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Magic Meets Adventure is where Disney meets Universal! This is your one stop shop for all things Disney and Universal Theme Parks. As park enthusiasts, Tim and Ayren share their ideas, rankings, travel tips, history, and more to help create an everyday escape into the incredible worlds of magic and adventure!
What To Expect at Universal
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Ayren: [00:00:00] Welcome, soar into tower. We are ready for takeoff. I enjoyed this interview a lot more. If I had got a cup of coffee, please stand clear of the doors. Looks like you've lost power. There's the wildest ride in the wilderness
wall comes in this happy place.
Tim: Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of the Magic Meets Adventure podcast. I'm Tim
Ayren: and I bring the magic. And I'm Aaron. I bring the
Tim: adventure. And we have another exciting episode for you guys today, but before we dive into a little more universal content, I just want to let you guys know that we have some socials for you guys to go ahead and follow.
We are on Instagram at Magic Meets Adventure, we're on YouTube at Magic Meets Adventure, and we are on TikTok at Magic Meets Adventure. Pod and don't forget to leave a review because that will be helpful to not only outreach to more people for us to talk [00:01:00] along theme parks with, but also it just helps us to know what type of content you guys want to see.
And so let us know, through your reviews and feedback, that'd be greatly appreciated. We're going to talk about some more Universal today, which I'm really excited about.
Ayren: I always get excited when we talk about the adventure. Yes,
Tim: yes, for sure. And we're going to be talking a bit about just kind of what to expect if you've never been to Universal.
If you have, uh, wanted to go to Universal, we're going to kind of give you a 30, 000 foot view of What to expect before you go to Universal. I mean, it's one of the most popular vacation destinations, not just in the States, but in the entire world. And we want to set you
Ayren: guys up. Well, yeah. And it's only going to get more popular, um, with just some of the changes they're making, some of the upgrades that are coming and, with a new park that'll be opening soon, which we will talk about later
Tim: on.
Yeah, just a, just a little minor update. Yeah, it's a small, small little tidbit. Small, small thing. Anyways, we're going to kind of go back and forth a little bit, just talking about different things, uh, ultimately [00:02:00] to help you guys out, and this is only just a small part of it. If you have more specific questions, please let us know because we want to help you guys out so that you have the best vacation possible.
We're not travel agents, but we want to help you guys succeed because, if you have fun at theme parks, like There's just something awesome
Ayren: about that. Yeah, man, we love it. We enjoy it. So maybe you're listening to this because you are pretty familiar with the world of universal, but maybe you're checking this out because you're like, listen, I'm, my family is considering going and, uh, we're looking at making plans and details, but I don't really know where to start. , one of the things that I will say.
Okay, quick preface as well. This is a Denny, Disney and Universal podcast. I almost said Denny's like we talk about Denny's and Universal. Those are our two. You're
Tim: just hungry. I think
Ayren: that's what it is. Um, we talk about Disney. We talk about Universal. So by proxy, there will be moments where we do some comparison of this is how this is going to be different.
Uh, Sometimes we'll say something may be better in one part than the other. We're not afraid to admit that, but then we'll also just admit when [00:03:00] things are just different, um, as well. So, um, I didn't know for a lot of people, especially with the upgrades that universal is making, uh, if you're anything like me, you know, I started visiting the Orlando area primarily to go to Disney world and it wasn't until recently that I started incorporating universal into the trips as well.
Um, and yeah, again, just with the expansion that the park is making, that's going to be the case for a lot of people. So I think a lot of people are familiar with, or have at least once, uh, planned a Disney World trip. And so it's important to learn about the differences, , when it comes to booking something for Universal.
Tim: Yeah,
so Aaron, why don't you kick us off?
Ayren: Yeah. So where do we start? The very first thing you'll have to do, and I think this is going to be helpful in everything moving forward is I highly recommend just go into the app store, go into the play store and download the Universal Florida app. It is, uh, recently been redone.
, I think it's pretty easy to navigate, , and you'll be able to find everything in there. You'll be able to find information on buying tickets, the rides, the park hours, what shows are happening. Uh, you can find a park map in there. You can find a [00:04:00] dining list and stuff like that. You can buy merch.
Ayren: It's super, super thorough. One of the things that I love specifically about this app Is that it's super helpful once you're in the parks. Absolutely. It is super helpful with, , the map function that's in there is just super clean, works really well. You can see wait times in there.
One of my personal favorite features of this app is that you can set alerts for wait times. So let's say you want to ride something, but you walk over there, it's an 80 minute wait, and you're like, man, I don't know. I'm not willing to wait 80 minutes for that, but I'll wait 45. You can set an alert in the app to let you know when that ride reaches a 45 minute wait time.
It'll send you a notification and that's how you know to head over to that part of the park. So, this will be your best friend, your number one companion when it comes to planning out your trips. And the first thing you'll want to do once you open the app is go to the buy ticket screen, where you'll be able to see all of your options.
And this is where you get presented, with a couple of different things. You get presented with individual passes, which are kind of broken down by how many days [00:05:00] you want to go, how many parks you want to go to. Uh, and then you'll also see the options for packages as well. And that's if you want to stay at any resorts, which we'll talk about that a little bit later.
Yeah, for sure.
Tim: You mentioned that there are different. Of course, you can go to just a park, uh, whether that be universal Florida, whether that be islands of adventure or volcano Bay as well, which is their, their water park. And eventually once Epic universe opens, you can visit there.
And that's starting as of right now, this is pre Epic universe starting at one 19 for adults and one 14 for kids. Uh, so it's 114. 119 for adults.
Ayren: Yeah, that's gonna be your minimum and obviously those times will fluctuate and stuff But you can kind of toy around with the calendar Look to see when the the cheaper seasons are all that sort of stuff.
Yeah,
Tim: or just what fits your vacation time frame Yep, Volcano Bay is a little bit different because it is a water park It is a little bit cheaper and that starts at 80, for adults and [00:06:00] 75 for kids. At the time of
Ayren: 2024. Uh, if you listen to this later on down the road, make sure you go and check because I'm sure those numbers will get changed and updated,
Tim: especially with Epic Universe opening.
There's a good chance these ticket prices will jump. up as if, um, with any, everything, you know, jumping up is what it is. You can't build
Ayren: stuff for free, but I will tell you, they do have a lot of really good packages in here. So for example, at the time of recording, they have a package where you can save 25 percent on a three park, five night vacation package, which I think is pretty good.
Um, I'll be interested to see again what those look like when, , Epic universe opens. Uh, there's another one on there. You get two days free. With a two park, two day ticket. That's a really good deal. That's basically BOGO. Like, you buy one, you get one on your vacation. So, again, be sure that you look at the app, , because you'll be able to find different offerings and stuff like that, that could really, like, substantially cut the cost of your vacation in
Tim: half.
Yeah. Now if you're one of those people that's like, [00:07:00] you know, there are a few things I want to check out But you know, I don't think I needed two days there, right? There is a park to park option uh, which will run you about 174 dollars for adults and 169 for kids again That is the starting price that will fluctuate and change based off when you want to book, your universal vacation.
So keep that in mind.
Ayren: Let's if you're okay with it, Tim, let's go ahead and kind of jump off from there because I think it's important to know. Well, how do I decide? How do I decide? Do I do one park? Do I do two parks? Do I need to do the water park? Obviously, I feel like water parks are always kind of in their own category.
Yeah, if you're a water park sort of person, cool. Go ahead and hit that. But most people are gonna be planning for going to Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. What should you do? Okay, if you're looking for the amount of time to allot, I recommend personally doing one park per day. I think it just gives you the chance to move at a decent [00:08:00] pace.
It gives you a chance to, you know, if you want to do any sit down dining reservations, if you want to, , just really take your time and kind of work your way through the park and, and milk both parks for everything they have. I think doing, dedicating one day to each park is the way to go. That's personally.
Now, once you go and you figure out Okay, I know the attractions I do like, I know the ones I can pass on, all that sort of stuff. I think, depending on how you experience the parks, most people could probably get away with doing a one day two park pass. It's gonna be fast paced. If you're a fast paced sort of person that you don't mind, just, you know, going hard in the paint from open to close.
Then, uh, this may be the route to go for you. Of course, crowd levels are gonna make a big difference because that's going to influence how many rides you can get on and stuff like that.
So, uh, take your time, really take some time to look at that and figure out what it is that you want to do. Another feature that I really like about the Universal Florida app is that you're able to favorite. , experiences and rides and shows. So what I like to do typically [00:09:00] before I go to universal is I will open the list of attractions in whichever park I'm going to be visiting.
And I just start hitting that little heart button and it favorites the attractions that I want to do. So. When I get into the park, I can look at that list and say, okay, what do I definitely want to hit? And then kind of base, uh, how much time I'm going to spend in the park on that list.
Tim: And I think it also depends on just your vacation time too, right?
If you're in Orlando to experience more than just Universal, then it might be easier to do one day there. But at the same time, I definitely would agree with Aaron taking advantage and having two days to experience both parks because there's a good amount to offer. And I think since we're on here, we might as well kind of give a brief overview of both Universal Florida and Islands of Adventure.
Ayren: Yeah, so let's go ahead and just kind of run off what you'll find in both parks. Okay, so in Studios Park, which is the OG, this is the first one that was there. You're going to find a couple of different themed lanes. There's Hollywood. New York, [00:10:00] San Francisco, Springfield, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Diagon Alley, uh, which that's an important distinction to make, and we'll tell you why in a little bit, there's World Expo, and then there is the newly created land, Minion Land, that you're gonna hit just about as soon as you walk into the park, there's also, the formerly, Uh, it's currently closed down and getting refurbed.
It was Woody Woodpecker's Kid Zone. That is now being, changed into a DreamWorks land. I don't think they've given an official name for what I don't know if it will just be DreamWorks land or if they're coming up with something a little bit more catchy than that. But that land is currently under development.
And so that's where you'll find attractions such as, Despicable Me, Minion Mayhem. You'll find, The Mummy, you'll find Banger, such a classic attraction. You'll find other classic rides such as E. T. here. You'll find Men in Black here, um, so many bangers, as well as some incredible shows such as the Bourne Stunt Spectacular and, the, , Horror Makeup Show, which is [00:11:00] absolutely fantastic.
Tim, when we go to Universal, , next month, in a couple weeks here, that's definitely got to be on our list. It's so good. I agree.
Tim: One thing to note you did talk about this a little bit is that there is Diagon Alley now This is different than Hogwarts and that's over at Islands of Adventure So you're gonna find escape from Gringotts Over here.
All other Harry Potter attractions are over at Islands of Adventure. That's a very Big distinction. Yes. The only way to do both as well as the Hogwarts Express is to have a park to park pass.
Ayren: Yeah, so the Hogwarts Express is really cool. It's a train that you can take, um. Where you go from King's Station, it's, it's really, really cool, and it will bring you over into the other land.
However, the other half of, um, of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Hogsmeade, it is located inside of Islands of Adventure. So you can't just hop on that train and go over there and experience that. You have to have a park to park pass, [00:12:00] uh, in order to experience that. So, for that reason, you may want to include at least one park to park day on your vacation.
Tim: Yeah, it is pretty cool, especially if you're a big Harry Potter fan. I mean, it's capturing all the beats and stuff that you love from those train scenes. It's, it's really solid. So would definitely recommend, recommend
Ayren: that for sure. Sure thing. Before we go ahead and move on to islands of adventure and tell you a little bit about what to expect there.
I want to let you know, you know, when it comes to studios part, it is. A solid park. In my personal opinion, it could use some work as well. When this park was founded, there was a big emphasis on using practical effects. Uh, there was a big emphasis on a movie making in general. Uh, now today, as it stands, there's a lot of usage of screens of 3d glasses.
And so the park at times can feel a little monotonous. It can feel a little repetitive, because every ride you go on, it's a motion simulator, you grab a pair of 3D glasses. Not every ride, but a, a, a decent majority of them. So for [00:13:00] that reason, I would say that if you had to pick between these two, which one you're gonna do, , I would probably defer over to the second park on property, and that is Islands of Adventure.
Ditto. So the way over there. Yeah, let's do it. So the way that Islands of Adventure is set up is it's exactly what the name says, is that you walk into the park. , and the first lane that you're going to walk through is the port of entry, which I think is a really cool, entryway into the park.
So I highly recommend, like, don't just treat this like a part that you walk through to get to the park.
Port of Entry is a part of Islands of Adventure, and there's a lot of really cool stuff to explore there. But this is really where you'll find your shops, you'll find a couple of restaurants there, you can get your coffee first thing in the morning. Really cool space. But as you move past the port of entry, you were introduced to this giant, loop that you can walk through.
And as you go around the loop, you're going to walk through a different themed land, which are the different islands of adventure. As you walk through it, you're going to go, you're going to hit Superhero Island. [00:14:00] You're going to hit, so good, you're going to hit Toon Lagoon. You're going to What did you say?
Eh. I was waiting to see if you say banger for that one or not. We'll talk about that maybe a little bit. You're going to hit Kong Skull Island. Themed very well. Hey, you know what? It is what it is. You're going to hit Jurassic Park. Banger. You're going to hit the second Harry Potter's land, Hogsmeade.
Banger. You're going to hit the Lost Continent. Banger. And you're going to hit Seuss Landing. Also banger. So all of these lands, I just love how diverse this park is. Every single land that you go into is, it doesn't feel like it was halfway done. Like they are all. So, like, you, it's, they're all so immersive and they're all different styles of immersion.
Um, so, for example, you have, Superhero Island, which is themed to the very cartoony comic book style of, the original Marvel comics. No MCU here. No MCU. So, you're not gonna see Tom Holland anywhere. You're not gonna see, you know, Chris Pratt anywhere. [00:15:00] If there's one area for improvement in this park, they've gotta figure out what their character meet and greets look like.
Like, I don't know if you've ever seen these guys, they look like they went to Party City and bought Marvel costumes, and The Spider Man
Tim: mask could be fixed, but, other than that, that whole area, super themed, and it has, two great attractions apart of this land, with Spider Man, And then the
Ayren: Hulk So good.
Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up This park as a whole has one of what I think would be the best big three of any theme park There are three great coasters throughout islands of adventure and we'll highlight all of those as we go through the lands But yeah, you have the incredible Hulk coaster that's in Superhero Island definitely worth checking out if you go to tune Lagoon You have a couple of water rides in there that are a lot of fun if you're going, prepare to get drenched.
This is not Bring raincoat, Crocs. Yeah. This is not like a, oh, we, like, depending on where you sit, [00:16:00] you might get sprinkled. No. Whichever one of these rides you get on, whether it be, Popeye's, Bilge Ratch Barges. I can never say that right. Or if it's Dudley do rights, uh, you're probably going to get soaked on these two attractions. As you keep moving, you'll hit skull Island. If I just had to give a quick what I think about this, as Tim mentioned, the space is themed really well, but the attraction that's there, the lone attraction, it's pretty mid.
But it is worth going on if the weight is short enough to see that amazing con animatronic that's at the end of it. Jurassic Park is probably a highlight to me here. And this is where you have the second of the big three coasters.
You have, Velocicoaster, which is Dude, it, I think the more I think about it, it is my favorite roller coaster that I've ever been on, um, highly recommend it. One of the more intense coasters, one of the more intense rides I've ever done, but it is highly, highly worth it. and then you have a second, kind of log flume ride in here, which is just the, Jurassic Park, water adventure?
Is that what it's called? Yes. Yeah. Or river adventure. River adventure, that's [00:17:00] it. In my opinion, a slightly more aggressive version of, you know, a classic splash mountain, um, the theme to the Jurassic Park. It's it needs some love. It's old. It's there's some animatronics that don't work anymore.
There's some animatronics. They just straight up pulled out because they just always cause too many problems. But the drop on that ride is pretty intense. And then you reach Harry Potter Hogsmeade where we have Hagrid's I'm not going to say the full name because I'm going to butcher it. Hagrid's Mystical Creature Motorbike Adventure, I think is the full title of this ride.
Sounds good to me. Tim, what do you think about Hagrid's?
Tim: Where to start? It is, oh gosh, one of the best coasters ever made, in my opinion. Yeah, it's
Ayren: fantastic. Right amount of theming.
Tim: Thrill.
Ayren: Yeah, it's all there.
It's all there. Comprehensive story. It's, it's really, really good. So highly recommend you hit that one. But yeah, we're not just gonna sit here and just kind of go through all the lands here. But the reason why we kind of broke down each of those islands is because this is just a fantastic park. [00:18:00] Uh, when we did our ranking episode, I think it was episode two.
Episode one. This was my number one ranked theme park, out of all of the ones in, that we've been to. It's four for me. In Universal and Disney. Yeah, it even broke into Tim's top ten, which, or top five, which I consider to be a pretty big deal. Uh, but it is a, it is a phenomenal park.
Anything else you want to add about either of those two parks, Tim, before we move on to what else to, to be mindful of? No, these
Tim: are really great parks. I mean One thing to expect is that there's not a lot of options for, I'd say, your younger kids. So keep that in mind, like, there are a few things, like, Seuss Landing's really good for kids, and I hope the DreamWorks land that they make and Minions land is solid for kids, over at Universal Florida, but Other than that, like, just keep that in mind, this is definitely geared towards your more tween, teenage,
Ayren: young adult.
Yeah, they don't mind, don't mind handling the more thrilling attractions,
Tim: which isn't a bad thing, it separates it from Disney, which I would say is more geared [00:19:00] towards, uh, somewhat younger families at points.
Ayren: Yeah, you're not gonna find a ton of slow moving dark rides in Universal. There are a few, but there's not a ton.
Tim: Yeah, so just keep that in mind, but again, Both are great places regardless of, you know, whether you go there or not, you're gonna have a great time there. I will take a day there over any day of the week.
Ayren: Yeah, which we're gonna have a day there very soon. Yes! And I'm really, really looking forward to it.
Absolutely. I think at the time this episode comes out, uh, it'll be in like two or three days. Mhm. Yeah. So really looking forward to that. So we're kind of jumping all over the place here, but there are a couple of things we want you to know about before we get too far into some of the events and other things like that.
We're still kind of in the beginning stages of your of your planning. There's gonna be a couple of things that you see, and you're gonna be like, What the heck is that? What does that even mean? Two things we want to talk about. If you're navigating through the app, two things you're going to see. One is express passes.
So we're going to tell you a little bit about what that is. And then city walk is the other one that you're going to see pop up a lot. And I think those are [00:20:00] the two that at times can be a little bit cloudy, so let's, yeah, let's, let's take both of those in order.
Let's start off with express passes. Tim, what are express passes? Express passes
Tim: is kind of the universal version. Of a fast pass. Now, what's cool about this one is it's one cost per person, but you get to access every attraction, uh, which is cool. The downside of this is it, it is, it's, it's pretty expensive.
It is pricey. You know, genie costs anywhere from 15 on the low end to maybe 30 bucks on the high end. This is gonna start at around $80 for you, and that's a
Ayren: good day. And that's that's that's a good day. Yeah, there are definitely times where you get you can break into the hundreds
Tim: um the highest that universal stated on their website is 289.
99 and that
Ayren: is per person and that is on top of the cost of your [00:21:00] Park ticket. Yes. Now that sticker shock is going to get to you at first. But again, there's, there's different scenarios where you think about this, right? So, you know, comparing this to a genie plus, genie plus at minimum is 15 a day per person around there, which is a big difference.
Okay. That is literally at times 10 percent of what it would cost you to get an express pass over at universal. But again, even with that, you're kind of limited in the sense of you have to make sure Japan is into your schedule, and you can only get X amount of passes at a certain time, and you're only going to be able to go on certain attractions at certain times again with the express pass, it kind of opens it wide up for you.
So you get a little bit more flexibility there. Yeah, you're paying more. But in my opinion, the experience is a little less stressful on the planning side. Again, that doesn't mean that it's for everybody. But, um, It could make a substantial difference, especially depending on which day you end up going to the park.
And one thing that is really cool is there is a way for you to get an express pass for free. And that is by [00:22:00] staying at Universal's top tier resorts. These are called their premium resorts, Tim, is that correct?
Tim: Yeah, your premier resorts are the Royal Pacific, starting at, uh, 3. 37 a night. The Hard Rock Hotel starting at 386 a night and the top tier which is, uh, Porfinto Bay, Portofino, Portofino, nailed it, yeah, no, it's all good, you're okay, which starts at 397 a
Ayren: night.
Okay, so let's go ahead and talk through those just really quick because again, I get how that sticker shot can kind of hit you. what would, give me, what was the cost for Hard Rock Cafe which I know is, Like they're top tier.
Tim: It's a 386 a night, 386 a night about roughly changes based off your season.
And a time you go
Ayren: currently, if you had to guess, or knowing you, you probably know this off the top of your head. I do, , which resort at Walt Disney world could you get for around that same price tag? Uh,
Tim: you can [00:23:00] get, uh, their, uh, Caribbean Beach is about, uh, it's about around
Ayren: there. Okay. And so Caribbean Beach is one, is a moderate
Tim: resort.
Is a moderate resort. Mm-Hmm. . It is connected to the
Ayren: Skyliner. It is connected to the Skyliner. So tons of perks staying there. Like, it's a, it's a great resort. Mm-Hmm. . Um, if you're gonna choose for your Disney vacation on my list, this is, , currently the nicest resort that Universal offers,
and this includes your express pass if you choose to do it. So, in this instance, maybe, you know, if you decide to go with a cheaper resort, let's say you decide to stay at endless summer or surfside in one of those cheaper options. That's cool. You can get that room for a cheaper price, but it may be worth bumping it up for the cost of the room.
Three something a night. That includes your express passes, which I mean, I think is a pretty good deal. I haven't taken advantage of this, but that seems pretty. Pretty nice. Yeah. And on top of that, you get early entry to some of the parks based on schedule as well. So that could definitely be worth considering.
All right. So you book your resort, you drive to the parks or, you know, however you choose to get, let's say in this [00:24:00] scenario, you decide to drive, , you pull on a property, you do have to pay for parking. Uh, I believe right now it's around 25 a car in order to park and you get out. And you were gonna, before you get into the parks, you were going to have to walk through Universal CityWalk.
Tim, what is Universal CityWalk? Universal
Tim: CityWalk is kind of their, one way street. Disney Springs, but I'd actually say it's more in line with like downtown Disney over at Disneyland in California Yeah, you have different shops. You have a movie theater There's a Voodoo Donuts, which I've heard is
Ayren: really really good never had it, but it looks delicious and I've heard great things Yeah,
Tim: there's a few other places None that are the same As Disney.
So they're all different options except there is a Starbucks. Well, yeah, Starbucks is gonna, which does have your signature mugs and stuff. Mm-Hmm. if that's something you want. Uh, but they're all different places, that you can eat, shop, dine, whatever. Plenty of drink
Ayren: options [00:25:00] in there. Yep.
Plenty of shopping options in there. Mm-Hmm. . Uh, Jimmy Buffett's airplane is on CityWalk. That's true. Like an actual, his plane. They turned it into a bar. It's really
Tim: cool. There's also three different escape rooms in there as well. I believe one of them is like Back to the Future, which sounds pretty neat.
Yeah, they're
Ayren: gonna cycle through, but currently, I think Back to the Future and Jurassic Park are the two escape
Tim: rooms they have there. They also have like a putt putt course in there as well. So, or mini golf, if you're weird. Yeah. Uh, and uh, yeah, it's, it's honestly a pretty sweet space and you'll walk right through it before you got either go to, uh, the left, which is universal Florida or to the right, which is islands of adventure.
Ayren: That might be the other way around. I think right. Gets you to unit. Yeah. Right. Gets you to universe. It depends on which way you're facing. If you're coming down city walk, yeah. Universal. Studios is to the right and islands is to the left. Um, but yeah, whichever
Tim: way we go to one
Ayren: hard rock cafe is in there.
There's just a lot of Easter eggs, [00:26:00] even in this part of the park. Um, that's really cool. Now here's the difference between Disney Springs and universal city walk besides obviously size, to go to universal city walk. You're gonna have to pay because you're gonna have to pay for parking at some point.
Now, there are some ways around this. Like, I believe if you have a, uh, ticket to the movie theater, I believe you can present that movie ticket, , either going into or leaving out of the parking, and you can get free parking for that. And I believe if you go after 6 p. m., it's free. There's no charge to park after 6 p.
m. So, uh, but just be mindful of that. The reason why I bring this up is because the last time we went, we went with a guy Who he wanted to buy something for a sister. And I remember he was going to get it before we left Orlando, but it wasn't a park day. And so, in order to avoid parking, we like drove him up to city walk.
We let him out and then we just kind of circled around until he was ready for us to pick us, pick him up again, because if not, we would have had to pay for parking long enough for him to run into the shop, get what he needs to do and then come back out. [00:27:00] So these are just things you want to keep in mind and just some ways that it could potentially save you or cost you some extra dollars. If you're not aware of those things. Yeah, sure. Next up on the list that we want to hit is to know when you're planning out your trip. There are a couple of special events that you need to be aware of. There are certain times of the year where you can go on.
We're just like Disney. They're gonna be different. , seasonal events going on, the same way that if you go to Epcot, there may be a festival going on. Or if you go to magic kingdom, it may be during their Christmas celebration and stuff like that. So here's what you need to know. There are, let's see here.
We got 1, 2, 3, 4. Five ish sort of, and you'll understand why I'm saying ish, but five ish sort of events that you need to be aware of that pop up on the calendar. The most, common and the most, prolific of all of these is Halloween Horror Nights. And this is gonna be in the fall leading up to Halloween.
Of all the ones that I'm about to list, this is the only event that is An extra ticket event Meaning all of the other [00:28:00] ones you can get into with just a normal park pass, which is cool, which is really cool This one. However, it's a separate event. So if you buy a ticket to go to universal studios on the day that hhn is happening at a certain time They're going to kick you out of the park in order to make time for this event.
They will literally kick you they will kick you Not really. Uh, but if you go wanting to attend HHN, you can't just say, Oh, I have a ticket to universal. No, you have to buy a special ticket to attend Halloween horror nights. We've never been because we're big scaredy cats. One day it will happen. We almost went this past year and ended up, backing out last minute. But this is a huge event that Universal puts on every year where they host multiple, haunted house styled attractions that you get to walk through, themed to various things. So this past year they had things such as the last of us. They had,
stranger things. Chuckie Chuckie. Yeah. So a lot of big movies, a lot of big IPS, highly sought after ticket as well. So if you want to go to this event. Keep your eye out for when those tickets go on sale because they will sell out [00:29:00] quick.
Tim: This is not something to bring kids to. It is
Ayren: not. This is not Mickey's, uh, Very, uh, what was the other?
Very Merry or Not So Scary. Not So Scary.
Tim: No. This is, this is No, no, no. Unless you want to scar your kid for life, which I highly do not recommend. I will repeat that. I do not recommend doing that. Yeah. Uh, this is something for more adults and teenagers do, do not bring young kids to this. Yeah, this is a lot of graphic content.
Blood,
Ayren: gore, graphic, screams, violence, scares, people chasing you with chainsaws. Like this is not, yeah. So keep that in mind as well. Don't think, oh, this would be cute to bring my kid to. No, no, no. You know, people there will try to decapitate your children. Not actually, but they will pretend like they will, or maybe someone there will be decapitated and you're like, I really wish my six year old didn't see that.
Um, so yeah, other than that, some of the other events that happen here are holidays at universal studio, , there's rock the universe, Christian music festival, which actually at the time of [00:30:00] recording is going on right now. They feature acts looking at this year's lineup, such as Brandon Lake. Phil Wickham, Holvey has been there, We The Kingdom, Casting Crowns, Elevation Worship.
These are concerts that happen in Universal Studios, that just happen, like, on the soundstage. They're, you go into the park and you're like, oh, hey, there's a concert going on over there. Ta da! Free to go to. , what I've seen from a lot of universal content creators is that while this event is going on, just be mindful, you're going to have a lot of church youth groups that are there, you're going to have a lot of, locals who were there.
They're going to try to come to these concerts. So these can be busier times. This is something cool to look out for. If you want to see one of these artists, or if you're trying to plan for less busy times of year, this may not be, uh, may not be the best days for you. These, these would be great islands of adventure days.
Because a lot of people are going to be going into studios for those concerts. Mm hmm. Uh, also, around the same time of year during the spring, they celebrate Mardi Gras as well. And, and, uh, during Mardi Gras, I believe it's every Tuesday. I could be wrong about that, but I [00:31:00] believe there's one set day of the week where they also do, concert series as well.
And again, this is included with the price of admission. This year they're featuring artists such as the All American Rejects, uh, KC and the Sunshine Band, DJ Khaled's gonna be there, Queen Latifah. So, again, just be on the lookout for these things. It could be a really cool day to just stumble in the park and be like, Oh, snap, there's, there's DJ Khaled.
Alright,
Tim: cool. They also have a set day that they do parades, right? Or is that an every I think parades are every day. That's cool. They'll like toss out beads and all the stuff that you would experience at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Not to the same effect, but at least a little taste
Ayren: of it. Here's also what's really cool is you can go and watch the parade, but also for like 85, you can go on
Tim: a float.
Which is pretty
Ayren: nuts. Yeah, and you can be the one to throw beads out to the crowd, which is it's pretty crazy It's really faster. So you want to throw them? That's right. It's a really cool experience for I would consider a pretty low price tag. Of course, you still need to buy your park ticket But that's pretty dope.
Uh, and then the last two events that happen are graduation events. So they [00:32:00] do grad nights for High schoolers and for college students. So just be mindful you you know, you go on that the park that day, you're going to see a lot of a lot of younger people, um, being loud and rowdy and stuff. And so my, my, my put a little bit of a damper on your, your Hollywood vacation, your, um, Hollywood holiday vacation, or your family vacation is really what I meant to say.
Um, Yeah. So, I mean, that's pretty much it. I think that gives you everything to think about for the majority of it. There is one more thing we need to hit on kind of the biggest elephant in the room. But before we move on to that, I do want to say, just as Tim mentioned at the top of the episode, if you have any questions of, Hey, how does this work?
Or I'm seeing this thing. I don't really know what it is. Feel free to reach out to us. We would love to have some conversation with you about it. Um, Tim and I, we share an office at our job and. Inevitably at some point during the week one of us will get bored and start hypothetically planning trips to theme parks.
So Usually it's me. Yeah, so we you know, we we have a pretty decent grip Obviously, there's some tips and tricks that even we aren't aware of But we have [00:33:00] a pretty decent insight on on trying to flush out some of these trips and we'd love to help you out with Yours. Yeah for sure now Tim Why might someone listening say, nah, nah, we're going to wait.
We're not going to book a trip for 2024. We're going to wait until at least the summer of 2025. Why might they say that?
Tim: Oh, I don't know. Uh, is there like a little something happening, right? I think that's one of the DreamWorks lands opening, right?
Ayren: No, no. See, this is when, this is when Universal is opening their third gate, their third, of course there's the water park, but you know what I mean?
They're opening their third fully fleshed out theme park, Epic Universe, currently scheduled to open summer of 2025. Do you think that's accurate? Do you think it's going to be? I think it's going to be early summer, man. They seem to make a Memorial day weekend. Okay. They're making really good progress.
Tim: That's my guess. It's going to be Memorial day weekend.
Ayren: And this is how, you know, if Tim and I made it, our goal is to be there, to [00:34:00] be invited, to the opening of Epic universe, it's going to be absolutely insane. It's going to be a mad house. I mean, full transparency. Uh, this is something you may genuinely need to consider.
Maybe 2025 summer, you know, summer from 25 to 26, maybe a time that you want to avoid the parks because it may be insanely busy. If this park is as successful as they expect it to be, it could be an insanely busy time, but it will be an extremely exciting time, with some of the most up to date technology and some of just the coolest rides,
anywhere in the Orlando area. Yeah, so what are the what are the areas that we can expect to find in an
Tim: epic universe? Yeah, so we have Celestial Park, which is kind of like the and kind of a port of entry esque But it's even more than that. It has its own attraction including Returning finally is a its own dueling coaster.
So excited for this Awesome. It looks really, really great. Thanks. By a reconstruct, by the way, for all the lovely pictures that you have posted online for these [00:35:00] images at the same time, , you also have a, how to train your dragon land. So you get to experience the aisle of Burke, which is going to be awesome.
I enjoy the franchise very, very much. If you follow us on Instagram, that is my most anticipated land of these. We also have our third Harry Potter area, which is going to be themed to the Ministry of Magic. So it has a little bit of the older Harry Potter movies, along with some Fantastic Beasts moments in there,
as well as Dark Universe universal Monsters is getting its own land. I'm really excited about this. So excited for this one. Every picture just looks, yeah, thin Flippantastic. Yeah, and then you also have Super Nintendo World as well. Really excited about that one. This is going to be the biggest of The ones so far which has been Hollywood and Japan It has a Donkey Kong coaster that looks awesome, really excited about that one.
Brand new
Ayren: technology coming out with that ride. Yeah, it just, it looks super cool. Track [00:36:00] jumping technology.
Tim: It is gonna be pretty, pretty sweet. Yeah. A lot of exciting things happening over there. I believe that's all of them,
Ayren: if I remember. Those are all the lands. Yeah, a couple of things to keep note. , about this is that they will be getting, , three new hotels as well that open with this.
I thought it was only two more, but apparently it's three looking at this. Uh, we get Universal Stellanova Resort, which is described as a sister prime value resort opening on January 21st, 2025. So it's actually going to open before the park opens, uh, inspired by distant galaxies, new stars, and mysterious black holes.
You have Universal Terra Luna Resort. a sister prime value resort opening on February 25th, 2025. And then you have Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a new hotel. And this one will be located inside of the park. So you walk out of the front doors of your hotel and there you go. You're in Epic University.
Other two will be adjacent and we'll have, shuttles and everything that will get you to Universal CityWalk, all the other things. Um, and each of these [00:37:00] hotels will have 750 rooms. So pretty big, , pretty spacious. I think it'd be a nice addition. To this as well. It's pretty cool to see they're both.
Well, two of the three are value resorts. I didn't know that. I thought these were all going to be, premium options, but it's really cool to be able to stay in a brand new space, um, starting early 2025. Man, I am insanely excited for Epic Universe. And the reason, you know, they said this very early in that preview video, they just released where they announced all the lands that are going to be there.
Uh, one of the coolest things about this is that this is going to move universal, I think, out of that tier where before, and this was the case for me, I planned a Disney vacation and I add on a day or two to go to universal. Now, I think people are going to start booking week long vacation specifically.
Um, I think that having the three parks there, I think having new resorts and stuff like that, it just offers so much more, a little bit more bang for your buck, um, as far as, as planning your trip around this. And so, , I [00:38:00] don't think this is going to be the Disney killer. I think Disney still has plenty in their back pocket, especially with the money that they're about to put into the parks and the expansions that inevitably will come with them.
But I think this does a lot for adding universal to the list of, reputable theme park experiences outside of
Tim: Disney. Yeah, and just the idea of how they have this park set up I mean, we're gonna talk about this park as it moves forward as we get ready to see it open You know this upcoming year Man, it's just theming all the things that are going to go into it, man.
It's just, it's what you want from these sort of parks. And that's what makes Universal, that's what makes Disney so dadgum special.
Ayren: They haven't announced exactly what it is yet, but whatever this attraction is coming to the Ministry of Magic, the Wizarding World portion of the park that's coming to Epic Universe.
They say they're keeping it under lock and key for a reason. They say they, they, they [00:39:00] believe this is going to be the best attraction that Universal has ever created. And so I'm excited. Yeah. There's a lot of rumors circulating out there. There's some stuff you can find in like patent files that looks really really cool for it the current I think kind of leading rumor is that it's going to be a drop tower styled attraction Kind of similar to tower of terror but i'm interested to see Interested to see what they uh, what they end up doing because that's the one thing universal is missing They don't have a, they have Dr.
Doom's Fearfall, which is like a five second, really, it's a shot up. It's not really a true drop tower.
Tim: I was gonna say maybe it's like It could be like a Rise of the Resistance, Tower of Terror esque.
I could see that, yeah. Just how the Ministry of Magic is set up in the Harry Potter movies. Granted, it's been a long time since I watched those movies, but,
Ayren: dude, that has me excited. I know, I'm really, I'm really interested to see what they end up doing with that. And again, man, the Wizarding World, those lands that are so well themed, , I don't think they would do that again, And lower the quality.
I think they're only going to go up from there. So, , yeah, exciting stuff. [00:40:00] Very much. So exciting stuff. Um, and then we take all this up to heart because as we mentioned, just a couple of days, we're going to be there. We're going to be at, uh, universal, uh, universal studios. So super, super excited for
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Ayren: that.
Uh, we'll be sure to upload pictures and give you some trip recap and stuff like that, but on that note, that is going to bring this episode to a close. I'm Tim and I bring the magic. And my name is Aaron. I bring the adventure. Again, we want to hear all about your upcoming trips and things you have going on.
Be sure to connect with us on the socials. Other than that, we will see you next week for another episode. Thank you for joining us. And so our journey comes to an end. Guess that wraps things up! You guys did alright! Carefully raise your left arm and exit the vehicle. Oh, and don't forget to retrieve your stuff along the way.
We hope that you've enjoyed your visit with us, and that you will come back soon. See you
Tim: real soon! Bye everybody! Remember we love you! Bye! Be careful getting home!