Harry Potter stars launch Orlando theme park that sees Hogwarts come alive
Until now, Harry Potter fans could only imagine the sensation of quaffing a butterbeer, finding a magic wand at Ollivander's or escaping the steam from a snarling dragon's snout.
But finally, 13 years after the first of seven books began chronicling the boy wizard's adventures, imagination became reality at Universal Orlando.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a minipark inside Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park, opens to the public tomorrow.
But stars of the film, including Daniel Radcliffe, attended the launch night.
Past a stone archway and the steam-belching Hogwarts Express, the fictitious city of Hogsmeade unfolds amid snowcapped, dingy rooftops and storefronts packed like row houses with shops straight from the books and movies.
Zonko's joke shop offers Sneakoscopes and extendable ears. The confectionary Honeydukes has chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans (literally ranging from pear to fish). At the Owl Post, guests can stamp mail with a genuine Hogsmeade postmark.
Towering over it all is Hogwarts, a perfect reproduction of the imposing, many-spired castle where Harry and his magician friends are students.
