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July is always a great month in the theme park corridor in Orlando, because it starts off hot as both resorts get patriotic.

Over at Disney we have the fantastic nighttime spectacular shows along with the wonderful Fort Wilderness Golf Cart Parade. Check out these great pics from Jeff and Denise from Mousesteps, as they are always onsite to cover the awesome parades at Fort Wilderness and Port Orleans. There’s a strong case to be made that the “Disney Difference” is dying the death of a 1,000 cuts, but none of WDW’s competition have anything close to something like these parades at the resorts. Just a total blast.

The very first time Bacini and I stayed in a cabin at Fort Wilderness I was blown away at the amount of work so many guests put into decorating their campsites and golf carts. That was on a regular day. The decorations and creativity put in for the golf carts during the parades is over the top!

As a merchandise guy, the golf cart themed to the Meadows Trading Post gets my attention.

Like Halloween, some of the golf carts are adorned with items that are next level bonkers, but that’s what makes these parades so great. You never know what you’ll see next.

Over at the Universal Orlando Resort we saw the debut of yet another new refillable mug design at my beloved Cabana Bay Beach Resort. I have lost count of how many designs they have had since the hotel opened just 10 years ago, but we have to be approaching 20 different designs (if not more.)

The 4th of July also sparks the creativity of many within the theme park community, and we get incredible work like this amazing display by the Theme Park Preservation Society.

In the late 1970s Sam Eagle released a series of educational materials aimed at inspiring the next generation of patriots. They were not a success.
Now it’s yours to own in this lovely matted, framed display.”

Look at the detail on this stuff. Just OFF THE CHARTS cool. Head on over to TPPS’s Etsy store to get one of these to proudly adorn your walls at home.  I mean c’mon, how great is this?!

Sam Eagle presents A Salute to All Nations but mostly America” is a 45rpm record that features 200 years of America crammed into a minute and a half run time. He would later try to stage a full 3D production of the recording, which viewers stated “brought down the house.”

Speaking of Sam the Eagle, he is one of the characters featured in this drawing of The Muppets Present… Great Moments in American History by SonderQuest. This was one of my ALL TIME favorite attractions in any theme park and I’d do anything for Disney to bring it back to the Magic Kingdom.  As you can see, the drawing is not yet fully completed because the amount of work put into it gave Sondy carpal tunnel syndrome. We’ll check back in on this piece at the end of the year after his wrist heals.

This past month saw the debut of the Artist Spotlight feature on Phillip Weatherford. Many readers of this fine blog series may know Phillip by the name he uses on social media, The Horizoneer. We’ve spotlighted many of his LEGO creations in TPEI over the years, but that is just one of the many tools in Phillip’s artistic toolbox. Check out this fantastic faux ad featuring Sam the Eagle hawking fireworks that were “unsafely tested” at Muppet Labs.

Philip also created another E-Ticket LEGO piece this month featuring Statler and Waldorf from Muppet Vision 3D. Brilliant work. Be sure to go to his Etsy store and check out the various pieces featuring the Muppets and a whole lot more.

TPEI Score: + 3 Now I want more Muppets back in the theme parks!

*Mega Movie Parade

Universal Studios Florida had the debut of its new daytime parade earlier this month and we did an entire SATURDAY SIX feature on our favorite details. Let’s take a look at some photos since that article came out though, including this one by our pal Bio showing the parade during a rain storm.

For years and years you could almost time the afternoon showers in Orlando to be at 3PM, but for whatever reason those storms have shifted back to around 6PM, the exact time that the Mega Movie Parade takes place each night. Several performances were even unfortunately cancelled over the past few weeks. However, the rain does add a bit to the Jurassic Park float because the scene in the movie that is being replicated on the float also took place during a rain storm.

Recently a smoke effect was added to the Back to the Future float.

How can you not love the detail put into all the characters on these floats? No expense was spared.

I love the little touches, like this Minions hieroglyphics on the Minions Through History float.

Speaking of the Minions Through History float, this past week we got to see what happens when a Mega Movie Parade float breaks down. A small little truck comes out and tows the float backstage.

I love the detail of the Jaws unit being led by a banner that welcomed guests to Amity back when it was a land in USF (until The Boy Who Lived replaced it with Diagon Alley.)

I’m still in disbelief that there actually is a Jaws float featuring Quint, Sheriff Brody and Mayor Vaughn. This is like my dream journal coming to life. I’m not sure what the closest equivalent would be for Disney, but maybe it would be something like seeing a Treasure Planet or Emperor’s New Groove float in a Disney animation parade.

Love this series of Mega Movie Summer Film Festival prints by /brianparkstudios. Fantastic work!

Seriously, how great are these? Be sure to see more of his work on Twitter @brianparkstudio. Trust me, this won’t be the last time in this article you see his name, he’s *that* talented.

TPEI Score: + 4 The Mega Movie Parade is straight up E-Ticket. Rumors & Innuendo still suggest there are more elements to this parade which have yet to debut…

*Little Details Return to WDW?

Over the last several years we have seen a certain “declining by degrees” at Walt Disney World due to a level of budget cutting that seemingly never existed before in the company’s history. When Disney+ first started a couple years ago, one of my favorite shows on the streaming network was The Imagineering Story. In one episode, Walt Disney himself was telling an Imagineer, (paraphrased) “don’t worry what it costs, we have a whole building full of people who will figure out how to pay for it.” In today’s climate of Shareholder Value At All Costs, the gold standard has been lowered. Maybe, just maybe we’re at the dawn of a new era though, because this month saw the debut of a fun surprise in Liberty Square. Drew Smith posted a video showing that Ichabod Crane can be spotted in a window above Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe.

TPEI Score: + 1 It may not seem like much, but stuff like this is what sets Disney and Universal apart from amusement parks.

*Deadpool in a Theme Park

As of this writing, I am one day away from seeing Deadpool & Wolverine at the movie theater. This is my most anticipated film of the year (by far) and I am trying to go into it as spoiler free as possible (which means every time I’m on my phone it’s like navigating land mines.) I was definitely surprised to see that Disney was bringing the character of Deadpool into the parks (Disneyland Paris and Disney California Adventure.) I love Deadpool, but his movies are rated R for a reason. It’s one thing to see characters from R rated movies roaming the streets at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, but it’s another to see them day time in a Disney park.

However, Deadpool is a fun character, and if you just ignore the R rated elements, he can be as popular as Spider-Man.

Disney has put a ton of Marvel characters in their West Coast parks, but many have been temporary (Shang Chi, Kang the Conqueror, Moon Knight) because they are being paid for by a unit of Disney outside of the theme park division (don’t get me started on this rant.) Deadpool is one of those characters that should be in the parks full time with a dedicated meet-and-greet like Spider-Man at Islands of Adventure. His interactions with guests can be that good.

Disney even took it up a notch and added Wolverine to the lineup at DCA and the combination of the two characters is already INCREDIBLE.

Time will tell, but Deadpool and Wolverine may be Patient Zero on a new way to experience movie theaters. We’ve seen some elaborate popcorn buckets over the last year or so, but this movie isn’t just making about a half a dozen different popcorn buckets, NAY NAY, but also a full line of merchandise (including souvenir cups, keychains and even blankets) that you can only get at the theaters. If this type of merchandising is a financial success, look for it to be repeated quickly in the near future. No one in Hollywood likes to be first, but everyone likes to be second when they see something is a hit. I’ll be seeing the film at the Alamo Drafthouse, and you better believe I’ll be buying the items they have available (including exclusive pint glasses.)

TPEI Score: + 2 Deadpool in a Disney park is a pinch me, I’m dreaming moment for a comic book fan like myself.

*The Country Bears Are Back!!

As much as I personally loved it, it’s hard to believe the Country Bear Jamboree lasted as long as it did in its previous form. Even after the massive cuts to the show made back in 2012, the Country Bears were a show from a different era, when no one would think twice about a song called “blood on the saddle,” or ” all the guys who turn me on turn me down.” The show needed an update, badly.

The good news is that the show and our favorite bears are back and look better than ever. The western and country songs of old have all been cut and replaced with “country” versions of Disney songs like Bear Necessities (Jungle Book), Try Everything (Zootopia) and  A Whole New World (whaaaaaaaaaat?!)

TPEI Score: + 2 At least they didn’t turn the area into a DVC Lounge. Sometimes you have to take the win and move on.

A while back we posted the giant Big Al statue that was put in Disney California Adventure. Turns out that was for a DVC sales pitch area. This month they added a cute little phone charging station as well. Could use these in Frontierland.

***QUICK HITS***

When the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade Village opened back in 2010, it changed the fortunes of the Universal Orlando Resort forever. Butterbeer gets a large part of that credit (rumors & innuendo suggest the sales of Butterbeer in the first six months paid for the entire land) but for me one of the greatest things we got on Day One was the debut of the Chocolate Frog. I’ve done an entire article on Chocolate Frogs at Universal because I personally think it is one of the all time greatest souvenirs in theme park history. It’s also insane (in the best way possible) that Universal keeps making limited edition Wizard cards that take a deep dive into the Harry Potter canon like nothing I’ve ever seen before when it comes to fan service.

Until the Summer of 2022, all chocolate frogs were milk chocolate. In June of that year we got the debut of dark chocolate frogs. This year we got another new flavor, white chocolate.

*SAT SIX Artist Spotlight in July?!!

Every February this fine blog series presents the Artist Spotlight series which focuses on a particular creator in the theme park community. The series ties into Disney’s Festival of the Arts and has featured some pretty amazing talent including Ava Buric, Jess Feldman, and Brian Cooper. While I’m incredibly proud of the series, one thing has always bothered me. Every single artist featured over the years had one thing in common: they expressed their artistry through drawing. As we all know, “art” comes in an almost infinite amount of forms. I’m constantly in awe at the creativity of people in this community and wanted to expand our series to bring attention to those who produce art in different ways.

For me, the logical way to kick off this expansion was with Phillip Weatherford (AKA The Horizoneer). You’ve seen his work almost monthly in TPEI (heck, you’ve seen it earlier in this very article!) Not only does the Artist Spotlight feature his tremendous LEGO recreations, but also shows how wildly diverse his artistic talents are.

Turns out, this was a pretty big month for SATURDAY SIX Artist Spotlight alumni. We got the announcement that not only was Rob Yeo working in Walt Disney Imagineering, but that he created this extraordinary attraction poster for Le Pays des Contes de Fées in Disneyland Paris.

I keep forgetting to post this piece Rob did in TPEI, but I absolutely love this drawing he did of a stunning view at the Walt Disney World Swan.

We saw Hayden Evans work recently at Universal Studios Hollywood (see last month’s TPEI for more details) and it turns out this month we saw some of his work show up on the shelves in Walt Disney World!

Artist Spotlight alumni Jess Siswick may have started off small with her viral Ratatouille drawing (pun intended) but now she has gone larger than anyone could have ever thought possible with her artwork on an actual plane!

Couldn’t be more proud for Rob, Hayden, and Jess and I refuse to take more than 17% credit for this success.

*Latest from @bioreconstruct

Our blogger-in-the-sky @bioreconstruct actually got a lot of great shots on land this past month, including this view of Epic Universe’s Helios Grand Hotel and Stardust Racers as seen from the top of Disney’s Contemporary Resort.

Speaking of Stardust Racers, how great is this shot with a lightning strike seemingly right behind the coaster. Wow!

We did an article last month on stunning model inside the Epic Universe Preview Center in CityWalk, but this month Bio was back with even more closeups on some of the details. This park is going to be next level.

Here’s a shot of the Atlantic restaurant as its being built in Epic Universe.

Back to the Preview Center, Bio points out some pretty great details on the Constellation Carrousel.

Constellation Carousel as seen in early July…

If lightning is in the area, Universal’s outdoor rides shut down for safety concern. When they come back up, you can get some pretty nifty shots like this for the VelociCoaster.

No one gets better shots of our fine feathered friends at the theme parks, and this month Bio got some great ones including an osprey going fishing in the Universal Studios Florida lagoon.

*Imagine seeing this in America…

Over at Hong Kong Disneyland, Attractions 360 showed the cost of ticket prices and the dramatic discount that seniors aged 65 and older get. Not only do they get a humongous discount for Tier 1, they are the only demographic who doesn’t have to pay more for Tier 2. Now I don’t know what any of that means, but I do know it’s a deal we would never see over here!

If you like coverage of theme parks from around the world, the boys at Attractions 360 are a must follow.

*Tower of Terror celebrates 30th anniversary

One of theme parks all time greatest attractions celebrated 30 years this month. I personally HATE drop rides, but Tower of Terror is so great overall that it’s even one of my favorite attractions.

We mentioned Disney shockingly giving us some “little details” earlier in this article, and we were even more surprised when they put some TLC into Tower of Terror recently. This included the highlighting of the lightning scorches around the elevators which help add to the atmosphere and the story (read more in this great article by Blog Mickey.)

On the day of the 30th anniversary, many people on social media posted about their love of Tower of Terror. Several included photos including this one looking at the 1993 construction of the attraction by, who else, @bioconstruct. There is nothing that would surprise me when it comes to Bio. It’s like Marty McFly seeing a picture of Doc Brown from 1885. You could tell me Bio was there photographing the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886 and I’d be, “yeah, that sounds right.”

The Disney Parks Blog also posted some construction photos that were just fantastic.

Always love the fantastic ride layouts that Theme Park Lore produces, even though I can barely understand them.

LOVE the scale model of the Tower of Terror that Disney put into DHS (and no one could take a better photo of it than Blog Mickey.)

Tower of Terror is one of those rare attractions that has inspired a ton of artists, including Radley Relics.

Rob Yeo showed his concept drawings for the long rumored Tip Top Bar at the Tower of Terror.

*Theme Park Memes

This month there was an episode of The Simpsons in which a moment on the show became a viral sensation on social media. The family looks at what is being presented as a movie prop when Lisa Simpsons then realizes the item was not in the movie at all.

This moment was quickly used by people in the film community to have fun with other literal movie items.

But it wasn’t long before the theme park community had fun with this meme template as well.

*JAWS Lego

In the Artist Spotlight Feature on Philip Weatherford, we were able to see several attraction vehicles recreated in LEGO form, including a boat from Captain Jake’s Amity Boat Tours. This was the ride vehicle for JAWS: The Ride.

Turns out that wasn’t the only Jaws related LEGO we would see this month as LEGO itself announced the news it would be releasing a Jaws set!

Quint, Sheriff Brody, and Matt Hooper are included with the set. Amazing!!!

LEGO also released a Must Watch short film titled , “Jaws in a jiffy” it’s seriously GREAT. Here’s some screenshots…

So much incredible art was posted this month, including a fan attraction concept for Twisters: Storm It Out by @BrianParkStudios! Even better, this attraction would replace Fast & Furious – Supercharged. (please please please please please Universal!!)

Stumbled onto the art of James Chapman and, wow, am I blown away. Gonna see if he has any time in his schedule next February…

Our favorite Tiny Artist Jaime S. continues away with a scene by scene breakdown of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. I can’t even fathom getting this much detail in a drawing so small.

One of my favorite articles to do was when we took an in-depth look at the Pirates of the Caribbean “Dog with Key” scene, and I may follow that up one day with a look at the Haunted Mansion stretching room scene. That particular is notable for a couple reasons including 1) the amount of guests who won’t shut up during it and 2) the amount of cool art it has inspired, including this piece mashing up Haunted Mansion and Star Wars.

A pair of PeopleMover earrings?! Are you kidding me?!

Nope, these are real and you can even buy them yourselves. Created by @jasondws and available now in his Etsy store.

When CommuniCore Hall first opened, among the first people to report on what the experience was like was theme park photographer Ivonne Ramos. She showed that you enjoy a fun game of solitaire there (spoiler alert: she won.)

This month creative genius Howard Bowers created a fantastic CommuniCore Hall Solitaire Champ t-shirt which you can get at his TeePublic shop!

Speaking of Communicore Hall, I drew Bob Chapek checking in on his last gift to theme park fans.

And Digital Maestro Scott Walker quickly whipped up this replacement logo. It should probably be duct taped on to thematically go with the minimal effort inside.

Disney did have some good items for sale themselves this month, including some additions to their hotel ornament line including Animal Kingdom Lodge…

…and the Disneyland Hotel.

At the LEGO Store we finally got an answer to why Soarin’ Around the World is the way it is…

*NAILED IT!

*We’re so back!

There is no better barometer for the US Economy than the gas station outside the Disney Outlet Store. Before Covid-19, this gas station was selling gas at a bonkers $6.99 a gallon. During the most restrictive parts of the Covid restrictions, the price dropped to $1.99. Today we can report that the gas is now back up to a bonkers $7.99 a gallon and we can all be like Kamala Harris and say, “We did it, Joe!”

Last month’s Theme Park Enjoyment Index: 68
This month’s net change: + 22
Current enjoyment level: 90

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.