The first world, which opened to the public in June 2010, is a mock up of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, with its flagship ride - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - located within the castle building. Upon entering, visitors are immediately presented with the front section of the Hogwarts Express steam train (complete with an English accented guard) as well as the Victorian architecture of the Hogsmeade buildings (snow-capped to reflect their presentation in the films).
These sights are in line with a nostalgic vision of Britain's past and thus reinforce the ideas that the films represent around British cultural heritage. It can be argued that this world serves as a site for film tourism. Many of the settings for the Harry Potter films were comprised of several different shooting locations (for example, scenes at Hogwarts were shot in Oxford and Gloucester), which makes a fan pilgrimage rather tricky and somewhat underwhelming. Universal's worlds create a site for film tourism where the public can immerse themselves in a 'real' Harry Potter setting (purchasing Butterbeer and their very own wands too!). The implication for this is the extension of the ideas on British culture and identity that are represented by the films.
A fully operating Hogwarts Express steam train ferries the public to the newer world - a recreation of Diagon Alley - which first opened in July 2014. Providing an even larger Victorian-esque setting, fans can reenact Harry's first magical shopping trip, visiting replicas of Ollivanders wand shop, Flourish and Blotts book shop and Gringotts bank.
Of particular interest is the world's location, hidden behind a mock up of modern day London (the exteriors of Kings Cross and Leicester Square stations, a telephone box, the Wyndham Theatre, and a row of houses made to look like the north London-based Grimmauld Place).
This setup mimics the films' representation of an old-fashioned magical world that could plausibly exist amongst our own reality. This in turn gives the British heritage aesthetic of the magical world more 'real-world' grounding. These particular modern-day mock ups also reinforce wealthy London-centric representations of Britain.
I intend to discuss Universal's Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter in my thesis as it can be argued that they serve as paratexts for the films.
