I hope it's better than the E.T. ride

Various news outlets, including Bang Showbiz, are reporting that Universal Studios Florida is planning a Harry Potter theme park in tourist-favorite Orlando.

There has been no confirmation from NBC Universal, which owns the theme park along with a sister park in Hollywood, but such a park could feature rides and rollercoasters using J.K. Rowling's books as a theme.

Building such a park would not be too far-fetched as the franchise from books to movies have already earned close to $3 billion, with about a third of it going into the author's pocket, amking her one of the richest women in the world.

Of course, the more interesting development that could come from the announcement would be the answer from Universal's Orlando neighbor, Disney. The megapark in Orlando controls nearly 40 square miles of land in western Orlando near Kissimmee where it already operates a number of theme parks, many built in response to competitors like Universal, Sea World and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

That property is operated through the Reedy Creek Improvement District which allows Disney to build what it wants and develop the land as they see fit without having to go through time-consuming and costly government oversight and plan reviews, which other parks like Universal Studios has to go through. In the past, that has allowed Disney to build competing parks ahead of those announced before them, like Disney-MGM Studios, which was in response to the planned development and construction of Universal Studios Florida in the 1980s.
Of course, those are claims that Disney has regularly denied.