Yesterday I had the opportunity to experience the Stranger Things pop-up photo experience at Universal Orlando’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort. This free (though you are required to show an onsite hotel key) experience is open 2-10pm daily until October 31. Cabana Bay hotel guests receive priority access while all other Universal guests are required to wait in a standby line.
When I first heard that Cabana Bay was slipping into the “upside down” for the Halloween season, I was concerned that it might disrupt the experience for all hotel guests, not just those interested in horror themed activities. You can read my initial reaction here. In reality, however, the pop-up will barely effect anyone who doesn’t wish to participate. The only hint of Stranger Things visible outside the experience is a map of the upside down tunnels posted on the bottom of the lobby stairs.
In fact, it was even a little difficult to find the Stranger Things area as the only indication of its location were small signs directing me to the second floor. Once we got there, we didn’t see any other directional signage – just a few stanchions set up over by the arcade. We got in line right at two and waited less than ten minutes for our turn.
We were asked to show a room key and then welcomed inside the experience. Only two groups are allowed inside at a time so your group can have a few uninterrupted moments at each photo backdrop. The first stop for us was the Byers’ living room. It’s a very detailed set and feels very real. You can sit on the couches and make yourself comfortable before taking a photo. The employees inside can only take a picture with one cell phone though, so decide who’s going to be responsible for sending the pictures to everyone else.
Hidden inside an ashtray on the Byers’ coffee table is a black button. When guests push the button, the lights flicker, spell out “Run,” and the Demogorgon briefly appears behind the wall. Watch the below video to see! (Disclaimer: you’ll hear me asking my friend to distract my children so they didn’t see the Demogorgon. While I didn’t expect my kids to have a problem with this experience – and they didn’t – I wasn’t sure how they would react to seeing the monster appear in the walls. End result: they saw him, and they barely cared. The fact that Scoops Ahoy was not a real ice cream shop was a much bigger problem than the big, bad Demogorgon.)
Next we moved to the Scoops Ahoy ice cream shop set. There aren’t any hidden buttons here, but there are lots of different props to play with, like Scoops Ahoy hats and the infamous scoreboard Robin Buckley uses to remind Steve Harrington of his romantic failures. There are also cut outs of the two Scoops Ahoy employees, so you can really get into character!
The experience lasted less than five minutes, but it was really fun to see these iconic locations from the TV show brought to life. I hope Universal continues to offer special/seasonal experiences like this for their guests.
