Universal Orlando Resort will be bringing back its seasonal “Harry Potter” projection show back to Islands of Adventure on Sept. 18.
“Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle,” which debuted in 2019, starts with Death Eaters — the followers of Lord Voldemort — roaming among guests in the Hogsmeade section of the park.
“Soon after, guests will witness sinister creatures and villains – such as Dementors, Aragog, Mountain Trolls, Thestrals and more – cloak Hogwarts castle in an awe-inspiring display of light, music and special effects,” Universal said in a press release. “Guests will be asked to summon their inner strength and bravely face the visage of the powerful Dark wizard, Lord Voldemort. Then, find a moment of hope hidden in the darkness as the Patronus spell – one of the most famous, difficult and powerful defense of the Dark Arts charms in the Wizarding World – is cast.”
The show will run nightly with multiple showtimes beginning at dusk until the park closes.
SeaWorld Orlando extends Craft Beer Festival
SeaWorld Orlando’s Craft Beer Festival will now run through Oct. 31, the park announced Wednesday.
The event, which began in 2018 and features 100 craft brews, wines, and cocktails and 20 food items, was originally supposed to end after this upcoming weekend. It will now run alongside SeaWorld’s daytime Halloween event, Halloween Spooktacular, on Fridays through Sundays.
A separately-ticketed seasonal event, SeaWorld Orlando’s first-ever Howl-O-Scream, will kick off on Sept. 10.
Expedition Everest starts renovation in January
The Expedition Everest roller coaster at Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be undergoing an extended refurbishment starting Jan. 4, 2022.
The ride is scheduled to stay closed through mid-April. As Theme Park Insider notes, however, even a three-month closure is not enough time to reconstruct the mountain’s fountain, a necessary step to fix the infamously broken Yeti animatronic. Touted as the largest and most complex animatronic ever built by Walt Disney Imagineering when the ride opened in 2006, the Yeti operated as intended only for a few months.
Theme Park University explained in a 2020 article that the issues are related to unexpected damage that the animatronic’s movements caused to the figure’s foundation. That’s why the animatronic now stands still with strobe lights providing an illusion of movement