwarts, but yeah that’s going to be the ride in that park in terms of – they say something like this has never been done before, that they’re using all this crazy new technology, and I’ve got to say, I was at Universal yesterday in the parks, and Universal’s a really nice park. I mean, all the rides are very unique. My favorite ride was “Spiderman”, that was really cool. Have you guys done that one?
Eric: Are you talking about the one at Islands of Adventure?
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah. That’s not Universal, that’s Islands of Adventure. [laughs]
Andrew: No, but – that’s Universal.
Eric: I know, but I didn’t go to Islands of Adventure, I only got to
Universal. I keep hearing how great the Spiderman ride is.
Andrew: Oh – oh, okay.
Eric: Nevermind, everyone tells me…
Andrew: Yeah. Islands of Adventure is their newer park.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: And, yeah “Spiderman”‘s really good, and that’s where Harry
Potter’s going to be, it’s going to be one of the islands.
Eric: Oh, right. Yeah, I should’ve know that. So is Hogwarts really
going to be that big do you think, as it appears in the…
Andrew: No, it’s a perspective…
Eric: Because it looks huge.
Andrew: It’s going to look huge. They’re going to use perspective
tricks to – the only example is like, the Disneyland castles. They look big, but when you get close to them you realise they’re not.
Eric: Okay.
Andrew: You know what I mean? So, it’s not – no, it’s not going to be that big. And if you look at construction photos and stuff – like, the Great Hall, like the real life Great Hall…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Maybe like half the size of what Hogwarts is going to be, physically.
Eric: Uh huh.
Andrew: If that makes sense. So, I think more than anything it’s just to look at it and be like, “Wow, look, there’s Hogwarts.” And no, it won’t be to proper scale in any way, shape or form.
Eric: But you’re saying that’s where the ride will be, the “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey,” will be inside the castle?
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. Like, I don’t know, I don’t think – it won’t be in the actual castle. There’s a giant grey building behind it and that’s where the ride will actually be.
Eric: Wow.
Andrew: But they use that trick all the time. For example – I know, I keep going back to Disney, because I’m a big Disney fan – at Disney they have the “Haunted Mansion.” The ride’s not actually in the Haunted Mansion. There’s a tunnel you go through in the Haunted Mansion to get to the actual ride. The ride’s in a boring grey building.
Eric: Mhm. Yeah.
Andrew: But you think you’re in there. So that’s probably the idea they’ll use.
Eric: Huh.
Theme Park News: Re-modelled Rides
Andrew: I mean, as for people complaining about rides just being re-themed, I understand that, but I guess they’re probably saving a lot of money, for one. And it won’t be a cheap remodelling, it’ll be – it should be well done.
Eric: I mean, if they have half the detail that appears in these concepts, I mean – I understand that certain things, like the hills in the background won’t exactly be possible to include…
Andrew: Right. [laughs]
Eric: But at the same time, I think it’s more for the experience. I mean, looking at the map now, I just see that – I mean, those are – are those going to be, more or less the only rides in the park? Or are there…
Andrew: Yeah. No, that’s it. Which I don’t know what to think about that. Do you think – do you guys think, like, oh, only three rides?
Andrew: I mean, it’s a land. We’ve got to remember that.
Eric: It’s a land. What are the other Islands of Adventure like? I mean – how many…
Andrew: They’re about the same size.
Eric: Rides do they have?
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah. The Harry Potter Theme Park is going to be twenty-two acres. To put it in perspective for people who’ve been there, Jurassic Park is twenty, so it’s a decent size, and I think what’s really going to make this park cool is the detail.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: So…
Eric: Yeah.
Listener Tweet: Ride Intensity
Andrew: We asked people to send in Twitter feedback, or ask questions via our Twitter, at the last minute. Here’s one from Emily Hofer – Emily Hoferer:
“How scary/thrilling/awesome/intense are the rides? The Hogwarts one sounds tame. Hippogriff sounds fun.”
I think the – obviously, none of the rides are completed yet, but it looks like the “Dueling Dragons” one is going to be the thrill one, because that’s like a real coaster, and I guess Hogwarts is going to be pretty tame.
Eric: Well, let’s not forget, we’re a minority…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …as far as readership goes…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah. As family destination goes, that would be – I mean, what was I expecting? Death Alley?
Andrew: Right, exactly.
Eric: It has to be – it’s not exactly…
Andrew: Yeah, it’s got to be family friendly.
Eric: I think it’s going to look awesome!
Andrew: They said the Hogwarts ride isn’t going to be a coaster, so we know that.
Eric: But what an experience, with all that special effects and stuff!
Theme Park News: Cast Videos
Andrew: Yeah, and the cast filmed special stuff for at least that ride.
Eric: That was my question. Did they film it for the ride, or – because you said they did an intro video, for the press conference.
Andrew: Yeah, well the intro video was a couple clips of them being like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe how amazing this is going to be.” [laughs] That was basically it. They had this ten-second – okay, on the Half-Blood Prince DVD whenever it comes out, in a couple months – there’s going to be an eleven and a half minute behind-the-scenes look at the building of the theme park. They showed a quick, quick, quick clip of that at the press event. There was one shot of Dan, Rupert and Emma filming something, and they looked they were standing on something, because they were looking down at the camera. So we’ll see what that’s for. And Tom Felton – he was there – he said that they weren’t scenes that they filmed but they were just quick clip things so…
Eric: Do you know if they were in character or not? I mean, obviously…
Andrew: Yeah, they were in character.
Eric: …for the ride they would have to be.
Andrew: Right yeah, they were definitely in character. I feel like it’s going to be like – I don’t know, if they’re not scenes – I envision this Hogwarts ride as like, you sit in something, some car, and you’re taken from each part of Hogwarts to each part of Hogwarts and maybe clips will play in some clever form, maybe they’ll be 3D or something, who knows?
Micah: Seems it’ll be like Back to the Future or ET if you’ve ever gone on those rides…
Eric: Or like the Men in Black ride, is the Men in Black ride still there?
Andrew: Yes, the Men in Black ride is still there.
Eric: Where you shoot aliens. Maybe you’ll have to like, I don’t know…
Andrew: Honestly, I hated that ride.
Eric: Really? I got my lanyard saying that I was a Men in Black and I was all happy.
Andrew: Aw, that’s good. What I didn’t like about it was that the detail it wasn’t there. In terms of detail it kind of stunk.
Eric: What stunk? What are you saying?
Andrew: Like the detail – the set, the design.
Eric: Oh you mean so far?
Andrew: No, no of “Men in Black.”
Eric: Oh! Oh sorry, of “Men in Black.” I just remember that they had the videos like in between…
Andrew: Yes, yeah exactly that’s what I imagine the trio are going to do.
Eric: So like you’re in a – like even the “Haunted Mansion” you know, not unlike it, where you’re in sort of like a travelling cart. It’s not a coaster by any means but you know you’ll maybe show up in the Chamber of Secrets and see Salazar Slytherin’s big ugly monkey face…
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah.
Theme Park News: Odd Placements
Eric: And all that stuff. I’m excited. It looks – I mean 22 acres is huge, so this map doesn’t even necessarily do this space justice. I mean is that lake really going to be there? Is it there already?
Andrew: I was wondering about that too and – no.
Eric: The lake’s not there?
Andrew: Yeah I don’t think so.
Eric: Okay do you know where the lake, I mean do you know what, where the lake is going to be if they do that?
Andrew: Actually I’m trying to think. There was some water nearby but it wasn’t a lake that big.
Micah: They can always make one.
Eric: They can always dig and fill sure.
Micah: It doesn’t take that long.
Eric: No I mean they may need the – I don’t know.
Andrew: Well space concerns, there’s Jurassic Park on one side and then…
Eric: I’m so glad that’s still open, I hope it is next year when we go to this because I’ve always wanted to go to Jurassic Park.
Andrew: By the way, and I see that there’s another entrance to this park it looks like, but the main entrance where Hogsmeade is, it’s sort of out of the way. It’s in the back of the park like you’re looking at – this map that they released; you’re looking at the park from like looking from the back. So north, let’s say north is straight up – you’d be looking towards the front of the park. What I’m trying to say is the entrance to Hogsmeade which looks like it’s going to be the main entrance; it’s in the back of the park. You have to go all the way to this weird spot. It was the – some sort of “Legends” thing – “Legends” area or something.
Eric: Ah huh.
Andrew: I don’t – I just thought it was odd. I get they have to – they have to build around an existing theme park, but it just seemed weird that the entrance wasn’t more towards the front of the park.
Eric: Right, but you’re saying – I mean according to this map, too, it looks like there could be a path that’s going up sort of towards where you’re saying the front of the park is.
Andrew: Yeah, maybe that’s a separate entrance.
Eric: That’s interesting, though. But I mean…
Andrew: It seems like Hogsmeade is the main entrance…
Eric: Right.
Andrew: …because they have the Hogwarts Express there.
Eric: And all the shops.
Micah: Are they going to make that active?
Andrew: No, I think it’s just a photo op.
Micah: Gotcha.
Eric: Yeah. I mean I guess it’s kind of fitting that the last place that you would expect a Wizarding World to be is in the back of some park. But if you can see Hogwarts, you know, from the front of the park and you wonder how to get there, and you have to go – you know, I guess…
Andrew: You know what, though? You won’t even be able to see it from the front of the park.
Eric: Really? It’s not that tall?
Andrew: Universal’s very flat. Like there’s nothing that really stands out.
Eric: Okay.
Andrew: And I think Hogwarts is going to be the same. They have a giant lighthouse at the front as their sort of monument or whatever, but…
Eric: But you’re telling – you’re saying you can’t see Hogwarts. Why not if the ground’s all flat and if Hogwarts is tall enough?
Andrew: Well yeah – well that’s the thing. I don’t think it’s going to be tall enough.
Eric: Yeah, okay.
Andrew: There’s a ton of trees around – there are a ton of trees around too, and I’m pretty sure they’re not taking those out because they were all part of Jurassic Park. Because Jurassic Park has a crap load of trees because it looks like it’s in a jungle.
Eric: Right.
Andrew: But actually back to “Dragon Challenge” real quick – quick. So that ride already has like a Castle entrance and everything. Just because that was how it was originally built and that kind of gives you a hint I think at what the rest of the park is going to look like. Because I doubt they would change it, since it already looks like a castle.
Eric: Well, yeah. They might throw in the occasional coat of arms or something.
Listener Tweet: Uniqueness
Andrew: Right, yeah. So what else is there? Let me look at the other questions here.
“What looked really out of this world/unique?”
Says Josh Boulton. I think Hogwarts – I mean – [laughs] – they’re still holding back so many details. But what do you guys think is going to be the stand-out thing, Hogwarts? I mean…
Eric: Just from the detail dude, in the shops – I think the shops will be…
Andrew: That too, yeah.
Eric: …amazing. I mean, maybe even more amazing than the prices.
Andrew: Yeah.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Eric: But I think dude – I – honestly I’m not sceptical. I think it’s going to be freaking awesome, actually. And…
Andrew: I’m not sceptical either, yeah.
Eric: Yeah, even – even the “Dragon Challenge” which, you know, they may keep the whole thing. But if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. You know, I’m sure the – what it was before was still a cool ride. So…
Andrew: Right.
Eric: I think what’s actually going to shock me most is the lines for these sort of things. That’s…
Andrew: Oh God.
Theme Park News: The Lake
Eric: I mean, for three rides in the park – of course they need all that – all that sloping, winding path because that’s going to be the line. But – but I’m excited. And I wonder if they’ll do anything. I mean, if they do build the lake I wonder what they’ll do on the lake. They’ve got to do something on the lake, don’t they? I mean…
Andrew: Yeah, I don’t – I don’t know. I really – I really don’t know. I don’t think they’re making a lake that big because there’s – there’s already stuff around the park. There’s already stuff around the Harry Potter area, like…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: …pre-existing rides and stuff.
Micah: Well, they have a ship out there. Are they going to build that too?
Andrew: Maybe. Yeah. I don’t know. [laughs]
Eric: I think the ship is to just show that it is a lake.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: And not more grass.
Eric: Is it – do they still have the Nickelodeon building there, Andrew? Did you see?
Andrew: Yeah, in Universal studios.
Eric: I was so upset with that. Because it doesn’t have the sweeping lawn in front of it that you see at the end of all the game shows.
Andrew: Oh yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: That’s not – they don’t film Nickelodeon stuff there anymore, though.
Eric: No. No, they haven’t for a long time.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: So my question for you, Andrew, too, is – well, first of all, how much of this area of the park did you actually get to see and did you walk through Hogsmeade? Or…
Andrew: No, no. They didn’t let us in any construction.
Eric: Okay.
Andrew: The best we could do was stick our cameras over the construction walls and hope for the best. But there were some exterior stuff, and if you look at my videos you can see a couple parts of Hogwarts that are already up. Exterior facades, I guess you would call them…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: …the brick work or whatever. And…
Eric: Sure.
Theme Park News: Opening Date Again
Andrew: So that was done or at least a very small part of it was. And “Dueling Dragons” is still open. I guess they’re going to wait a few more months before they close that. And Hogsmeade, the grand entrance looks like it’s getting closer to completion. The structure’s there. They still say Spring 2010, so – and Micah and I were talking about this earlier – they couldn’t announce an exact release date. But I don’t think you can really expect them to this early on still, because there’s – there’s numerous things that could delay construction. Primarily, I would think, weather. So I think it’s a good idea they didn’t announce the date.
Eric: Yeah.
Micah: Yeah, and you’re probably going to see a couple days’ worth of grand openings down there, with a number of different events going on. So they probably have a time frame in mind…
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: … that they’re looking at certain dates.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: But I would also think that there are other people that are going to be involved in this. So their availability may be dependent upon when they decide to open the park.
Andrew: Plus, they don’t want to set a firm date yet and have people start booking trips and then say we have to delay it a week, you know?
Eric: Yeah.
Micah: Right.
Eric: Well that’s – I mean, spring they say Spring 2010. Spring is six months and six days ahead of us…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …officially.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: So I mean anywhere from there until further three months would still be spring.
Andrew: Yeah. I’m going to bet June because it’s late. It just seems like – right now it’s September – I can’t see this park going up in March. It just seems way too soon.
Eric: Okay.
Andrew: That’s just my guess. I don’t know.
Micah: Well – I mean, I do think it’s dependent upon availability also of…
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: … celebrities and J.K. Rowling and other people as well.
Theme Park News: More Updates
Andrew: Yeah. Well, they’re probably, I imagine, sending out save the dates now so people can leave time open. Because, of course they have a schedule and they’re trying to stick to it and they’ve got to have an opening date. One thing in particular that is good news out of all this is that this is the start – this press event is the start of more regular updates. That’s what they told me. So hopefully we’re going to start seeing cooler stuff now.
Eric: Yeah. I mean, I haven’t been upset with them for not sharing information. I just figured that there wasn’t much to tell, and when I heard that you guys were all going to Florida for a press release, I was like, “Wow!” You know, that’s…
Andrew: Yeah. Well, I mean, they’ve had this concept art sitting around forever. [laughs]
Eric: I saw the one – I saw the one concept art that they had of – of just Hogwarts from really far away and that looked cool.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: But I didn’t see any of this new stuff.
Micah: Can you…
Andrew: I noticed the – the “Dragon Challenge,” that concept art, that’s not – that’s just the – the – the – the queue. That’s just the waiting line.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: The “Dragon Challenge” ride is outdoors. It’s a giant track. So they could release that soon, hopefully.
Eric: Well, you don’t want to give everything away, too. You don’t want to do what the movies do and give the whole damn park away before you’ve even…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …set foot in it.
Andrew: You know, they were kind of – hesitant to give us information because they’re trying to keep everything hush-hush still. But I still sort of picked up on a couple things, like, I asked at one point, when we were getting a tour of the park yesterday, about alcohol because the parks both sell alcohol, and I notice people walking around with beers, and I said, you know, “Both parks – they sell alcohol.” And the tour guide says, “Yes, yes we do. You saw our poll on the Potter website, right?” And she’s referring to the poll that asked what kind of drink you would have…
Eric: Uh-huh.
Andrew: …at the park, and I think the options were Butterbeer, something else, and Firewhiskey. So I’m thinking they’re going to have alcoholic drinks in the Harry Potter…
Eric: Dude! People are going to be getting stoned…
Andrew: [laughs] I know!
Eric: …hanging out outside of Hogwarts, like, you know, just in the corridors, [in a drunken voice] “Hey, man!”
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Crazy. You know, get drunk and fall over in “Dragon Challenge” or…
Andrew: [laughs] “Dragon Challenge.” Yeah.
Eric: I just – wow. I can’t…
Andrew: So, yeah. I think that’ll be a nice money-maker for them.
[Eric laughs]
Theme Park News: Hogsmeade
Micah: Can you tell us at all about the stuff in Hogsmeade? I mean, is it going to be interactive, is there going to be stuff going on in these places, I guess at different points during the day? Or did they…
Andrew: Well…
Micah: …not reveal that either?
Theme Park News: Merchandise
Andrew: More than anything, it’s a bunch of shops where you can actually buy stuff. Oh, here was something interesting: I can’t remember which store – it may be all the stores – they said there’s going to be exclusive merchandise you can buy that will only be available at the parks. I’m hoping this is not just t-shirts and, you know, coffee mugs. I’m hoping it’s legit Harry Potter items out of the books and films.
Eric: Hmmm.
Andrew: They said they will be exclusive to the park; they won’t be sold anywhere else. So that’s cool. I’m still confused about the Owlery and the Owl Post. The Owlery is a place where you can go and relax. That’s sort of how they described it. They were like, “To get away from all the craziness!”
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: So – and if you look at the concept art, it’s just…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: …like, benches. So it’s a…
Eric: What…
Andrew: …place to cool down.
Eric: [laughs] The thing about that, there’s, like, clowns. Do you see those clowns in the…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …shop window?
Andrew: I think that’s Zonko’s.
Eric: Yeah, that’s the craziness that you have to escape from.
Andrew: [laughs] Right.
Eric: The owls. Do you think there will be real owls? A sign that says “Don’t feed the owls?” Or…
Andrew: I bet. Yeah. I mean…
Eric: And they…
Andrew: …it seems like detail is going to be a big thing here.
Eric: So, that’s going to be interesting.
Andrew: The only…
Micah: So…
Andrew: …other thing I’m wondering about is the Owl Post. Like, can you actually send letters from there? Like, that will be cool.
Eric: That will be cool.
Andrew: What were you going to say, Micah?
Micah: I was going to say, it looks like the place where you just go to the water fountain or use the restroom, basically. [laughs]
Andrew: [laughs] Right.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, you’re probably right.
Eric: Please don’t crap on the floor.
Andrew: But it seems like all of Ollivanders is going to be – I assume you’ll be able to buy wands there. They said that’s going to be a very close replica of what you see in the films. Although, judging by the…
Eric: Although that’s…
Andrew: That’s concept art. It’s a little different.
Eric: Yeah. It’s completely different.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Yeah. I think they said…
Eric: That’s like an archive. [laughs]
Micah: …that you go through the process that any other witch or wizard goes through in terms of the wand choosing…
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: …the wizard.
Andrew: Which is cool, and a good way to sell wands.
Micah: What if you don’t like the one that you get, though?
Eric: Well, then you’re just a snotty little…
Micah: Brat?
Eric: Yeah, rat. Exactly.
Micah: Brat, not rat.
Eric: But…
Andrew: You’ve got to remember, the wand chooses the wizard too. So…
Micah: This is true.
Eric: The wand does choose the wizard. And what do you guys think – I mean, what about wands? Because wands are so already done in a way, I mean, you’ve got two major wand companies. And every time we go to Harry Potter cons, there’s always these guys who specialize in wands…
Andrew: Mhm.
Eric: …who are there and selling stuff. So what do you think – I mean, the Universal brand of Harry Potter Wizarding World wands are going to be like? I mean, if I remember correctly, the wands that they have that are official merchandise besides the Noble Collection. They do have the Noble Collection ones, but the other wands are just thick. The other ones that light up are like an inch thick and these bulky light-up wands.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: So what do you think they’re going to do to have this special brand of wand and make Ollivanders a formidable shop?
Andrew: They actually are going to work with the Noble Collection.
Eric: Okay. But that worries me, though, because price wise. I mean…
Andrew: Yeah. Well, I guess that’s true, but at theme parks you pay a lot of money for stuff, so…
Eric: A $500 wand has chosen you. [laughs]
Micah: Exactly.
Eric: Seriously, you have to buy it.
Andrew: I almost paid 25 dollars for a Spongebob shirt yesterday. I didn’t, but it’s – you know. It’s a lot of over-priced stuff and the drinks will be that way, and the food, you know. But…
Micah: What does – sorry.
Andrew: Just real quick I want to say that – We got to wrap this up soon, but just attention to details, what really makes – is what will make this park shine. You know it won’t be gigantic. It’s going to be a park inside a park, as they said in the press conference today. But the detail is what’s going to be incredible.
Micah: Yeah, I was just going to ask about Filch’s Emporium, and what exactly that is?
Andrew: Yeah, it’s a store.
Micah: It looks like it’s raised, though, a little bit up off the ground, because I don’t know if that’s truly looking out the window there. It looks like you can see Hogwarts.
Andrew: Oh yeah.
Eric: That is really weird.
Micah: Was that in the tour either? Was that a last minute thing that they added?
Andrew: In the tour?
Micah: No, in the video tour. Sorry. I remember seeing Filch’s Emporium in there.
Andrew: I don’t know. Well, basically what is – there’s a longer name, actually. It’s like his – the stuff he’s confiscated from students.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: And if you look up towards the ceiling, you can see random stuff that you probably can’t buy. But yeah, that – maybe it is on a second level of Hogsmeade or something, I don’t know.
Eric: That’s really awesome looking out the window there. That was a good eye, Micah.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Filch has confiscated the top half of a girl’s head.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Eric: Look, the far top-left. The very top-left of the image on a shelf.
Andrew: Oh you’re right.
Eric: “Girl Lies!” What? [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, that’s funny.
Eric: I’ve got to feel bad for this girl in front here she looks really upset about something like, maybe they don’t make Ravenclaw scarf or maybe they’re all sold out or something.
Andrew: Well you have to remember it is just concept art. [laughs]
Eric: Yeah, yeah. For concept art there aren’t too many happy people here.
Theme Park News: Ride Comparisons
Andrew: No, that’s true. But, yeah we’ll talk about this stuff much more on a later episode – excuse me – I want to get Laura’s opinion too especially because she goes to Universal every year and sort of wanted to talk about the park in general – you know, Universal really does have some really unique rides. And Spider Man in Islands of Adventure, that was the first thing I went on. And it’s really immersive, really cool. I mean, I sort of envision – and we were talking about this earlier – I wanted to bring it up. A lot of the rides in both Universal parks have involvement with the actors, and all of you who have been to Universal parks know what I’m talking about. I think that’s what the cast stuff is going to be like.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: You know, like Men in Black with Will Smith appearing.
Eric: Or – did you see Terminator – the Terminator ride? Did you go?
Andrew: Which one is that?
Eric: It’s in Universal, the regular park, because I went on it. And it’s basically like Battle 3-D – it’s three-dimensional. It’s like, basically, you go through the office of Cyberdyne Systems and there’s like a break-in. According to – I mean, the same guy who did that, Eddie Newquist, did the Harry Potter Exhibition.
Andrew: Oh, cool.
Eric: So, he worked for Universal for like ten years and did that ride among others, so there’s kind of a small world.
Andrew: Hmm.
Eric: But all of those – yeah, like you said, the experience of going to Universal – I wasn’t at Islands of Adventure, but even riding the walking sidewalk, going into the park and hearing the movie themes, that’s just going to be so much more awesome with the Harry Potter theme.
Andrew: Yeah. Here’s another fun fact that reminds me. The music – at least in Islands of Adventure – when you walk around the park, a lot of it was composed just for the park by John Williams. So I thought that was a cool little Potter connection there.
Eric: That is cool.
Andrew: Yeah. So…
Micah: I have one more question.
Andrew: We have to keep this short because I got a plane to catch back to California.
Micah: So one last question here.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Did they talk at all about putting characters in the park? I know that’s something we talked about originally when we first did a show on the park.
Andrew: I think they are.
Micah: Yeah, it would seem like they would do something like that.
Andrew: They haven’t announced it officially, but just going around Universal, they have a lot of characters going around the parks greeting people. And they stay in character, they were really good. We saw Spiderman and X-men. So, yeah, I think we can definitely count on some characters walking around. But it’ll be tricky because we’re all so used to seeing Dan Radcliffe as Harry, so…
Eric: Well, I’d like to see more obscure characters like, I don’t know, like Hedwig. Please don’t set her on fire.
Andrew: Well, maybe you’ll see her in the Owlery, perhaps.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: Maybe there will be a little grave and her…
Eric: Like even a life-sized – aw, that’s sad, Andrew.
Show Close
Andrew: All right. Well again, we’ll try to do another – we’ll do a more full, a fuller episode as soon as possible but we wanted to get this out now while everyone’s excited. We’ll get more of your feedback and stuff next show. All right, so bye everyone.
[Silence]
Andrew: Eric and Micah, say “bye”.
Micah: Bye.
[More silence]
Andrew: Eric?
Eric: Bye.
[Andrew laughs]