Theme Park Enjoyment Index for APRIL 2026 (NFL to Orlando, Audio-Animatronic Craziness, New Snacks and MORE!)

Remember, all links in TPEI open up in a new browser window. So feel free to check stuff out, we’ll be here when you get back! Each photo opens up to a larger version as well, and with that out of the way let’s look back at what happened during the past month, starting with…

*April Fools

Every April has many in the theme park community dreading what type of “comedy” will be released on April Fool’s Day. If there is one silver lining of the whole world becoming almost impossible to tell what’s real and what’s fake thanks to AI and algorithms, it’s that April Fool’s Day has less relevance than ever. We were able to have a little bit of levity in the theme park world though, as some of our favorite social media accounts had some fun on April 1st, including this post by Orlando International Airport (MCO) debuting it’s new zipline experience….

Meanwhile, Universal’s fantastic social media team had an interesting take for Dark Universe. I personally love the Creature From the Black Lagoon playing with the beach ball…

Also giving out some bonus points to this Disney fan who came up with one of the creepiest character meet-and-greets I’ve ever seen.

Okay, with April 1st out of the way, let’s get to the rest of the month, starting with…

*The NFL Coming to…ORLANDO?

Let’s begin by actually going back to 2024 when we covered the story of Mickey Mouse in “Steamboat Willie” going into Public Domain. This allowed anyone and everyone to use this version of Mickey in anything they wanted. Some things were innocuous (if not downright nonsensical) like the receipt for a local pizza place pictured below, but others were much worse, such as multiple unwatchable horror films including  The Mouse Trap along with a video game in which Mickey uses weapons like a Tommy Gun to mow down his enemies.

Let’s fast forward back to earlier this month, when the Jacksonville Jaguars announced that the team would be temporarily moving to Orlando as renovations are being done on their current stadium.

The announcement was made via a cartoon, using their mascot – Jaxson de Ville – doing a full sendup of Steamboat Willie!

Everything about the video is pitch perfect. Done in the exact same style of the Old Timey Steamboat Willie.

The cartoon starts off with our steamboat traveling past Jacksonville’s current stadium. The ship also passes a sign that reads “NOW LEAVING DUUUVAL.” This is referencing Duval county, where the city of Jacksonville is located.

Soon we find ourselves in Orlando, passing tall buildings and even a roller coaster.

We even pass the notorious “I-4 Eyesore“!!! Just incredible.

Jackson pilots the steamboat just like Mickey, and has a Jaguar’s paw print on his hat.

Jackson also whistles Mickey’s iconic tune (which was originally voiced by Walt Disney himself.)

The end of the video also has a fun moment for Jaguars fans as the steamboat’s whistles shout “DUUVAL!”

TPEI Score: + 4 All in all this was absolutely perfect. Not sure what it’s going to be like seeing an NFL team playing in Camping World Stadium in Orlando, which is possibly one of the worst stadiums I’ve ever watched anything in, but it was all worth it to get this video.

*The Day a Snowman Died

Our next story actually took place at the very end of March, after last month’s TPEI went to print. Disneyland Paris had the long awaited opening of its new land at Disney Adventure World dedicated to Frozen, which included the debut of a walk around Olaf audio-animatronic.

Watching the Olaf character is pretty impressive. When Walt Disney Imagineering is on, they are on.

It’s one thing seeing the Shaman of Songs at the end of the controlled environment in N’avi River Journey, but seeing Olaf interact with a live crowd is simply amazing.

About three minutes into his performance, Olaf did something completely unexpected…

…by falling backwards towards the ground.

Olaf hit the ground hard…

…so hard that his carrot nose popped right off!

Snowman handlers immediately made their way over.

Including one immediately popping Olaf’s carrot back into place. It’s all about character integrity people.

Olaf was stood up onto his feet…

…and then helped off backstage like Kellen Winslow being helped off the field after the “Epic In Miami” game back in 1981.

As you can imagine, because this happened in front of a live audience, many of whom were streaming, this instantly created a viral moment which a lot of people had fun with on social media.

On march 30, 2026, Olaf was gunned down in the streets of brazil by a rival drug cartel.” – Juliana Melguiso

You have to love this parody pin by @Tiki_Tyme.

You can watch the entire performance – including the fall – in the video below.

But that’s not the only bad thing that happened to an A.A. at a Disney park. NAY NAY. Tokyo DisneySEA had one of their characters attacked by – believe it or not – crows.

See what happens when you bring the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan back? Look at those crows go at it!

Love this drawing of Rapunzel’s “bad hair day” by Dan the Doodle!

We also had Digital Rabble Rouser Scott Walker using this moment to parody the iconic movie poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Not to be outdone, Universal’s social media team took to TikTok and made a great video that used the crows appearing during a very memorable moment in their Revenge of the Mummy coaster.

Tokyo DisneySEA doesn’t play around, and shortly thereafter these strings were installed around Rapunzel that apparently keep crows away.

Unfortunately, this just drove crows to start picking out the hair of Rapunzel’s horse, Maximus.

TPEI  Score: – 3 We had our problems with birds and theme parks here in America over the  years (most notably when Universal went head to head against an Osprey when building the VelociCoaster,) so it’s only fair the international parks have to deal with it too.

*Disney Outlet Store CLOSES

Many people reading each month’s TPEI know that it spawned from the ashes of the monthly Disney Outlet Store Photo Report that I did for just about a decade. In that series I covered the two Disney Outlet Stores in Orlando (one close to Walt Disney World, and another near Universal Orlando.) We also covered a “Disney Outlet” of sorts out in California that was sent discounted Disneyland items.

However, there was one more official Disney Outlet Store in Florida, and it was located in Sunrise, Florida (about 3 1/2 hour south of Orlando.) This Character Warehouse was located in the Sawgrass Mills mall, and like the Disney Outlet Stores in Orlando, was an official extension of the Disney company.

This store is actually the second location Disney had at the Sawgrass Mills mall. After their first 10 years lease expired, they downsized from a bigger store front at the other end of the mall.

Rumors and Innuendo suggest that one big hit all the Disney Outlet Stores took was when they enacted a new return policy in February of this year. Previously, items could be returned in 30 days, and this effectively let many eBay pirates and Disney resellers to buy a whole bunch of stuff on the cheap, attempt to resell it at a higher price, and then return any of their “stock” that didn’t sell back to the Outlets. In February, the Disney Outlet Stores went to a ALL SALES FINAL policy, with no returns whatsoever.

This creepy Alice in Wonderland watering can is one of the few items at the Disney Outlets you could find under $1. During the last few months, every item in the Sawgrass Mills location was reduced an extra 50%, meaning these creepy cans were just 50 cents. However, some things have a hard time being sold even if you’re almost giving them away…

From February on, the Sawgrass Mills location was running on fumes. The store which was generally packed with items (and shoppers) had much less of each every single day. In fact, once the closure was announced in February, many items (including all the Loungefly bags, Tommy Bahama Disney Cruise Line shirts and higher end lightsabers) were immediately shipped back up to WDW to be sold at Cast Connection at the Outlet Stores in Orlando.

Anyone familiar with the Disney Outlet Stores in Orlando will recognize displays like this featuring Star Wars related items.

Sawgrass Mills was home to a good amount of Disney Treasure Inaugural Sailing merchandise.

There were still some “diamonds in the rough” to be found, including items featuring Ollie from Jollywood Nights and Figment’s Christmas EPCOT sweater.

Back in 2015, two years before Pandora: The World of Avatar opened, I wrote an article wondering how Disney was going to crack the code on Avatar merchandise, considering that no one else in the world could despite the franchise having some of the biggest movies in the history of cinema. Well, turns out – for the most part – Disney’s having a hard time figuring it out too because pretty much all Avatar related items make their way to the Outlets sooner rather than later.

Try to take a guess how much this elaborate paper weight featuring a “Skimwing” cost…

There’s not enough LOLs in the world.

Not even sure who the audience is for these N’avi headphone cases.

During the last week, the 50% discount jumped to 75%. This was an Everything Must Go type of sale.

The store was quickly losing all displays.

To give Cast Members something to do since traffic in the store was minimal, a coloring station was set up.

I’m not sure if anything inside a Disney Outlet Store can be considered a Magical Moment. For me, visiting the Outlets isn’t something I particularly remember, it’s just something I can’t forget (no matter how hard I try.)

On April 15th, the Disney Character Warehouse in Sawgrass sold its last discounted item and closed up shop forever.

Our last look at discounted items (reduced AN EXTRA 75%!) that didn’t sell. This is like the Land of Misfit Toys except for Disney Merchandise.

Don’t cry because it’s gone, be happy that it existed, and you know that age old saying… When God Closes an Outlet Store He Opens a Legacy Store.

That’s right, earlier this month the Epic Universe Preview Center in CityWalk closed and was quickly transitioned into the Universal Legacy Store.

Back in 2021, Universal opened its first Legacy Store and it was absolutely awesome. The new version is…well, fine. It does have some pretty cool photo-ops featuring some of the company’s biggest IPs, including Back to the Future…

…E.T….

…Universal Classic Monsters…

…and Jaws, but little else in terms of “theming.” Universal has an unbelievable amount of history and “legacy” it can draw from, so let’s hope the plan is to fill this store up with more things in the near future.

Artist Tom Whalen was commissioned to create the cool artwork in the Legacy Store, and it looks like each brand will also get a spotlight series of merchandise.

However, a lot of the merchandise in the store is just blind box stuff you can get anywhere. My response? “That doesn’t work for me, brother.” Give me some retro-inspired merchandise.

TPEI Score: – 10 Losing a Disney Outlet Store AND getting a massive downgrade of one of Universal’s all time best gift shops? Not a good month for merchandise fans like me.

*EARTH DAY

For most theme park fans, Earth Day (April 22nd) is associated with Animal Kingdom. The park itself opened on Earth Day back in 1998 and is closely tied to environmental protection.

For Your Humble Author, Earth Day always meant something different. Earth Day was the birthday of my mom. Now, my father left before I was born, and I have never met him. I was raised by a single mother, one of the hardest working and most under-appreciated jobs in the world today. My mom, Daneen Burgan, loved theme parks more than anyone I know. While we couldn’t afford annual Disney World trips growing up, we certainly went to as many as we could, and my mom would always get the latest copy of The Unofficial Guide whether we had a trip planned or not. Thinking about trips to Florida always made a cold winter night in New Hampshire easier to suffer through.

Thanks to my mom, along with my grandmother (a true Saint if there ever was one), when EPCOT Center opened I was able to ride the fabled Horizons and get to experience Journey Into Imagination when it was actually good. To this day I can still sing songs from Kitchen Kaberet. We were there when Disney-MGM opened, when Animal Kingdom opened, and they even managed to slip in trips to SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Universal. At the time, I never truly appreciated how hard these two women worked to provide me with a childhood of unforgettable memories.

After I moved to Florida, my mother and grandmother made even more trips down south to the Orlando parks. I always told them they were crazy, and they should go to more places around the world like Aruba or Hawaii, but looking back I think they came down so much to see me. They also became big fans of cruising, and tried for years to get me to go on a cruise with them. I always declined, saying that I didn’t understand why anyone would want to spend a whole week on a boat. They raved about the Disney Cruise Line and Castaway Cay, but I wouldn’t budge.

In 2011, my mom couldn’t have been more excited to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We spent a day at Universal and she was in awe of Hogsmeade Village and Hogwarts Castle, but believe it or not it was Popeye’s Bilge Rat Barges that she loved the most. Here she was, 95 pounds soaking wet, with a smile on her face a mile wide wanting to ride it again and again and again. This was also the first time where I was actually the one showing her around the theme parks, switching the roles we had played our whole lives.

That was the last time I got to see my mother, as she passed away unexpectedly later that year. There isn’t a single day that goes by where I don’t think of her. Many times up in Orlando I even convince myself that I see her, and all I want to do is tell her I love her one last time.

In 2012, I started writing about theme parks, eventually making my way to TouringPlans. Over the last few years I’ve had some work published in several books in The Unofficial Guide series, including The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando. Wherever she is, I think this brings another smile to her face.

I will always beat myself up for not taking that cruise with her, because when I finally took one after she passed away I immediately understood why she fell in love with them. I’ve been able to bring her ashes to many of the places she loved in life, even her favorite place on Earth, Castaway Cay. It helps me at least knowing that a part of her can always be around the things that made her so happy.

Everything that I am today I owe to my mom and my grandmother. My work ethic, my compassion, my sense of humor, and – for the good and the bad – my love of theme parks. My mom would have turned 70 this year and I can’t imagine how much she would have loved things like Volcano Bay, Epic Universe, and Disney’s new cruise line ships. While I can’t enjoy them with her, I do everything I can to enjoy them with the kids in our family, and hopefully I can be half as inspiring to them as she was to me.

***QUICK HITS***

*Universal Orlando License Plate Update

The state of Florida has a whole bunch of special license plate options that residents can pay an additional fee for. For example, Your Humble Author has a Protect Florida Whales plate where the extra money I pay every year goes to fund FAU Harbor Branch’s 24/7 emergency response for whales that become stranded. Among the many other options you can upgrade to include sports teams (such as the Miami Heat or Jacksonville Jaguars,) colleges, armed service branches, various wildlife funds and more.

In 2021, Walt Disney World was added to the specialty license plate options available, with proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Now, in order to become an official Florida specialty plate option, a group must pre-sell 3,000 plates. Universal Orlando has been trying since December of 2024 to get their plate into circulation, with proceeds benefiting Give Kids the World.

However, a year and a half later, some Universal fans are still waiting for the plate to get approved.

Theme park investigative journalist Blog Mickey showed us the reason behind the delay…

So it turns out that Universal is less than halfway to the required 3,000 pre-sales. To be fair, there is just about ZERO push by Universal on this topic, and I bet if they did any sort of promotion inside the parks or CityWalk they would probably hit their goal relatively fast. At least faster than “General Aviation” (what is THAT all about? can I submit a plate for “General Pizza”?)

In fact, Digital Maestro Scott Maestro figured out what plate design would get Universal’s numbers over the top…

It was actually another big month for the viral sensation known as the Bourne Stuntacular Times Sign. The brilliant artist Derek Collier created miniature versions for sale….

…and you know Bacini and I had to get one of those. Straight up E-Ticket.

While others took pictures of their signs in Universal Studios Florida.

***New Food Items!

One of the biggest sensations coming out of Epic Universe when it made it’s debut last year was the Mac and Cheese Cones at the Isle of Berk. It blew my mind that Universal has a seasonal offering during the Christmas season with the Snoggleton Harvest cone. Turns out they weren’t done, because the Isle of Berk had another new cone offering with the The Dragon’s Garden Pyre.

The Dragon’s Garden Pyre cone – creamy mac and cheese, lemon-herb chicken, fire-roasted corn, avocado, and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

Starting to wonder if Universal has a secret deal with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, because they have been using them in several items lately, including the Flamin’ Hot Birria Ramen at last year’s HHN and Tremor Crispy Chicken at Richter’s Burger Co.

Uni might have also bought a metric ton of Cap’n Crunch cereal. Note the milkshake in the photo above (which actually tastes great!) and a recent snack blow at Ale to the Chief in Toon Lagoon.

Both pale to a recent addition to the Hop on Pop Ice Cream Shop in Seuss Landing, which features a complete overload of Cap’n Crunch cereal.

Speaking of Seuss Landing, Circus McGurkus got some new items as well, including this gigantic hot dog that features – among other things – Fritos Honey BBQ Twists.

You may remember that the Cosmic Ray’s Pizza Burger was the spiritual inspiration for our Disney Food Hall of Shame. Well, Circus McGurkus also gave us the first edible Pizza Burger with the Meat-za Pizza Burger.

Over in Springfield USA we got a nice surprise with a new addition to the Duff line of beers: Happy Sour.

During HHN season we get the seasonal Dufftoberfest, so it’s awesome seeing another offering. I’ll always be a Duff Lite guy, but Happy Sour is great for true fans of beer that will appreciate its tartness.

Speaking of surprises in Springfield, how about two new Cute Plush featuring an alien from Kang and Kodos’ Twirl ‘N’ Hurl and Bumblebee Man from his taco truck! It’s downright shocking how much TLC the Universal parks put into Springfield USA merchandise and food/drink considering the area may not be that long for this world (and I hope that Rumor and Innuendo isn’t true because Disney wouldn’t know what to do with The Simpsons in the theme parks if they had them.)

New Optimus Prime popcorn bucket.

You know a theme park popcorn bucket is really good when it is the absolute most impractical way to store popcorn in.

Over in Epic Universe we got a new Coke Freestyle refillable bottle that is next level. First let’s check out something only Bioreconstruct would do, compare the various Coke options available to guests at Epic.

Here’s where things get cool. The bottle neck is similar to a Kaleidoscope and the neck is labeled: “View the Stars of Epic.”

Here’s a look at Constellation Carousel through this Coke Freestyle bottle neck!

We got a new entrant into our Disney Signage Hall of Shame this month.

When you care enough to do the very least.

*Hey Kids, ART!

Let’s take a look at some creations from people in the community. First up we have some pretty spectacular Lost Continent miniatures from Derek Collier.

Meanwhile Lost Continent itself has almost the entire land behind construction walls.

Love this Space Ranger Spin artwork from the one and only Horizoneer.

I can’t get enough of these Tiny Drawings of Berk from Jaime S. Here we have Belch snoozing away in Gobber’s forge. Can’t wait for Alicia Stella’s STOP HATE fundraiser in June so I can order this entire Berk set!

If this artwork by /aloofs_travelingcircus featuring Ygor and Dr. Victoria Frankenstein on Monster’s Unchained seems familiar, well it should…

…as its done in the style of a fan favorite moment from The Emperor’s New Groove.

We’ll close with a look at the latest quandary I’ve found myself in. On April 16th I started a new jigsaw puzzle. Been doing well on 500 piece puzzles so made the jump to 1000.

Here I am about a week later and I’m like “never again.” I’m half convinced I’ll be the first human in history to even finish this puzzle. It’s absolutely bonkers. It’s also a little B.S. because you can see on the box (and map inside) that there are three full lanterns next to Beast, but the actual puzzle only has two and a fraction of third. I CALL SHENANIGANS!!!

Last month’s Theme Park Enjoyment Index: 63
This month’s net change: – 15
Current enjoyment level: 48

Writer Derek Burgan, when not cleaning Len Testa’s pool, can be found reading comic books, watching professional wrestling, organizing his various Tsum Tsums in alphabetical order, and taking his dog Bacini to Universal and Disney.. He will not, we repeat not, be found at a Disney Outlet Store. An official DisTwitter Influencer, you can interact with him @derekburgan

Digital Artist Scott Walker hails from Scotland and is the fifth most famous person from this country following Alexander Graham Bell, Ewan McGregor, Gerard Butler, and Groundskeeper Willie.