Bitesize Orlando February 2025 – Issue 44

Welcome to a short monthly catchup. I can’t believe we are in March already. I’m sure some of you feel the same now your holiday plans are fast turning into reality.

It has been a month of tidying up behind the scenes at OPG Towers. I’ve completely rewritten every attraction tick box guide to make it easier and faster to bring in updates as well as make it more user-friendly for you. You can find the guides on the overview page of every theme park or in my planning downloads archive page but for ease you can download them below.

• Magic Kingdom Attraction Tick List
• EPCOT Attraction Tick List
• Hollywood Studios Attraction Tick List
• Animal Kingdom Attraction Tick List
• Universal Studios Florida Attraction Tick List
• Islands Of Adventure Attraction Tick List
• Seaworld Orlando Attraction Tick List
• Busch Gardens Tampa Attraction Tick List
• Legoland Florida Attraction Tick List

In addition to these huge updates, I have completely rewritten and updated my Orlando Attractions Selector app, which lets you narrow down attractions by height, location, setting, and more. It’s now faster to use and allows multiple filter selections completely free.

Lightning Lanes and Virtual queues in Disney World have seen a lot of changes in recent months and to complement these changes I have updated my Disney World Genie & Lightning Lane Guide

The long-running “It’s Tough To Be A Bug” show held inside the enormous Tree Of Life in Animal Kingdom will be showing its final performance in 2 short weeks on March 16th. From March 17th the attraction will be closed as Disney’s Imagineers get to work transforming and renovating the theatre for the new “Zootopia: Better Zoogether!” attraction which is scheduled to open this winter.

“It’s Tough To Be A Bug” has been in the Tree Of Life Theatre since Animal Kingdom opened in 1998. As 4D attractions went it probably hit a little scarier than Disney’s target market for the attraction. I rarely had a visit without at least 1 child having a meltdown and plenty of adults screaming out in sheer terror at certain parts of the show.

“Zootopia: Better Zoogether” won’t be making the same mistake bringing a more rounded family attraction when it opens later this year.

Level 99, a new take on adult experiences is opening its largest location in Disney Springs in the coming months. Located in the heart of Disney Springs in the former home of the NBA Experience, a precursor of interactive gaming that featured 13 interactive basketball-themed activities.

That experience only lasted 8 months before COVID brought a premature (and unknowingly permanent) end to this niche sports experience. Disney announced the official closure of the NBA Experience in August 2021 but the venue never reopened after its enforced COVID enforced closure after just 8 months of operation. I fear the NBA would have always been a hard sell for a sport so quintessentially American versus the international mix of visitors that Disney World attracts.

The NBA Experience replaced Disney’s first venture into immersive experiences; Disney Quest. Back in the late 90’s and early noughties virtual reality was the thing to do and Disney Quest was 5 floors of virtual goodness with each floor representing a zone. Disney Quest was the pinnacle of immersive gaming in the late ’90s and early noughties. Today it would look decidedly kitsch but I have very fond memories of my visits to Disney Quest for my first few visits.

Fast forward to February 2024 and the cobwebs of the now abandoned monolith of a building in the heart of Disney Springs are about to get disturbed with Disney filing general construction permits. Work has been taking place inside to bring life to Level 99’s largest venue, plus it’s first in Florida, as the company looks to expand nationally from its Massachusetts roots.

The drone fly-through video I have embedded below will let you visualise what Level 99 will look like when it opens in Disney Springs but remember no two Level 99 venues are the same. This drone fly-through is for their latest location in Providence Rhode Island. As impressive as this venue looks, remember that the Disney Springs location will be even larger!

When it opens, Level 99 will feature 60 challenge rooms in an immersive setting across 2 floors spread out over 45,000 square feet of space. Looking at the promotional video Level 99 did for its original location in Natick MA this is an ideal fit for the families that frequent Disney Springs. Costs for other locations start at $29.99 but with more games in a highly prized location in Dinsey Springs, it could be more expensive here. When Level 99 opens you can expect a mix of physical and mental games in a real-world social gaming environment. All Level 99 venues feature the following:

• Challenge Rooms – testing teamwork, agility and problem-solving
• Arena Duels – for player vs player competitions
• Interactive Art Hunt – with hidden symbols amongst local custom-designed artwork
• F&B – What would a Disney Springs location be with a fully licensed bar and restaurant?

The Disney Springs location will be the fifth for the rapidly expanding brand after new openings later this year in West Hartford CT and Tysons Corner VA.

A worrying report in the Daily Mail but corroborated in various outlets online reports that Disney is eyeing up a surge pricing strategy for it’s US parks later this year.

Surge pricing was introduced to Disneyland Paris in November 2024. Early analysis is reportedly very positive for the new pricing structure despite consumers hatred of surge pricing models.

Surge pricing has been in operation for years in the airline industry. Ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft based their entire business model on surge pricing. Currently, Disney has separate pricing for fixed date-based tickets. Prices for these dates must be published online in advance.

Surge pricing would mean ticket prices would not have to be published in advance and could also mean multiple prices for the same ticket on the same day based on demand.

Surge-based pricing wouldn’t be introduced on our UK tickets to begin with, but a watered-down version could be introduced at a later date as surge-based pricing forces visitors into buying tickets earlier which would be a bonus for Disney stock price which is 45% down from it’s 2021 highs when revenge travel meant Disney had a bumper year of revenue and profits.

If Disney does introduce surge-based pricing it’s not going to go down well with visitors whose number one complaint is the cost of visiting Disney World which has, ironically, surged on average 20% higher for an American family of 4 over the last 5 years.

If you follow me on Facebook you will already know this but for those that don’t, this is a quick note to say that Disney’s much-hated Virtual queues, reserved for popular and problematic attractions, have been temporarily halted at Disney World.

We will probably see them return later this year with the opening of the reimagined Test Track in EPCOT bot as of 25th February there are no virtual queue requirements in any of Disney World’s theme parks.

As we tread closer to Epic Universe’s official opening in just over 90 days on May 22nd, Universal’s marketing department is starting to go into overdrive. This month we got a look at many of the food offerings being cooked up for the new park along with portal teasers for each of the new lands which I have embedded below.

Along with the portal teasers we also learned some interesting facts about Epic Universe this month courtesy of Mark Woodbury, Universal Parks Chairman, reports the New York Times.

• According to industry analysts, Epic Universe is estimated to have cost a staggering $7 BILLION to bring to life!
• Epic Universe will be the largest Universal Park in the United States, and the second-largest Universal Park worldwide.
• 10 MILLION visitors are estimated to walk through the entrance portal in the first year of operation.
• Epic Universe is expected to draw around 1 million visitors from Disney World in the first 18 months of operation.

Legoland operator, Merlin Entertainments announced mass layoffs earlier this month in its entertainment division (hence a lack of shows currently listed at Legoland Florida and many other Merlin-owned attractions) but we have a little good news; the opening date of the new Sealife Center at Legoland Florida.

The new attraction will open on May 23rd and include a setting unique to Legoland Florida; an underwater theme park complete with carousel hideaways, coral castles and hotel-style spaces for the marine life that will inhabit the 150,000-gallon water tank.

The attraction will feature 25 interactive exhibits with various marine wildlife totalling over 3000 animals covering 150 different species. Like other Sealife Centers, the attraction will have a freshwater gallery, stingray bay and an invertebrate touch pool.

Have a look at the short teaser video Legoland posted on Instagram below.

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That’s it for this short update. I’ll be back at the end of March.