The 2010 Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Orlando® should be a thrilling monthlong Fall event. Official dates for HHN 2010 on the Universal Studios Orlando website have now been announced. This is the 20th year of this popular holiday happening. The official dates are as follows:
September 24th, 25th, 30th
October 1-3, 7-10, 14-17, 20-24, 27-31
As we have blogged before, this is one of Orlando’s top events for the year. HHN events include a costume parade, spooky haunted areas, and live entertainment. Additional attractions include scary creatures, monsters and hellish beasts during each of the even dates. Due to the frightening theme, this will not be suitable for young children.
Make your Orlando travel plans now and maximize your holiday enjoyment by staying in an Orlando or Kissimmee vacation rental. Vacation homes provide excellent value and are extremely affordable. Luxurious amenities for many homes include wireless internet, private pools and well landscaped resort grounds.
To assist you with your vacation planning and to detail each of the resort communities available, consult our resort reviews on the main page of our site. This detailed research is designed to make planning easier and to better match your expectations with what each community has to offer.
Please Note: Dates are subject to change at any time. Please consult the Universal Orlando website for possible itinerary or event time changes.
The much awaited Harry Potter attraction at Universal Studios is now open. We ventured out in the middle of June fighting some serious summer heat and humidity to take a look.
This is our first visit to an Orlando theme park attraction where we have seen visitors running to get to a section of the park. The lines to get into Harry Potter were long (1.5 hr wait for the main ride) at 8:45 a.m. We would anticipate that the lines will begin to die down as the initial thrill of this major new attraction dissipates.
We were able to take the following photos of the Harry Potter theme park to give you some idea of what to expect. In addition, we have also added a video of the Harry Potter theme park attraction.
If you are visiting the local Orlando, Fl area and planning to make a trip to see the Harry Potter theme park, the nearest Orlando vacation home (condo) rental community is Vista Cay and the Isles at Cay Commons just off Universal Boulevard near Sea World. You can click on our review on the right to learn more about the villas nearest Harry Potter Orlando.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that Universal Studios and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction will announce a June 18th opening date. This would culminate months of speculation about the specific opening date. Click here for the full exclusive story.
As we recently blogged, May 28th had been discussed as a soft opening date for the attraction. The June 18th firm opening date now gives Universal the opportunity to work out any operational issues. This fits together to get all the elements of the $200 million attraction ready on time.
Vacation homes in Orlando present the ultimate lodging opportunity for families and travellers wishing to enjoy the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This site is one of the largest informational references on the net for Orlando vacation rentals. You’ll find over 80 detailed community profiles including reviews, distances to theme parks and details for each subdivision. Consult our home page for these individual community reviews.
Halloween Horror Nights 2010 (HHN 2010) at Universal Studios Florida® and Islands of Adventure® will begin in September, 2010 and conclude on October 31, 2010. This spine-chilling attraction is always one of the area’s most popular events and is in fact one of the largest seasonal themed events of its kind in the country. It must be noted that this attraction is too intense for smaller children.
The Halloween Horror Nights 2010 activities include a Halloween parade, haunted homes, frightening scare zones, lively dead entertainment, and themed performances. This year’s occasion also includes scary appearances by an array of monsters, beasts, ogres, hellions and devilish creatures.
For additional details on Halloween Horror Nights 2010, please visit Universal’s HHN website. Additional HHN pictures and photo gallery can be viewed here. This is certainly one of Orlando’s most anticipated events of the year.
Although HHN is a quite a scary attraction, you want your vacation accommodations to be much less dramatic. Vacation home rentals provide a “scare-free” environment that the whole family can enjoy while on vacation. This website provides profiles on over 80 resort communities that are located near the parks and major attractions. Most vacation rentals have private pools, wireless internet, game rooms and other premium home luxuries.
Anticipation continues to build around the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opening date Universal Studios. Universal Studios Isands of Adventure recently announced an opening date of June 18, 2010, but the park cannot yet disclose a soft opening before this date. Theme Park Insiders indicates some type of advance ”soft opening” should be minimally available.
Typically opening any new theme park would involve several weeks of testing operations to handle peak volume. This training period is commonly called a soft opening. Moreover, the park may pursue this soft opening option for several weeks, and then declare the park fully open on June 18th as the Theme Park Insiders indicate.
One thing for certain is the fact that Orlando will bask in the glow of Harry Potter’s media attention for the next several months. The opening of the Harry Potter attraction also helps build a healthy competition for quality entertainment with Disney.
Considering the state of the recessed local and state economy, the new Harry Potter attraction at the Islands of Adventure Universal will help fill up vacation homes and other accomodations from the first day of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s opening date.
The closest villas to Harry Potter World and Universal Orlando would generally be Vista Cay and the Isles at Cay Commons. Both of these resort communities are rated 4 Stars (out of a possible 5 Stars) and are located just minutes from the attraction. Consult our reviews of both Vista Cay and the Isles of Cay for more detailed information. This site also profiles over 75+ additional vacation rental choices in the Central Florida area on the main page of this site.
The Univeral Studios employment webpage reports that employment auditions for the opening of Harry Potter World will take place on Saturday, November 14th and Sunday, November 15th, 2009 at Universal Studios Orlando. Time for the audition is 10 a.m. both days. Recent updates for the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios still pinpoint the opening of the new Harry Potter World attraction as June, 2010. These auditions are a confirming sign that the much anticipated attraction should open on time.
The Universal Studios Orlando employment requirements indicate the need for younger males in appearance with British speaking dialects for the opening of the Harry Potter World attraction. Call backs will be held on Monday evening at 6 p.m.
This website will continuously post updates on the Harry Potter World opening as we get new information. Vacation villa rentals in Orlando are an outstanding way to enjoy all the theme parks in the area including Harry Potter World. Consult our traveller reviews section for ratings on over 80+ villas in the area. Villa rentals contain all the amenities of home, but at reasonable nightly rates.
The new 2009 Holiday Concert Series at Universal Studios will be held at the theme park’s new Music Plaza venue beginning on December 5th, 2009.
For Chistmas at Universal Studios this outdoor concert series will be held at The Universal Studios’ Music Plaza which showcases a 2,000+ square foot stage and a 20 foot projection screen. Holiday concert times for each performance are 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. The concerts are free with a paid Universal Studios’ events admission. Entertainers and concert dates include:
Mannheim Steamrollers – Saturday, December 5th
Chris Isaak – Saturday, December 12th
Natalie Cole – Saturday, December 19th
The upcoming holidays in Orlando are a great time to enjoy all the many activities and attractions that Central Florida has to offer. Vacation rentals offer value, luxury and comfort for thousands of Orlando visitors each year. This vacation reviews site blogs about this value and convenience along with providing detailed profiles of over 80+ resort communities in the area.
Universal Studios Orlando reported that their attendance was down 20% in the first quarter of 2009 according to the Orlando Sentinel (1).
The irony here is that a one day ticket price for the attraction is currently at an all time high.
Typically when most businesses face a downturn they often lower prices. This has not been the case with any of Orlando’s major theme parks for a one day pass. The theme parks have instead focused on extending length of stays and discounting for longer term packages. The laws of supply and demand either do not apply to major Orlando theme parks or are being ignored, as basic economics would say they need to lower prices.
The good news is that the Orlando vacation home market has slashed their prices in an attempt to attract vacationers out of the hotels and into more spacious and fully equipped vacation homes which typically run about the same price.
The media continues to buzz about the forthcoming Harry Potter World at Universal Park. Reports now indicate that the $250 million project will open in Spring, 2010 at Islands of Adventure. One of the industry’s inside sources, The Theme Park Insider newsletter, indicates that Harry Potter at Universal could be a little over exposed.
Why? Harry Potter Land at Universal will not be a new theme park, but a a park within a park and this could confuse some visitors. Moreover, the attraction will be mostly comprised of three new rides and there is the possibility that some may be disappointed if expecting an entire new theme park. Although this is intriguing, as the Harry Potter park opens and the reviews begin we think most such issues if any will be quickly resolved.
The three rides are believed to be Dragon Challenge (a roller coaster), Flight of the Hippogriff (a more family friendly coaster) and the ride Harry Potter Forbidden Journey which takes the rider through an actual Hogwarts castle.
The Harry Potter Universal Ride could also expand over time. As they often say, we believe this concept “has legs”. There is a difference between a trend and a fad. The whole Potter phenomena will last for years to come, and in the longer term this initial expansion will be a huge hit for the park, and for Orlando as well.
If you are inclined to visit in the spring to enjoy the opening, the closest vacation home communities are Vista Cay and the Isles at Cay Commons. Vacation rentals are typically a superior and economic alternative to hotels as such homes include full catering kitchens and expansive living space. Consult our site for over 80 reviews of resort communities in the Central Florida area.
Universal Studios Orlando has teamed up with Warner Brothers and has broken ground in Universal’s Island of Adventure for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
The magnitude and scale of the project is reflected in its 2 year construction timeframe and has been dubbed “a theme park within a theme park”. We have received several e-mails from Orlando vacation home renters regarding the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Universal Studios Orlando opening dates. We are not aware of a hard opening date, but many hope it may open as early as 2010. Subscribe to our feed so we can keep you updated.
From the street level, Hogwarts Castle can clearly be seen under construction. In addition to the castle, the Harry Potter theme park is believed to have backdrops that also include Hogsmeade Village and the Forbidden Forest.
Harry Potter Orlando promises to be a totally interactive and immersive environment with rides, attractions, shops and restaurants. Stuart Craig, the creative mind behind the film, is managing the project at Universal Studios. This will keep the attraction true to its roots and with blessings from the Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. The Harry Potter theme park is currently the largest theme park expansion in Universal Orlando and promises to bring thousands of tourists to the area.
If you are planning a visit to the Orlando area and want to enjoy all that the area has to offer, rent a spacious vacation home. Don’t get stuck in a cramped hotel room. We always suggest renting an entire house – enjoy an Orlando vacation home. Follow our blog for community reviews including a Harry Potter Universal Studios update, and the latest area attraction news.
