TouringPlans Travel Beat 5-18-2025

At Travel Beat we have all the “other” news from the last week or so—the stuff that wasn’t big enough to stop the presses for. What did the newsroom bring us this week? (Sneak peek: surprisingly slow!) Bullets are just ahead if you’re in a hurry, and more details follow below. Don’t forget to check out the Headline News Recap, in case there was something you missed!

• Dates for EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival
• Universal Orlando Parks Go Smoke Free
• Royal Caribbean Releases Details for Perfect Day Mexico
• Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry Drops Virtual Line?
• Phineas & Ferb Meet & Greets Coming to the Parks
• Headline News Recap

Can you guess which story inspired this week’s cover image? Leave your guesses in the comments!

Dates for EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival

Dates are posted for the 2025 Food & Wine Festival, coming to EPCOT this fall. This year’s event will run for 90 days, from August 28 to November 22, 2025. More details, including menus and Eat to the Beat concert lineups are still to come. But Disney has already teased the return of one of my personal favorites from last year, the Fig & Boursin cheesecake from Milled & Mulled pictured below. Look for our Festival Guide coming later this week (hopefully later today, if I finish writing it in time.)

Universal Orlando Parks Go Smoke Free

Smoking at Universal Orlando has long been a “designated area only” activity, but this week Universal removed all designated areas inside the theme parks. Those wishing to smoke will need to leave the park for a designated area near the park exit, then re-enter once they are finished. “Smoking” includes not only plain old cigarettes, but e-cigarettes and vapes. Designated areas are still found inside Volcano Bay, but the word on the street is that they are also on the way to being put out.

Royal Caribbean Releases Details for Perfect Day Mexico

Move over and make space Coco Cay, Perfect Day Mexico is coming in 2027. This week, we got details and concept art for areas and entertainment on the new private destination for Royal Caribbean.

Look for 7 distinct neighborhoods:

• Fiesta Plaza is the arrival area, setting the tone with live music and dance, and the world’s largest sombrero atop the ‘Tipsy Sombrero’ bar
• Loco Waterpark, with over 30 waterslides across five towers, including the 170-foot Jaguar’s Peak
• Splash Cove, with a central 100,000 square foot pool surrounded by a lazy river
• Splashaway Bay has kid-sized slides and fun for families
• El Hideaway is adults-only fun, with a zero-entry pool and in-pool DJ
• Chill Beach North and South is for guests just looking to relax on the sand
• The upcharge Costa Beach Club has beaches, pools, and premium dining for a next-level experience

Cabanas abound, along with dining options from grab and go to full-service restaurants, with nearly all food complimentary to guests. And for those more interested in an umbrella drink, there are 24 bars, including 6 of the swim-up variety. With Mariachi performances, art installations, and souvenir shopping that includes work from local artisans, there will be water and Mexican culture everywhere.

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry Drops Virtual Line?

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry has been using a Virtual Line during previews. And sentiment on the experience has been … not great, with the system letting some guests ride more than once while others were completely shut out. In the last few days of previews before the park officially opens on Thursday, Universal has dropped the Virtual Line, offering only a standby queue. Only time will tell how this works out, or if the Virtual Line will be in place on opening day. But on Saturday, the queue reached 300 minutes only a few hours after opening.

Phineas & Ferb Meet & Greets Coming to the Parks

A new season of Phineas & Ferb is coming to the Disney Channel on June 5, and as it does so often, Disney is backstopping it with a park “activation” in the form of a Meet & Greet. Do we care that this is naked self-advertising? For Phineas & Ferb, absolutely not! East and West Coast guests will get different Meet & Greets. At Disneyland, both Agent P and Phineas & Ferb greets are running as of yesterday. And in a massive loss for the Be Fair to Florida movement, only Phineas & Ferb are coming to Disney World, beginning June 1 at EPCOT.

Headline News Recap

If you were waiting for Mickey’s Not So Scary dates to come out (and we know that you were, we can see the search hits on the site), your wait is over. This year’s dates were released on Monday, and tickets went on sale to those with on-site reservations on Thursday. The general public can buy this coming Thursday! 2025 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Dates and Ticket Info

After that, we have lots of site news. We prepped hard for the opening of Epic Universe, coming this week. On Monday, we released the crowd calendar forecasts for Epic Universe. Epic Universe Crowd Calendar: Here’s What We’re Forecasting

On Thursday, we rolled out new versions of our Disney World, Disneyland, and Universal Orlando Lines apps. Updates include a new look and feel for the Disney World app (to match the user experience in the DLR and UOR apps), support for Lightning Lane Premier Pass at WDW and DLR, and a new rope drop flag at all parks to let you tell us how dedicated you are to being at the very front of the line at park opening. (It will help us send you to the right place when optimizing your custom touring plans.) Lines App Update Planned for May 15, 2025

Last but not least, and speaking of those touring plans, we released two new premium Epic Universe touring plans for our subscribers to use. EXCLUSIVE: Customizable Epic Universe Touring Plans

No headlines, but Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary celebration is finally here! Stay tuned in the next few weeks for coverage of all the fun stuff that debuted in the park on Friday.

That’s it for this week’s Travel Beat. What news are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments!