Dolores Umbridge is making her return.
The universally hated Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (and Ministry of Magic High Inquisitor) is taking center stage in the upcoming Universal attraction Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, which is set to debut alongside the rest of the Epic Universe in 2025.
Imelda Staunton returns to play the character in the new attraction. The announcement was made during a Sunday video commemorating Back to Hogwarts, a yearly consumer products/parks initiative. Watch it below:
The new land at Epic Universe, located near the convention center in Orlando, is ostensibly themed to 1920s Paris, the setting of one of the “Fantastic Beasts” movies. There’s a new wand shop and an elaborate circus show, but the land’s big attraction is wisely themed to the main “Harry Potter” franchise. “For the first time, fans will get to step inside the British Ministry of Magic,” said Hope Glomski, director of global themed entertainment for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The building will have everything you know and love from the Ministry of Magic — the Fountain of Magical Brethren, flying memos and the enchanted weather ceiling. As you enter, you realize it’s the day of the trial of Dolores Umbridge. “I think it’s going to be one of the great rides in the world,” added Peter van Roden, senior vice president of global themed entertainment for WBD. Even the queue is loaded with details and Easter eggs, with living paintings of Ministers talking to each other and, of course, cat plates. There’s even a new character that will be introduced: Higgledy, Umbridge’s former house elf.
You get in an elevator to go up to watch the trial before all hell breaks loose and the elevator becomes your ride as you rollick through a truly magical journey. Kim Gritzer, creative director at Universal Creative (which is like Universal’s version of Walt Disney Imagineering) noted, “Our ride is so technologically advanced. There are so many layers of elements.” While the ride vehicle has been described as “new” technology, we suspect that it could be a KUKA arm, the robotic arm that powers Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the very first Harry Potter-themed attraction at the Universal parks.
During the attraction, you’ll visit the Ministry’s archives and the department of magical creatures (which ties it back to the “Fantastic Beasts” movies, sort of). It sounds like an attraction worthy of the other Wizarding World of Harry Potter rides.
A Ministry of Magic attraction had long been earmarked as the next phase for Universal Orlando’s Wizarding World empire, with the outdoor auditorium where the old “Fear Factor” show was held, once being prepped for the attraction. With the development of Epic Universe, the attraction shifted to the new theme park.
Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry will open with Epic Universe in 2025.
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