Bitesize Orlando July 2024 – Issue 37

Welcome to Bitesize Orlando July 2024. July and August are always quiet on the news front as parks are either opening their latest attractions or are fully focused on the busy summer period and this year is no different. Expect a ton of Disney-related news next month as Disney’s D23 fan convention takes place in Anaheim from August 9th to 11th. New announcements on Animal Kingdom’s Tropical Americas makeover, plus updates on Magic Kingdom’s Behind Thunder Mountain investment are expected. Understandably Disney wants to keep the surprises ahead of the event.

This month the Holiday Guide rewrite had to take a back seat while I worked on updating my complete Disney Genie & Lightning Lane guide. Disney announced last month a total update to the system that is now live.

The article has been completely rewritten considering all the changes brought by the July 24th update to the service. Along with name changes each ticket holder can now only have 3 attraction reservations at any time eliminating the “stacking” hack that was becoming popular. You can pre-reserve your attraction choices up to 7 days in advance but only if you are in the US or Canada or can circumvent the geo-restriction by using a GPS spoofing app on your Android phone. Sorry iPhone users, it will be much harder for you to do this thanks to Apple’s stranglehold of the hardware capabilities on its phones.

Along with the completely refreshed article and using a more interactive layout I now have 3 free planning downloads for you to use when planning your attraction pre-reservations—first a guide to all the changes designed with first-time visitors in mind. Find out what the service offers, how much it costs and how you can use it. If you are already familiar with Lightning Lanes I have an overview of the attraction tiers and virtual queues broken down by park so you can make your choices faster. Lastly, there is a Lightning Lane Schedule, an editable spreadsheet for you to keep track of the attraction pre-reservations you make.

With a few weeks to go until this year’s International Food And Wine Festival at EPCOT, the popular ‘Eat To The Beat’ concert series has updated its list of performers for this year bringing in a handful of new acts to the America Gardens stage.

Remember that these concerts are free to attend as long as you have a valid park admission ticket. There are some pretty big names on the list; weekends feature global acts with weekday evenings focusing on more local talent. The full list of performances so far is below.

• Aug. 29 – Finesse (New)
• Aug. 30-31 – The Fray
• Sept. 1-2 – Sugar Ray
• Sept. 3-5 – Finesse (New)
• Sept. 6-7 – Hoobastank
• Sept. 8-9 – Yellowcard
• Sept. 10-12 – Hooligans (New)
• Sept. 13-14 – Tiffany
• Sept. 15-16 – MercyMe
• Sept. 17-19 – Foreigners Journey (New)
• Sept. 20-21 – Sheila E.
• Sept. 22-23 – The Wanted
• Sept. 24-26 – Dian Diaz (New)
• Sept. 27 – Luis Figueroa
• Sept. 28-29 – Mau Y Ricky
• Sept. 30 – Jesse & Joy
• Oct. 1-3 – Latin Ambition (New)
• Oct. 4-5 – Aloe Blacc
• Oct. 6-7 – Joey Fatone & Friends
• Oct. 8-10 – Funkafied (New)
• Oct. 11-12 – We The Kings
• Oct. 13-14 – Switchfoot
• Oct. 15-17 – Gilly and the Girl (New)
• Oct. 18-19 – David Archuleta
• Oct. 20-21 – Billy Ocean
• Oct. 22-24 – Hayfire (New)
• Oct. 25-28 – Hanson
• Oct. 29-31 – Evolution Motown (New)
• Nov. 1-2 – Haley Reinhart featuring Emily Estefan, Casey Abrams and Janel Parrish
• Nov. 3-4 – Boyz II Men
• Nov. 5-7 – Sugar Vibe (New)
• Nov. 8-9 – Magic!
• Nov. 10-11 – Parmalee
• Nov. 12-14 – M-80s (New)
• Nov. 15-16 – Smash Mouth
• Nov. 17-18 – 98 Degrees

Disney World has added another post-summer headline attraction to its refurbishment calendar. Jungle Cruise in Magic Kingdom will close on August 29th. An end date hasn’t been shared but a blog post on the Disney World website says that it will return in time for the winter holidays.

Interestingly, the attraction has also been removed from Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party which runs from the beginning of August until the end of October. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party takes over from November 8th until December 20th but it is also showing as not available for that although once a reopening date has been finalised that may change.

2024 will see the fourth iteration of the “Nightmare Fuel” live stage show at Halloween Horror Nights. This year it is called Nightmare Fuel: Nocturnal Circus. The official announcement gives a pretty good indication of what you will see.

“Step right up to a dark circus, a new nightmare that carries with it a sinister curse. It’s a thrilling spectacle of pyro and aerialists.”

Social media post by Universal announcing 2024’s live show for Halloween Horror Nights

A venue hasn’t been announced but past iterations of the show have taken place in the former Fear Factor Live stage between Diagon Alley and Men IN Black: Alien Attack. That structure has received a plannig permit for demolition but could they be holding out for one more year of scares before moving to another venue?

In a strange move for Universal, some ticketing information has been released to third-party ticket sellers regarding Universal’s phased approach to opening Epic Universe. This is months ahead of the new theme park opening and at odds with their previous marketing efforts.

No dates have been shared, just general information about how Universal Orlando will be handling the unprecedented demand for Epic Universe once it does finally open its gates. This approach will likely be at odds with your holiday plans if you want to visit Epic Universe in 2025.

When the park does open tickets will be date allocated to manage demand. Single-day tickets to the park will also not be available initially. Access to Epic Universe will only be through the sale of multi-day tickets with a 3-day minimum validity. Initially, only one day can be used to enter Epic Universe but not to park hop. As demand normalises other ticket packages will be released but this could be some months after the park opens. Single day tickets will not be sold at the outset.

A new 14-day Explorer Pass will be issued for international visitors, much like the current Universal offering. This ticket will allow 14 days of unlimited admission to Universal Studios, Islands Of Adventure and Volcano Bay with park hopping privileges. Like standard US multi-day tickets, only one of these days can be used to visit Epic Universe.

Speaking of Epic Universe, Universal chose today to peel back the curtain on the last land in Epic Universe. Today is also Harry Potter’s birthday. Coincidence? I’ll leave that to you.

It’s very late in the day to list everything in this post but please keep an eye on my Epic Universe Overview Page which I will be updating with all the details and new videos revealed about the hot ticket land in Epic Universe.

For now, I will leave you with an artist overview of the entire area, released today courtesy of Universal.

Seaworld has officially opened its latest roller coaster, Penguin Trek, a multi-launch family coaster with a minimum rider height of 42″.

Penguin Trek anchors the refreshed Antarctica area which is home to Seaworld’s collection of penguins and puffins. The area previously had a dark ride with multiple thrill settings Empire Of The Penguin which now houses a small indoor section and station for the new roller coaster.

Penguin Trek is Seaworld’s 8th roller coaster, allowing the park to keep the self-titled headline of the roller coaster capital of Orlando. It is also the first B&M family-launched coaster to open in North America. Check out a POV of the outdoor section of the new roller coaster below.

A couple of weeks after Seaworld debuted Penguin Trek, sister park Busch Gardens in Tampa officially opened their family-suspended rollercoaster, Phoenix Rising.

Phoenix Rising has the same height requirement as Penguin Trek at 42″ minimum. Neither coaster features inversions instead letting banked turns and g-forces provide the thrills. The coasters are a perfect introduction for young adventures before they get old enough and tall enough to try more intense offerings in both parks. Ceck out a POV of Poenix Rising the Busch Gardens shared on X, formerly Twitter below.

POV: You're soaring at speeds up to 44 miles per hour. 🐦‍🔥 pic.twitter.com/frMXkmHiPc

— Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (@BuschGardens) July 17, 2024

To continue providing families with a safe, clean and fun visit Fun Spot America, operators of 2 Orlando area parks; one not far from Universal Orlando and the other attached to Old Town in Kissimmee has introduced a chaperone policy for anyone under 21.

If you are under 21 and wish to visit you must be accompanied by an adult 21 years and older (who may need an official ID such as a driver’s license or passport) as proof. Each adult can only have a maximum of 2 under 21 with them.

Fun Spot at both locations was becoming troublesome, with teens in the local area descending on the free-to-enter parks. Families were beginning to feel intimidated and social media has made it earlier for unofficial groups to plan visits. Fun Spot reportedly caught wind of one such meet-up. This policy will keep Fun Spot family-orientated, which is a great move as the parks are lovely to visit outside of Orlando’s main attractions.

Formerly a staple at Universal Studios in a purpose-built theatre, Blue Man Group entertained thousands of visitors during their Universal Orlando tenure from 2007 until 2020.

Now the multi-coloured percussionists will return to Orlando in a new purpose-built 500-seat theatre at ICON Park on International Drive, a couple of miles south of their former home at Universal.

“Our fans are eager for the Blue Men to be part of their Orlando vacations, and our creative team is thrilled to create a new type of experience that is even more immersive and personalized to Orlando.”

Jack Kenn, Managing Director of Blue Man Group on the new show currently in the planning stages.

The show is currently in the development planning and approval stages. Should everything go smoothly the new theatre is expected to open later in 2024.

That’s it for this short update. Have a wonderful summer break and I’ll be back at the end of the month from Greece with another update and catchup from all the news that is going to be released by Disney at D23 in a couple of weeks.