If you love the Harry Potter films, then chances are you are well-versed in the incredibly immersive Wizarding World attractions as a part of Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure, including faithful and incredibly detailed recreations of Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and Gringotts Bank. Brought to stunning life by the franchise’s Oscar-nominated set design team, including production designer Stuart Craig and supervising art director Alan Gilmore, the Wizarding World includes three jaw-dropping thrill rides, one child’s coaster, a number of interactive environments, several exclusive merchandise vendors (including Ollivander’s Wand Shop), two restaurants and even a fully-working Hogwarts Express to take guests with park-hopper admission between Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Though there are comparable experiences with fewer attractions in Universal Studios Hollywood and Japan, the fact remains that if you’re a Potter fanatic, there are few itches in your fandom that Universal Studios Orlando’s Wizarding World can’t scratch. For more information on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, please visit the official Universal Studios attraction website. When it comes to IRL film shooting locations, there are two kinds of places you’re likely to find: places that welcome the history and attention (see: Sands Point Conservatory’s Godfather location in Long Island) and places that will do whatever possible to keep you away (see: The Amityville Horror’s Toms River, New Jersey location). Luckily, one of the most legendary shooting locations for West Coast movie fans to venture toward is the “Michael Myers” House, located in South Pasadena, a place that has long welcomed fans looking for photo-ops in front of one of horror’s most recognizable homes. In fact, owners of the property in the past have been known to leave pumpkins by the edge of their property for potential visitors; just be sure to return the kindness after your picture and leave those inside the home alone if they’re not expecting you (especially if you’re wearing a certain mask-and-jumpsuit combination). To see the “Michael Myers” House from Halloween, please visit 1000 Mission Street in South Pasadena, California. As much as the Rocky movies have touched and inspired people around the world for more than 45 years, the fighting film franchise strikes a whole different nerve in Philadelphia, as perhaps the most iconic image from the film stems from Sylvester Stallone’s unforgettable character raising his arms in triumph at the top of the daunting steps in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It’s a moment so celebrated in Philadelphia that not only did the city erect a statue of Rocky Balboa outside of the aforementioned museum (which, if you’ve never been, is one of the most amazing and massive art collections in the world), but fans of the film and character travel to the steps to recreate the “Rocky run” on their own terms, whether it is for a prime photo opportunity or to cross the achievement off their bucket list. For more information on the Philadelphia Museum of Art, please visit the institution’s official website. A popular wedding venue, historic site, and allegedly haunted property in British Columbia, Canada, Hatley Castle may be remembered by some for its use in horror films such as The Boy and The Changeling, but will likely be instantly recognized by fans of comic book movies as the location of Xavier’s School for the Gifted throughout the X-Men franchise. Utilized in the franchise as recently as Deadpool 2, the castle, located in the heart of the Hatley Park National Historic Site, offers walking tours around the premises for X-fans between May and September, which are essential for anyone hoping to walk the hallowed ground of your favorite Marvel mutant. Furthermore, if pictures across the internet are to be believed, Hatley Castle remains cosplayer friendly, in case you want to assemble your own X-crew for a photo shoot you’ll never forget on the premises. For more information on Hatley Castle, please visit their official website. In this writer’s opinion, there are simply not enough movie-themed dining locations in the world, especially those outside of the major theme parks in Orlando and Anaheim. But one of the absolute stand-out properties in that category has to be Beetle House, a bar/dine-in restaurant with locations in both New York City’s East Village and Los Angeles’ Hollywood Boulevard. Doubling as an immersive trip inside the mind of Tim Burton, including live musical performances, brain-melting illusions, jaw-dropping prop replicas, decor and artwork, and even dishes and cocktails inspired by the filmmaker’s unique oeuvre, including Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland, and, of course, Beetlejuice. Though the price to dine can get hefty, it’s a small price to pay to inhabit Burton’s wild and weird cinematic universes for a little while. For more information, please visit Beetle House NYC and Beetle House LA. Die-hard fans of ’80s cinema know that the Chicago area is chockfull of notable locations featured in the films of John Hughes, whose penchant for on-location filming helped bring more character and distinct visuals to his productions. As such, fans of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Sixteen Candles, and Weird Science can find many sights from those films in and around the Windy City, but perhaps no town in the region is as vital for film fanatics as Winnetka, Illinois, which is less than 30 minutes away from Chicago and hosts not only the high school from the John Candy classic Uncle Buck (located at New Trier West High School), but the McCallister residence from Home Alone, a go-to spot for movie lovers to have their “Kevin scream” selfie. However, the Home Alone house remains a private residence, so steer clear of trying to tour the inside or you might wind up with more than a paint can to the dome. To see the “McCallister” residence, please visit 671 Lincoln Ave. in Winnetka, Illinois, and to see the New Trier West High School, please visit 385 Winnetka Ave. in New Trier Township, Illinois. For most people, New Zealand can be a bit of a hike, with direct flights from the US ranging anywhere between nine and 18 hours in length, but for Lord of the Rings super-fans, it’s a necessary flight to check out the amazing real-life locations that stood in for Middle Earth in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies. Based out of Matamata, New Zealand, the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour is a literal one-of-a-kind immersive experience where fans of LOTR can walk through the Shire themselves, enjoy a drink at the Green Dragon Inn and even attend incredibly immersive events such as “International Hobbit Day” and “The Hobbiton Beer Festival.” With more expansions on the way via a major development project taking place during the majority of 2023, the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour will only further cement its reputation as the foremost Lord of the Rings fan destination in the world. For more information on the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour, please visit their official website. Though it may not be the filming location of The Shining, the exteriors of which can be found at the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, the Stanley Hotel has become synonymous with The Shining, having inspired the original Stephen King novel and embraced the moniker of its haunted lore and connection to all things Shining. Outside of the inherent cool factor of visiting the Stanley, which is more than an hour’s drive into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the quaint little town of Estes Park, the hotel recently opened the Caretaker’s Cottage and the Shining Suite Tours, which serve as a living testament to The Shining’s legacy. In addition to also being able to stay in Stephen King’s infamous Room 217, the Stanley Hotel has also been the former home to the brief-yet-wonderful Stanley Film Festival, has a movie theater within a 10-minute walk of the property, and did serve as a filming locations for both Dumb & Dumber and Mick Garris’s 1997 television movie remake of The Shining. For more information on the Stanley Hotel, please visit their official website. Perhaps the most iconic movie theater on Earth, the former Mann’s Chinese Theatre has been one of Hollywood’s essential tourist attractions, from the celebrity handprints that adorn the outside to the unique designs adorning the entrance. Though the theatre’s exterior has become a notorious spot for “character photograph” grifts, the TCL Chinese Theatre still operates to this day and features a state-of-the-art 4D theater (complete with moving seats and interactive effects) and one of the largest IMAX auditoriums in the world. Additionally serving as a filming location for Iron Man 3 and Rush Hour, TCL Chinese Theatre also provides hardcore film buffs with 30-minute VIP walking tours revolving around the most incredible true stories throughout the theatre’s 95-year history. For more information on the TCL Chinese Theatre, you can visit their official website. Las Vegas has gained somewhat of a reputation in recent years for their burgeoning horror attraction scene, which is only set to grow larger with the recent announcement of Universal’s yearlong Halloween Horror Nights attraction opening in the coming years. But in the meantime, Vegas has become a haven for horror movie fans with the interactive and licensed escape rooms from Egan Productions that will send participants into the worlds of The Blair Witch Project, Saw, and soon It. Combining Hollywood-quality sets (some of which are modeled screen-accurately to replicate the most haunting locations in the franchises) with challenging yet fun puzzles, this writer can personally vouch for the quality and genuinely immersive nature of these experiences, as nothing quite beats getting to explore the Blair Witch house or the terrifying traps from Jigsaw’s repertoire. For more information on the Egan Escape Rooms, please visit Escape Blair Witch, Escape It, and the Official Saw Escape. If the Hogwarts Castle replica at the Wizarding World locations of Universal Studios just doesn’t cut it, you can experience the real deal for yourself if you’re willing to head out to Alnwick Castle in the United Kingdom. Alnwick notably stood in for Hogwarts in the first two films in the Harry Potter franchise, with numerous iconic locations available to tour and take photographs, including the areas where the titular character learned how to fly broomsticks and play Quidditch. Moreover, non-Potter fans can also check out locations within the castle that were featured in Transformers: The Last Knight, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and for Disney die-hards, the now-defunct attraction The Timekeeper featuring Robin Williams.For more information on Alnwick Castle, please visit their official website. An attraction that was almost as long in the making as the Avatar films themselves, the Pandora — The World of Avatar attraction at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom is a whole different level of immersive, even when compared to the fairly gold standard of immersion of Walt Disney World’s other attractions. Having seen it for myself in 2022, the plant life and interactive areas are breathtaking enough, but the real reason fans of two of the highest-grossing films of all time will flock to Pandora will be the rides, including the mind-blowing Avatar: Flight of Passage and the Na’vi River Journey, the latter of which includes one of the most impressive animatronics in the entire resort. With Avatar: The Way of Water rolling along at the box office with no signs of stopping in immediate sight, those who want to avoid long wait times should run, not walk, to the attraction in the very near future. For more information on Pandora — The World of Avatar at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, you can visit the official attraction website. A relic of the moviegoing experience in years past, drive-in theaters received a renewed popularity following the COVID-19 pandemic, during which time their screenings became the hottest (and safest) tickets in town. But not all drive-in theaters are equal, as any fan of the Mahoning Drive-In Theater can tell you, as the unique moviegoing locale operating since 1949 has gone above and beyond to provide a more fun atmosphere for its patrons. Hosting cult movie triple-features, cosplay-heavy festivals and mini-conventions, special themed events, and even overnight parking accommodation for late-night and weekend-long film programs, the Mahoning Drive-In Theater has become a beloved local spot and moviegoing destination for East Coast film fanatics, especially those who enjoy fried foods, vintage VHS, vinyl records, and the colorful personalities that follow campy horror movies, lost cinematic gems, and fan-favorite films wherever they may play. For more information on the Mahoning Drive-In Theater, please visit their official website. For some film fans, all you need is to visit a single beloved location from a movie to get swept up in the emotion and memories associated with our favorite flicks. Whether it’s the now-iconic stairs from Joker or the locations from Twilight in Forks, Washington, some locations perfectly encapsulate the vibe of a movie, and few IRL locations are as visually tied to a film as Karaoke-Kan, the Tokyo-based karaoke joint most famously featured in Lost in Translation. A must-visit location for fans of Sofia Coppola’s art house darling, Karaoke-Kan has certainly heard its fair share of movie lovers belting out Elvis Costello thanks to Bill Murray’s unforgettable performance. For more information on Karaoke-Kan, please visit their official website. More often than not, people might consider stumbling upon the creepy locales of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to be a nightmare come true, but for fans of the frightening franchise, the Gas Station in Bastrop, Texas is a twisted slice of heaven. Based in the real location of the infamous gas station from the 1974 film, which is a freaky photo opp in its own right, the Gas Station has since become an acclaimed BBQ joint, campsite, and horror memorabilia store bolstered by their eerie origins. Also hosting events for fans of horror and cult cinema in the Texas area, some horror heads will venture out to the location at ungodly hours for the BBQ alone, which many consider to be among the best in the entire state. For more information on the Texas Gas Station, please visit their official website. New York City has no shortage of awesome museums, but if you’re a film enthusiast, one of the most impressive exhibitions of cinema’s most critical art can be found at the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) in Queens. As of this writing, MoMI currently features displays such as the Jim Henson Exhibition, LAIKA: Life in Stop Motion, pieces surrounding current films like Women Talking and Till, and spaces for film screenings, experimentation, and workshops. Whether you’re an admirer of cinema or an aspiring filmmaker who loves all things movies, the Museum of the Moving Image is guaranteed to reinvigorate your fandom and passion for everything motion pictures have to offer. For more information on the Museum of the Moving Image, please visit their official website. While we might not be brave enough to run willy-nilly into the water at “Amity Island,” die-hard fans of the seminal horror-adventure film Jaws have bravely ventured to Martha’s Vineyard and its neighboring Edgartown in Massachusetts to see many of the recognizable spots from the film. From the locales (including the beach and bridge pictured above, near where one of the scariest scenes from the film unfolds) to the “Amity” tour offered courtesy of the Edgartown Tour Company that will guide you to every major filming location on-and-around the island, these two towns have been reshaped by Jaws and its esteemed cinematic legacy. And while the formerly annual “Jawsfest” is no longer running, fans of Jaws continue to proudly pilgrimage to this island community to set foot on a major part of movie history. For more information on the “Amity” tour, please visit the Edgartown Tour Company website. A beloved mainstay of the Los Angeles region, the Griffith Observatory has long acted as a go-to spot for cinema lovers as a result of its importance in cinematic history over the years. Instantly becoming iconic for its inclusion in Rebel Without a Cause, the aforementioned observatory has since hosted some of the most memorable moments in films like The Terminator and La La Land, the latter of which features many areas of the observatory in an unforgettably dazzling capacity. For those who are looking for more than just photo opportunities at their favorite film locales, the Griffith Observatory has many other attractions to maximize your time there, including exhibits, a planetarium, and even a theater named after the late, great Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy. For more information on the Griffith Observatory, please visit their official website. Definitely the most notable summer camp in movie history, Friday the 13th’s Camp Crystal Lake is better known to resident New Jerseyans as Camp NoBeBoSco, a fully-operational youth campground where multiple of the original filming locations for the first entry in the game-changing horror franchise remain for both campers and tourists alike. A beautiful bucket list location for East Coast movie buffs and horror fans alike, the camp is best known for visitors with their Crystal Lake Tours, which offers extended tours covering 80% of Friday the 13th’s filming locations, lakefront tours perfect for those seeking their essential photo opps, and even a tour-screening combination which features an on-location nightly screening of the film in the late summer. With profits of the tours going toward the maintenance and restoration of campgrounds, Friday the 13th fanatics will also know their visit is going to support a good cause as well. For more information on Camp NoBeBoSco, please visit their official website or the Crystal Lake Tours website. Since the closure of their original Downtown Austin location in 2007 and the flagship Ritz location that took its place, the Alamo Drafthouse Village in Austin, Texas, is a four-auditorium cinema serving as the famed dine-in theater chain’s oldest operating location. While it may not be as swanky and fashionable as its more contemporary counterparts in the region, including the fan-favorite South Lamar and Mueller locations, there’s a history to the Alamo Drafthouse Village location that many longtime visitors claim as “authentic” to the original Alamo Drafthouse mission statement. With the Drafthouse chain going strong following their emergence from bankruptcy in 2021 and more patrons understanding the difference in quality at their locations, going back to the eldest of the remaining original Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas for a repertory or cult film screening has become a rite of passage for movie lovers. For more information on Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Village, please visit their official website. A place that New Yorkers have called for years for their emergency services, Hook and Ladder Company 8 is still an active firehouse but may be most recognizable to the world-at-large as the Ghostbuster’s NYC headquarters from the 1984 film of the same name. Nearly closed in 2012 due to city budget cuts, Hook and Ladder Company 8 has since undergone an extensive renovation, and fans of Ghostbusters recently raised the money to adorn the iconic exterior with the Ghostbusters logo, which remains front and center above the firehouse entrance to this day. With renewed interest in the franchise following Ghostbusters: Afterlife and its impending sequel, which is to return to New York, chances are fans of Ghostbusters and cosplayers will continue to snap pictures at this stand-out spot of New York’s cinematic history for years to come. To see Hook and Ladder Company 8 for yourself, please visit 14 North Moore St. in New York, New York. To cap off this list, we return to whence we began, except now with a brand new immersive experience unlike anything Universal Studios has offered in the past. While the park and resort’s old logo encouraged guests to “ride the movies,” the Great Movie Escape enables guests to live within the movies through state-of-the-art escape room experiences that utilize props, special effects, Hollywood-level production value, and even special surprises such as appearances from franchise stalwarts. Opening in late 2022 with Back to the Future and Jurassic World escape room experiences to rave reviews, the Great Movie Escape has become a movie fan’s dream-come-true and an essential new addition to Universal Studios’ Orlando’s CityWalk destination. For more information on the Great Movie Escape, please visit their official website.
