Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

The attraction building. Contrary to what one would expect, the entrance to the attraction is actually on the left side of the building. The dragon occasionally breathes fire.

## Ride Details

### Area

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley

### Ride Type

Dark Ride
Indoor Roller Coaster

### Featured Characters

Harry PotterRon Weasley
Hermione Granger
Bill Weasley
Lord Voldemort
Bellatrix LeStrange
Nagini
Griphook
Various goblins
Security trolls

***Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts*** is a hybrid dark ride and roller coaster located in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley section of Universal Studios Florida. It is the headlining attraction of the Diagon Alley expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and replaced *Jaws*, a ride based on the film of the same name that had closed in early 2012. The ride is set during the events of *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2*, the eighth and final film of the franchise, where Harry, Ron, and Hermione infiltrate the Gringotts vault of Bellatrix LeStrange to retrieve one of Lord Voldemort's horcruxes, with the guests being caught up in the resulting events. Numerous cast members from the films, including Rupert Grint, Domhnall Gleeson, Helena Bonham Carter, and Ralph Fiennes reprise their roles as their respective characters for the ride, though Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson only provided their likeness, with voice doubles and archive audio being used to voice their characters.

## History

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade officially opened at Islands of Adventure on Jun 18, 2010. The expansion was a huge success, and prompted the possibility of an expansion. Initially, rumors began to spread that a Diagon Alley expansion was set to replace the remaining half of The Lost Continent area that Hogsmeade has partially replaced. Approximately a year and a half after Hogsmeade opened, Universal announced on December 6, 2011 that an expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was set to open in the next door Universal Studios Florida, just days after *Jaws* was revealed to be closing the following month on January 2, 2012. Rumors also arose of a *Hogwarts Express* attraction that would connect both parks. However, details on what the expansion would include were not revealed until May 8, 2013, revealing that the expansion was based on Diagon Alley, as well as confirming the *Hogwarts Express* rumors.

*Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts* opened with the surrounding area of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley on July 8, 2014. Like Hogsmeade's *Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey*, the ride has been heavily praised, and another success for Universal.

## Background

The ride is set during the beginning of *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2*, the eighth and final film in the franchise, and the second half of the seventh book. During the film and book, Harry Potter sets off to search and destroy horcruxes created by Lord Voldemort in order to defeat him once and for all. Horcruxes are magically enchanted items with a part of the creator's soul stored inside. As long as the item is still intact, the horcrux is still active. Destroying all of the horcruxes will return its creator to mortality. One of these horcruxes is a cup that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, one of the founders of Hogwarts, and is located within the Gringotts bank vault belonging to Death Eater Bellatrix LeStrange.

### **Queue**

Like *Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey* at the next-door park, Islands of Adventure, the queue line of this attraction is heavily themed and designed to resemble the exterior building that serves as the ride entrance. The queue even features a lobby with hardworking animatronic goblins, heavily based on the bank lobby seen in the first film. The goblins can detect when guests are present and will look up from their work if they see guests staring at them. In addition, the goblins will also turn their heads to watch the staring guest if there is no line and the guests are simply walking by. The goblin in the center of the lobby is named Bogrod. He occasionally gives details on the benefits of opening an account at Gringotts. Later areas of the queue feature offices, one of which you can occasionally hear the voices of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook nearby.

### **Ride Experience**

During the events of the ride, guests are initially set to open their own accounts at Gringotts, only for high security measures to take effect during Harry and his friends' infiltration of the bank. With help from Ron's older brother Bill Weasley, the guests manage to avoid several potential dangers such as security trolls, and even encounter Lord Voldemort himself, demanding to know where Harry and his friends are. Ironically, Harry and his friends arrive shortly after riding on the security dragon of Gringotts, forcing Voldemort and Bellatrix to retreat. Once brought to safety from both Voldemort and the bank security by Harry and his friends, Bill sends the riders back to the loading station as Harry, Ron, and Hermione escape on the dragon to continue searching for Voldemort's remaining horcruxes.

## Trivia

* The attraction is fairly controversial due to both to the anti-LGBTQ+ actions of the franchise's creator/owner, but also because it prominently features aspects of the Harry Potter franchise with anti-Semitic undertones, as the goblins act as caricatures of Jewish people while acting as a conspiracy of money-obsessed bankers.
	+ The Star of David on the floor of Gringotts Bank which is visible in the films was removed for the ride.
* Unlike *Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey*, the franchise's primary antagonist, Lord Voldemort, actually makes a prominent appearance on this attraction.
* Although they reprised their roles for *Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey*, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson did not return to reprise their characters for this attraction. The ride still features their likenesses, but voice doubles and archive audio are used for speaking parts.
* With the closure of *Dragon Challenge*, this is now the only attraction in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter that officially takes place during a specific event in the books and films. The other attractions are set as if the guests are either experiencing their own studies at Hogwarts, or not specified to take place in any specific entry of the franchise.
* The dragon featured in this ride is not the same species of dragon featured in *Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey*. That ride features a Hungarian Horntail, while this ride features a Ukrainian Ironbelly.