哈利·波特主題公園開門迎客 哈迷蜂擁前往

"Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe led groups of excited kids dressed in Hogwarts uniforms as the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park officially opened on Friday to long lines and snarled traffic.

Radcliffe, Rupert Grint who plays the boy wizard's best friend Ron Weasley, and other actors from the blockbuster movie and book series, were on hand at Universal Orlando as fans lined up more than eight hours to be among the first visitors.

Before dawn, the backup of Potter fans began to block the main highway through Orlando near the entrances to Universal, prompting the theme park to open its parking garage at 5 am -- 30 minutes earlier than planned, according to local media.

Visitors said that by 8:30 am the line to get inside wrapped around the exterior of Universal's Islands of Adventure park, of which the Wizarding World is one of six unique sections. And the wait for the signature ride, the Forbidden Journey, reached at least 90 minutes, at one point.

"It was worth it, just because I'm a Harry Potter fanatic," said Kelsey Rigg, 18, a British transplant to Florida who at 3 am joined a crowd of several hundred people.

Universal executives did not immediately have information about crowd size.

The 20-acre Harry Potter park reportedly cost $250 million to build and recreates the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and other places dreamed up by author J.K. Rowling in her fantasy novels about the boy wizard and his friends.

Attractions include the Dragon Challenge, a high-speed ride based on the Triwizard Tournament, a fictional 13th century contest between students of the three most prestigious magical schools of Europe.

哈利•波特魔法世界主題公園於上週五正式開放，開放日當天公園門口排起長隊，被堵得水泄不通。《哈利•波特》系列電影的主演丹尼爾•雷德克里夫則帶領着一羣興高采烈、身穿霍格沃茨魔法學校校服的孩子們暢遊樂園。

當天，雷德克里夫和《哈利•波特》系列電影和小說中哈利•波特的好友羅恩•韋斯萊的扮演者魯伯特•格林特及其它主創都現身奧蘭多環球影城，而“哈迷”們則爲了成爲公園的第一批遊客不惜排隊等待八個多小時。

據當地媒體報道，當天天亮之前，環球影城入口附近的市內主要通道已開始被“哈迷”們堵塞，使得主題公園不得不提前30分鐘，於凌晨5點就開放了停車場。

據遊客介紹，在當天早上8點半之前，排隊等待入園的長龍已經將位於環球影城的冒險島樂園外圍得水泄不通。魔法世界是冒險島樂園六大特色板塊之一。而園內“哈利•波特禁忌之旅”特色遊樂項目的等待時間則一度達到了90分鐘。

現居住在佛羅里達的英國人、18歲的凱爾西•瑞格說：“我覺得很值得，因爲我是哈利•波特迷。”瑞格在當天凌晨三點就加入了數百人的排隊大軍。

環球影城的工作人員當天未公佈具體的排隊人數。

據報道，佔地20英畝的哈利•波特公園建造耗資達2.5億美元，園內再現了霍格沃茨魔法學校和作者J•K•羅琳在這部魔幻小說中構想的其他場景。

園內的其它遊樂設施還包括基於“三強爭霸賽”設計的“龍的挑戰”高速過山車。“三強爭霸賽”是小說中虛構的13世紀在歐洲三所最具盛名的魔法學校的學生之間舉行的一項比賽。

Vocabulary:

on hand: available現有，在場

backup: an accumulation caused by clogging or a stoppage 擁堵

wizardry: 巫術