Loaded Couch Potatoes

With the official announcement less than 24 hours away for the opening date of Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it looks like the information has already slipped out. A page on the Universal Orlando site accidentally leaked the official opening date. It was changed back fairly quickly, but here is what was posted:

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
On Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey – the marquee attraction of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – guests will journey through iconic locations straight from the films, such as the Room of Requirement. This amazingly detailed scene is where guests board the groundbreaking ride and are drawn into the excitement and chaos of Harry’s life. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – the only place in the world where the stories of Harry Potter will come to life – grand opening on June 18.

It seems like Universal can’t keep anything a secret anymore.  Even if the announcement is only a day away.  First the “tent pole” ride for the Harry Potter area had most of the information for it uncovered through patents filings, Kuka robotics contracts, or just actors talking about filming their 3D scenes for the ride.  Then a few days before the Super Bowl, their commercial somehow leaked to the internet a few days early.  Maybe this is Universal’s new advertising style?  Make a big deal about the announcement, and then leak the information early so everyone gets excited?  hmmm  That is the “grand opening date”, I’ m sure we can expect to see a soft opening start to happen in early June.

The official announcement will be made on Thursday, March 25th at 12:00pm eastern time.  Expect to see the original leaked page back online at www.UniversalOrlando.com/HarryPotter

A few different websites out there are showing off what they claim is a preview of the new Harry Potter themed Superbowl ad for Universal Orlando. I’ve embedded the video being shown below.  View it before the copy-right overlords of the interwebs have it taken down.

I think they could have done a better job for a commercial that is going to cost them $2.5 billion to show during the Super Bowl.  At this point I’m sure they’re going for just more of an “oh I’m excited to see a commercial for it” factor than trying to compete with the usual creative commercials seen during the game.  I did however like the split second view of the coaster train on the dragon’s fire.

Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights website has had a major updated with descriptions of all eight haunts and six scare zones as well as event dates, hours, and tickets now available for purchase. Here are the descriptions the website gives:

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The remake, starring Benecio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, was originally scheduled for February 9, 2009; it was then pushed back to April 3, and then again to November 6.  Well apparently delaying this monster movie remake has gotten to be a favorite pastime for Universal, because they have delayed it yet again to February 12, 2010. So let’s see, this $112 million budget film is on it’s second director, and fourth release date.  I think there’s a few worried execs at Universal right about now.

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“Ripped from the Silver Screen” will be the theme of this year’s HHN.  According to Universal’s press release, the Wolfman haunt will also be a special preview for the movie due in November.  I’m not too excited to see Chucky in the promo artwork – I’ve never found the movies scary.  While I’m not a fan of the Saw movies either, I’ll admit the Jigsaw character will fit in with HHN.  What I’m most excited about is that the theme “Ripped from the Silver Screen” does support the rumor of a Bioshock themed haunt, since Universal does own the rights to the movie, and it is due out in 2010.  They’re using HHN to cross-promote Wolfman, so maybe they will get an early start on promoting Bioshock as well.

Select dates Sept 25 – Oct 31      Halloween Horror Nights 2009 website

Universal Studios Orlando’s new coaster, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit looks like it has run into yet another delay.  Over the weekend reports came in that during a test run the train valleyed between the non-inverting loop and the first mid course brake (“valleyed” meaning  the train did not have enough momentum to make it up a hill, and rolling back into the lowest point, or valley, in the track).

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