Entering Washington Heights guests will be fully immersed into the New York City neighborhood. Ambient speakers play the sounds of cars honking in the distance, wind blowing through, the A-train occasionally zipping on by, the chitter chatter of nosy people from their apartments above, and of course instrumental versions of In the Heights' soundtrack interwoven amongst classic Latin hits providing the land's background music. The pavement in the land sees guests walking on the road with small sidewalks lining the perimeters of all the buildings. Small cracks occasionally pop up in the road pointing to the lack of care the city puts towards maintaining these roads. Trees line the roads providing breaks from the concrete jungle along with giving guests some shade for those hot summer days. The paths will be adorned with various parked cars found throughout the land adding to the realism of the area, and dotting the sides of the roads are various traffic signs.
To the left of guests, as they walk down the road, they will counter the façade for a travel agency proudly called
Viajes de Sueñitos, or Dream Vacations. In the travel agency's windows small pennants of all the countries found throughout Latin America and the Caribbean hang. A poster in one window shows the sunny beaches of the Dominican Republic along with a couple walking along the shore towards the sunset. A poster in the other window advertises Dream Vacations: Travel Now with a picture of a boat travelling down the rivers of El Yunque in Puerto Rico. A banner hangs below the entry way proudly declaring
Journey de los Sueños , marking this the entrance to the land's E-Ticket attraction.
Next door is
La Bodega, the bodega run by Usnavi and his cousin Sonny. The exterior of the bodega is a replica of the one seen from the film down to the fruit displays outside. The fruits change based on what is locally grown during the season which adds to the authenticity of the store. Along with the fruit sold outside guests may enter the bodega and buy all sorts of things such as chips, sodas, candies, or even freshly brewed coffee! During busier days
La Ventanita opens up on the path perpendicular to that of which guests were walking on.
La Ventanita is housed in the same building and is a continuation of the bodega façade, the purpose for
La Ventanita is to sell coffee, pastries, and sandwiches to alleviate pressure for the store inside.
When guests enter if they had chosen to go down the right of the path they will encounter the façade for Rosario's Car Service. Much like the bodega this façade is a carbon copy of the building seen in the film. Parked in front of Rosario's Car Service is a taxi and a truck that its bed covered and locked down, but with the right key and vision this truck bed could become a stage! In the windows to the right of Rosario's Car Service's entrance is the dispatch radio office which conveniently has a microphone connected to the speakers outside the office. In the windows to the left of Rosario's Car Service's entrance are posters advertising their latest service: Taxi Tours of NYC! Signs posted around the entrance of Rosario's Car Service advertise the ride located within,
Rosario Taxi Tours. Next door to Rosario's Car Service is the façade for
Phillip's Fine Tailor & Cleaners, the drycleaners that bought out a portion of Rosario's Car Service's footprint. Much like the other facades this one will be film accurate.
Phillip's Fine Tailor & Cleaners acts as the giftshop for
Rosario Taxi Tours.
Regardless of which side of the path guests chose to walk down they reach an intersection with functioning traffic lights as well as pedestrian signals, of course in this instance guests don't have to follow these signals given it's not a real road. On each corner lies a fire hydrant which are opened up allowing fountains of water to spray guests who are looking to cool down during the day.
On the upper left corner of the intersection is Daniela's Salon, and much like the other establishments in Washington Heights the façade is pulled straight from the film. The windows of the salon allow for guests to look in, and marvel at the patrons along with the impromptu musical breaks that occur with the salon. Guests without reservations can see if there's any last minute availability based on a digital schedule outside the front door. Opposite of the salon is
Farmacia Pelemptio. This store utilizes the façade of the store of the same name from the film as well as the façade of Hilda's Ceviche. At
Farmacia Pelemptio guests can find the main restrooms for the land as well as merchandise and prepackaged candies and snacks. If guests go straight down the intersection they are met with a series of facades the fill up Washington Heights' skyline, in the distance guests will see the George Washington Bridge. This effect will be down via flat facades and forced perspective similar to Disney's New York Street at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Heading back to the intersection there were two previously unexplored side paths guests can take. If guests go left they will head down into a residential area. Elevated train tracks, belonging to the A-Train, goes over the guest's path, and acts as a way to transition from the busy streets of Washington Heights to Carnaval Courtyard. The majority of
Journey de los Sueños' showbuilding is located here, but is concealed with the facade of the alleyway seen in the film during Carnaval Del Bario. Spray painted onto various parts of the façade are famous and influential members of the Latinx community such as Celia Cruiz, Rita Moreno, Frida Kahlo, the Mirabal Sisters, and many more. On various fire escapes flags from Latin American and Caribbean countries hang, allowing for the residents to show off their pride.
Overhead Carnaval Courtyard are strings of lights that zigzag high above, with the wires tied to poles, fire escapes, windows, and other upper building elements. These lights provide for lighting at night, but also allow for small flags to hang down. Throughout the day residents of the courtyard come out onto their fire escapes, or walk along with guests as the
Carnaval Del Bario erupts in the streets. Guests are invited to sing and dance along to songs from In the Heights alongside songs from Latin American and Caribbean artists. If guests get hungry from the celebrating then they're able to stop into La Casa de Abuela, the table service of the land.
Backtracking to the intersection, and going right guests travel a road taking them to a dead end that is home to a warehouse turned nightclub and Highbridge Pool both seen in the film, In the Heights. In the nightclub guests can find
El Latino Ruido, a flatride where guests step into a vehicle that dances along to latin music. Highbridge Pool is home to the
Highbridge Water Play Area. The play area is surrounded by chain link fencing with some parts covered in pink ribbon. On the corner is Mr. Softee's Ice Cream truck that sells well ice cream! Two water play area are available for children and adults to make a splash in! In the back of the play area is the lands secondary restroom themed to the changing rooms from the movie. Finally there are a set of bleachers providing seating for guests, but would also make for a great place to start a performance if need be the case.
Before guests leave they should keep an eye out for the Piraguero! He travels the entire life singing about his piraguas that up to sale, guests with their wallets are invited to try the best piraguas in the Heights. As the day comes to an end guests are treated to a firework spectacular utilizing songs from In the Heights and Latin music.
