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Diagon Alley and the Real London Harry Potter’s London at Universal Studios Florida and the real London landmarks that inspired it |
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Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida is designed brilliantly. In 2016, I visited some of the places in London that served as the models for Diagon Alley. Although this website is Yesterland, I’m happy to say that everything in this photo essay still exists—in Orlando and London.
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 King’s Cross Station at Universal Studios Florida |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 King’s Cross Station in London |
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Universal has a “shrink and edit” version of King’s Cross Station—where Harry Potter caught the Hogwarts Express from London to Hogsmeade. It’s where park guests catch the Hogwarts Express ride to Hogsmeade at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. King’s Cross Station in London has two large train sheds, each corresponding to a huge arch on the façade. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 King’s Cross Station platform at Universal Studios Florida |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 King’s Cross Station platforms in London |
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Universal has a single train platform—Platform 9¾, but it captures the feel of the London station very well. The real station in London now has a Platform 9¾ photo opportunity adjacent to a Harry Potter store. It’s become one of London’s tourist attractions. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Screed & Sons Books on Charing Cross Road, Universal Studios Florida |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 Koenig Books on Charing Cross Road, London |
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At Universal, there’s a book shop immediately to the right of King’s Cross Station. It’s just for atmosphere. You can’t actually go inside. In London, Koenig Books, in the space that inspired the look of the book store at Universal, is an outpost of a German book seller. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Leicester Square Station at Universal Studios Florida |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 Leicester Square Station in London |
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Below the blue sign on the Leicester Square Station façade at Universal, the gate is always closed. But to its right, park guests leave the Muggle world to be immersed in the district where wizards do their shopping, banking, and socializing. The real Leicester Square Station is at the heart of London’s West End Theatre District. The station has four entrances serving the London Underground transit platforms far below. Two of them are in a corner building with glazed red terracotta on its first two levels. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 “Eros” at the embankment at Universal Studios Florida |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 “Eros” at Picadilly Circus in London |
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At Universal, there’s a replica of possibly the best known sculpture in London. The original at Piccadilly Circus is usually called Eros. Circus refers to the open space at a street junction, not to a travelling company of acrobats and other performers. The subject is actually Anteros, the brother of Eros. Both brothers are winged Greek gods of love. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Knight Bus at Universal Studios Florida |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 Modern double-deck city bus in London |
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The purple, triple-decker Knight Bus at Universal is not a ride, but a meet-and-greet background. It’s a modified version of a classic AEC Regent III double-decker bus, the predominant London bus of the 1950s. Double-decker buses are still a common sight in London, but they now tend to be efficient, modern buses, such as the red Routemaster hybrid-engine bus above. The name Knight Bus is a play on the night bus designation for routes that operate overnight. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Wyndham’s Theatre at Universal Studios Florida |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 Wyndham’s Theatre in London |
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Abutting the Leicester Square Station façade, Universal has the façade of one of London’s most ornate West End theaters, Wyndham’s Theatre. The real Wyndham’s Theatre opened in 1899. It’s on Charing Cross Road, with a real Leicester Square Station entrance to its left—although a different entrance than the one at Universal. The red terra cotta entrance is just a block away. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Grimmauld Place at Universal Studios Florida |
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Photo by Andy F, 2009, from Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons license) Claremont Place in London |
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To the right of Wyndham’s Theatre, a 19th-century row house façade completes the exterior of Diagon Alley. It represents Grimmauld Place, where number 12 was the ancestral home of Sirius Black’s family. For the Warner Bros. movie franchise, London’s Claremont Square served as Grimmauld Place. The historic residences are around 2/3 of a mile east of King’s Cross Station and almost two miles from Wyndham’s Theatre. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 An arch at Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 An arch at Borough Market in London |
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Behind the landmarks on the embankment, Diagon Alley immerses guests completely. Although Universal’s Diagon Alley is fictional and London’s Borough Market is real, the similarities are uncanny. Both have overhead bridge structures, brown brick walls with arches, and delicate iron structures supporting a partial glass roof. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 The glass roof at Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 The glass roof at Borough Market in London |
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The old-fashioned glass roof of Diagon Alley has the look of London marketplaces, while protecting guests from Florida rain storms. Borough Market, on the south bank of the Thames River at the London Bridge, traces its history back around 1,000 years. These days, it’s a busy, vibrant place where vendors sell everything from traditional local produce to the trendiest street food. |
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© 2022 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated March 28, 2022 |
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, Curator of Yesterland, March 28, 2022
