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…

*Epic Universe Officially Opens

Because of the advancement of social media, cameras, and technology in general, we’ve been able to see a theme park created from the ground up in a way that we have never been able to before, and thanks to blogger-in-the-sky @bioreconstruct and the Permit Princess Alicia Stella, we have been intensely following the development of Epic Universe for years. This month, Universal’s EPIC UNIVERSE had its official grand opening to the public.

We’ll be doing various SATURDAY SIX articles on Epic Universe over the course of the Summer, so in this section we’ll just give a quick overview. It’s still almost unfathomable that in the year 2025 we have the main area of a theme park – Celestial Park – that is devoid of any IPs.

I’ve gone on the record many times that Island of Adventure’s Port of Entry is my favorite “Main Street USA” of any theme park, but Celestial Park takes that crown away by improving almost every single aspect. For starters, it features several attractions, including one of the most fun roller coasters you will ever experience in Stardust Racers.

The food in Celestial Park is worth writing home about, including the new #1 Quick Service pizza place in any theme park, Pizza Moon.

TECHNICALLY, Via Napoli in Epcot has the best pizza in a theme park… but Pizza Moon is a much better value, has a more fun theme to enjoy while eating, and you can actually get into the restaurant without making a reservation months in advance.

Celestial Park is also home to what may already be Universal’s best ever Full Service dining venue with Atlantic Restaurant.

I know many people who have already dined at the Atlantic and every single one has nothing but raves. You can throw out the fine dining and E-Ticket atmosphere though, as the Atlantic has themed coasters and swizzle sticks. That’s my personal “you had me at hello” when it comes to a reputable establishment!

The amount of water features in Celestial Park is staggering, but none are better than the incredible Cosmos Fountain directly in front of the Grand Helios Hotel (which has its own dedicated entrance into Epic Universe.)

Even better? There are lighting packages throughout Celestial Park, including throughout all the water features, and they all interact with each other.

The entrance to each “world” in Epic Universe is through an innovative portal concept that allows each land to have that WOW! moment that we’ve seen over the years in theme park lands such as Pandora: The World of Avatar and Diagon Alley. Possibly the most anticipated area heading into the opening of Epic Universe is Super Nintendo World.

Entering into Super Nintendo World is like walking straight into a fully realized dream. It is split up into two areas: Super Mario Land and Donkey Kong Country, the latter of which is home to one of Epic Universe’s most viral snacks with the DK Crush Float (which you can read more about in our recent article looking at The Best Snacks at Epic Universe.)

Donkey Kong Country is also home to Minecart Madness, a coaster with one of the more unique design elements I’ve ever seen.

With the growing popularity of Halloween Horror Nights over the last decade plus, its only natural that Dark Universe – an entire theme park world dedicated to the iconic Universal Classic Monsters  – would be a big hit with theme park fans.

It’s almost a “pinch me, I’m dreaming” moment to know that the Burning Blade Tavern actually exists in a theme park. “Indescribably beautiful.”

The main attraction in Dark Universe is Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment and it is absolute PERFECTION from the facade to when you exit the ride.

The queue for Monsters Unchained is among the best in theme park history, with a Frankenstein’s monster audio animatronic that will blow you away!

For Epic Universe, the Wizarding World area is themed not only to 1920s Paris, but also features many elements from the Fantastic Beasts series of movies (which underperformed so poorly that the movie studio just stopped making them rather than continue the story.) Now, to many theme park fans the concept of a third Wizarding World seemed overkill. However, the continued popularity of Hogsmeade Village in Islands of Adventure and Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Florida show that casual theme park guests want MORE Harry Potter, not less.

The Wizarding World section of Epic Universe takes the theming elements of Diagon Alley to the next level. There is so much going on in the land’s windows that it is pretty much impossible to catch all the details.

Taking the time to see all the details is incredibly rewarding (especially to the half dozen or so Fantastic Beasts superfans.)

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry is quite possibly the greatest theme park attraction that Universal has ever built.

Back in 2010 when Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey opened in Islands of Adventure, The Game Was Changed when Universal built a queue that guests wanted to spend MORE time in. Believe it or not, the queue for Battle at the Ministry is even BETTER. The queue and attraction also feature many characters from the main Harry Potter series of films.

Le Cirque Arcanus is a show that has to be seen to be believed, and is right up there with the elite shows at any theme park.

How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk may just be pound for pound the most enjoyable land built for any theme park. It checks off every box and is perfection.

Every little detail in Berk is done right, such as including fire in the large Viking and dragon statues.

Hiccup’s Winged Gliders was a true surprise, and an all time great family coaster.

There are multiple characters in and around Isle of Berk to interact with, including both Vikings and dragons!

With Le Cirque Arcanus in the Wizarding World and The Untrainable Dragon show in Berk, Epic Universe has the best 1-2 punch of shows in the theme park industry.

In took decades but with Berk’s mac & cheese cones we finally have a spiritual successor to Disney’s beloved Handwich.

The morning of Epic Universe’s official grand opening on May 22nd was expected by many to be a catastrophe. This WESH photo below shows cars lined up to enter Epic Universe parking at 6AM.

However, after weeks of technical rehearsals and severely restricting capacity, the opening day reviews of Epic Universe were filled with guests over the moon with their experience.

TPEI SCORE: +50 I should have followed Universal’s footsteps and had my own technical rehearsals because as some of you reading this may have noticed, there was no SATURDAY SIX last weekend. Well, we were hard at work on one celebrating the opening of Epic Universe, but circumstances beyond our control made it impossible to finish. Fear not Dear Reader, because our article on 6 Reasons We Love Epic Universe will come out later this summer, along with other deep dives on the various worlds down the road. What an exciting time to be a theme park fan!

*USH fan fest nights

Over in California, Universal Studios Hollywood kicked off a new hard ticket event with Fan Fest Nights that included temporary attractions and pop-up experiences throughout the park that were connected to fan favorite franchises such as Star Trek, Back to the Future, and Dungeons & Dragons. TouringPlans own Guy Selga visited Fan Fest Nights and has a review you can check out by CLICKING HERE.

It is almost bewildering how little Universal has used the Star Trek brand inside the theme parks over the past few decades. Years ago in Florida we had the Star Trek Adventure that was a complete blast, but nothing since. This is noteworthy because during that time the Star Trek brand had been revived thanks to the JJ Abrams film series as well as multiple critically acclaimed Trek TV shows.

If you haven’t seen the recent Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movies, go out of your way to check it out (currently streaming on Paramount+.) It’s FANTASTIC and will entertain people that have to be dragged kicking and screaming to a “D&D movie.” It’s been a long time since I participated in a D&D campaign (always played a Paladin) but for me personally, it wasn’t until seeing D&D represented inside a theme park for Fan Fest Nights that I realized this is stuff we should have been seeing for years in events like Halloween Horror Nights.

The Wizarding World had several Magical Creatures for guests to interact with, including a Niffler (an adorable but mischievous little guy who can also be seen in Epic Universe.)

Super Nintendo World had an experience where after hunting down Yoshi eggs you could meet an extra special character.

We’ll close with BTTF because I think for many this would be a big draw to the event. “The Back to the Future experience at Universal Fan Fest is up there with all time theme park experiences. All the big emotional story beats from the movie are there and the characters still have enough time to mingle and bring everyone into that world. 10 out of 10.

One thing you should know is that Guy Selga is a BTTF superfan. When Guy says Universal did something right when it comes to the BTTF brand,  you can take that to the bank. Below we have a photo of L’il Selga visiting the BTTF clock tower as a kid with a similar pic of the world class blogger today.

“Lorraine asks you if the pictures that you’re taking with your phones are for the school news paper. Marty helps George. Biff calls you a butthead. Goldie Wilson roams around! They nailed it.

Mr. Strickland even hands out detentions and makes people hall monitors. I saw a funny moment when Biff called out George with a giant mallet. All of this is happening on the actual filming location with some props from the movie. It ends with lightning hitting the clock tower.”

While in Florida, I was keeping an eye on USH Fan Fest Nights through various reviews on social media and they all echo Guy Selga’s thoughts on the BTTF experience being the cream of the crop. Like the Galactic Starcruiser, guests could stick around certain characters the whole way though and get a completely different experience than other guests, but all of it tying together at the end.

How great is this for a photo-op?

TPEI Score: +10 Let’s hope Fan Fest Nights sticks around for the term and – EVER BETTER – a version of this makes its way to Florida. Like Dungeons & Dragons, there were other brands and IPs involved in Fan Fest Nights featuring anime and manga properties that get pretty much ZERO representation in theme parks but have huge fanbases. This is something Universal needs to focus on in the coming years, and if you don’t believe me head on over to your closest Barnes & Noble bookstore and compare the size of the Marvel & DC comic book section to the Manga section. You’ll be shocked.

*Our Long National Nightmare Is Over, Disney Has Both Water Parks Open At The Same Time

They said it wouldn’t be done. They said it couldn’t be done. By the end of the Summer, Disney management may even agree that it shouldn’t have been done, but the impossible happened and Florida has both Disney water parks open at the same time.

Despite Volcano Bay being my favorite park of any type in Florida, I’m not really a “water park guy” but I definitely appreciate the theming at Blizzard Beach.

Something I appreciate even more than the theming is the iconic mini donuts you can (and should) get at Blizzard Beach. My only note is that caramel should be a dipping sauce offering.

Since the Covid shutdown back in 2020, any time that a Disney water park was open, the other would be shut down for “refurbishment” but this month both are back in operation at the same time. We are truly #blessed.

Did you know that the Disney water parks have “I’m celebrating” temporary tattoos instead of the buttons you would get at the theme parks? That’s pretty dang cool.

If something has the word “lazy” in the title, I’m probably going to enjoy it.

Some really interesting food options at Typhoon Lagoon this summer including a Chicken Strips Party Platter…

…a cheese charcuterie board…

…and best of all a CHOCOLATE CHARCUTERIE BOARD. This alone is straight up E-Ticket.

TPEI Score: + 4 Do we have the opening of Epic Universe to thank for Disney FINALLY doing what they should have done years ago and keep both water parks open? Who knows for sure, but if we get to see a “theme park war” the winners will always be us guests.

***QUICK HITS

Disney opened two shows this month, both at Hollywood Studios, and they are perfectly acceptable. In fact, the only real “problem” with The Little Mermaid: A Musical Adventure and Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After is that they are opening the same month that Epic Universe opened two (much) better shows with The Untrainable Dragon and Le Cirque Arcanus.

It’s great to see a show based around the Disney Villians, but we have seen so much advancement in theme park shows over the years that this feels like a step back. Again, it’s not that Unfairly Ever After is a bad show. It’s fine, but we are coming out of an era where Disney was the Gold Standard for theme park shows with stuff like Aladdin in DCA, Finding Nemo: The Musical in Animal Kingdom and Muppet Vision 3D. The balance of power may have shifted with the opening of the Bourne Stuntacular in Universal Studios Florida, as (it appears) that the Disney Imagineers are not given the budget or time to give us the shows we know they can.

Get ready for the future of theme park merchandise as Disneyland released a hat this month which features an element that you have to see to believe. First look and see if you can catch it yourself…

That’s right. If you look closely at the castle you’ll see there is an extra flag just “floating” in the air. This leads us to believe the entire design was created by AI or at the very least overseen by the laziest graphic design artist in the industry (maybe the same person whose side hustle is recommending books that don’t exist?) We are about to enter a new era of AWFUL theme park merchandise if Disney and/or Universal think they are going to save money by putting out slop like this.

Meanwhile, let’s check in on a piece of theme park merchandise created by the fan community. Here we have the Permit Princess Alicia Stella herself holding up a working model of the wonderful PizzeRizzo sign in DHS.

This sign was made by Amusement Labs on Etsy and they have a whole bunch of great stuff you should check out, including items inspired by the Disneyland Peoplemover, Universal’s VelociCoaster, and even the classic USF Jaws ride!! This PizzeRizzo inspired sign is just wonderful though, and you can check that one out by CLICKING HERE. It never ceases to amaze me how creative people in the community can be.

This next piece of merchandise reminded me of one of my all time favorite lines from an episode of The Simpsons…

Well, it looks like we have our first caller…and I mean ever, because this is NOT a call-in show.” – The Simpsons, S5EP11 Homer the Vigilante

This Time Turner popcorn bucket is just a fantastic design and I love every thing about it. However what makes it most remarkable is that you can’t buy popcorn in the Wizarding World.

How great is this popcorn bucket though?!!!

Speaking of the Wizarding World, the amount of INCREDIBLE Butterbeer products released this year continues with Buterbeer caramels. It’s mindboggling how many products have been made featuring Butterbeer and for the most part they have all been ELITE (Hot Butterbeer, Butterbeer ice cream, and Butterbeer Goldfish are my favorites.)

Universal made my day when they dropped an exclusive Epic Universe branded Coke bottle.

I’ve already informed the residents of my Collectible Fridge to prepare for a new tenant.

The Epic Universe branded Coke bottles are $5 a pop, which is definitely pricey, but still nothing compared to the sticker shock you can encounter elsewhere in the parks…

Maybe $56 for a pizza isn’t that bad though compared to what you’re getting the international parks…

I think we all can agree it’s time to update the Disney Food Hall of Shame.

*How To Train Your Dragon in Lost Continent

With the live action remake of How to Train Your Dragon being released in June, Universal fired up the synergy machine by featuring some HTTYD stuff in the Lost Continent area of Islands of Adventure.

The Stormfly dragon looks spectacular.

This area features a photo-op with the fan favorite Toothless dragon.

One of the stores in Lost Continent was converted over to feature displays featuring Hiccup’s drawings and props from the upcoming film.

There’s a whole bunch of HTTYD merchandise available, including the first ever dragon shoulder plush.

*Jaws 50th Anniversary

It’s the 50th anniversary of the Summer of 1975 when the film Jaws changed movie blockbusters forever. To celebrate that, Universal Studios Florida has several tributes to the most famous shark in the world, several of which will be very recognizable to those who love the Jaws attraction that opened with the park in 1990 (it was eventually replaced by Diagon Alley.)

There is a photo-op available which guests can be a “skipper” of the old Jaws attraction boats.

A fantastic refillable cup came out in support of the 50th anniversary.

The candy store in the San Francisco area of USF has been converted to a Jaws tribute.

There are several nods to the old Jaws ride. One of my personal theme park hot takes is that while both Back to the Future and Jaws have rabid fanbases, both those attractions (and lands they were in) were massively improved by Springfield USA and Diagon Alley.

Lots of great new Jaws merchandise, including one of the first (that I’ve ever seen) Jaws branded shark plush.

How’s this for going above and beyond though? A couple of outdoor kitchens paying tribute to the “mailing it in” Amity Island area where Jaws the ride took place (no offense Jaws fans. The movie is in my top five all time but we have to be honest that the area inside USF was lacking.)

Jaws themed food?!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!! Straight up E-Ticket serving bowl.

This month’s Annual Passholder magnet featured our favorite shark…

…while the Annual Passholder pin featured Stardust Racers from Epic Universe.

I loved that the back of the UOAP pin featured a nice tribute to Dueling Dragons!

For those who don’t know, Lakeland Antique Mall in Florida is where you can find a whole bunch of stuff straight from the Disney and Universal theme parks. Check out this item that arrived in May…

Meanwhile, our favorite Tiny Artist saw a Muppet Vision 3D sign that was calling to her.

But Jaime resisted and did the next best thing…

Speaking of artwork, Jaime also completed her tributes to the Disneyland 70th anniversary this month…

…along with this set of drawings for the various portals of Epic Universe, both during the day and night!

Also enjoyed seeing this piece of art inspired by Epic Universe by Jon Madison.

The folks over at Park Lore delivered another amazing layout featuring Epic Universe.

While artist Charlie MacWilliams paid homage to the cover of Sonic Adventure 2 with this amazing piece featuring Duffy the Disney Bear and Captain Cacao from Epic Universe. So many great details. A little birdie tells me we’ll be seeing more of Charlie in the near future…

Readers of a certain age are going to recognize this design by artist @paperclipxoxo which features the infamous Buzzy. You can get an incredible shirt with this image by CLICKING HERE.

A new Costco opened up by me on the Treasure Coast of Florida, and while checking out the store I saw this Disney branded bag of apples.  The bag features Mickey picking the apples himself, and if you’ve been following Real World events, that might be something that actually happens down here on the Florida farms during the current administration. The bag is so cute that I won’t mind paying $25 for 3 apples.

We started this month on a high, so let’s end on a low to balance it out as we head back to the Disney Outlet Stores in Orlando Florida, a wretched hive of scum and villainy if there ever was one.

When both Pandora: the World of Avatar and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened, Disney attempted to have Cast Members “in character” teach the language of the new worlds to guests. Pandora even had merchandise for this new language including the N’avi translator. This was originally sold in the parks for $34.99 and was reduced to $12.99.

Headbands are all the rage right now at Disney and Universal. However this one featuring the woodsprites from Pandora found their way to the clearance bin. Originally $39.99, now $14.99. This actually look like something someone could wear to cosplay as one of the creatures from E.T.’s home planet.

Is there an audience for Pandora: The World of Avatar prints like this? Originally $49.99, now $14.99.

I’m as big of a Star Wars merch guy as you’ll find, but the most part I never got into collecting lightsaber hilts. For me personally, they make no sense to have without the actually lightable part but I understand I may be alone on that island. Love this packaging though for what I think is Rey’s lightsaber. Reduced to $74.99.

Outlet shoppers love their bags, and this Marvel Loungefly was originally $78 and reduced to $39.99. For the life of me I can’t figure out the demographic for stuff like this. It looks like it is designed for very young kids, but how many of them are buying $80 bags? That would have been an immediate NAY NAY if L’il Derek asked for one when I was growing up.

This Tron bag was originally $39.99, reduced to $24.99. The newest trailer for Tron: Aries came out earlier this month and I’m all into that film until I realize that Jared Leto is the star and my enthusiasm takes an immediate downturn. Leto’s performance as a villain in Blade Runner 2049 is one of the only negatives of that film and don’t even get me started on his performance as the Joker.

Big fan of this DCL bowl set. Originally $44.99, reduced to $24.99.

Not a big fan of this Grape Soda sipper inspired by Pixar’s Up. Originally $24.99, reduced to $9.99.

2024 branded merchandise was on a steep discount, including this cup that was originally being sold for $19.99 being slashed down to 99 cents.

The last item we’ll check out is this one for your kitchen. Maybe I don’t understand what the term “compost” means because if it does mean what I think it does, I’m not sure why you’d want a Disney branded one of this size in your kitchen. It has holes on the top for air flow and a filter to prevent bugs from going in and out so it’s definitely what I understand as “compost.” Reduced to $19.99 and good luck to all you with this type of stuff in your house.

Last month’s Theme Park Enjoyment Index: 64
This month’s net change: + 64
Current enjoyment level: 128

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.

We’ve never been so blessed, there’s nothing that can bring us theme park fans down from this…