Would a standalone Hogsmeade village do well in a mountain location (ie: near Park City, UT?)

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I was responding to this post in another thread, and it really got me excited, so I copied my response and added to it:

Having Hogsmeade recreations in Florida and California. I've been, and you have enough fun that you don't care, but you still notice the heat (in both) and the humidity (in Florida). It's convenient to have them right in existing parks, but it just doesn't feel right. After finishing a series re-read, I started thinking about what would better, and I think I settled on it. An idea that I had that I've wanted always to drop by JK Rowling or Warner Bros or Universal or whatever: build a seasonal Hogsmeade in Heber, UT.

The Rockies in Utah are gorgeous, and probably the best backdrop for a mountain village. The biggest and most famous mountain town,Park City, wouldn't work because real estate is already at a premium, plus it would clash with zoning laws and the general look of the area. But the town of Heber, which is very nearby, has plenty of isolated, affordable land where you could build a Hogsmeade replica. Buy up an old mountain-top ranch (there are plenty), build the village, and voila! It looks and feels more authentic.

The important part: accessibility. It's close enough to SLC that you draw in a pretty solid domestic crowd, and (importantly) it's close enough to Park City that you can draw in the tourist/international crowd when they want to do something after a day of skiing. At first, only have it open in the winter, to miminize overhead, and if there's a popular demand for it, then you can have it open all year round for maximum return on investment.

With a whole standalone area, you can make it bigger and more "village-like" than the park versions. The Three Broomsticks can be an actual inn, where you can not only eat and drink but actually stay as a guest. There can be actual houses, where staff can live if they so choose (like the re-enactors that live at Colonial Williamsburg), or where guests can stay overnight. The Hogs Head can be an actual pub with real drinks, Madame Puddifoot's can be an actual cafe for a unique date, the Shrieking Shack can be a haunted house (especially around fall), the owlery can be an actual post office, there can be winter sleigh rides... endless possibilities.

This is just an idea I threw around, but I thought I'd share it and see if people thought it could be remotely possible.

Posted Jun 26, 2017, 8:39 PM UTC

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