Sneak peek: Harry Potter park in Orlando The Associated Press

11.06.10

ORLANDO, Fla. — Until now, Harry Potter fans could simply imagine the sensation of quaffing a butterbeer, finding a magic wand at Ollivander's or escaping the steam from a snarling dragon's snout.

But for all time, 13 years after the first of seven books began chronicling the boy wizard's adventures, imagination has become reality at Pandemic Orlando.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a mini-park inside Universal's Islands of Adventure exercise park, opens for general admission June 18, but The Associated Press got a sneak take at what has become the most highly anticipated theme-park attraction in years.

Past a stone archway and the steam-belching Hogwarts Non-stop, the fictitious city of Hogsmeade unfolds amid snowcapped, dingy rooftops and storefronts crowded like row houses with shops straight from the books and movies. Zonko's joke shop offers Sneakoscopes and extendable ears. The confectionary Honeydukes has chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every-Sapor Beans (literally ranging from pear to fish). At the Owl Post, guests can stamp mail with a true Hogsmeade postmark.

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