Last Friday night, I did not dance on tabletops, nor did I max out my credit card, but I did get to walk right through Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
I have been trying to explore various parts of the Bronx and New York City, and the opening of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” Light Trail at The New York Botanical Garden seemed like the perfect opportunity. Living in O’Hare Hall, we have been constantly seeing the eerie blue and purple lights flash outside of our window as they become covered with the ominous fog machines all month, so we decided to check it out for ourselves, and I can say with certainty that everything I experienced exceeded my expectations.
As a fan of Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (I watch it every year), this light trail has been on my bucket list for a long time. We had to book tickets in advance for a specific time we wanted to attend the trail, and while I was confused at first as to why we had to do this, I now understand why the trail is so popular. The trail quite literally takes you through an almost complete reenactment of the movie’s plot, and while it does not include all of the scenes from the movie, I felt an instant sense of nostalgia when I saw staged scenes with some of my favorite characters of whom I had forgotten about over time.
The trail itself took us about 40 minutes to complete, but we did make frequent stops to take pictures and enjoy the scenery around us. When we began the trail, we were greeted with a luminous sign that read “Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail,” which was positioned directly in front of the gift shop. I overheard a dad on our tour say to his child, “what a classic Disney move, positioning the gift shop right at the entrance to make you try and buy stuff,” which I found rather humorous and accurate. The sign was surrounded by the dark blue and violet lights that I could see from my dorm, which Alex and I followed to continue on with the trail.
After we avoided the Disney money-vacuum gift shop, we followed a group of children and their families to the beginning of the light trail. We noticed that there were decorative lamp posts surrounding us, which we soon realized were recreations of the famous pumpkin lamp posts from the movie (the ones you see during the famous “This is Halloween” song). We followed the posts down to the lights themselves and listened to the “Boogieman Song” from the end of the movie as it blasted through the speakers. I immediately felt as if I was in Halloweentown itself and kept wondering where I could find Jack Skellington.
As we continued walking through the trail, we began to see statues of famous characters recreating their most popular scenes, such as the Halloweentown mayor screeching through his famous megaphone. We were soon surrounded by the witches of Halloweentown, who appeared as though they were flying right next to us on their broom sticks. However, little did I know that we would soon stumble upon my favorite part of the light trail: a plastic jack o’lantern sitting on a gray brick post with fog machine-filled bubbles spilling out of its mouth. Many of the guests, including myself, were trying to pop these bubbles. While this might not have actually appeared in the movie, it was a very fun and interactive element that the Botanical Gardens decided to include. I wish my phone camera could have fully captured the scene, but it is something you have to see in person in order to grasp the full experience.
We soon began to notice more bright and colorful lights coming into the air, and the decorations shifted from Halloween to Easter. At first, I said to myself “why are there Easter eggs on the side of the trail?” but I soon realized this meant something thrilling: We were transitioning from the initial Halloween side of the movie to the Christmas side. And there they finally were! Jack Skellington and Santa Claus, standing amid the bright blue lights with a Christmas tree behind them. As we continued walking, the Halloween decorations began to reappear, symbolizing the point in the movie where Christmas and Halloween finally clash. One of the last scenes I remember seeing was Jack Skellington in a Santa costume, standing proudly in front of a bunch of presents wrapped in neon Halloween wrapping paper.
The Light Trail at the New York Botanical Garden is an experience I would highly recommend. Not only is it a very accurate reenactment of most of the movie, but it is also interactive. If you’re looking to see Jack Skellington, or any of your other favorite characters, in real life, or you just want to get outside and see some holiday-themed lights before the weather gets too cold, this is the light trail for you.
