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*April Fools Day

For anyone who spends a lot of time online, April 1st becomes a day to dread because of all the fake stories and social media posts put out in order to tie into April Fools Day. Generally speaking, most of these are a complete waste of everyone’s time, but Universal’s social media team had a fun post using some iconic elements of Orlando and incorporating them into a new portal for the upcoming Epic Universe theme park.

Just fantastic work. Now let’s hop into the blogger-in-the-sky copter with @bioreconstruct and check out some photos of the actual portals being constructed inside Epic Universe.  First up, the portal at the front entrance of the park…

…Super Nintendo World (which will have guests going up an escalator to a second level)…

Below is an up-to-the-minute look at the portal to Super Nintendo World as it was posted by Bio one hour before this fine blog series went to print. If you compare the photo below to the one above you’ll see a ring around the portal that was recently installed.

…Dark Universe, home of the Universal Classic Monsters…

…How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk…

…and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic.

Speaking of The Wizarding World, the Permit Princess Alicia Stella found a person on TikTok who was traveling on the Florida roadways next to a truck carrying a rather large box.

Upon closer inspection, the box was being delivered to Universal Orlando.

Now, everyone who watches Alicia’s amazing videos over on Orlando Park Stop knows she is the Go To person when it comes to any question related to Epic Universe. She knew exactly what was inside that large box: a ride vehicle for the E-Ticket attraction coming to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic…

TPEI’s Digital Maestro Scott Walker put the size of the Ministry of Magic ride vehicles in perspective with this graph…

Not one to miss a beat,  Universal Orlando’s social media team took the time to make a fun reference to what many were discussing on social media…

TPEI Score: +2 For good or for bad,  you never know what you’ll see when driving on the roads in Florida.

*The Eclipse

A week after April Fool’s Day came the 2024 Total Eclipse. A total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes in-between the Earth and the Sun, completely blocking the face of the Sun. There was a “path of totality” that cut through the United States going from Maine to Mexico that gave people a truly amazing perspective of this event, including this video from @SoCal360 that was filmed in Maine. However, even those of us outside the path got to get some pretty good shots, including some at our Orlando theme parks from some of our best theme park photographers!

TPEI Score: +2 The next Total Solar Eclipse will take place on August 23, 2044, which is also the expected grand opening date for the Cake Bake Shop at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort (hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day either…although it was probably built faster than this unneeded bakery being converted from an ESPN Club restaurant.)

*Disney Signage Hall of Shame Gets New Entrant

We have some true investigative reporters in the Florida theme park world, each with their own specific niche. Because of this, we get in-depth coverage of all the important events. Washington D.C. has Woodward and Bernstein, but Orlando, FL has even better duo in @servoisnaked and @FiBelleFi. For YEARS these two diligent reporters have been on top of every breaking news story coming out of The Land Pavilion in EPCOT, especially those involving The Escalator That Eats Human Shoes.

The good news is that Disney solved the problem at The Land Pavilion by slapping this sticker onto escalator.

TPEI Score: – 8 How is this possibly real? Who is this sticker even for?! Does Disney expect people to take off their Crocs and travel on the escalator barefoot? This is Walt Disney World. Crocs are probably being worn by 20% of the guests on any given day.

*THE SYNERGY MACHINE!

April brought us the “new and improved” Disney bundle, which essentially means that Hulu – and its non-PG programming – were incorporated into the kid friendly Disney+ streaming service. To mark this momentous occasion, Disney created the most next level BONKERS advertising campaign we’ve seen in a long time.

There were nonsensical billboards promoting the new bundle…

…and even more non-sensical ads on TV.

Good news everyone, we also get to see these ads in the theme parks.

TPEI Score: – 4 Sometimes I sit and wonder about all the people who had to approve something like the Bibbidi-Bobbidy-BOO ad mixing Cinderella and American Horror Story. This was the BEST idea that they had and it makes me want to do anything to see all the ideas they said “no” to.

On the opposite end of marketing we had Universal teasing on social media their upcoming plans for the Summer. Using stills taken from a short video, fans were able to piece together clues about announcements that are about to be made for the Orlando parks. The screen below features a ghost, which more than likely means we’ll be getting something involving the fan favorite Ghostbusters brand.

A bicycle is always associated with E.T.

The iconic JAWS.

Now, earlier this year when Mel’s Diner in Universal Studios Florida reopened after a long refurbishment, the new menu screens would quickly be taken over by a similar “test pattern” that referenced older USF attractions, including JAWS.

There were several others including, Back to the Future, Universal Classic Monsters, and even Twister…Ride It Out! You can watch a video of the Mel’s Diner menu screens and it’s various Easter Eggs by CLICKING HERE.

Universal followed up with another tease on social media that had a box filled with references to brands such as Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Trolls, Kung Fu Panda and more. This is all a clever marketing setup for an official announcement this upcoming week that will reveal the Summer Tribute Store, DreamWorks land in USF and possibly a couple more surprises as well.

*BE FAIR TO FLORIDA!!

So apparently over in Milan, Italy there is a park called MovieLand and this month we saw video of a new Back to the Future dark ride attraction!

There is a full size DeLorean time machine in the queue that looks like it just crashed through the building!

The attraction features all the iconic BTTF music and elements such as the Flux Capacitor…

…and like Universal Studios Florida’s old BTTF: The Ride, sometimes it’s just fun to watch a DeLorean fly again.

You can watch a walk through of the attraction below.

TPEI Score: -10 WE WANT – NAY NAY – WE DESERVE A BACK TO THE FUTURE IN FLORIDA!!!!

*EPCOT Gets WEIRD Again

For the last several years Disney has been cutting entertainment left and right, so consider us surprised when out of nowhere a new show made its debut at EPCOT this month called Forces of Nature by AntiGravity.

Forces of Nature is an acrobatic show featuring some very skilled performers.

Forces of Nature by AntiGravity actually has a tie-in to the history of EPCOT. While I sit fondly reminiscing over Horizons and Kitchen Kabaret, there is actually a “forgotten” attraction at EPCOT that deserves a lot more attention. In 1986-87 the park was home to the Daredevil Circus Spectacular, which used Mickey Mouse as a ringmaster for a traditional circus show set within the confines of Future World. AMAZING! You can read more about this EPCOT circus by CLICKING HERE.

TPEI Score: +2 While we joke about a lot of stuff in the theme parks, Forces of Gravity makes us nostalgic for when Walt Disney World took legitimate risks creatively. We appear to be in an era where everything we get at Walt Disney World has been watered down by committees and is the safest possible bet. Pardon the expression, but changing Cinderella Castle into a birthday cake was ballsy. While it seems ridiculous to keep asking the question “What would Walt have done,” it is obvious going by his career that doing something crazy like that is exactly what he would have done. Walt Disney was a risk taker, and often took the big gamble. When others said no, Walt said yes. And while there were a couple swings that missed, there were a lot of big hits. A lot. So keep EPCOT weird FOREVER.

***QUICK HITS***

One of my favorite articles we’ve done over the years is looking at all the tributes, Easter eggs and references Universal has put in the windows of their parks (you can read that article by CLICKING HERE.) May have to update that article with the recent addition in the New York section of Universal Studios Florida that features a couple characters from the Secret Life of Pets franchise looking out of their apartment windows.

Out in France there was an interesting ad campaign by Disney that combined pictures of real life Paris along with the Disneyland Paris theme park.

While we liked this poster using the Eiffel Tower and Sleeping Beauty Castle…

This poster featuring the Eiffel Tower as seen in Soarin’ Around the World might be more appropriate.

Who among us hasn’t loved flying over the streets of Paris and seeing the bending Eiffel Tower on Soarin’?

We know our friends over at @MCO do!

We’ve seen two of my favorite social media follows so far (@UniversalORL and @MCO) but without social media I would never be clued into some truly bizarre, and yet INCREDIBLE stuff like this comic strip called Wondermark. I’m not even 100% sure of what Wondermark even is, but the strips I’ve seen are bonkers in the best way possible, including this one featuring commentary on our beloved theme parks…

I’ve said often that there are a thousand legitimate reasons you should never go near the current version of Twitter, but one reason I stick around is the fantastic posts from former Disney Imagineers and Universal Creative, such as this one from former Imagineer Eddie Sotto…

We also get to see the latest work from top notch artists…

Our favorite tiny artist Jaime S. has continued on with her meticulous retelling of The Haunted Mansion going scene by scene…

Let’s check out some great photos of the parks from this past month. Love this photo of the monorail in front of Space Mountain.

Great aerial shot of the Universal globe in front of Universal Studios Florida by the one and only @bioreconstruct.

Although this one may be even better. What I also love is that I can hear Bio talking to his helicopter pilot the same way I talk to my family, “no, we need to wait until the word Universal comes back around. Almost there…”

Absolutely LOVE this shot below showing Universal Studios Florida in the foreground, but also shows Hard Rock Hotel and Loews Portofino Bay Hotel in the background.

This past week I made a quick trip up to Universal and stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel. It was the first time I had ever stayed Club Level at the Hard Rock and will be doing an article on the experience in the next week or two. The Hard Rock Hotel also has one of the most unique souvenirs for any onsite guest at Disney or Universal by converting your hotel room key into a guitar pick when you are checking out.

Back to the good photos. Inside Universal Studios Florida there is a new mural up on the side of the Transformers show building that faces Minion Land. Many Disney fans know of the “IT’S RAT PIZZA” for the PizzeRizzo signage, and now Universal has a similar sign as the letters MINION can be separately lit up in this ILLUMINATION signage.

How about this wonderful photo by Bio that shows how Universal’s upcoming Stella Nova resort looks at night and during the day? Just amazing!

Starfall Racers at Epic Universe is looking straight up E-Ticket!

Look at that rockwork at the front of the attraction!

In a previous article we saw a bunch of dragons in houses that were stored offsite and we wondered how they would fit into the How To Train Your Dragon Land. Now we know, because Bio got a pic of some dragon houses being installed in a grandstand area overlooking HTTYD attractions.

Remember that scene in Pulp Fiction when Bruce Willis thought he had a clean getaway, only to stop at a stoplight and see Marcellus Wallace – the man who was going after him – walk in front of his car? Bio had a similar moment this past month, except in his case he got a chance to photograph one of the Universal Superstar Shuttle buses while stopped at a red light.

*Our Long National Nightmare Is Finally Over…

For several years now Disney has been selling a line of HOME products in which the “O” in home is just the silhouette of Cinderella Castle. Unfortunately, the Castle looks much more like the letter “A” than “O” so many have joked the word looks more like HAME than home.

This month Disney changed the “O” in HOME to a Mickey silhouette with a castle element inside it, making the word once again look like home. The end of an era (or error, your call.)

Just so we’re clear. Disney knows that the Castle resembles an “A” because they use it on other merchandise.

We got some good popcorn buckets this month, as out in Disneyland for their Seasons of the Force celebration, TouringPlans own Guy Selga picked up this beauty.

You gotta watch this video, because the Jabba bucket has a sound element that is absolutely perfect…

Meanwhile, at Universal I picked up this great Minion popcorn bucket in Minion Land at USF. I’m assuming this character will be a part of the upcoming Despicable Me 4 film coming out this summer. The hat is removable, the pants are removable (underneath wearing regular blue Minion overalls), the eyes move, and the walnut spins inside the wrench. Super cute design. I also tried the banana flavor popcorn at the Pop-A-Nana kiosk and have to say it’s pretty good. Its basically kettle corn with a very slight banana aftertaste. Still crazy to me that Universal went from pretty much ZERO good popcorn buckets for a decade to half a dozen great ones just using the Minions alone in the last year or two. Forget about the E-Ticket rides, shows, and restaurants at Epic Universe, I have a feeling we are about to see a whole new level of popcorn buckets unlocked when that park opens next year.

Love this shirt with the tagline HEROE AREN’T BORN. THEY’RE MADE. Great twist on that saying.

Friend of TPEI Mark Diba is our go-to source when it comes to covering one of our favorite collectibles at Disney right now: the ornament collection featuring the various resorts at WDW and Disneyland. This month Mark got a picture of the Yacht Club ornament and it’s super charming!

Last month we covered a new line of merchandise from the Universal Orlando Resort, and this month out in California Universal Studios Hollywood released a similar line featuring their attractions.

Most notable is one of the first ever appearances by the Waterworld stunt show on merchandise that guests can buy.

Rumors and Innuendo suggest that Universal will be losing The Simpsons IP sooner rather than later. Disney acquired The Simpsons when it bought 21st Century Fox back in 2019. This is a shame because 1) Springfield USA at Universal Studios Florida is absolutely AWESOME and 2) You just know Disney will have no idea on how to use The Simpsons at their parks and the characters will most likely languish just like The Muppets currently do.

Say what you will about Universal “having” to license properties like The Simpsons, Marvel Superheroes, The Wizarding World, etc, but generally speaking, when you have a license holder you have to impress, generally it brings out your best work. As a merchandise fan, the overall quality of merchandise we see in Springfield and The Wizarding World pretty much blows away almost everything we see at Universal and Disney. Why? Because when it comes to things like Disney and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or Pandora: The World of Avatar or Universal and Fast & Furious – Supercharged and Skull Island: Reign of Kong, things don’t have to be actually good. They can be “good enough” and still get approved because Disney and Universal don’t have to answer to anyone on those franchises.

It’s a minor thing, but in Springfield they are still releasing new Simpsons branded merchandise just for the skill games. If the Rumors and Innuendo are true, Universal won’t even be having these skill games in their parks for that much longer (all things considered) and yet we are still getting high quality items like the debut recently of Itchy and Scratchy pillows.

Now, I’ve said many times that defending Skill Games at Disney and Universal are a Hill I Will Die On. I think they can be great and totally add to the theme park experience. OR they can be like the skill games in Islands of Adventure and be a total cash grab. The ones in Springfield completely add to the experience and are a total blast. This past week I got to get a prize I’ve wanted for a while with this Groundskeeper Willie pillow. What I love about this pillow is that you can only win it at the skill game where you use baseballs to knock down similar Groundskeeper Willies!

I also had to play the Itchy & Scratchy themed Whack-A-Mole game to win this KrustyO’s plush. I did feel bad for all the little kids I had to trounce during the game, but I got over those feelings quick holding my new plush.

A new line of merchandise has appeared to support the upcoming DreamWorks land in Universal Studios Florida. This new kid friendly land is going to be a cash cow for Universal, which will be a stark contrast to the old KidZone (with properties including Woody Woodpecker, Barney the Dinosaur, and Curious George) that probably brought in $250 of merchandise sales a year. Look at this Shrek hat below. How great is that?!

They are going to sell a ton of this Kung Fu panda plush too.

On the opposite end of the merchandise spectrum is this bust of Hercules that is covered in paint. It begs the question…

…WHY WOULD ANYONE BUY THAT?!!!

Meanwhile out in California we have this horrendous Disney Food line of merchandise featuring a WTF hamburger iPhone case. look how big, gaudy, and impractical this thing is. I’m not losing my mind am I? There’s no logical reason any sane person would want this for a phone case.

Hot Dog book ends?!!!!

I look at stuff like this and my first reaction is…

We’ll close out this month with a look at a Disney Pressed Penny design featuring a typo I’ve made in this fine blog series probably about one million times…

Last month’s Theme Park Enjoyment Index: 69
This month’s net change: -14
Current enjoyment level: 55

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.