Bitesize Orlando April 2025 – Issue 46

Welcome to a rather Disney-centric monthly catch-up of all the news in and around Orlando. Bitesize Orlando April 2025 has all the latest news from the past few weeks, including a bat’s eye view of Epic Universe, big news for Universal’s Volcano Bay in 2025 and 2026 plus 2 popular customer-led announcements from Disney. But first, it’s been a very busy few weeks behind the scenes here, so let’s catch you up on what’s been happening on the website.

It’s been an incredibly busy few weeks behind the scenes as I prepare the website for the opening of Epic Universe. Ahead of the grand opening on May 22nd, it was time to update my Epic Universe Overview page with all the pertinent information ahead of your visit. Along with an information refresh, my Epic Universe Overview page is the first to showcase a bolder visual design I want to roll out across the website gradually. This flows through into the dedicated attractions pages for Epic Universe, which are also now live. Click the links at the bottom of the overview page to see all the attractions in Epic Universe. Alternatively, click the links below to jump straight to what interests you.

• Epic Universe Overview
• Epic Universe Roller Coasters
• Epic Universe Immersive Rides
• Epic Universe Water Rides
• Epic Universe Thrill Rides
• Epic Universe Children’s Attractions
• Epic Universe Shows

My redesigned homepage is almost ready to go, and I’ve started work on two brand-new pages: early entry guides for Universal and Disney. Along with the new pages, you may have noticed that my new menu has been live for a week now, making it easier to get to the information you want with fewer clicks.

Just as April had started, Disney officially announced the return of Airport Luggage Transfer service after trialling the new system in late March. Airport Luggage Transfer is a version of a popular perk available to on-site guests pre-COVID, Resort Check-in. Resort Check-in allowed guests to check in for their return flight and hand over their baggage while still in Disney World, and make the most of every last moment in the Disney Bubble.

The new Airport Luggage Transfer service is currently minimal, while Disney is trialling the logistics with a third-party company called Bag Check. The company may be new, but the CEO, Craig Mateer, is anything but new to this area. His former company, Bags, Inc., handled the previous version of Airline Check-in for Disney World, plus other guest services pre-COVID, before the system was abruptly halted in 2022 along with Disney’s Magical Express airport transfer service.

Before you get too excited, the service currently runs at all Value-level hotels following the very limited trial in late March at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. The only supported airline, for now, is Southwest. No international carriers, such as Virgin and BA, are on board as yet. There are some important caveats to this service.

The process is very simple. Visit or call Luggage Assistance at your resort the day you arrive. On the day before your flight, check in for your flight with Southwest, hand over your luggage by the required time and pick up your bags at your final destination.

• You must be a checked-in guest at a Value-level hotel
• You must have already checked in for your flight with Southwest
• Valid photo ID is required to drop the bags off
• If your flight departs before 1 pm, you must check your luggage the day before before
• You must hand your bags over at least 4 hours before your flight departs, or by 1 pm, whichever comes first
• For a smoother service, it’s advised to keep the inbound luggage tags attached to your cases
• Once bags are handed over, it is not possible to retrieve them ahead of your flight
• The service is available from 5 am through to 1 am for guests with early departures the following day

Keep an eye on the official FAQ page on the Disney World website for up-to-date information about the new Airport Luggage Transfer service.

We continue to work with Orlando International Airport on ways we can help manage the high demand for travel to Central Florida and improve the experience for our guests and other airport passengers. As part of these efforts, we are working with a vendor to pilot a new one-way service for guests at Disney Value Resorts to conveniently check their luggage prior to departure when flying out of the airport on Southwest Airlines. We look forward to sharing more information with guests soon.

Walt Disney World Resort, via spokesperson

Starting from May 27th, you will be able to meet a few characters during Magic Kingdom’s early entry window. Previously, character meet and greets didn’t open for early entry, and since the introduction of Lightning Lane, they do not feature any form of line skipping service.

If meeting characters is high on your list, this will be a great time-saving feature, especially if the attractions you want to hit are already too busy.

Character meet-and-greets in Magic Kingdom operate slightly differently from other Disney parks worldwide due to the popularity of the Magic Kingdom. For safety reasons, you won’t find characters wandering around; they are at designated spots throughout Magic Kingdom and other parks. Some characters are so popular that the queue times to meet them often outweigh some attractions. I will factor in which characters and where you can find them during early entry in my new early entry articles, which should be live in the next few weeks.

A quick heads up for anyone booking or looking for a SkyLiner resort in January 2026. The Skyliner will be down for a brief refurbishment between the 25th and 31st of January. This follows almost 2 years of constant operation, with Disney suspending any refurbishment of the system in 2025.

During the refurbishment, complimentary bus transportation will be reinstated from the affected resorts to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. Disney’s bus transportation doesn’t provide resort-to-resort transfers, so if you are looking at visiting another resort, you will need to factor in extra time to get to a park first.

After a disappointing but expected announcement that Blizzard Beach would close one month later than normal at the end of April with Typhoon Lagoon taking over the water park reigns as usual for the summer season starting from the 1st of May, Disney dropped a proverbial bomb a few days later announcing that Blizzard Beach is set to re-open after a brief refurbishment on May 21st marking the first time that both water parks have been open at the same time since 2019.

Since Disney started running a free waterpark check-in day promotion for its US visitors last year, attendance at the water parks has skyrocketed, leading to some long wait times. Maybe now Disney feel justified in opening both water parks through this summer to ease the pressure on Typhoon Lagoon.

The free waterpark visit has far fewer implications for UK visitors, as we have water park access built into our tickets for the duration, meaning there is no pressure to visit either Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach on our first day. With most US-bound flights from the UK landing in the late afternoon in Florida, this offer would be impractical for most UK visitors anyway. It’s still nice to actually have a choice of water parks to visit during our holidays.

Disney took to their X channel to share a snippet of 3 of the villains heading to the new Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After show opening in Hollywood Studios’ Sunset Showcase Theatre on May 27th.

The new tune has quite a catchy ring to it, keeping my hopes up for this brand new show. Have a look at the post embedded below and see what you think.

Iconic villains. Unforgettable songs. Brand-new tune. 😈🔥 Hear a sneak peek of the music from "Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After," coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios May 27th! Check out the @DisneyParks Blog for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look! 👀… pic.twitter.com/iq8vcctRJA

— Walt Disney World (@WaltDisneyWorld) April 17, 2025

Bookings are now open for 2026 Disney World holidays with included free dining plans. Just as last year’s offer, the level of the plan you receive is dictated by the tier of accommodation you stay in. The offer is open for the following arrival windows:

• January 7th 2026 – March 30th 2026
• April 13th 2026 – October 7th 2026
• October 22nd 2026 – December 19th 2026

Value, Moderate and Deluxe/Villa accommodations all have their own plan, but you do have an option to upgrade if you wish.

• Value Resort guests receive 1 quick service meal per person per day
• Moderate Resort guests receive 2 quick-service meals and one snack or drink per person per day, plus a resort refillable mug for the duration of the trip. Remember, you can get free refills ONLY in Disney resorts, free refills are not allowed inside the theme parks.
• Deluxe Resort Guests and those staying in villas also receive a resort refillable mug plus one quick-service meal, one table-service meal and one snack or drink per person per day.

A quick service meal consists of 1 entree and a drink (can be a limited selection of alcoholic drinks if you are 21 or over). Disney stripped out the side from the quick service dining plan last year, whilst increasing the base price of the plans overall. There are still over 90 locations you can use your credits with only a few notable exceptions run by third parties in the parks and Disney Springs.

The silence on Disney Starlight Dream The Night Away has been deafening to some. It was absent from the most recent promotional push, indicating that the parade is likely delayed. Instead of Memorial Day, we could be looking around Independence Day.

To that end, we may not know the opening date as yet, but Disney has released new parade float renderings, which look stunning. Disney Starlight Dream The Night Away is also the first brand-new nighttime parade in nearly 30 years. Spectromagic was a beloved feature of many people’s early visits to Magic Kingdom, so I hope Disney Starlight pushes the same emotional chords that Spectromagic did.

I suspect Disney also knows how important it is to get this parade right, and they are, quite rightfully, taking their time to get it right instead of pushing out a half-baked concept just to meet a deadline. Have a look at the renderings and tell me I’m not wrong!

We are just 3 weeks away from the official opening of Epic Universe, and the promotional push is in full swing! Epic Universe has been in technical previews for a few weeks now. Universal employees got first looks (but under threat of losing jobs if photos or videos leaked while the finishing touches were put in).

Now we’ve hit media preview days, which explains why your Facebook feed is flooded with photos, videos and an almost insurmountable amount of hype that the park is largely surpassing. I’ll be reserving my judgment for my visit. I’ve seen some glowing reviews of the theming and the rides, but also some brutally honest ones. The reality usually is somewhere in between.

Universal is also continuing its own promotional push; recently dropping a “bat’s eye” view of a deserted Dark Universe on its “X” channel. It may be one of the smallest lands, but the views and the atmosphere are just incredible. Check out the short 30-second clip below.

Here’s a bat’s eye view through Darkmoor Village 🦇 Enter Dark Universe if you dare, only at Epic Universe opening May 22, 2025. pic.twitter.com/Fe0pSAoqhM

— Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) April 25, 2025

A surprising announcement from Universal just as this article was going to be published could have a big impact on your next Universal Orlando trip.

Beginning on the 1st of October 2025 Volcano Bay will abolish the Tapu Tapu wearable device that lets visitors queue virtually for chosen attractions. The device also reminded visitors when it was time to experience a pre-booked attraction and let them know when an attraction was down. It could also be used to open lockers.

Since the park opened nearly 10 years ago, all attractions have had a virtual queue allowing you to tap into a ride and return at a designated time that’s displayed on information boards dotted all over the park. The system wasn’t without issues, namely the early morning rush to secure spots on popular attractions before their slots ran out. But, by-and-large the system did allow visitors more time standing outside of queues to admire the impressive South Pacific setting.

The Universal website now states:

“Starting October 1, 2025, the TapuTapu wearable and virtual line will no longer be available. Guests can access attractions queues at their leisure.”

Universal also confirmed that Volcano Bay will begin a seasonal operational schedule beginning October 26th 2026. The park will be closed for around 5 months, re-opening on or around March 24th 2027. To coincide with this news Universal released a new 3 Park Explorer ticket ticket package in the US for when Volcano Bay will be closed. Don’t expect our UK ticket packages to be reduced by much during the closure as they already offer fantastic value over the cost of tickets in the US, typically becoming the cheapest option if you want to visit Universal for 3 days or more.

Since Volcano Bay opened it has had minimal downtime for refurbishment so Universal will use this time to make sure everything is working properly and do some touching up. There are rumours that Universal could be looking at using the extended downtime to introduce new attractions to the park. Volcano Bay was built with a small expansion plot at the back of the park. Whether Universal will opt to replace some attractions or build out an expansion is not yet known but it’s exciting that Universal is already looking this far ahead to keep Volcano Bay fresh and relevant in the competitive Orlando water park market.

It’s really not been a great start to the year for Blue Man Group, and the troubles surrounding their return to Orlando continue into another month.

The brand new Orlando revival was originally scheduled to open at the beginning of April, but, in reality, their new theatre was barely even vertical just weeks before the debut performance, leading to the suspension of online ticket sales and a full refund for all ticket holders. Quite how the timeline could be so disastrously wrong is laughable, but here we are.

Tickets are still suspended at the time of this article going live, but daily performances are reportedly starting at the end of May, with the exception of Mondays. We will have to wait and see if they can keep to this timeline.

That’s it for this month. Have a great few weeks and I will be back with another update at the end of May as we head into the start of the busy summer season in Orlando.