ORLANDO, Fla. — Universal opened the new Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store for previews on Thursday, giving some fans a peek inside.


What You Need To Know


The store kept the movie theater facade used for the summer Tribute Store earlier this year, but it’s received some new colors—black and orange—as well as a Halloween-related images on the marquee.

For this year’s event, the theme of the store ties into the nearby Sweet Revenge scare zone. And there’s also a dark ride theme incorporated throughout the store.

As the story goes, the “cursed” Tribute Theater was acquired by the town’s mayor who decided to turn the venue into family-friendly “Halloween adventure.” The backstory can be pieced together from newspaper clippings in one of the poster marquees outside the store.

At the entrance of the store, there’s a a control panel for the “haunted dark ride” along with pages from the ride’s user manual.

The rest of the store is divided into four themed rooms:  Pumpkin Patch, Spooky Cemetery, Witches Cottage and Halloween Festival. Each room features decorations, props,  and merchandise.

The first room, the Pumpkin Patch, features jack-o-lanterns, large corn stalks, and merchandise themed to the Pumpkin Lord.

If you follow the “ride tracks” on the ground, it will lead to the next room, the Spooky Cemetery, which is set in the Hollow Hills Cemetery. The features blue lighting as well as monuments and tombstones. A head also periodically pops out from behind the graves in the room.

Following the cemetery is a hallway that depicts the inside of a mausoleum, with epitaphs and photos.

The hallway leads to the Witch’s cottage which features a cauldron, potion bottles and a large oven. This room has a cart with specialty snack items on display.

The final room is Haunted Hollow Hills, where a Halloween festival is underway. It’s set up like a town square, with banners and lanterns hanging overhead. And the check-out counters in the room feature store facades.

Keeping with the dark ride theme, the exit of the store features signs for Eerie Emporium!, a merchandise stand with “spooky keepsakes, treasures and memorabilia.” The stand features T-shirts, cups and other items that are not fore sale.

Just outside the exit of the Tribute Store, Universal added a photo op with the electric chair from the former Monsters Cafe.

Even though the Tribute Store is themed tied to Halloween Horror Nights, it will be open during regular park hours.

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