An Epic new Theme Park has been announced!

This morning, Universal Orlando Resort announced its all new fourth gate. While we only learned the name, they also gave us a map to show how close it will be to the other parks, some concept art and a name: Universal’s Epic Universe.

In the map they posted, it shows that it will be just down Kirkman road past where Wet N’ Wild was and where Endless Summer Resort now is. It is also the plot of land they bought a while back that everyone has known about and rumored this would be where they would put the fourth gate.

They stated at this park you will have not only the attractions, but an entertainment center, hotels, shops, restaurants and more. The end goal would be that while it is not directly connected, you could bus or shuttle to the other parks if you wanted. In the press release, they gave us concept art as well.

This image shows color, coasters, and nightlife. They did not set a date or confirm or deny any rumors of what lands and rides will be at this new site, but it is still exciting to finally have confirmation of what their next step is going to be.

Hopefully we hear more soon and I will keep you all posted. Comment below with any thoughts or rumors you have on possible lands they could have!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my quick review. Until next time, see you at the parks!

This week in Passhole land…

The world of “passholes,” has had a busy few weeks. At Disney, California had the opening of Galaxy’s Edge, they announced a preview for the one in Orlando, and they also gave us an increase on all Florida annual pass-holder prices. Universal Orlando had Hagrid’s Magical Creatures motorbike adventure opening to amazing reviews, and they had to update their operating procedure for it. Busch Gardens has new animal encounters and Discovery Cove is offering a Florida resident discount now. Lets get into the details!

So for Disney, everyone loves Galaxy’s Edge in California. They had a system for return times for people staying on site and for people going to the parks during the first month that gave people four hours to explore the land. In Orlando, they announced they are going to schedule passholder previews for the top three tiers and will probably do something similar for the rest as well and announce it as we get closer to the opening date of August 29th. Personally, I cannot wait to see what we have in store. They also made an announcement that each pass had an increase overnight from between $9 for the water park pass to$225 for the Passport that covers California and Florida. The price change varies between what kind of pass you have, so go to Disney’s website and it will go into further detail about how much each pass increased.

For Universal Orlando, it has been a magical week. They opened to rave reviews on Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. It has been opening with lines out to the Port of Entry and Seuss Landing with a 600 minute wait opening day. They had to make an announcement this week that they will no longer be opening Hagrid’s for the entire day and only opening it in the afternoon in order to make sure the ride maintains its performance because it is such sophisticated technology. Overall, people will have to be patient while they sort out the technical and weather factors for this coaster.

At Discovery Cove, Florida residents receive a 30% discount of their ticket if they book for 2019-2020 between now and June 30th. Visit the Discovery Cove website to book now and get more details on pricing. Busch Gardens Tampa has new animal tours as well. You can see the “Sloth Encounter,” which is a 30 minute tour and “Rhino Encounter,” which is a 45 minute tour. They now have 10 experiences for you to get up close with animals now and these new tours cost $59.99/ person. Book on Busch Gardens website or call 813-884-4FUN (4386) to get more details.

So as you can see, all of the parks have a lot going on and there is fun to be had by all! Thanks for reading my post and getting the updates. I cannot wait to review the rides for myself very soon! Until next time, see you in the parks!

New HHN Orlando House Announcement!!!

This afternoon, the Universal powers that be gave us new HHN information as I was brainstorming what to write about this week. We now have house announcement number four of ten for HHN Orlando or HHN29 and it is called “Depths of Fear.” It is about sea mining so lets dive into the details of this house.

In the description on Halloween Horror Nights, we have learned that we be will exploring a deep-sea mining company that went too deep and found some new lifeforms. We will be running into parasitic creatures called “Mouthbrooders.” These creatures will be spouting out flesh-eating acidic eggs and you will encounter them and their victims. You will be trying to escape alive as these creatures attack and you hear the self destruct alarm going on letting you know the facility is about to implode.

This description makes it sound like we will have a lot of water effects and with it being in a deep-sea facility, we will have tight spaces to crawl through. Personally I when they do houses with water effects and that have the water creatures. In the past they had “The Spawning,” “Saws and Steam,” “The Forsaken,” and things like that where the sea and water played a vital role in the story line and they are some of my favorite houses from the past.

As we learn more details about this event, I will keep you posted. For now, We have four houses announced with six more to go along with five scare zones and the possible live entertainment. The event will run select nights from September 6th to November 2nd, and do not forget the promotional buy one night get an extra one free is going on until June 5th.

That is going to be it for now guys. I will possibly post another one this week since this was so short, so stay tuned. Until next time, see you at the parks!

Disney Updates park-wide and at Hollywood Studios

So this week Disney has unveiled a few new items and a few new rules that went in to effect. We learned that Hollywood Studios got a new logo and Toy Story Land will be getting a new restaurant which is exciting. Less exciting for some people are the bans that they put in to effect on May 1st. Lets dig in to these hot topics!

At Hollywood Studios we got a new logo for its 30th anniversary. Most people have been reviewing it as very plain and similar to a universal studios logo, which I can agree. It highlights Mickey Mouse which is nice and his art design is from the new ride coming soon called “Mickey and Minnies runaway railway,” BB8 from Star Wars which I am assuming is in honor of the new “Galaxy’s Edge,” and Woody from Toy Story which just had its land open in 2018. I think it is nice to go simple sometimes but perhaps they could have done more.

They also announced a new indoor restaurant in Toy Story Land called, “RoundUp Rodeo,” which had no official opening timeline yet. All we know at this point is that it will be air conditioned and will have a rodeo theme. It will also surround you with different toys and will have the same vibe as if Andy built it himself. I think it will be nice to have a place to get away from the heat while you are in there, but it will interesting to see how it filters crowds. Overall, we are just getting started so I am excited until I see otherwise.

Finally, we had 3 new bans go into effect on May 1st. Large strollers, bringing in outside ice in coolers and smoking are no longer permitted in any Disney parks anymore. Due to the safety and cleanliness of the parks for all guests, they felt these bans would make all guest more comfortable while trying to trek around the parks.

Personally I don’t smoke so that does not affect me though I can imagine the nicotine addicts having an issue and you can already see the out-pour of dislikes on this move throughout social media. The ice does not seem to be an issue really either and it is mainly so people cannot hide things under it, so I do not know many harsh responses to this and once again, I do not bring a cooler. Finally, the large strollers being banned makes me happy since people with them always run me over and I hated them, but people with big families are upset because they carried their kids and everything in them to survive the day. Its not all strollers, just the large ones where two kids could fit in them and they look like a wagon.

Overall, I think the parks are having some good growing pains. I like the idea of having a air conditioned section in Toy Story land and the logo may be mediocre but it ushers in the new era of Hollywood studios so I can deal with it. As far as the ban on ice I am okay with it and I feel for the big families on the stroller ban, but just pack differently and understand that its a safety concern when those huge things are lying around everywhere. Lastly on the bans, while I never felt like I smelled smoke outside of passing a smoking section, I am sure there were always a few people that went outside and perhaps other parks have a worse issue with this than ours. I feel for those with this addiction and I am sorry, but I think its just one more step in a cleaner Disney direction (along with the paper straws).

Well that is going to be it for this now. I am planning to do a review on Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival 2019 next week, so unless some news is released that trumps that, be on the lookout for that next Sunday. Until next time, see you in the parks!

Solo trips to the park: a do or don’t?

Today I decided that I did not want to go in to work because it has been a stressful week and I wanted to get away and chill for a bit. For me, the parks help me with that. So I requested the time off, got up and got dressed and made my plans. I decided to go to Epcot because I had not gotten my Pluto “Passholder” magnet yet and today was the last day.

When I told my fiance my plans, he looked at me like I was weird. He does not see how anyone could possibly have fun in the parks by themselves and thinks it would be lonely. Here is what I told him how I felt about going solo in the parks.

Prior to today I have gone to the parks by myself 4 other times. In every single case, I managed to have a good time and today was no different. There are many pros and cons to going alone every once in a while and I see mostly pros.

Yes you are alone so you mostly do not have anyone to talk to, but if you are outgoing like me and not afraid to strike up a conversation with someone then you will occasionally meet new people and talk about stuff. It can be fun and sometimes cool. If you are the type of person who cannot do this, then either do not go solo to the parks or plan on a day of silence and bring your headphones and listen to music. I myself did a mixture of both talking and headphones and listened to Disney music so it was fun.

The other fun part of it is that you get to decide the day. When you go with a group, you end up having to make sure everyone is happy. Whether it be the rides that someone “must do,” or “won’t do” to I want to eat “this,” but not “that.” When you go alone, there is no compromise or conversation needed when deciding where to go, eat or do.

I do have to say one con for me is driving alone. I live in Tampa so to go to the parks is a one and a half to two hour drive, and obviously with no one else there, the drive is all you. If you do not have that drive, then I can see this being something very easy and fun to do.

So overall, unless you have a fear of being alone which happens and is totally understandable, I think this is something that people can do and is nice every once in a while. While I will always prefer going with my fiance first or friends, until you’ve gone alone don’t knock it until you tried it.

Thanks again for reading, and until next time, see you at the parks!