Monday, February 22, 2010

Olivander's Wand Shop
Screamscapes updates about the inner workings of the upcoming Olivander's Wand Shop in Universal Studios. They claimed the following:
I’m told that over 20 actors have been hired to act as the shop keepers, and have been told that they will be given a “wand bible” written up by JK Rowling to memorize, detailing the names and descriptions of around 400 different wands. I’ve been told that the various wands up for sale will range in price from $25 up to $150 per wand. Apparently the more expensive your wand… the more things it will actually be able to do.
On the downside of things however, due to the entire land being created just as seen in the movies and to JK Rowling's specifications, the shops are indeed as small as they look. I’ve heard that Universal is already planning on setting up small queues outside many of the most popular stores to help control overcrowding issues.
It seems some of the first costumes have been put on display at Universal’s wardrobe facility and they are said to be quite detailed and impressive. Amongst the costumes on display were those for “Hogwarts Students” as well as the “Dragon Handlers”, which is what they are calling the ride ops on Dragon’s Challenge. Apparently the costumes were all made to JK Rowling’s specs… though one insider has already commented that JK must have never visited Orlando in the summer, because some of the outfits may end up being a bit too much to handle in the hot muggy summers.

Now as Universal Studios has already said there will be only 13 types of wands to choose from, it's believed that the '400 different wands' really means 400 points to memorize. Everything in WandLore.

Screamscape also had this to say the other day:
Emails have been going out to the world from Universal Orlando this week promoting all new Harry Potter themed vacation package specials. These packages include early park admission, a special breakfast at the Three Broomsticks, a commemorative Grand Opening Ticket to the Wizarding World and more. The real hot news item here however is that these packages are not available until May 28th. So far this seems to lock the start of Memorial Day Weekend as the official Grand Opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Of course… this still doesn’t mean that we wont see a soft opening of the land or various attractions, possibly opening in phases between Spring Break and late May.

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