Universal dropped some of the biggest theme park industry news of the year last week. The company revealed a partial line-up for its upcoming Epic Universe theme park, now under construction in Orlando.
Epic Universe will open next year, as Universal expands its Orlando resort to a new campus across the street from the Orange County (Fla.) Convention Center. The expansion will give Universal Orlando three theme parks, a water park and 11 hotels to compete with Walt Disney World’s four theme parks, two water parks and 31 hotels.
Universal’s new park will feature a unique layout, with four lands devoted to single franchises, each branching off independently from one central land, which will be called Celestial Park. The other four lands will include Orlando’s installation of Super Nintendo World, Dark Universe, themed to Universal’s classic monsters, How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk, themed to the DreamWorks Animation films, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic.
That last one will be Universal’s third different Harry Potter land, following Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Florida and the original Hogsmeade, found in Orlando’s Islands of Adventure as well as the Universal Studios theme parks in Hollywood, Japan and Beijing. Yet I have to admit that I am not feeling quite as excited for this new Harry Potter land as I did for those others.
It all comes down to that name. Like millions of other fans around the world, I wanted to visit the cozy village of Hogsmeade and the exciting hidden street of Diagon Alley after reading the Harry Potter books and watching the films. But I felt next to no desire to spend any time at the Ministry of Magic. That is perhaps the one place in all of the Harry Potter books and films where no character wants to be.
Setting a Harry Potter land in the Ministry of Magic feels like if Disney created a new Cars Land and set it in a DMV office. No one wants to go on “Bureaucracy and Paperwork — The Ride.” Though, to be fair, long queues would be perfectly on theme.
Still, the Ministry is home to some “epic” — pun intended — battles in the Harry Potter series. Universal has trademarked the name “Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry of Magic,” which suggests that will be the title of the expected motion base dark ride in the new land.
I have loved every one of Universal’s Harry Potter rides so far, especially the most recent, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Islands of Adventure. So while the “Ministry of Magic” name gives me pause, Universal Creative’s track record of creating great Harry Potter-themed attractions keeps me looking forward to visiting Epic Universe next year.
As fans, and especially as a critic, I think it is important to remain open to the possibility of surprise when considering new entertainment. At their best, artists create magic from the most unexpected settings. And there would be no more magical accomplishment than to make a bureaucracy’s headquarters into a place that theme park fans will rave about visiting.
