Warner Bros. Reveals Contents Of Abu Dhabi’s ‘Harry Potter’ Lands

Three ‘Harry Potter’ lands are coming to Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi. (Photo by Murray Close/ Getty Images)

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Warner Bros. has revealed the attractions that will await fans in its upcoming Harry Potter theme park lands in Abu Dhabi which were unveiled today.

As this report forecast, a video promoting the expansion to Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi was released today and showed the sentient Ford Anglia car from the Potter series flying above Yas Island, the leisure destination where the theme park is located.

It is understood that the car will be the centerpiece of a thrilling attraction simulating scenes from the Potter franchise where it skims across the English countryside following the Hogwarts Express steam train before battling a Whomping Willow tree and an army of sinister giant spiders.

It seems like it was made for a thrill ride but, surprisingly, it is one of the few action sequences from the films not to have been turned into an attraction by Universal which operates the only Potter theme park lands. That will all change when the doors swing open to the area in Abu Dhabi. Not only will they be the first ever Potter lands in a theme park which isn’t operated by Universal but their home carries the brand of the studio which produced all eight movies about the boy wizard.

It sets high expectations, especially as Warner Bros.’ contracts with Universal state that its Potter lands must be maintained “at a first class, world class level for destination theme parks unsurpassed in quality by any other destination theme park worldwide” as this author recently reported in Abu Dhabi newspaper The National.

It will take more than the wave of a magic wand to beat Universal’s Potter lands which are famous for being some of the most immersive in the industry. However, if any park can do it, it’s Warner Bros. World. The park recently became the first attraction in the Middle East to win the Liseberg Applause Award – the themed entertainment industry’s equivalent of top honors at the Oscars. The park has a trick up its sleeve to ensure that the end result will be even more spellbinding than its predecessors.

Warner Bros. World is indoors which shields guests from Abu Dhabi’s intense heat and also allows it to be decorated with much more elaborate scenery than outdoor parks, like the ones in Universal’s portfolio, as they aren’t open to the elements. It means that the exteriors of the rides in Warner Bros. World are often just as detailed as the interiors of their counterparts at Universal.

The Warner Bros. wizard behind the park is Taylor Goodrich, one of the themed entertainment industry’s most talented art directors. In his role as the head of creative, he oversees creative development for Warner Bros. theme parks, exhibitions, location based entertainment, live entertainment, hotels and pop-up activations. As he explains on his website, as part of his duties for Warner Bros. World, he has to “manage the creative for this project and guide the expansion for Harry Potter, new attractions, live entertainment, and seasonal activations.”

The park’s operator, Miral, specializes in indoor attractions and it has had a magic touch. Not being at the mercy of the weather has enabled Miral to build increasingly extravagant attractions. As I have reported, this has led to it becoming a powerhouse of themed entertainment alongside Universal and Disney.

Today’s video stated that the expansion to Warner Bros. World will contain three new themed lands and added that they will be revealed in an announcement on September 7. This was reflected on the park’s website which says that “three Harry Potter-themed lands are planned to be added to Warner Bros. World, Yas Island Abu Dhabi. Details have not yet been announced.”

However, shortly after the video was released, the official Harry Potter Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Threads channels posted a statement revealing that “Hogwarts Castle, Diagon Alley and the Forbidden Forest are coming to @wbworldyasisland, Abu Dhabi.” There is no doubt about the authenticity of the statement as the accounts are the social media channels of the official Harry Potter website which says that it is “brought to you by Wizarding World Digital and its parent company Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.”

Hogwarts or, as it’s formally known, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is Harry’s Alma mater. The giant grey turrets of the Gothic castle stand in stark contrast to the narrow Dickensian Diagon Alley with its wonky wooden buildings. As I revealed in March, Warner Bros. World will be the world’s only theme park with recreations of both of these legendary locales.

It reflects filings for construction of the lands which is currently underway. Earlier this year Themeparx, the world’s leading theme park construction tracker, posted photos of the work showing a sign on the site, describing it as the ‘Warner Bros. World Phase 2 Expansion’, along with a QR code linking to a permit from the Department of Municipalities and Transport.

This described the work as the “proposed New Expansion to the existing G 1 Warner Bros World” consisting of “harry potter Diagon Alley, proposed B G 2 Harry potter Castle, proposed G Harry potter Ride and Fores.” Desert Thrills, a YouTube channel specializing in Middle East attractions, pointed out in a video that the ‘Fores’ likely refers to an area themed to the Forbidden Forest Potter location with its sinister giant spiders and Whomping Willow trees. It may not be long before guests get to see them up close.

An official opening date hasn’t been announced but a clue to this comes from Entertainment + Culture Advisors, a consultancy working on the project. As our recent report in The National revealed, an advertisement posted by the company revealed that the Potter area is due to open in 2029. Although the Middle East has been gripped by war since February, the advert was published three months after the conflict began so it was presumably taken into account. As today’s video demonstrated, the war hasn’t stopped Abu Dhabi expanding and casting a powerful spell.

Additional reporting by Chris Sylt