Grinchmas is a live-action musical based on Dr. Seuss’ classic story.

Grinchmas
Islands of Adventure has an entire land dedicated to the stories of Theodore Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. While this land is always fun for families, it takes on a special magic during the holidays as it is overrun with Whos. Dr. Seuss fans will recognize the Whos as residents of Whoville, the Christmas-loving town that is visited by the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

The main attraction is a special half-hour stage show, offered only during the Christmas season. This delightful musical retells the story of the Grinch through song and dance, and some of the most impressive visuals of any theme park show I have ever seen. The theater is large, but all seats have an excellent view. Plan to stand in line for up to an hour, especially during the notoriously busy week between Christmas and New Year’s.

Be sure to check out the Whoville Wonky Tree Lot, where kids and adults will delight at the trees curved in seemingly impossible shapes. Allow time in your schedule to get autographs from various Whos and even, if your kids are brave, the Grinch himself. For a special treat, consider booking the specially-priced Breakfast With the Grinch at Confisco Grille, which also includes express access to the Cat in the Hat ride.

The Macy’s Holiday Parade imports authentic balloons from the famed Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Macy’s Holiday Parade
Since 1924, the Macy’s department store has sponsored a massive Thanksgiving Day parade through the streets of New York City. The parade, known for its enormous character balloons as well dozens of floats, bands and performers, was first televised in 1948. For many families, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade defines the start of the holiday season.

In 2001, Universal Orlando partnered with Macy’s to bring authentic balloons and floats from New York for the Macy’s Holiday Parade, held in Universal Studios. For safety reasons, the largest balloons are not included, but even the smaller ones used at Universal are truly spectacular. In addition to those used in the parade, several balloons are on display throughout the New York section of the park, giving you the opportunity to study these incredible creations more closely. The parade steps off shortly before dusk and is followed by a Christmas tree lighting ceremony that is well worth seeing.

Tips for Parents
Both Grinchmas and the Macy’s Holiday Parade are included with standard park admission. It is possible to enjoy the Christmas events on the same day that you tour the parks. However, crowds are generally heavy and the best parade viewing locations are full by an hour or so before the parade. For this reason, many families prefer to buy multi-day admission tickets, which allow you to slow your pace and take in the parks in a more leisurely way.

The Macy’s Parade and Tree Lighting are great for kids.

If your kids are at least 48 inches tall and everyone is wearing closed-toe shoes, you can sign up to be balloon handlers on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration begins two hours before the parade, and jumpsuits and gloves are provided. I recommend against doing this on your first visit, so that you can take in the entire parade spectacle, but on a subsequent visit it is a fun way to be part of the action. Keep in mind that you will be walking and helping to manage a heavy balloon for roughly 45 minutes, so dress accordingly.

The best view of the tree-lighting ceremony is directly in front of the Macy’s storefront in the New York section of the park, but this area becomes quite crowded. Louie’s Italian Restaurant and other areas along that street give reasonable views and are only moderately crowded. If you prefer to avoid the throngs, watch the parade from the Hollywood area of the park and plan to skip the tree lighting.

Scary characters are everywhere at Halloween Horror Nights.

Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights is intense. Seven or eight haunted houses, creepy comedy shows and streets packed with wandering monsters keep many park visitors on the run for the entire evening. It is not unusual for people to start screaming when they walk through the gates and keep screaming until they go home that night.

The Super Fans
Halloween Horror Nights also attracts legions of passionately dedicated fans. Rather than screaming and running away, they are drawn to the experience like a moth to a flame. Eager to soak in every detail, they purchase season passes and spend virtually every night at the event. They walk through the houses in slow motion, drinking in the sets, lighting, costumes and makeup, and giving shout-outs to their favorite actors. By the second weekend, they can repeat every line of that year’s Bill and Ted show. They get to know each other as well as the cast, and they form a sort of family.

The Art and Design Team
The massive Halloween Horror Nights is designed by a surprisingly small team of highly dedicated, passionate people who truly love their jobs. They also love their fans, and go out of their way to interact with them. In past years, the Art and Design team has held free question and answer sessions, sat and talked with individual guests, and even led small (paid) private tours through the haunted houses.

The Art and Design Team is highly engaged with the fans.

In 2005, the team decided to reward its most loyal fans with a special interactive game. Clues to the mystery were revealed on the Halloween Horror Nights website throughout the season, leading to a major encounter with a live actor on the event’s final night. The game was a success, and it planted the seeds for what was to come.

Legendary Truth: The Collective
Building on their experience with the 2005 game, the Art and Design team launched Legendary Truth: The Collective in 2008. Legendary Truth is a live-action alternate reality game that takes place within the fictional world of Halloween Horror Nights. According to the back story, the Collective is a group of people tasked with investigating the strange happenings within the game world. In 2008, all the happenings were linked to the mysterious Dr. Mary Agana, aka Bloody Mary, a psychologist who became obsessed with fear and subsequently disappeared.

In 2012, the game reappeared as Horror Unearthed. Players were divided into Legions, each representing a different facet of horror, and instructed to research their roots. RFID cards allowed players to check in at different locations throughout the event. At home, players around the world could join in even if they were unable to make it to Orlando. The online experience included a variety of games that allowed players to earn points. Many people played both online and at the parks, racking up large point totals and creating a friendly rivalry between the Legions.

The 2013 finale had us meet with fan favorite characters from the previous year to complete a series of tasks.

For 2013, Art and Design brought it all together with a brand-new Legendary Truth: The Collective experience. This time, players remained in their previous Legions, but were tasked with a paranormal investigation that was bigger than the individual Legions. Online players, known as remote operatives, received information and solved puzzles that were inaccessible to those who checked in at the parks. They relayed what they learned to the in-park players, sending them to various check-in locations where they, in turn, received information that was unavailable to the remote operatives. Both groups had to work together, both in their Legions and as a larger whole, to solve the overarching mystery that developed throughout the season.

The Art and Design team has assured the fans that Legendary Truth: The Collective will continue for the 2014 event. It is not yet known exactly what tricks the designers have up their sleeves, but if history is any indication, this year will bring the most immersive experience yet.

Tips for Parents

The fortune cookie task wrapped up the 2013 event while generating enough speculation to keep everyone busy until the 2014 game.

Legendary Truth: The Collective is an alternate-reality game that takes place within the Halloween Horror Nights experience. The in-park tasks typically require a great deal of commitment, as you must solve puzzles, check in with remote operatives online, visit locations in a specific order or join a group meet-up at a designated place and time. Therefore, it is not recommended for those who will visit only once or twice. Just seeing all the haunted houses, shows and outdoor scare zones is tough to manage in a single night.

If you plan to visit more often, however, Legendary Truth is a truly gripping experience. The puzzles are difficult enough to be fun, but not so challenging as to be frustrating. Each year’s mystery is engrossing, and the tasks are appropriate for all ages. You can serve as both an in-park operative and a remote operative on different nights, allowing you to play along even if you will only visit the event a few times.

As of 2013, RFID stickers, placed on the back of the admission ticket, were free for season pass holders and just a few dollars for those with one-night admission. Laminated plastic cards were also sold at a slightly higher fee. Both options allow park-goers to check in at designated locations via a brief scan, earning points for themselves and for their Legion. Remote operatives check in by logging onto the official Legendary Truth: The Collective website.

Of course, playing the game in-park requires the ability to filter out the noise, excitement and scares going on around you. If your kids are nervous or easily startled, they might not be able to focus on solving the mystery. Fortunately, the game is included with park admission, so if you find your kids are unable to concentrate, you can drop out at any time.

The village of Hogsmeade has a distinctive skyline.

When author J.K. Rowling burst onto the scene in 1997, no one expected the Harry Potter frenzy that was to follow. As of 2013, the seven-book series had sold nearly 450 million copies, and had been translated into a stunning 73 languages. The film series is the highest-grossing of all time, making $7.7 billion dollars in theater receipts worldwide.

In the early 2000s, Disney and Universal entered a fierce bidding war for the rights to bring Harry and his friends to the theme parks. As a bigger entity with a legendary reputation, it seemed nearly certain that Disney would win the war. They nearly succeeded in 2003, but could not come to an agreement with Rowling about the scale and scope of the project. In 2007, Universal announced to a stunned public that it had won the exclusive theme park rights to the Harry Potter franchise.

Bringing Harry Potter to Life
Speculation ran rampant over the next three years as Universal, Rowling, and the film and book rights holders tried to clamp down on spoilers. The rumor mill pressed on, and some of the predictions turned out to be highly accurate. But nothing could have prepared the fans for the spectacle that awaited them.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure on June 8, 2010. I was not able to attend, as Dad and I were RVing around the American Southwest, but from all reports, the Grand Opening was a phenomenal success. With appearances by some of the films’ most iconic stars and an opening ceremony that was broadcast worldwide, some fans lined up as early as midnight the night before. By late morning, the line to get into the Wizarding World was eight hours long! Though tempers occasionally flared as guests waited in the near-recordbreaking summer heat, almost all agreed that the Wizarding World was worth the hassles.

Be sure to check out the lovingly recreated Hogwarts, including the Portrait Gallery seen here, even if your kids are too small for the ride.

Phase One: Hogsmeade
Located part of the Lost Continent section of Islands of Adventure, the first phase of the Wizarding World replicates Hogsmeade, the magical village that plays an important role in the books and films. With a skyline dominated by Hogwarts Castle, the village is known for its winding pathways, shop windows filled with magical items, and a blend of age and mystery that perfectly captures the atmosphere of Hogsmeade as described in the films and novels.

The anchor attraction is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, located inside Hogwarts Castle. The queue winds through the castle, which recreates many of the most iconic rooms from the stories. High-tech video projections featuring the film cast draw guests into the adventure that awaits them. Even if your kids are too small to meet the 48-inch height requirement for the ride, take them on a stroll through the queue. If you or they are big fans, consider letting other guests pass by while you soak in the details.

The ride uses KUKA robot arms to create a highly immersive experience in which four people, each with his own over-the-shoulder restraint system, sit along an enchanted bench. The bench, attached to a robot arm, is able to pivot, swerve and spin in any direction, creating a smooth ride that gives a realistic feeling of flight. The scenes use a combination of old dark ride traditions, high-tech motion simulation and high-definition projections to create what is arguably the most believable ride experience in the world. Interestingly, not only did Universal win exclusive theme park rights to Harry Potter, it also won an exclusive ten-year contract to use KUKA ride technology in U.S. theme parks.

Leave time for shopping at such iconic locations as Honeyduke’s.

Other Attractions
Although Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is Hogsmeade’s star, it is by no means the only thing that it is worth doing. Dueling Dragons was rethemed to create the Dragon Challenge, a pair of inverted roller coasters that recreate elements of the Triwizard Tournament. Those over 54 inches tall can choose to ride the Chinese Fireball or the Hungarian Horntail dragon. Each side provides a slightly different experience.

Don’t miss the Flying Hippogriff, a kid-sized coaster with a height restriction of just 36 inches. Even the adults will love the fun of flying around Hagrid’s Hut. Keep an eye out for the animatronic hippogriff as you ride!

Ollivanders Wand Shop is a must-see experience for the entire family. Guests enter the shop in groups of 20, and one child is selected to test the premise that “the wand chooses the wizard.” After the interactive show, you will exit into a bigger shop where you can purchase wands and numerous other items of Potter merchandise.

Butterbeer stands are located at both ends of Hogsmeade. The nonalcoholic beverage is a favorite of Potter fans. Also available is pumpkin juice, a blend of pumpkin and other fruit flavors that is mentioned frequently throughout the series. For a sweet treat, stop by Honeyduke’s for Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs and other iconic offerings.

If you get hungry, the Three Broomsticks offers hearty counter service dishes in a recreation of the famed tavern. Prices are reasonable and portions are huge. Plan to split unless your family is extremely hungry. If the adults are so inclined, the attached Hog’s Head Pub sells a house beer along with several known brands, and also provides a full bar.

Part of the fun of Hogsmeade is wandering through the various shops, so allow plenty of time in your schedule. If your family loves Harry Potter as much as we do, the squeals of delight will be audible from the adults as well as the kids! From moderately priced robes and brooms to expensive collector’s items, each piece of merchandise is something truly special.

Phase Two: Diagon Alley
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was an immediate hit, raising attendance at Islands of Adventure by an estimated 36 percent in 2010. Just one year later, Universal announced plans to expand. Located inside Universal Studios, the other gated theme park in the Universal Orlando complex, the expansion replaced the Amity area including the Jaws ride.

Opening in the summer of 2014, the new section recreates Diagon Alley, the magical street that exists inside London in the books and films. The anchor attraction is Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, a high-thrill ride based on the one that travels between the vaults at the Gringotts wizard bank. Shops will include a branch of Ollivanders and Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, while food will be available at the Leaky Cauldron. Fans of the Death Eaters will be happy to know that Knockturn Alley is also recreated, with shopping available at Borgin and Burkes.

The Hogwarts Express will transport guests with park-to-park admission privileges between Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. The interactive journey is rumored to provide different adventures in each direction, making it worthwhile to take a round trip. I plan to visit shortly after the expansion is complete, and will publish a detailed review at that time.