Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts is a steel roller coaster at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida. The 3D dark ride themed to the Gringotts Wizarding Bank became the flagship attraction for the expanded Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort when it opened July 8, 2014.\r
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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter officially opened in the Islands of Adventure theme park on June 18, 2010. The Harry Potter-themed area saw attendance at Islands of Adventure rise by as much as 36% in 2010. According to Jason Garcia of the Orlando Sentinel, this saw resort executives pondering when to expand Wizarding World and how to keep business balanced between Islands and Universal Studios Florida. In April 2011, Brady MacDonald of the Los Angeles Times speculated that an expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter would see attractions such as Diagon Alley and a Gringotts-themed dark ride replace Islands of Adventures Lost Continent themed area.\r
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On December 6, 2011, Universal Parks & Resorts announced that they would be expanding The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The expansion was described as significant by officials. The announcement came just four days after Universal Studios Florida announced that they would be closing their Jaws ride on January 2, 2012. Demolition of the Jaws ride and the surrounding Amity area began almost immediately after its closure. After the site was levelled, work began on land reclamation as well as the construction of a series of buildings including a large show building for the Gringotts ride.\r
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Further details about the expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter were announced on May 8, 2013. Officials confirmed that the expansion would predominantly be set in the adjacent Universal Studios Florida theme park and would feature attractions themed after Diagon Alley and London. On January 23, 2014, officials announced the name of the flagship attraction would be named Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts.\r
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On July 8, 2014, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts opened alongside other attractions in the newly added Diagon Alley section.\r
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- wikipedia.org