There's a new Wizarding World of Harry Potter land coming to Universal Orlando. Potter fans know what that means - new wands!
And fans will not have to wait for Epic Universe's official opening on May 22 to get them. As team member previews start this weekend at Epic Universe, Universal Orlando will introduce the second generation of its interactive wands in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.
Universal introduced souvenir wands when the original The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure in 2010. When The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley opened in 2014, Universal introduced interactive wands, adding interaction points across the two lands. This new generation of wands will add new gameplay elements to The Wizarding World lands in Orlando.
These new wands will feature new haptic effects and function much like Power Up Bands at Universal's Super Nintendo World lands in Hollywood and Japan. Visitors will be able to pair the new wands with the Universal Play function in the official Universal Orlando mobile app. Once paired, the app will track your progress using the wand at the 30 interactive wand locations across Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. [Update: the new wands cost $85 each - that's $20 a wand more than the current interactive wands.]
You can select your wizard name, avatar, house, and Patronus in setting up your profile on the app. After that, the app will post your Wizard Score and keep track of house points that you have earned by using the wands.
The new wands will go on sale Saturday, March 1 at Ollivanders Wand Shop located in both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley and Wands by Gregorovitch in Diagon Alley. At Epic Universe, the wands will be available at Cosme Acajor Baguettes Magiques in the new The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic.
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Making the devices compatible in both lands would require a new, hybrid device - one that was a combination of the Magic Wand and the Power Up Band. We could call it a...
I will see myself out now.
@russel meyer, What it will lack in wand styles(although you'll get 9 new ones in a few months), it will make up in all the new amazing magic you can do with haptic feedback and lights. besides, you can personalise yourself to death on their new phone linking where you track your house points, and make your patronus( if you can't tell, I'M SO EXCITED!!!!) btw @RobertNeils you forgot the 5 new spell offerings at diagon alley, which is too bad because all 5 are SO COOL!!!!
Do we have news on whether these will also be released in Hollywood. Never bought a wand myself but a feature like this where you could complete and log all of the wand experiences would give me that last bit of incentive to finally carry a wand around a theme park.
I would imagine that we will get them in Hollywood not long after Epic opens... assuming no supply issues, of course.
@epicuniversefan - That's good to hear that more styles are coming. I would also agree that this has a "Pokemon Go" aspect to the gameplay that I don't think is getting enough attention. Now, Disney tried to build in those types of interactions and competitive gameplay into the Datapad app in Galaxy's Edge, but it just fell flat because the level of feedback from the land was minimal and there just weren't any goals or incentives to do them.
Universal has long understood the power of their WWoHP wands, and have done an excellent job of creating interactive experiences in all of the HP lands that give guests the feeling that they're really casting spells. Adding a competitive level to the interactions and online personalization will make the experience even more rewarding and immersive. If Universal can find ways to recognize the top house (a flag, projection, or perhaps an acknowledgement during a show) and players will make the wand interactions an even more essential part of the WWoHP experience. I do think that with just a single ride in Ministry of Magic, Universal really needed to make these wand interactions a more integral (and by extension more essential, which means more guests buying wands $$$$) because without these and the desire to do them (and go back multiple times for status and House pride), it would be challenging to spend more than a couple of hours in MoM.
@RusselMeyer Exactly! The reason people get hooked on games is because of all the new things they can do after doing all the spells. The spells are fun enough on their own, but now they have a purpose to them. Plus, if universal expands the wand experience, they would have to go back to universal to try them. I think it really upgraded an essential part of the wizarding world that just felt kinda missing. Now, instead of a 30 min distraction, it might be considered a full on immersive attraction. This is a huge step up for potterverse, I cant wait to go see it myself!
Since I was on the fence about buying a wand on my last trip and didn't, this is great news! Sometimes, it pays to wait!
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These sound like excellent improvements to the wand experience. Like the new MagicBands, I'm curious to see how often these new devices will need to be charged, and how simple the charging process will be (the current wands do have batteries, but only need to be replaced occasionally - we've replaced our battery once since 2014). It's a bit of a shame that there are only 4 gen 2 designs, because part of the appeal of the wands is that there are lots of designs that make you feel like you have a unique wand (there are even more designs of non-interactive wands too). I do appreciate that the old wands will reportedly still be compatible with the current WWoHP interactions, though I have yet to see confirmation that they will work with the new interactions in Ministry of Magic as well as the new ones added to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.
I also wonder if the new wands will be interchangeable with the Power-Up bands (though not openly advertised as such), or if Universal is going to double charge you if you want to participate in the interactive attractions in both Super Nintendo World and Ministry of Magic.