Back to the beginning of butterbeer
More than a decade after butterbeer’s theme-park debut, the frothy beverage remains synonymous with Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Longtime Universal Orlando chef Steven Jayson recently reminisced about the approval process and meeting J.K. Rowling, author of the “Harry Potter” series of books.
Universal executives and creative types kept Rowling updated during Wizarding World’s development, including food and beverage plans.
“When we got to the beverages, of course, the main conversation was around creating some iconic beverages that were written about in her books, so we looked at butterbeer,” Jayson told a group of journalists and social-media influencers this week. “We said we wanted it to be for every age, so it wouldn’t be an alcoholic drink. We wanted to do something that was kind of a little mystical.”
Eventually Rowling got a taste of the concoction when Universal brought it to her in Scotland.
“We presented that to her, and she took a sip. And she said, ‘This is quite lovely.’ ... She said, ‘I’m not sure really what I thought it would taste like when I wrote about it. But I think this would be it.’ And that was pretty much, I think, getting all her blessings,” Jayson said.
She also OK’d pumpkin juice plans for Wizarding World.
“We came back and now we said ‘OK, we made a couple of them over in Scotland. Now, how are we going to make thousands a day?’ ” Jayson remembered. “So then we worked on that project for a while, and when we opened we were able to do that and accommodate that, serving millions and millions of butterbeers around the world.”
The drinks assist in Universal’s world-building in parks in Orlando, Southern California, Beijing and Osaka, Japan.
“One of the coolest things about it is you can’t get it anywhere except right here in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” Jayson said. “You can go over to [Marvel] Super Hero Land and it’s not there, and you can go out to CityWalk and it’s not there.
“That’s another part of it that makes it very magical and mystical and whimsical. It only exists here. As soon as you walk out with it ... it disappears.”
View to a thrill
The making-of-butterbeer story, told by Jayson behind Three Broomsticks restaurant at Islands of Adventure theme park, was part of
Universal’s media tour built around the resort’s thrills. If you don’t think butterbeer gets your heart pounding, you’ve never had two of them back-toback.
I gathered a few more park tips, some more commonly known than others, that were shared by Universal, primarily by members of its VIP tours team.
Adam Kubert, a Marvel Comics artist, created the enormous character images built into the facades at Marvel Super Hero Island, and he incorporated his name — just “ADAM” — into the bulk of them. Some are fairly blatant, but others are hidden in the folds of uniforms and capes.
There are 220 aircraft carrier tires helping launch IOA’s Incredible Hulk coaster.
For better scoring in Universal Studios’ Men in Black: Alien Attack attraction, hold the trigger down at all times. And when you see Will Smith on screen, depress the red button below the gunholder until you pass under the giant bug. This gives “some players” an extra 100,000 points (and propelled me to a personal best).
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit has a “super secret playlist,” but you know secrets and the internet get along, right? To make a choice from that unadvertised list, instead of choosing a genre on the lapbar screen, hold down the HRRR logo for about 10 seconds. A new screen then allows numbers from the secret playlist to be added.
We used to browse the list while in Rockit’s queue, but now that metal detectors keep out all phones, it’s best to pick a tune and memorize its code number before approaching the ride. I went with group flow and took 902, which gives you “Rainbow Connection,” a freaky sights versus sounds disconnect and a Kermit the Frog earworm for a couple of hours.
The gathering provided my first nighttime ride aboard Jurassic World VelociCoaster, which opened last summer. This ride is barely lit at all. I kind of prefer seeing the “danger” ahead and freaking out a bit in daylight hours. A nice compromise that requires good timing: Riding at dusk.
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