Ride the Movies!

I am not much of a Harry Potter fan, and certainly not a fanatic, so it surprised me when I became near giddy with excitement upon hearing that a Harry Potter theme park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, will open next year at Universal Studios Florida. I suppose my excitement comes from being a fan of the Harry Potter movies, but more so because now I’ll be able to enter a world that previously existed only on the screen.

For me, a great part of the thrill and excitement of visiting Disney World and Universal Studios came from seeing scenes and characters from cartoons and movies come to life. Baloo the bear isn’t just a cartoon, I got his autograph and took a picture with him. I could visit the world of Brer Rabbit at Splash Mountain, explore the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, and at Disney’s MGM studios I could watch an Indiana Jones stunt show and go on the Great Movie Ride and ride through scenes from classic movies.

Disney’s MGM Studios was fun, but Universal Studios was a real thrill for me. I could ride in a DeLorean (the time traveling kind), be attacked by the shark from JAWS, be attacked by King Kong, see the Ghostbusters and the Blues Brothers, and visit a wonderful exhibit on Alfred Hitchcock. I was 10 years old the first time I visited these parks and 21 the last time was at either park and though childhood excitement about Mickey Mouse and Disney World had faded, I was still excited to be in an immersive world created from scenes from movies from my childhood.

As excited as I am for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it reminds me that my own childhood has long since ended. Harry Potter belongs to a different, younger generation and some of the rides and attractions from my generation are starting to fade. The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse is now the Tarzan Treehouse, the Pirates of the Caribbean is still there but now it’s known because of the movie franchise. At Universal Studios; the Ghostbusters are around only as part of a ridiculous musical show with Beetlejuice, King Kong is gone, Alfred Hitchcock is gone (replaced by Shrek 4-D), and, my personal favorite, the Back to the Future Ride has been replaced by a Simpsons 3-D ride.

I’ll be excited to go inside Hogwarts but I don’t think I’ll feel the same way as when I walked through the giant wooden gates of Jurassic Park at Islands of Adventure. When I was a kid I fantasized about traveling through time in a DeLorean, and I was lucky enough for that to come true, as much as it could come true anyway. Now it's time for a new generation to get their childhood fantasies fulfilled, in the most realistic way possible. I'll be excited but they'll be thrilled.