PotterWatch: Diagon Alley Construction Photos and the Gringotts Vault Key

Welcome, wizards and muggles alike, to the latest installment of TouringPlan’s PotterWatch (we’ve dropped the “2.0” for simplicity’s sake), your regular expansion update on The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort. This time we’ll take a look at Diagon Alley’s London Waterfront facade, and hear the tale of the Gringotts Vault Key.

Diagon Alley Construction Photos

First, here are the latest photos of construction on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida, taken at “magic hour” for our first look at the facade with some of the scaffolding removed:

It appears a structure is being built between Disaster! and Kings Cross to conceal the Hogwarts Express train tracks.

The brickwork detailing on the side of Kings Cross is visible and very impressive.

The station front is still behind scaffolding.

Taking a closer look at the theatre facade:

Finally, Grimmauld Place in all its glory:

We’ll conclude with a look around the corner, which should eventually be concealed by a wooded berm.

 

In case you’re wondering what’s on the other side of those construction walls, here is a shot recent posted by a very tall member of the Orlando United forums, giving a glimpse of the Diagon Alley storefronts beyond the facade:

News and Rumors

On December 12, Universal Orlando held a press event detailing the 8 new eateries coming to the CityWalk district. They also teased the upcoming Wizarding World expansions with a few new tidbits (all of which were old news to regular readers of this blog). You can watch that video announcement here:

 

Finally, here’s a look at the mysterious package a FedEx owl delivered on my doorstep.

The code inside unlocked the following video, revealing that Universal will host a live webcast on January 23, at which time more Wizarding World details will be revealed.

If you want to watch the webcast for yourself on the January 23, sign up here.

Subscribe to our Universal Orlando Crowd Calendar to get the best Universal Orlando wait-time data and touring plans, and check back soon for the next Wizarding World of Harry Potter construction update!