It took all of Harry Potter's wits to break into the goblin-controlled wizarding bank Gringotts. Can you?
Probably, because you'll be on an amusement park ride.
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts—or just "Escape From Gringotts," as we're sure fatigue will compel people to call it—is the centerpiece of the long-awaited Diagon Alley expansion to Universal Orlando's Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction. You'll be able to see it no matter where you are in Diagon Alley or the shops at Hogsmeade, as the Gringotts facade that serves as the ride's entrance will be topped by a 60-foot, fire-breathing Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon.
Universal has grand promises for Escape From Gringotts, saying that the ride, which will open with the expansion on an as-yet-unspecified date this summer, will be nothing like any other amusement park ride you've ever been on: It's not quite a dark ride, not quite a coaster, but a "multi-sensory, multi-dimensional" experience with 4K video and real-life effects.
"We've taken a combination of water, wind, heat, visceral effects [and] put that together into one great experience that can't even be summarized in a word," says Eric Hunt, creative producer of Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringotts. "It's so much content in four minutes that you truly will be amazed at what we've delivered."
In case you need a cross-comparison between fantasy universes, Gringotts is the Harry Potter equivalent of the Iron Bank of Braavos. It holds no loyalty to good or evil; its goblin keepers trust no one but the almighty dollar (or Galleon, anyway). Breaking in and stealing its treasures is considered to be impossible, since its underground vaults are secured with a gauntlet of nearly uncrackable security measures. So naturally, thousands of people per day will manage to do it in Orlando.
While you're waiting around for your four minutes of intensity, you probably won't be bored. The big ride in the original Harry Potter attraction that opened in 2010, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, was notable for how detailed and entertaining the queue area was. It wound you through the halls of Hogwarts, past talking paintings, shrieking Mandarake plants and lifelike projections of the Harry Potter cast who explained the plot of the ride.
"I think that we've done better than what we've done before," says Hunt of the queue experience for Gringotts. "There are parts of Gringotts Bank that have never been seen in the feature film... there's office corridors, rooms where the goblins go and read their ledgers or the Daily Prophet." You'll walk into the grand lobby of the bank, as Harry did, and probably stare around with wide-eyed wonder as he did looking at the 45-foot-high ceilings and the animatronic goblins behind the high counters.
"We as guests go through the Gringotts bank to open up an account," Hunt says. "We see the infamous bank door that has the lock similar to what Harry had for his vault." The goblins themselves, he says, have "passion and attentiveness to their personalities."
The ride then takes you down through the vaults, into encounters with dragons, Bellatrix Lestrange, and even a run-in with Voldemort himself.
"As intimidating as [He Who Must Not Be Named] was in the feature film, he's certainly much more so here because he's right here with us," says Hunt.
While the sight of Lord You Know Who might scare the little ones, Hunt emphasized that "guests of all ages" are free to ride Escape From Gringotts since it has a 42-inch height requirement. So as long as you clear three and a half feet tall, you're good to go.
"We're so excited that we pulled it off, and we're really excited to show everyone," Hunt said.
