This SATURDAY SIX is a little different….

It’s August yet again, which means the lantern flies are out and it’s time for Derek to take his annual sabbatical. Look, I don’t approve of these vacation requests. Last year, we looked at some kid-centric theme park specials like the Nickelodeon Studios Florida opening special and SEGA presents obstacle courses at Universal Studios Hollywood. But this year we were stumped; I’ve done nighttime shows and more theme park specials than you can shake a Mickey premium bar at. So we asked the McKinsey fellows what we should do, and after $10 million, they said: ChatDRK.

That is right, we fed Derek’s blog posts, social media musings, and podcast appearances into a Large Language Model. We can now use a high-tech chatbot interface to create a fully authentic Derek Burgan to spitball ideas with.

ChatDRK: Debate anything.

Joe: Ok aggressive. “Saturday Six ideas for August 2025.

ChatDRK: WHAT! Ok… boxes.

Joe: Boxes?

ChatDRK: Yes boxes! Boxes at theme parks, resorts, shops, etc.

Joe: All right…. why boxes?

ChatDRK: Boxes are popular, data pulled from early summer 2025 for this LLM shows boxes were a popular talking point like WWE and the Chargers.

Joe: That’s weirdly specific ChatDRK, but thanks for the advice. Thankfully, we pay you nothing.

ChatDRK: YOU GET PAID?!?!?

Joe: Bye now!

ChatDRK: YOU SON….!!!!

Joe: *chat disconnected*

6 – Epic Universe Boxes

After nearly 10 years of eager anticipation, US theme park fans were rewarded with the first new major theme park in 24 years: Epic Universe. The highly anticipated new park opened this past May to glowing reviews and lots and lots of BOXES. Universal really outdid themselves with the merchandise, treats, and food times at Epic Universe, and nowhere is that more evident than in the Isle of Berk. This awesome candy box is a Mystery Candy Box shaped like a house in Berk. Inside is a tradeable card and a candy dragon egg. Cute!

Over at Pizza Moon is the… brownie box! This mini pizza box holds the Brownie Eclipse, a huge pie-shaped brownie topped with Nutella, marshmallows, and Oreo cookie pieces.

Over in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s Paris, guests can peruse the Cosme Acajor Baguettes Magique shop for unique Parisian wands not available in the other parks. Unlike the wand boxes found in Scotland and Great Britain, these boxes are a unique triangular shape with a pouch to hold the map of interactive wand locations. What makes Cosme Acajor fun is the wand maker is roams among the guests and isn’t stuck behind a queue for a show.

5 – Hatbox Ghost

This is one of my favorite stories. In the dusty days of the internet, back when the best source for Haunted Mansion information was DoomBuggies.com. Founded on Halloween day in 1997, DoomBuggies catalogued the Haunted Mansions, including Phantom Manor, in scary detail. The site houses stories, memories, legacies, and more Hidden Mickeys than you can shake a grave shovel at. Back in the day, one of the longest-running rumors was that of the Hatbox Ghost, a mysterious audio animatronic that was rumored appeared for a limited time in the Disneyland mansion’s attic during its opening weekend. The figure became famous due to the publicity photos taken with legendary Imagineer Yale Gracey working on the figure before the ride opened, and then, when folks went to ride, he was nowhere to be seen (the figure, not Yale). Even Tony Baxter SWORE he saw it (following quotes from DoomBuggies.com):

“…My guess is that the bride is currently in the exact location of the Hat Box Ghost, as there would be a hole in the floor for the base frame of the figure that would be useable at this point. During the pre-opening week employees were invited to ride, and during the test rides for durability, we were able to ride for two to four hours at a time without getting off. The Hat Box Ghost was installed and running during this period. It is possible that guests also rode in this time frame and saw the figure.”

But why was it removed so quickly?

“The gag was to have his head become invisible, and then appear in the hat box and constantly reverse back and forth. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get the head on the body to vanish effectively in this location… it wasn’t convincing.”

A bad effect that just didn’t land, oh well. But it was removed, and the promotional images remained, leading many fans of the Mansion to debate what happened to it. Was it actually installed, or was it just planned? For years, no one had a concrete answer… until 2011.

A home video filmed in early August 1969 was found and digitally enhanced by the Disney History Institute on YouTube. After decades of rumors and speculation, we finally had visual proof of the Hatbox Ghost in the Haunted Mansion. Hatbox Ghost mania reached its crescendo during Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary celebration when, at long last, the figure was added back to the Mansion, using new technology not available to the Imagineers of the 60s.

See the issue with the Hatbox Ghost is that the head needs to disappear and appear reliably between the shoulders and the box. In 1969, the lighting never worked correctly, and the figure’s head was always seen. When the new figure was created, Imagineering used low-light projectors and novel projection surfaces to create the disappearing/reappearing head effect.

The infamy and mystery around Mr. Hatbox whipped up the fandom, and with a new figure in the Mansion, Disney could take advantage of this. The Hatbox Ghost has seen several awesome collectables, pins, and ornaments over the years, including the amazing tiki-inspired ones above.

The Hatbox Ghost is one of the rare Disney rumors that wills itself back into existence, up there with Figment and the Country Bears as iconic Disney theme park characters.

4 – Voodoo Doughnuts Pink Donut Box

GOOD THINGS COME IN PINK BOXES. – Voodoo Doughtnuts Box

Once upon a time, there was a donut shop in Portland, Oregon. This donut shop sold fun, weird, and illegal donuts. Then, a few short years later, they expanded into the theme park market. Voodoo Doughnuts is a weird, weird place serving weird, weird donuts. I mean some really odd stuff: weed, NyQuil, phallic-shaped ones, the whole lot. So of course, the next place they’d open would be Universal Studios Hollywood, right? A more family-friendly Voodoo Doughnuts outpost opened at CityWalk in Hollywood, CA, offering a condensed menu of delectable donuts. It was such a hit that a franchise was quickly opened in CityWalk Orlando.

Voodoo Doughnuts opened with a bang in 2017; we saw coffins, stained glass easter eggs, and dozens and dozens of donuts. Voodoo instantly became a hit with guests and blew away expectations as Team Members managed queues through CityWalk, similar to Gideon’s Bakehouse at Disney Springs. Soon after opening, Mobile Order was turned on and a pickup outpost was stationed outside to speed up the lines. Now it’s easy to pick up a box of Voodoo Donuts, which is good because this is one of the few restaurants open early in the morning and late at night. It’s not uncommon to see a family or two carrying back a box at 10PM or later on the resort shuttles. These iconic Pink Boxes are not-so-shy euphemisms and also iconic pieces of theme park fandom.

Voodoo keeps the menu fresh with a constant cycle of new donut options based on holidays and Universal events. Seriously, they continue to offer new donut options every year, featuring different donut styles and glazings. Some of these are basic, like the various snowmen offered over the years, while others are more elaborate, like the Peeps-inspired donut that’s shaped like a Peep and features a sugar-dipped outside like a Peep.

So next time you’re at Universal Orlando, go swing by Voodoo Doughnuts again and grab a donut or 13 as a treat. You deserve it.

3 – Rides in Boxes

Among certain theme park circles, there is a criticism against some rides as being “in a box”. The idea behind the slight is that instead of trying to create a full conceptualized outside, like a huge mountain or a futuristic cone, it’s a lesser experience. I disagree – these attractions are still fantastic because they’ve prioritized what is important for the experience. The hills and bluffs at Big Thunder fit that attraction just as well as the sweeping canopy in front of the Tron Lightcycle Run.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is one of the odder examples of this concept. The box was added onto the existing Universe of Energy pavilion in Epcot instead of being a new build. I’m happy Imagineering preserved the exterior of the old UoE building (something I wished they could have figured out for Mission: Space and Horizons) and went with a new “gravity building” out in the parking lot. “Gravity building” is Imagineering speak for a big box, but it’s a really good word for it when you consider the weightlessness you feel inside while on the coaster.

Disney did attempt to figure out a solution to the issue: stripes. Dark and light green stripes were painted onto the sky blue building to extend the treeline from inside the park, a clever solution to this weird problem.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios, née Disney-MGM Studios, was built around the idea of sound stages. These large warehouse buildings were equipped with standard rigging and electrical setups that allow for movie and television productions to drop in with their equipment (or, preferably, rent from Disney) to shoot their shows more affordably in Orlando. This famously failed just a few years into the initiative, with most production ending by the mid-90s. So Disney took the soundstage aesthetic and started building attractions with it, like Rock’n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. This quintessential ride-in-a-box features a huge building where the main coaster action occurs.

On the outside, it appears to be an eccentric music studio from West Hollywood with a huge guitar outside. But once we enter and find ourselves walking “backstage”, we discover the show building accessible by guests is connected to a much larger show building behind it. This replicates many classic Disney attractions like the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Disney is not just a culprit of rides in boxes; Universal is a fantastic case study in themed design roots influencing their theme park design. Walt Disney came from a position of animation, theater, and the World’s Fair; whereas Universal comes from behind-the-scenes movie tours. So all of Universal Studios Florida’s attractions are just big rides in even bigger boxes.

This design root even extends to Islands of Adventure and Epic Universe. This isn’t a bad thing, but instead an interesting focus on how design philosophies develop and form for theme park design.

2 – Woody’s Lunchbox

Opening with Toy Story Land was a small outdoor eatery for some quick snacks and treats. But Disney outdid itself with the Woody’s Lunchbox menu, with a killer menu of childhood favorites like tater tots, grilled cheeses, and even fancy pants pop tarts. The guests responded with hour-long waits, filled seating areas, and guests still lining up for more!

Woody’s Lunchbox doesn’t have a story, it doesn’t need one, and frankly, it’s better without the focus. Instead the food is the star here.

The exterior is also super fun with the large lunchbox opening up for two food containers, a Menu disguised as a candy bar, and a large wheel of Babybel cheese. It’s this sort of smart and fun design that keeps folks coming back to Disney parks.

1 – Pizza Boxes

What else could it be? Derek loves them, I love them, and they were on the tip of everyone’s tongue this summer at Epic Universe. The Pizza Moon restaurant serves pizzas in a fun retro atmosphere, but the menu and take-out policy fluctuated over a few weeks due to a lack of take-out boxes. Once the opening summer sitters were worked out and supply chains were established, the themed pizza boxes at Pizza Moon officially debuted. Praise Helios, as Universal is known for its iconic pizza boxes. All the Universal resorts feature themed pizza boxes from take-out or room delivery.

Ok, “themed” might be a little over the top, but it’s fun to see unique pizza boxes for each hotel. Universal also swaps out the boxes for holidays, like this Stranger Things box for Halloween Horror Nights.

Not to be left in the dust, Disney Springs jumps into the ring with a duo of cool pizza boxes from Pizza Pointe, a full-service pizza joint, and Blaze Pizza, a quick-service pizzeria.

Event Princess Cruises gets into the act.

We do have some notes to offer: Pop Century, there are so many fun things you could do with decades-themed pizza boxes, so why just this blank box?

We love the pizza box receptacles found around the parks, including this great themed one at Knotts Berry Farm.

Special Mentions – Other Boxes!

Ok let us have some more low-brow, brain-off fun. What about underwear? Boxers and boxer briefs!

Raglan Road in Disney Springs is one of our favorite restaurants, and among their dishes is a Boxty, an Irish version of the potato pancake.

Back at Universal Orlando is Breadbox, a vintage sandwich joint that serves up fresh diner plates of your favorites.

In Universal Studios Hollywood, guests ride in fun recycled boxes.

How about the red telephone boxes in the UK pavilion at Epcot?

How about a music box in a shop?

What about a cool bento box at Cowfish? Here you can get sushi and a burger.

Ok, I think we’ve lost the plot here a bit. We’ve dived into the wild world of theme parks and all the boxes there because sometimes you just have to laugh at the absurdity of technology and social media. Thank you all for allowing me to entertain you with this silly diversion. Bluntly, I wasn’t sure how this one would play out, but I’m happy with how it came together. I’ll be back to my regularly scheduled Tuesday timeslot next week. Get ready y’all, Halloween Horror Nights is upon us.

Special Thanks to The Elite Brandon Glover, Digital Maestro Scott Walker, the bio-est of all reconstructs @bioreconstruct, Captain Cruiseline Scott Sanders of the world famous Disney Cruise Line Blog, my personal protege Hunter “Elvey” Underwood, artist @SonderQuest, the mighty maven of merchandise Hedgehog’s Corner, the SAT SIX Fun Squad of Parkscope Joe and “the Dadalorian” Nick, hot shot Michael Carelli, charter member of the Universal Four @Nitro230, the permit princess Alicia Stella, master cartographer Tommy Hawkins, and Hermione Granger’s tutor Megan Stump for their invaluable assistance with articles. The SAT SIX is inspired each week by goofballs Aengus Mackenzie and LitemAndHide and you Potterheads will enjoy Meg’s other blog work over at the Central Florida Slug Club.