Universal Orlando is always ready to get into the Halloween spirit. In addition to the main event (Halloween Horror Nights, of course), Universal recently announced other spooky celebrations happening around property: Darks Arts at Hogwarts Castle and a Stranger Things pop-up experience. You can read about our experience with Stranger Things here.
Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle takes place in the Hogsmeade Village area of the Islands of Adventure theme park. It was announced that this event, occurring select nights September-November, would include a new castle projection show as well as death eater walk around characters. To further enhance the atmosphere, Universal said they would add green lighting and fog to the island.
I recently visited Islands of Adventure to check out the Dark Arts theming and show. The atmosphere was exactly as promised. The island was filled with a spooky green light, fog, and ominous music. There were a few death eaters stalking around in dark robes and masks. I didn’t see them do much other than walk quickly through the crowds making threatening gestures, but they moved so quickly it was difficult to get a good picture. Here are my attempts:
Here is a much better view of the death eaters from Attractions Magazine:
We arrived at the island just a few minutes before the first show started. After taking in the death eaters for a moment, we immediately tried to get in line. Since the first show was already full, guests were standing in the area between Hog’s Head and a gift shop to wait for the second showing. The show is only about eight minutes long, so we really only waited ten-ish minutes between first arriving in line and the getting our spot for the second show.
Once we arrived in front of the castle, everyone found their place and show began. As advertised, the Dark Arts show included Aragog, trolls, death eaters, dementors, and even the dark lord himself. I know that some people are bored of projections shows. I’m not one of them, but I’ve heard this criticism on multiple occasions. I think the scenes in this show are varied enough that it will keep even the most jaded viewer entertained. Instead of simply repeating the similar sequences with different creatures, each scene is very unique. There are artful depictions of the creatures like trolls fighting in shadow or a candle illuminating acromantulas on different portions of the castle. In the finale, you can hear Lord Voldemort voice his final threat before casting a spell to destroy the castle. With the walls of Hogwarts dismantled, Dumbledore gently reminds us to ” turn on the light” before a beautiful stag Patronus appears.
If you’ve seen the Universal Hollywood show (we included a video in a previous post you can see here), you know that the finale also includes multiple drones creating a stag Patronus in the sky. I was disappointed to see that the Orlando version did not include this effect. I’m sure this had something to do with a safety concern or permitting issue, but the drones were definitely missed.
Dark Arts at Hogwarts runs select nights through November 15. Showtimes will vary, but you can check the schedule on Universal Orlando’s website.
You can see the full show in the video below:
