Generally speaking, a few months before November the SAT SIX Fun Squad and myself will start to brainstorm what the headline drawing of The Turkeys should be and who should be in it. However, with the opening of Epic Universe and how gorgeous the Chronos Portal entrance area was, to me using it as the central location became a no-brainer.

Then came the process of selecting who and what would populate the area. The goal is to try and reference every single Turkey Nominee into the drawing, and then a whole bunch of stuff from the year that we actually enjoyed.

I use various levels of detail when it comes to drawing layouts while working with other artists. Some get pretty detailed sketches, but Brian Cooper and I are at the point now where I can do the quickest – almost incomprehensible – scribblings and he knows exactly what I’m talking about. Below is the version of the 2025 Turkeys Header that I sent Brian.

When Brian sent his first sketch back, I knew this was going to end up being awesome. Look at the level of detail he put in, even on stuff no one is probably even going to see (like Constellation Carousel and Helios Grand Hotel in the deep background.)

Brian then sent a sketch with placement of all the characters that would be in the drawing. This is where I nervously ask if some changes can be made. When I first made my original sketch, the sign poking up on the left hand side of the Chronos was going to be the taped over road sign for the Disney Starcruiser. However, in October the “EPOCT RACE” sign appeared and immediately became a must.

Next up, the sketches become more line art. You’ll see in this version that the Burning Blade Tavern went from four blades burning to two. We’ll explain why later in this article. You may also notice that on the side of the Chronos there are no Celestials. Sending Brian an email with a suggestion for that was the most nervous I’ve ever been because it’s like asking someone who just climbed Mt. Everest to walk another 100 yards with you for a better photo spot.

The end result – as always – was better than I could have ever imagined in my mind. Not just another homerun, another grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to win the game.

Today we’re going to go through every reference in the artwork!

1. Haunted Mansion Etsy bust

At the top of the Chronos Portal we have a reference to a time when Disneyland used off-the-shelf pieces to help decorate the new Madame Leota gift shop.

2. Captain Cacao

C’mon, everyone’s favorite bear from Epic Universe had to make an appearance, especially since the good Captain inspired so many talented artists!

3. Atlantic Fish

There are so many things that I wanted to fit into this year’s drawing, but at some point I have to realize not everything can make it in. The Atlantic at Epic Universe was such a great addition to the theme park lineup of restaurants I thought it just had to be represented somewhere.

4. Why Not Have Both Pizza and Pasta?

Longtime readers of the SAT SIX know how much I love next level bonkers food, and this slice inspired by Five Nights at Freddy’s was right up my alley!

5. Taylor Strickland and Tom Corless as Dawn and Dusk

Put this one straight into The Louvre.

On the side of the Chronos there are two Celestials, named Dawn and Dusk.

The Chronos itself is so cool and has so many visual elements that I bet many people don’t even notice these two characters on the side.

To represent Dawn and Dusk, we had the perfect pair. Taylor Strickland of Orlando Informer…

…and Tom Corless, owner of WDWNT  (and UniNewsToday.)

The back and forth between Taylor and Tom over a Pizza Moon pizza box can be seen in-detail in this year’s Turkeys. The story was so bananas that we also had to have another drawing made for the article, featuring a stand-off between the two men. This drawing was done by artist Dan Shull.

The drawing, titled “Box Bypass” is based off the Zax Bypass in Seuss Landing at Islands of Adventure (which Rumors & Innuendo suggest was the first actual thing in IOA with the rest of the park built around them.)

Forgot to number this reference, but its one of my favorites in the entire piece. Had to have an inscription on the Chronos Portal and we used it to have a little fun at the downtime the park has had since opening.

6. Bioreconstruct’s helicopter

A staple of the Turkeys header drawings is none other than blogger-in-the-sky @bioreconstruct‘s helicopter. The “photo credit” banner is referencing a story you read about in the Honorable Mention section of this year’s Turkey Awards.

7. Fantastic Four advertising

This cloud formation in the sky is referencing a next level bonkers advertising campaign from Disney this summer.

Now, for those of you who aren’t fans of the Fantastic Four, one of the things that is synonymous with the group (in comic books, cartoons, and films) is the character of Johnny Storm using his flame powers to create a Fantastic Four logo in the sky.

In several major cities, a skywriting campaign was done to recreate this iconic Fantastic Four logo, but unfortunately the results were less than spectacular. The logo that was done closest to a Disney park in California looked more like a Lexus logo than anything else. Across the country the other logos were so bad that it started several conspiracy theories with some people thinking it could be a peace symbol while others tried to link it to group QAnon.

8. Pizza Moon

Logo for my new favorite pizza place in a theme park.

9. Drone over EPCOT

This summer, a guest somehow got an actual drone through EPCOT security and used it to fly around the park.

10. Berk Dragon

I did three separate articles on how great the Isle of Berk is at Epic Universe and didn’t even mention the area has FLYING DRAGONS.

You can see more of these dragons behind-the-scenes in the Epic Ride documentary on the Peacock streaming network.

11. Burning Blade Tavern

Even before it was open, the Burning Blade Tavern was one of the all time greatest venues ever made for a theme park. Bioreconstruct’s aerials showing us the blades on fire well before the park opened to any guest were a true treat.

Why does our Burning Blade Tavern in the drawing have only two blades? That’s paying reference to the amount of time this year the restaurant actually had NO BLADES as they were taken off to be refurbished (or who knows what.)

This led to Digital Maestro Scott Walker coming up with a new sign for the venue itself…

12. Tile from Stella Nova

13. Tom Sawyer Island

One of the major losses this year in the theme parks was the Magic Kingdom getting rid of the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer island. We took one of the most iconic parts of Tom Sawyer lore to use in the drawing, the painting of a fence.

The “Piston Peak Coming Soon” is referencing the area that is replacing Tom Sawyer Island, Piston Peak. This whole area will be a part of the Cars universe, so we used one of  our favorite characters, Mater, to do the paintin’.

14. “O” from SeaWorld’s ODYSSEY

The story of the missing “O” from the SeaWorld Odyssey attraction can be found in the Turkeys.

15. Terrifier House at HHN

One of the more unique elements of this year’s HHN was the ability to go through a “dry” side and a “wet” side in the Terrifier house. This A-frame signage pays tribute to that.

16. Paddlefish thief

The infamous Paddlefish thief was our coveted Golden Turkey winner this year. Love that Brian Cooper has the money bags dripping with water. We put him next to the You May Get Wet sign for a sight gag.

17. Garbage Can with stickers

This is referencing a photo that theme park investigative reporter @fibellefi took at EPCOT showing that the garbage can had a cheap decal rather than the 3D logos posted on other garbage cans. We are going to give Disney the rare benefit of the doubt on this one and accept the answer that this was just something temporarily put on because they needed more garbage cans ASAP and not a budget cutting maenuver.

18. Sexy Ratatouille

What, you didn’t see the next level bonkers ad Disney had for an online Solitaire game using Remy clearly drawn from a model that was supposed to be used for Moana? Well, now you have and you’re officially cursed like the rest of us.

19. Derek fixing EPCOT lights

Derek is from our David and Derek series and is always the most incompetent person you will find for the job, so naturally he’d be the one fixing the EPCOT lights that keep having problems (as seen in this year’s Turkeys.) Love Brian putting in all the little details like Elmer’s glue and bent nails.

20. Bacini as Krypto

Bacini is of course my dog, AKA The official Dog of DisTwitter. He’s wearing a cape to cosplay as Krypto, the dog in the film Superman from this Summer.

Here’s Bacini seeing a Krypto plush and making me get it for him.

21. Ruff Mix cans

Ruff Mix was a tie-in Universal Studios Florida did for the movie Dog Man this past Summer.

Ruff Mix was a mac & cheese/ground beef combo that was meant to look like dog food.

I personally think this should be on the menu in DreamWorks Land every day of the year, but I’m a sucker for themed cans.

22. Hank Lonely

Hank Lonely is the alter ego of TouringPlans’ own Len Testa, created for Len’s “experience” on the ill-fated Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser.

23. Bagged BDX Droid

Hank Lonely is holding a bagged BDX droid.

The BDX droids finally made their appearance in Florida this year and found out the hard way our weather is a little bit more temperamental than the constant sunshine they get out in Disneyland. Apparently like Gremlins, the BDX droids are not made to get wet.

In this year’s artwork, Bacini is giving side eye to the BDX droid because he still doesn’t trust the robot after the two first met in last year’s drawing.

24. Pouncer from Berk

Gotta love the amount of dragons you can meet in the Isle of Berk.

25. Mike Aiello

Been a long time coming to finally see the Universal Creative head honcho Michael Aiello immortalized in the Turkeys. My generation grew up reading/hearing about the great Disney Imagineers like Marc Davis and X Atencio. Universal doesn’t really give their fans a connection with their creative like that, but the more you discover on your own the more you see how incredible people like Mike Aiello and guys like chef Steven Jayson have been in delivering us amazing things over the last decade plus.

I’ve never met Michael Aiello in person, but I have seen him appear in the parks, such as being the basis of the character Samuel Meetz at Halloween Horror Nights.

Aiello has been with Universal for a long time, starting his career as a skipper captain on the old Jaws ride.

I paid tribute to this in my Batman visits the Theme Parks benefit comic book (which you can read more about by CLICKING HERE.)

26. Alexa Bliss

Next to Mike Aiello is WWE professional wrestler Alexa Bliss.

This year’s HHN had a house themed to the WWE, and during one evening Alexa Bliss herself got to play the role of a scareactor.

27. Art the Clown

Both Aiello and Bliss are being driven around by the breakout character of this year’s HHN, Art the Clown (from the Terrifier series of films.)

28. Rip Ride Rockit DJ Tiny

Our next grouping of characters are under the nest of “things we lost this year which were important to Your Humble Author.” You can read my tribute to heartfelt Rip Ride Rockit by CLICKING HERE (remember to bring the Kleenex.)

Tiny was one of the Rip Ride Rockit DJs you would see in signage throughout the attraction.

On the last day of operation, Universal brought the DJs out as face characters!

29. Sweetums from Muppet*Vision 3D

Always been a big fan of the Muppets in general and of course Muppet*Vision 3D. You can read my tribute to that great attraction by CLICKING HERE.

Just amazing that a theme park show had an actual Muppet character interacting with the audience and being part of the show.

30. Schmoofy

Schmoofy is my friend Bret Taggart, who passed away earlier this year. You can read our tribute to Schmoof by CLICKING HERE.

In the artwork, Schmoof and the Rip Ride Rockit DJ are trading Disney Lorcana cards, because for whatever reason Schmoof was obsessed with those.

31. Haunted Mansion Plaque from Home Depot

This one is for the real sickos as it’s referencing a plaque Disney got at Home Depot and placed outside the iconic Haunted Mansion.

32. Higgledy elf AA from Epic

Our next grouping of characters is paying tribute to the stunning audio-animatronics this year. First up is Higgledy the elf from Battle at the Ministry in Epic Universe.

33. Walt Disney AA

For the first time ever Disney made an audio animatronic for Walt Disney himself this year out in Disneyland.

34. Frankenstein’s Monster AA

Frankenstein’s Monster is just one of the who-knows-how-many great AAs you will encounter during Monsters Unchained in Dark Universe. Just AMAZING.

35. Rizzo the Rat

When we lost Muppet*Vision 3D we lost all of Muppet Courtyard, including PizzeRizzo. To honor that we had Rizzo the Rat in a chef’s outfit.

36. Alicia Stella in PizzeRizzo Prom Dress

Rizzo is sitting on the shoulder of the Permit Princess Alicia Stella. Some of you may not know this, but Alicia wrote an article in our Theme Park Hills to Die On series where she defended – what else – PizzeRizzo.

Alicia is wearing a dress that she wore to the PizzeRizzo prom, an event held before Muppet Courtyard was shut down.

Alicia is holding a small scale version of PizzeRizzo given to her at the event by creative genius Cremated Plastic.

37. Jack the Clown

Jack the Clown is an official icon of Halloween Horror Nights. He is holding a sign that reads “Vegas Or Bust” referencing the opening of Horror Unleashed, a year round haunt experience that Universal opened earlier this year in Las Vegas.

One show at Horror Unleashed features Jack the Clown.

38. Jaimee Rowan

Our next grouping of characters are paying tribute to Dark Universe. First up with a member of Universal Creative, Jaimee Rowan. When putting together our article on Monsters Unchained, Jaimee’s Twitter feed was an invaluable resource to see where all the details were. Getting access to information like this is common on the Disney side of theme park fandom with so many former Imagineers on social media, but it is much more rare to get true glimpses behind the theming at Universal.

Jaimee herself can be seen in the Monsters Unchained queue on the Frankenstein family tree.

I wanted each member in this grouping to be enjoying a treat from Epic Universe, and Jaimee is holding one of the mac & cheese cones from the Isle of Berk.

39. The Invisible Man

This might be the most “controversial” part of the entire drawing. The clear breakout character from the opening of Dark Universe was Ygor, but as you can see we went with The Invisible Man. Why? Simple, The Invisible Man has always been my favorite Universal Classic Monster.

I especially love how The Invisible Man has been portrayed at HHN in previous years, but the version in Dark Universe is off the charts.

The Invisible Man is holding one of the signature drinks in Dark Universe, and one themed to him with the Monocane.

40. Greg Hall

Gregory Hall is a member of Universal Creative and this isn’t the first time he’s been featured in a Turkeys drawing because he also played an important part in the development of the VelociCoaster back in 2021. Greg helped create – among other things – Monsters Unchained in Dark Universe.

There are comic book creators where if their name is on a book as a creator, I buy it, no questions asked. That’s how I feel about Greg Hall’s work at Universal. If Greg is involved in a project, it’s gonna be awesome and I can’t wait to experience it.

Greg is holding a DK Crush Float from Super Nintendo World, quite possibly the most viral snack of all at Epic Universe.

41 and 42. Dark Universe Awards

The large trophy is something that Las Culturistas (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers) gave to Monsters Unchained as “Best Universal Orlando Attraction That Kelly Clarkson Would Love The Most. The smaller trophies are the last thing added to the drawing, as Dark Universe cleaned up at the THEA Awards earlier this month.

43. Dino-Rama sign

I still can’t believe Disney is getting rid of their only area dedicated to Dinosaurs.

44. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit

The brightest flames burn the fastest…

45. EPOCT RACE signage

How great is this?

As seen in October during a runDisney race.

This of course is a reference to the WDW road signage that single handedly caused the creation of the Disney Signage Hall of Shame.

See You Next Year!