The Wizarding World of Harry Potter reveals more with its new website

Harry Potter fans are going to love this – Universal Orlando just opened the doors to the new website for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Up till now, we didn’t have that many details to work with, other than a few glimpses of Hogwarts (and a teaser video clip for during the Super Bowl).

Thanks to the new site, a huge amount of new details are coming to light – the site describes the shopping, dining and of course, several of the new attractions. Click on the “flying tour” in the top left for a fantastic overview of what to expect in this magical new world.

The site also offers daily news updates (in a true to the movies newspaper layout) as well as a nifty Owl Post service which lets you mail postcards to your friends. Click here for the newly updated Wizarding World of Harry Potter website.

Universal Orlando’s top secret Harry Potter Super Bowl ad reveals more mysteries

Last week, we let you take yourself on a tour of some of the attractions at the upcoming “Wizarding World of Harry Potter”. If you want to see even more of what this new park has to offer, check out the video above, courtesy of our friends over at WalletPop.

The ad is set to air on Sunday February 7th. In the clip, you see everything you’d expect from a Potter themed ad – broomsticks, dragons, Hogwarts and of course – a roller coaster! Daniel Radcliffe himself makes an appearance, which clearly means Universal put quite a bit of effort into making this a worthy Super Bowl spot.

Head on over to the WalletPop article for more juicy speculation (including a rumored robot-coaster ride).

Explore the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter with your webcam and a copy of USA Today

In Spring, Universal Orlando Resort will open the doors to the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. In the past couple of weeks, several images have been released, showing a little bit of what you can expect at this 20-acre themed environment.

Universal took things one step beyond boring images, and teamed up with USA Today to bring guests an augmented reality preview of the park.

Augmented reality is a technology that allows for images to appear on top of camera images. To enjoy the experience for yourself, you’ll need a webcam and a USA Today (from today, Thursday January 28th) or you can cheat, and download a PDF version of the map from the USA Today web site.

Once you have the map, point your browser to harrypotter3d.com and follow the instructions. There are several hidden tricks on the site, including the ability to make banners wave faster when you blow into your microphone.

One of the upcoming attractions – Ollivanders Experience (Ollivanders is the Wand shop in Diagon Alley)

From the attraction description:

“When guests visit Ollivanders, they will instantly feel like they’re in the shop from the films. It’s an intimate, single-windowed building, with the same signs, colors and other details read about in the books and seen in the films,” said Alan Gilmore, art director of the Harry Potter films and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. “But more importantly, visitors to Ollivanders will experience for themselves the magical moment that forever changed Harry’s life.”

Inside Ollivanders, visitors will be surrounded by thousands of multi-colored dusty wand boxes stacked on shelves from floor to ceiling. They will be welcomed by an inquisitive Wandkeeper, who will guide them through an enchanting experience to find their very own wand. First the Wandkeeper will ask the guest a few special questions and then select the first wand for them to try. Just like Harry, the guest will be prompted by the Wandkeeper to give the wand a wave, and a series of magical mishaps will occur until the right fit is found.

Of course, no Harry Potter park could ever be complete without its own Hogwarts Castle!

In addition to the magic featured in Ollivanders, guests will experience many other magical happenings at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, including a Howler featured in the Owl Post shop front window whose ranting can be heard by guests as they pass by; The Monster Book of Monsters in Dervish and Banges that will snarl and growl at anyone who tries to get too close, and the Hog’s Head which can be seen puffing his jowls at visitors who visit the Hog’s Head pub.