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…

*There Goes The Neighborhood… Epic Universe Welcomes Annual Passholders

It was a big month for Florida locals, as Universal’s newest park finally allowed Universal Orlando Annual Passholders the chance to purchase single day tickets to Epic Universe. This meant that bloggers who have been covering the development of the park for years were finally going to be able to step inside, such as the Permit Princess herself Alicia Stella…

…along with celebrated “author” (and longtime SAT SIX nemesis) Daniel Miller.

Last week in this fine blog series we presented a very special look at Artists Inspired by Epic Universe, and the opening for Annual Passholders meant local artists would be able to enjoy the park which influenced their work, including our favorite Tiny Artist Jaime S.

We also got the moment that I’ve personally been heavily anticipating, the great local photographers getting to use their cameras inside the park!

There are so many visually stunning elements at Epic Universe, but one attraction drawing the attention of many photographers is the Stardust Racers coaster.

Whether during the day or night, this dueling coaster provides the opportunity for some amazing photos!

However, one of our favorite creative people in the theme park community – Henry Taylor – took a photo of Stardust Racer’s signage with an element that immediately has the attraction fast tracked into the Signage Hall of Shame.

While it’s great that Epic Universe has a whole bunch of cool rides, we knew about those for a while now. What we didn’t know was all the other cool surprises that the park had in store for us…

I think next week we’re going to look at some of my favorite pieces of merchandise available at Epic Universe, and one thing that blew me away was seeing a Curse of the Werewolf ride vehicle model kit.

I would love nothing more than ride vehicle model/toys/diecast miniatures being made for just about every attraction at Universal Orlando or Walt Disney World.  THAT’S something I would want to collect.

Who knew the food would be so good?! Hopefully Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida are going to be getting a Quick Service upgrade in the near future because Epic Universe is leagues above them quality wise. I imagine we’ll be doing several articles dedicated to culinary masterpieces available at places like Oak & Star Tavern, Pizza Moon, and Café L’air De La Sirène (among others.)

I mean c’mon, we have a FRANKENPRETZEL!!!

TPEI Score: + 22 We Knew Epic Universe was a great looking park, but it wasn’t until the Annual Passholders were let in that we saw just how amazing and special this park truly is. For both the better and worse, Annual Passholders at both Universal and Disney love the parks like no other and their passion comes across. Next up, regular guests like you and me get to experience the park starting next month!

***Epic Universe is the GREATEST looking theme park in the world at night, BUT…

Epic Universe completely transforms once the sun goes down as seemingly a billion lights make the park pop like nothing we’ve ever seen before at a Universal park.

“Indescribably beautiful” as they say.

Flames on a giant windmill is cool, but you know what’s really cool? Flames on a giant windmill at night!

Epic Universe at night is a jaw dropping experience for even the most jaded theme park fan and needs to be seen to be believed.

Unfortunately, we got some bad news this very week as the Epic Universe park hours were released and has the park closing at 9PM. Sunset in Florida during this time of year generally takes place around 8:15PM, giving just precious moments to enjoy the Epic Universe lights in their full splendor.

Digital Maestro Scott Walker explained this news by using one of my favorite recurring bits on Saturday Night Live: George Washington addressing his troops (a must watch.)

TPEI Score: – 4 Yes, this is a negative, but in today’s theme park world It Is What It Is. For those of us who live in Florida and have access to these theme parks as much as we please, we always want the parks to be open late. Why? A couple factors, but one of the biggest is because that’s when the parks generally become empty. The reality is that most people vacationing at Disney and Universal want to get their park day done early. They plan for weeks, months, and sometimes even years to develop their gameplan and almost all of those strategies begin in the morning. Also keep in mind that while the park officially closes at 9PM, there are still people in the queues for several attractions and there’s probably not going to be a hard sweep of the park until about 10PM, so it does gives those looking for a chance to enjoy the beauty of Epic Universe at night a little time to be immersed in it.

*Ok, so maybe ONE crack in the Epic Universe armor, but at least they don’t have Virtual Que…OH FFS!

One of the things I have been extremely vocal against online is Disney using Virtual Queues on their latest rides (including Rise of the Resistance, Tron, and Cosmic Rewind.) For YEARS we were given the narrative of “if ______ didn’t have Virtual Queue, lines would be six hours long.” This absurd thought process has been debunked time and time again, because human nature overrides any E-Ticket attraction. If Cosmic Rewind ever had a 6 hour standby line in EPCOT, it would just mean that Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Test Track, and Frozen Ever After would pretty much be walk-ons. That would cause people in the Cosmic Rewind line to leave and go enjoy a different attraction with their families because that’s how The Real World works.

Not to mention the fact that Virtual Queue just screws up the rest of the park if there’s not enough things for people to do while waiting for their Virtual Queue return time. When a park uses Virtual Queue, it means that thousands of guests are essentially taking up “two” spots in line, so it negatively affects everyone who *couldn’t* get a spot in the Virtual Queue as well. The crew over at ParkLore created a great infographic of the ride counts in various theme parks, and I would make the case that unless your park has over 20 rides, you shouldn’t even consider doing Virtual Queue.

For the most part, Universal hasn’t done much in the area of Virtual Queues in their theme parks outside of some usage at the beleaguered Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure in IOA. However, Epic Universe’s highly anticipated Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry began offering “Virtual Line” earlier this month.

Now, one of the reasons I’m not a fan of Virtual Queue/Line is that it is heavily weighted into favoring locals/Annual Passholders and others who know all the tricks of the system at the expense of the regular guests coming to the Florida theme parks. It can be overwhelming for many vacationing families to fully familiarize themselves with all the rules and procedures it takes to get them (and their entire group) onto an attraction that uses Virtual Queue/Line, all of which has to be done on a smart phone app.

TPEI SCORE: – 2 If Epic Universe has Virtual Line for the Potter attraction after the Grand Opening next month it immediately becomes a – 25. There are two factors that bring the number down:

1) I stated earlier that under normal conditions, a Virtual Queue system favors those “in the know” at the expense of day guests. Well, everyone at the Epic previews is “in the know” so at least it is sharks battling over sharks instead of minnows in this battle. Even with this system in place there have been many reports of some guests getting MULTIPLE Virtual Line reservations to the Potter ride in one day while others can’t get in at all on the same day. What type of complete B.S. system is that?

2) The Potter ride is currently in technical rehearsals. I remember when Transformers – The Ride 3D was in technical rehearsals and I got in line for it. While I was waiting in line, the attraction repeatedly stopped for long periods of time and an overhead PA system would announce that there was no guarantee that the ride would come back up or that anyone in line would get a chance to ride. Over the course of 1-2 hours, many people just abandoned the line. I stuck it out and eventually was able to ride. It was a risk though. I was spending time in a line where I possibly might not have been able to ride at the expense of doing something else in the park. I can live with Virtual Line being used for an attraction in Technical Rehearsals because there is that inherent risk baked in that you may not be able to ride. Once the attraction officially opens though, Virtual Line needs to get lost (and we won’t even talk about Disney keeping rides in Virtual Queue to help goose Lighting Lane sales.)

*What Are You Doing Starbucks?!!

I think everyone reading this knows how much I love theme park merchandise and understand the mentality behind collecting, but Starbucks is taking things too far. Now I understand how many theme park fans love to collect the various Starbucks cups and tumblers that have been offered for years, but this month the company added a new twist to the model: tumblers being sold with “mystery pins.”

I’m not a huge fan of mystery/blind box items, but I get their appeal. However, pretty much every mystery pin/figure set I’ve seen (including a very fun one involving the Universal Classic Monsters being sold in Epic Universe) uses a number between 6-12. The Starbucks mystery pin total is 48 different pins!!!! It’s not reasonable to expect/want/force your customer base to purchase so many items in the attempt of getting a complete set.

TPEI Score: – 8 The absolute worst part of this is that there’s actually a good amount of pins in this series I would love to have, including Grizzly Peak, Living with the Land and Gertie the dinosaur, but I refuse to purchase anything from this line out of sheer principle. A mystery series featuring 48 items is not something we as a collector fanbase can accept or encourage.

***QUICK HITS***

*Universal’s NEXT Newest Theme Park (or at least ONE of them…)

While we’re all still in an Epic Universe frenzy, it is easy to forget that Universal is in the process of putting together two other theme parks. A park centered around kid friendly brands is being built in Texas, and a full fledged Universal theme park is moving ahead in the UK. Earlier this month we were able to get a peak at some concept art for this upcoming park in England with nothing identified.

This led to a lot of speculation online in terms of what everything could be.

My favorite speculation map might have been by DisTwitter legend Howard Bowers, who had a whole lot of fun with it and included the fantastic “Brexit” for guests leaving the park.

Later in the month we got news that BBC News “CONFIRMED” that the following brands are set to appear at the Universal UK theme park: James Bond (stunt show), Paddington, Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future (coaster), Jurassic Park (coaster), and Minions (coaster). If this list ends up being a “shoot” as they say, I might have to make my first ever trip across the pond because a theme park land dedicated to Lord of the Rings is something I need to experience.

Our own Scott Walker created a fun billboard for the upcoming park…

…that was based on an actual billboard that was seen in Orlando back in the day to tease the upcoming Universal Studios Florida.

*Our Long National Nightmare is Finally Over

When Universal started building Epic Universe several years ago, Disney started building structures for Woody’s Lunchbox in DHS to provide shade for guests. Turns out both projects will be completed at about the same time, because earlier this month the first phase of shaded seating was available to guests.

*RIP Signage Hall of Fame Member

Let’s take a  closer look at this sign offering “male escorts” for $1 an hour during a time in America when “male escorts” meant something much different than it does in 2025.

All good things must come to an end, and in April 2025 we said goodbye to this signage unicorn. “Don’t cry because something is over, smile because it happened.”

*Who Can You Trust?

You may remember Jenny Nicholson’s from last year’s Theme Park Turkey of the Year Awards, where we talked about her AMAZING 4 hour YouTube video talking about the Rise & Fall of Disney’s Galactic Starcruiser (which was recently nominated for a Hugo award!) This month Jenny brought up an important topic when discussing Disney influencers…

This is a pretty important topic to discuss, and Jenny brings up a salient point: being “rah rah” as an influencer is doing a complete disservice to the people you are influencing. People coming to Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando need to be prepared, not being shown a fantasy land that only exists to people on a media list. It takes a while, but that’s why many seasoned guests end up gravitating towards places like TouringPlans offering an unbiased view of the companies. The food you see in my articles from Disney and Universal? I had to pay for them. The rooms you see in my articles (including the incredible Volcano View room at Cabana Bay recently,) I had to pay full “rack rate” for. Myself – and the entire TouringPlans team – experiences the parks and resorts like vacationing guests do.

* Skip & Son Barrel outside Backwater Bar

Earlier this month a barrel showed up outside the Backwater Bar in Islands of Adventure’s Port of Entry (pound for pound the best “Main Street” in ANY theme park.)

The barrel is branded with a “Skip & Son Hauling & Cargo” logo.

The barrel is a tribute to former Universal Team Member Michael “Skip” Skipper and his 14-year-old son Mikey who were killed by a head-on collision with a wrong-way driver in 2021. Skipper was so associated with the former Jaws attraction in Universal Studios Florida that according to the Orlando Sentinel, “he was given the honor of captaining the last ride on Amity 6 before the attraction permanently closed Jan. 2, 2012.”

This barrel first appeared in a Universal Tribute Store that had a room themed to Jaws, but the barrel’s new home is now in front of the Backwater Bar.

*Honorary Dapper Dan

Ever seen this card before? Well SAT SIX Ace Photographer Brandon Glover got one this month in Disney’s Magic Kingdom. “The finest barbershop quartet in a two-block radius” is straight up E-Ticket.

*This is gonna blow your mind…

This blew my mind. Check out the following photos by world travelers Attractions 360. They visited the  Fantawild Dino Kingdom in Zigong, China. In that park there is a flying theater ride called “Let’s Fly.” This isn’t just any ordinary flying theater ride like many of the Soarin’ rip-offs you see around the world NAY NAY. This is the literal Avatar: Flight of Passage ride from Animal Kingdom with some dinosaurs put into it.

Seem familiar?

WOW, NO FREAKING WAY! There’s an Avatar Flight of Passage ride vehicle used in this ride at a New Theme Park we visited today in Xian, China. Almost identical!Take a look for yourself! 👀 🤯🤯🤯

— Attractions 360° (@attractions360.bsky.social) 2025-04-26T16:43:22.367Z

Yup! This ride is literally Avatar: Flight of passage China version but with dinosaurs! 😂 🦖🦕

— Attractions 360° (@attractions360.bsky.social) 2025-04-25T04:06:43.087Z

I completely understand why American companies have huge problems with China’s lack of respecting IP laws…but Disney has a theme park IN CHINA! I can barely wrap my head around this story.

*Never Let The TRUTH Get In the Way Of a Good Story

For many years, both in books, podcasts, and documentaries, I have heard the stories of how Disneyland was so rushed into production that on opening day the heels of women’s shoes were being stuck in the pavement. I’ve heard this story so many times I just assumed it had to be true. Well, over on the bluesky social media site, we got a better look at this Rumor and Innuendo…

We got to see several pictures from Disneyland’s opening day, and in none of the pictures did it appear that anything was going on with the pavement.

*Speaking of Old School Disney…

Just like above, one thing I love about the theme park community on social media sites is stumbling upon complete gems that I never would have known about otherwise. This month user @rainbowskies ‪posted the playbill for Disney’s Polynesian Resort’s ‘The Legend of Minnie-Lani and Koa-Mickey’ luau show from the ’90s. This is incredible!!!!

How GREAT is this? What an awesome souvenir for guests.

*Bio getting us the important shots

Volcano Bay is my favorite park in all of Florida, but even I haven’t realized how much it has changed over the years until @bioreconstruct posted some photos of the park’s current refurbishment and how it was previously.

We’re going to have a whole bunch of Epic Universe articles over the next few weeks/months/years, but one great thing about the new park is that it has several nods to the other Universal parks, including Volcano Bay. That’s right, the CelesTiki Bar in Celestial Park offers a “Waturi Punch,” which is named after the Waturi (the islanders who call Volcano Bay home.)

Another photo I loved this month came from Islands of Adventure…

My favorite piece of Disney merchandise was this one featuring Walt Disney World and a whole bunch of attractions done in a retro style. Love it!

Last month’s Theme Park Enjoyment Index: 42
This month’s net change: + 22
Current enjoyment level: 64

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.