ORLANDO — Amid a celebratory burst of fireworks and confetti, Universal Orlando Resorts officially opened The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley to guests on Tuesday.
I was among reporters who joined fans from as far away as Ireland and England, waiting at Universal Studios Florida before dawn to experience the park.
The centerpiece of Diagon Alley is Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, a 3D thrill ride featuring a fire-breathing dragon and a journey through the Gringotts vaults from the Harry Potter series.
On opening day, visitors waited for as long as six hours to ride Gringotts. Steady crowds waited more than 90 minutes to enter Diagon Alley itself, according to Tom Schroder, vice president of corporate communications for Universal Orlando Resort.
My Gringotts experience cast its spell as soon as I climbed into my seat in the first car. I imagined the immersive interactions and sequenced story lines with characters from the film: Harry, his friends, foes like Bellatrix Lestrange and, of course, He Who Must Not Be Named.
After moving a few feet, the ride paused and I braced myself for the unexpected.
I came face to face with Bellatrix — the 3D version — who “plunged” our car down a steep drop and turn in the dark. As my journey continued I met a slithering snake, a 60-foot Ukrainian Ironbelly fire-breathing dragon and a troll who grabbed and shook the ride car into a spin.
There were reports on Twitter of delays and technical problems with Gringotts. My first ride had a minor technical glitch, but a second ride was flawless. According to Twitter posts on Friday, lines continued to be long, but the ride was running.
A statement from Universal attributed to Schroder said, “We have had a few tech glitches over the past several days, which is not unusual at this point in time for this kind of attraction. When that happens, we do the best we can to take care of our guests and re-open the ride as quickly as we can.”
As I re-emerged into daylight, crowds were being steered toward Hogwarts Express, the shows and hidden shops like Shutterbutton’s. The streets were full, but not jammed with people.
Four years after Universal Orlando opened The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Hogsmeade at it Islands of Adventure, its Diagon Alley feature effectively doubles the size of the park’s interactive Harry Potter-themed area.
True to the Diagon Alley set forth by Rowling — it’s a shopping street in London patronized by wizards and other magical folk — there are numerous shops in the Universal version, including Ollivanders Wand Shop (where guests can purchase wands) and Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions.
For eats, there’s British pub fare at the Leaky Cauldron and sweet treats at Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour.
Guests can travel between Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade on the Hogwarts Express train.
Before I left for the day, I waited patiently for one more glimpse of the fire-breathing dragon atop Gringotts Bank.
During my preview visit to Diagon Alley last month, the usually menacing dragon had roared to life every 10 minutes. Today, his fire breathing was delayed while safety crews made sure all the dropped confetti was cleared from nearby rooftops.
When he finally bellowed deep, the crowd around me stood still, yelling, “Fire!” to the beast, and celebrated afterward with a chorus of cheers.
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Michelle Baran contributed to this report.