Bitesize Orlando February 2024 – Issue 32

Welcome to Bitesize Orlando February 2024 already! I don’t know about you but this month went by so fast and the news and rumours have been rolling in all month so I want to get stuck in because there is a lot to cover this month.

I had a couple of weeks off at the start of the month so I have managed to put a lot of work into the website just as Universal Officially announced the lands of Epic Universe and gave us our first deep dive into the main hub of the brand new park.

If you want to see what you will have to look forward to in 2025 when Epic Universe opens I have 2 resources for you. My Epic Universe Overview page is live with all the official info released for the park. Once Universal officially confirm all the details for the new park, it will be your main resource for planning your day.

Until then there is a lot of speculation about what this new park will include. If you want a deeper dive into the speculation and rumours of Epic Universe based on planning and patent filings over the last few years as well as overhead views of the park as it has been constructed, my “Everything You Need To Know About Epic Universe” article has you covered.

As well as all the official information, I go into much greater detail about what attractions you can expect to find in each of the lands in the new park when it opens. I have completely updated the article with all the official information confirmed by Universal at the end of January. I will keep the article and the overview page updated as soon as we get more official information on Epic Universe.

I have also had time to put together a Gatorland Overview page for this popular Kissimmee attraction. Orlando isn’t all about the main theme parks. Gatorland joins my Kennedy Space Center Visitor Overview Page as a growing resource for what you can see and do outside the main theme parks in Orlando, Kissimmee and beyond.

Bob Iger has had quite the roller coaster ride since taking back control of Disney after his first temporary retirement. He has started righting things in the theme park division (although not fast enough for some Disney die-hards) as well as stopping Disney’s streaming service Disney+ from haemorrhaging as much money as it had been since it launched.

Now he faces an investor backlash after one of Disney’s biggest shareholders is vieing for a seat on the Disney Board to gain some control of the decisions being made.

To help stave off this latest challenge to his leadership, Disney has announced they have pumped $1.5 BILLION into Fortnite maker Epic Games. The tie-up will allow Disney to expand their popular IP (Marvel, Toy Story etc) into the burgeoning video games industry and see Epic Games create a games and entertainment universe where fans will be able to play, watch and engage with Disney’s content powered by their Unreal Engine.

“Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney’s beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe”

Disney CEO Bob Iger on the multi-year tie up with Epic Games

The multi-year project will see players creating their own stories and experiences allowing them to express their fandom in new and exciting ways and share their content with other people, according to Disney.

The deal marks Disney’s biggest foray into the video games market allowing both Disney and Epic to tap into significant opportunities for growth and expansion. Tim Sweeney, CEO & Founder of Epic Games confirmed that the Disney deal will allow Epic Games and Disney to collaborate “on something entirely new to build a persistent, open and interoperable ecosystem that will bring together the Disney and Fortnite communities.”

This deal is all about putting Disney where people are and letting consumers choose how they interact with Disney. Interaction is key. People who engage with content are more likely to buy and if Disney and Epic nail this interactive open world they could be on to a huge money spinner for both companies.

Over in Magic Kingdom, work has been taking place feverishly inside the former Splash Mountain show building. Much of the scaffolding that has engulfed the outside has been taken down and water is once again flowing through the channel as the first phase of testing gets underway.

Disney has also updated the opening date bringing it forward from the previous “late 2024”, to “summer 2024”, meaning likely a June or July opening as summer holidays in most US states start at the end of June and finish in the first week of August, just as our school holidays begin. Disney could be looking to surprise us and perhaps get the attraction back open for the busy Memorial Day weekend at the end of May but that’s complete conjecture on my part so please don’t expect that.

It’s all still up in the air at this point, but at least the transformation has been going better than planned. Hopefully, if there are not too many issues in the testing phase we may not have much longer until we see Tiana in her bayou. Until then, Disney has released a short video of the next-generation Tiana animatronic in action that I have embedded above.

As expected, Disney has announced the reopening date of its Typhoon Lagoon water park whilst simultaneously announcing the closing date of Blizzard Beach which has carried the Disney Water Park crown since October last year.

The date you will want to add to your diaries is March 17th. That date also marks the start of Spring Break in Disney World so expect a few weeks of intense crowds.

Despite the week of March 17th being one of the busiest in Disney’s calendar outside of Christmas as Spring Break crowds descend to let off some steam, Blizzard Beach will once again close the day before marking another seamless transition of water park duties.

If you’re visiting EPCOT between March and May you’re in for a musical treat now that Disney has announced the full lineup of artists who will be gracing the America Gardens Theatre. Garden Rocks brings together some big names from the 1960s, 1970s and beyond and, even better, the performances are included with your EPCOT ticket. Multiple shows will play daily at 17:30, 18:45 and 20:00. I have broken down the lineup by month below.

Makeovers have been a popular upcharge experience at Disney for as long as I can remember. Now Universal wants some of that revenue and has opened a limited-time Monster Makeover experience in the 5 And Dime store on Hollywood Boulevard in Universal Studios.

There are 2 makeovers available, full face and partial. A full-face makeover costs $125 plus tax and takes 45 minutes. A partial makeover will take up to 30 minutes and cost $65 plus tax.

You can reserve a spot on the Universal Studios website or through the Universal Orlando app. The experience is available until the 7th of April 2024.

Way back in 1990 when Universal Studios first opened its gates it featured some popular 80’s era characters and one of the most well-known could be poised to return to the park(s) now that a new series of movies has renewed interest in the characters.

Who You Gonna Call?

Yes, it is rumoured that the mighty Ghostbusters could be making a triumphant return to the parks not just in character form but ideas for shows and attractions are being bandied around for inclusion in the parks in the future.

On opening day the Ghostbusters had a popular live-action special effects show that was later replaced first by the groundbreaking Twister: Ride It Out and now a lacklustre Jimmy Fallon’s Race Through New York attraction.

Ghostbusters fan site Ghostbustersnews.com reported that Universal purchased pieces of a classic 1959 Cadillac from a car collector intending to recreate ECTO-1 from the original movie.

The thought of a new attraction or show is exciting but we are years away from that happening, if at all. Universal is already busy with Epic Universe and Dreamworks Land so it is thought that, initially at least, ECTO-1 and the renewed licence for using Ghostbusters could be for a new pop-culture fan-fest event that Universal could be in the planning stages of creating.

This event could bridge the gap between Universal’s popular Mardi Gras celebration in the Spring and the busy summer months from June through early August. Along with Ghostbusters, the event could see classic characters return from previous attractions such as Beetlejuice, Back To The Future and even Jaws.

It’s great to see Universal isn’t just concentrating budgets on big-draw attractions but fan service events like this in its existing parks and it’s appreciation like this that keeps people coming back.

Seaworld has launched its “So Much More To Sea” 60th anniversary campaign. The campaign will see Penguin Trek open in the Antarctica area plus an exciting new Cirque-style show added to the park’s roster of shows for the summer season. You can also buy limited-time 60th-anniversary merchandise. Seaworld is encouraging past visitors to share their Seaworld memories online using #Seaworld60.

The party officially gets underway on March the 21st, the day Seaworld opened in 1964.

Seaworld invited some lucky locals and online enthusiasts on a hard hat tour of the Penguin Trek ride area now that the track has been completed.

I have embedded a video from Midway Mayhem but there are several others if you search Youtube. We get an up-close look at not only the outdoor ride area but inside of the show building which is just starting to receive its theming now that the track installation is complete. The brief indoor section is expected to last around 40 seconds while the outdoor section will blast riders around at up to 43mph through two launches, making Penguin Trek the first family launch coaster in Orlando.

There is still a lot of work to do but the pace that Seaworld has been putting up new attractions of late is impressive so they are still on track for a Spring opening.

Ahead of Busch Garden’s latest roller coaster, Phoenix Rising opening later this year, Busch Gardens has re-opened a classic attraction that has been shuttered since March 2020.

The SkyRide gondolas link Egypt at the front of the park with the Congo area at the back of the park. The gondolas coast silently over the park offering panoramic views of the Serengeti Plain and other areas of the park from up to 50 feet in the air.

In a somewhat controversial move, they are no longer included in your park admission. A ride on the Skyride now costs $5 per person. Guests must be a minimum of 56″ to ride or be accompanied by someone who is.

I have embedded the promotional Instagram post from Busch Gardens below announcing Skyride’s return from the 2nd of February.

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A post shared by Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (@buschgardens)

Legoland’s new Lego Ferrari Build & Race experience will open at Legoland Florida on March the 8th 2024.

The indoor experience features 4 zones where visitors can design and test their creations before taking part in a virtual race. The experience also features a life-size Lego model of a Ferrari 296 GTS Hybrid.

Legoland is still preparing to open a new aquarium attraction near the entrance of the park, in much the same vein as the Sea Life Centers you find in Merlin’s UK theme parks; Alton Towers in Staffordshire and Chessington World Of Adventures in Surrey. No official date has been set for the aquarium but it is not expected to open until sometime in the autumn.

Thats it for this month. I hope you like my new guide to Epic Universe; it’s just the start of the information now starting to trickle out about this amazing new park. There will be a lot more to come before the park officially opens in Summer 2025. Thanks for reading, I will see you at the end of March with another update.