ORLANDO — Fifteen-year-old Colleen Kelley strutted into a throng of theme-park guests and struck a pose in her new Slytherin robe and matching wand. The Fort Lauderdale teen had just exited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure.
She was among the first members of the public to experience the new attraction, which had a two-hour preview Friday morning for customer who purchased a special Harry Potter package at Universal Orlando Resort hotels.
"We researched it for months in advance because I'm a huge Potter fan," Kelley said. "It's my birthday present, and it's the greatest present of my life."
Kelley and other preview participants experienced the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride that's housed in the signature Hogwarts castle. Once onboard, passengers virtually fly along with the Potter character through various adventures and encounters with Dementors, dragons and a Quidditch match.
"You go through and see all the characters," said Laney Rauch from Augusta, Ga. "Spiders fall and skulls pop out of you. The Dementors are so close to you it's like you can almost feel them next to you."
Rauch, visiting with five family members, ranks Forbidden Journey higher than Islands of Adventure's Spider-Man ride.
"It's so much better. It's the best ride I've ever been on in my life," she said. "It's just so much more real." Passengers estimated the ride to be four minutes long, and there were reports of the sound system malfunctioning on some seats.
Brigid Flood of Tampa and Melissa White of Orlando made hotel reservations at a Universal hotel with the hopes of getting in Friday. They were not disappointed because they received a letter of instructions upon check-in.
Inside Wizarding World, they purchased Hogwarts lanyards plus three rounds of frozen butterbeer in souvenir mugs. (Butterbeer tab: $28). "I can't wait to go back in," Flood said.
But the waiting game continued for fans without hotel packages. Cody Meacham of St. Petersburg has spent parts of four days this week at Islands of Adventure, hoping for a public peek.
"I've waited a lot and been very disappointed several times," he said. "I'm getting kind of used to it. I drove over this morning not excited at all because I figured nothing will happen."
Meacham is a restaurant worker with a flexible schedule. He's been monitoring the progress online, particularly through a set of Twitter users camped outside the gate.
"I've Twittered way too much," he said.
Universal officials have not indicated when -- or if -- there would be advance previews for the public or annual passholders. The grand opening of the $200-million-plus Wizarding World is set for June 18.
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