Record breaking Harry Potter theme park Universal Orlando wows visitors
By ANISaturday, October 16, 2010
ORLANDO - Powered by its hugely popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Universal Orlando shattered records by clocking the best quarterly results in its 20-year history.
Attendance at Orlando’s No. 2 theme-park resort soared 36 percent in the third quarter when compared with the same period last year, climbing by 1 million visitors to 3.7 million, reports Orlandosentinel.com.
Needless to say, Universal is reaping a financial windfall from Wizarding World, its collection of rides, shops and eateries themed around the phenomenally popular Harry Potter franchise.
It earned revenue of 364 million dollars, fuelled by ticket sales and enormous demand for Potter-themed merchandise ranging from mugs of butterbeer to magic wands and Hogwarts school robes.
“We are seeing tremendous excitement for everything Universal Orlando Resort has to offer,” Bill Davis, president of Universal Orlando, said in a statement.
“We’re happy for what the Wizarding World of Harry Potter has done for our business and for all of the Central Florida tourism community,” he added.
Universal has earned rave reviews for Wizarding World, from its meticulous recreation of various Potter settings to the more than 600 unique products the resort designed for sale based on the fanciful food and objects found throughout the books.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - Wizarding World’s centerpiece attraction, which uses a first-of-its-kind robotic roller-coaster system - have earned multiple industry awards. (ANI)
