10. Try some unusual ice cream flavors

One of two dining outlets in Diagon Alley will be Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. In the books, the parlour is a small shop with indoor and outdoor seating areas. It serves up lots of colorful ice cream flavours, along with toppings such as chopped nuts. Its owner met a sticky end, however...he was murdered by Death Eaters.

Universal has promised that it is dreaming up some special ice cream flavors just for Diagon Alley - so expect some wizarding twists on old favorites.

9. Watch the Lion King in his new home

To create room for the under-construction Pandora - The World of Avatar, Disney shuttered the Festival of the Lion King show earlier this year. We're expeciting to reopen in a new theater in the Africa area of Disney's Animal Kingdom in June.

8. Cast a spell

Rumors have been circulating for months that the most popular merchandise item from the original Wizarding World - the wands sold by Ollivanders and the Owl Post - will be taken to a new level in Diagon Alley. The wands are expected to be equipped with RFID chips, enabling them to trigger effects and animations at various different points in the land.

Universal has yet to officially discuss the wands, but it's not difficult to imagine the possibilities. Different wands could trigger different "spells" - making collecting a range of them even more desirable.

7. Explore the first parts of Disney Springs

Walt Disney World is currently undertaking a multi-year transformation of Downtown Disney, which will become Disney Springs. The updated shopping and entertainment district will be themed around an idealised version of turn-of-the-century lakeside town. Disney promises that it will create a "welcoming, comfortable space where families can enjoy time together and instantaneously feel right at home".

It won't be completed until 2016, but look out for a new parking deck and other progress in 2014.

6. Dine at the Leaky Cauldron

In the Harry Potter books and movies, The Leaky Cauldron pub forms the entrance to Diagon Alley. Muggles see just an old, rickety shop front on Charing Cross Road, but wizards are able to pass through a hidden doorway and enter the mysterious alley. At Universal Studios Florida, The Leaky Cauldron will become the main dining outlet, performing the same function as the Three Broomsticks in the original Wizarding World. Expect Butterbeer aplenty to be served alongside the hot food, which will include classic British dishes such as fish and chips, toad in the hole and bangers and mash.

5. Explore the completed New Fantasyland

Disney first announced the updated New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom back in 2009, and it's taken almost five years to complete it. That moment will finally come with the debut of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, with visitors able to enjoy the New Fantasyland experience without encountering construction walls at every turn.

The faux mountain that hosts the new roller coaster will dominate the area, but has been cleverly designed to reflect the theme of its surrounding attractions. From the front, guests will see a wooded entrance leading to the Seven Dwarfs' cottage. From the back, it will resemble a seaside village (complete with a waterfall), tying in with Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid.

4. Talk to a zombie head

The Knight Bus, a prominent feature on the waterfront of the new Wizarding World, will feature talking heads that will converse with guests. That has been all-but-confirmed by a recent casting call, in which Universal Orlando invited people to: "Prepare a one-minute monologue in a British or Caribbean accent." The call for British, as well as Caribbean, accents suggests that other characters will be brought to life, too.

The setup is likely to be similar to that for the fountain in Islands of Adventure's Lost Continent area, with the actors being located in a hidden control room and using cameras and microphones to enable the interaction with guests.

3. Ride the steepest new water slide in Orlando

Something BIG is coming to SeaWorld Orlando's Aquatica water park next season. Ihu's Breakaway Falls will tower some 105 feet over the park, and is promised to be the steepest (and only) ride of its type in Orlando. The exact nature of the attraction is yet to be revealed, but we can deduce that it won't be a standard body slide: Summit Plummet over at Disney's Blizzard Beach stands at 120 feet tall, which would negate SeaWorld's claim that its new addition is the "tallest ride of its kind" in the area.

The slides will be named after Ihu, Aquatica Orlando's gecko, who it is claimed searches for the "biggest thrills, steepest hills and coolest spills in the water park".

2. Try something spicy

Epcot's World Showcase is famous for its selection of internationally-themed restaurants, and the newest opened in January 2014. Spice Road Table is housed in the Morocco Pavilion, and serves small plates and tapas. The design is inspired by outdoor cafés along the Mediterranean, complete with a whitewashed façade, tapestries and artwork representing the country's indigenous Berber tribes.

1. Escape from Gringotts Bank

The Hogwarts Express may have generated a lot of excitement, but the real headliner of Diagon Alley is Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, a major roller coaster-dark ride hybrid set in Gringotts Wizarding Bank. The Gringotts scenes in the movies almost seem to have been designed specifically to inspire a theme park ride, and this promises to be some ride.

Expect stunningly-detailed recreations of sections of the bank seen in the movie (and a heavily-themed queue line to match that of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey), plus thrilling elements that may include freefall drops, tilting tracks, a launch section and enormous screens used to project the action.

You can keep up to date with the latest confirmed and rumored opening dates for new attractions through Theme Park Tourist's "New Attraction Watch" section, and by signing up for our weekly newsletter.