The world’s most unique train journey

Linking Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade would be one of the most unique theme park rides ever built – one that would connect two separate lands inside two distinct theme parks.

“The Hogwarts Express was an extraordinary creative opportunity,” says Mark Woodbury. “Here we had two theme parks and we saw the opportunity to separate those two stories just as they are in the fiction by a considerable amount of space. But then you have the benefit of the Hogwarts Express that would give us an authentic way to make the story seamless as you travelled from Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade and Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley, and to make this whole resort a different and unique experience.”

Whereas Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley are separated in the books and movies by hundreds of miles of British towns and countryside, at Universal Orlando they would be connected by a track that would run through an unattractive backstage area of the resort. “Of course, it will go backstage,” admits Thierry Coup. “But the guests will never know because we’re going to take them on the actual journey.”

In fact, there would be two distinct journeys (one in either direction), each featuring characters from the movies. Guests would board the Hogwarts Express via either Hogsmeade Station in Islands of Adventure, or via the recreation of Kings Cross Station over at Universal Studios Florida. The trains themselves would be meticulously designed to resemble those seen in the movies, with a facility in Switzerland being used to produce them.

“The vision of the Hogwarts Express at Universal is to recreate authentically the trains seen in the films,” says Alan Gilmore. “We want the train to look like it has travelled many times between London and Scotland, which is a journey of several hundred miles. We actually have to scratch and dent to really make it feel like it’s been used.”

“We wanted to have a full scale train that looks just like the one in the films,” continues Coup. “An exact reproduction, down to the finest details. The fabric inside the train is from the same manufacturer that made that fabric back in the 1950s. It’s totally authentic.”

To guests, the two trains operating on the Hogwarts Express ride would appear to be real, working steam locomotives. However, the steam puffing out of the engines would be strictly for show. The trains would not be powered by old-fashioned coal, but would instead work more like a funicular railway of the type that usually runs up and down a steep hillside.

There would be no engines on-board. Instead, the trains would be pulled along by a cable, driven by a single motor that would haul both trains at the same time. This would have several benefits. Firstly, neither of the trains could break down individually. They would also travel at exactly the same speed, necessary both to coordinate the show elements and to ensure that they would pass each other at the correct point.

Specialist firm Doppelmayr were brought in to build the funicular railway system, boasting: “Hiding behind the detailed reproduction of the renowned steam train is a modern funicular ropeway constructed by the world market leader in ropeway engineering.”

Both trains would run along a single track, except during one point in the middle where they would be able to pass each other. There would be no place for the two trains to turn around (given the cable system employed by the ride, that would be impossible anyway). Instead, one of the trains would travel in reverse, from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley.

The huge, “steam-driven” wheels that riders would see while boarding the Hogwarts Express would be another show element. The actual wheels of the train would be hidden underneath its body. The larger, fake wheels would only exist on one of side of the train – the side facing away from riders would not have them at all.

Rather than looking out of real windows onto the drab backstage area, guests would instead see scenes from the real Britain (and fictional elements from the Harry Potter universe) on display screens carefully disguised as windows. “We had to invent a whole different projection system that is part of the train,” explains Coup. “You can actually lean against the window and see what’s oncoming – this is unheard of, it’s a very unique technology and we developed it here.”

“The projection technology allows us to have everything outside the windows of the trains be the true journey, from seeing the British landscapes, the Malfoy Manor, and coming on to Hogwarts and seeing your favorite characters, all that had to be created so that you don’t feel like you are in Florida.”

The displays would not use traditional 3-D technology, such as that employed by the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. This would have required guests to wear 3-D glasses. Instead, the edges of the displays would be curved, helping to create an impression of depth and to overcome the feeling of simply staring at a high-definition monitor. The overall level of immersion would be enhanced by making the frosted windows of the trains’ eight-seater compartments into screens as well, enabling the illusion to be created of recognizable characters walking or standing just outside.

The scenes outside the window would include shots of Hagrid on his flying motorbike, Buckbeak the hippogriff, and the broom-riding Weasley twins. They were filmed in the UK almost two years before the ride was scheduled to open, with original actors including Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) returning. “I always had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t completely over, that I’d be back again,” admitted Grint. The development of the story had by this stage taken two years, having begun in 2010.

Notable by their absence from the list of returning stars were Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. Voice doubles would instead be used where necessary to provide additional dialogue for Harry and Hermione. “A while ago, they asked me to do more stuff for the theme park,” explained Radcliffe in May 2014, “and that was my moment to try and draw a line because that theme park is going to keep expanding, and keep going to more countries, and there’s going to come a point where I’m going to be 30 years old, and if I was still doing that then, that would be a huge problem.”

With the trains looking suitably authentic, the two stations closely resembling their movie counterparts, and the journey having been created, there was still one more challenge facing Universal Creative. In the movies, Harry and his friends enter the hidden Platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross by running directly through a brick wall. This memorable effect would have to be recreated in the Wizarding World’s new attraction. But how?

In the end, Universal accepted that actually having guests pass through a brick wall was not practical. Instead, they devised a neat effect for the benefit of waiting riders using the “Pepper’s Ghost” technique that dates back to the 19th century (and which was built upon for the Musion Eyeliner system employed by Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey in the original Wizarding World). A sheet of glass would sit between those “walking through” the wall and those watching them, built into a large luggage cart. In conjunction with mirrors and lighting and sound effects, this would create the illusion for those watching that guests in front of them were passing through the wall. However, the guest in question would actually simply walk through a zig-zag section of queue, with a sound effect playing to indicate that they had passed through onto the mythical platform, ready to begin their magical journey to Hogwarts.