"After months of negotiations, JK Rowling has, according to a new report, signed a letter of intent to the Walt Disney Company allowing them to carry out preliminary construction on a theme park with Harry Potter characters. Although a letter of intent isn't legally-binding, it is "a serious intent to carry out certain business activities." The company is hoping for a definitive response from Jo on the situation by next summer."
For the record, Mugglenet is probably the biggest and most reliable Potter site on the net.
There have been rumors and wishful thinking scenarios about this for years, but now, it looks like it's really going down.
As a Harry Potter nut and a Disney freak, I am ecstatic. BUT...
Where will this park sit? How in depth will it go? Will it end up as a whole park or just a ride at Disney Studios, Orlando?
So many questions...so many possibilities.
Tell me you'll be able to be sorted and stay at Hogwarts in the dormatories. Tell me you'll be able to shop Diagon Alley and Hogsmead. Tell me they'll have Quidditch.
This is awesome.
[Editor's note: This has been a persistent rumor in the past, fed even by Universal at one point. See a previous Blog Flume entry for details.]
Lame, I got my hopes up for nothing. The whole potter-dorms style hotels is genius, and an entire park themed after it would make me cry with joy. But, I digress.
Curse you false hope.
The questions I posed in that thread, more than three years ago, remain unanswered: Why would a deal, so wanted by so many fans and theme park businesses, remain undone? What must J.K. Rowling have against theme parks?!?
I thought Warner Brothers had rights to Harry Potter.
Now what park would it go into?
Do I see Beastly Kingdom making a comeback>?
I'm very angry now. Not only because I look like an idiot for jumping the gun and then having a story blow up in my face (I feel like a CNN reporter) but also because this isn't going down.
NOW, a Potter park wouldn't have great legs...there's nothing you can add to it over time, and so it's not a good idea, but it would have been around long enough for me to visit and stay in the dungeons of Slytherin.
But alas, no Quidditch ride.
It would have the imagination of many kids to stand on. How many things were in the books that werent in the movie? How many other things have people come up with while making their own Harry Potter fanfics? Its a really good idea for a park...though I wouldnt call it "Harry Potter Land" or anything lame like that. See disney heads, thats real magic. The ability to see past the boundaries of movies or books and go into lands only mentioned, and some not even thought of by the authors and filmmakers. Would they truly be Harry Potter? No, but then again not really any of Prince's songs from the Batman soundtrack were really in the movie either.
So nobody has a extremly unique idea when it comes to theme park attractions or anything else! Personally, I could care less if Harry Potter comes to Disney. Does anybody remember what happened to Goosebumps and Ace Ventura?
Though Harry Potter Rides would be really cool anyway. It would also make JK Rowling rich!!!
I respond: When you said "indy films" I first thought you meant "independent films" -- which made me wonder what a Viewaskew themepark would be like.
(Shudder ...)
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I agree that Mugglenet is very reliable and by far my favorite Potter site, but they post things even if it wasn't from a reliable source , and usually if the news was wrong, they would say so later when they recieve more info.
This story WAS false, Mugglenet posted news shortly after saying that Jo signing a letter of intent is false.