Guernsey inspired the Wizard World designer

Saturday 10th July 2010, 2:29PM BST.

Alan Gilmore outside his in-laws’ St Saviour’s home yesterday. 	                                (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0995724)

Alan Gilmore outside his in-laws’ St Saviour’s home yesterday. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0995724)

THE new Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Florida, was built with Guernsey in mind.

Alan Gilmore, supervising art director for Universal Studios’ 20-acre attraction, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, revealed this as he stayed in the island this week.

The US theme park, which was five years in the making, opened three weeks ago, offering visitors the opportunity to taste butterbeer, buy magic wands and fly on broomsticks.

‘It was my job to take the details in the books and films and make them into a reality,’ said Mr Gilmore, who spent three-and-a-half years working on the project, two of which were spend on location in Florida.

Mr Gilmore, 39, whose wife Jo, 41, is from Guernsey, trained as an architect at Trinity College, Dublin, before going into film design and working as an art director on The Bourne Ultimatum and TV series The Tudors.

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