Bitesize Orlando March 2025 – Issue 45

Welcome to your latest catchup of all things Orlando. This month I have some “epic” news to share now that Universal is slowly lifting the veil of secrecy on it’s soon to open new theme park, Epic Universe but much more on that later.

I have started work on rebuilding the homepage of the website with a bolder visual style that I hope will eventually run through the whole website. Now that the website is over 80 pages that’s going to take some time to complete so instead of waiting and rolling out a huge update I have decided I will do it incrementally starting with the homepage.

I hope I will have it up in the next few weeks but you’ll already notice a new temporary menu. It’s not the prettiest but it is functional, especially on mobile devices. I’m working on a more permanent replacement now. There also been lots of small updates to my downloadable guides to keep them relevant plus a new map replacement for Animal Kingdom now that “It ‘s Tough To Be A Bug” has permanently closed. It may not seem like much is happening on the front end but behind the scenes, there’s a tremendous amount of work going on to make sure the content is fresh and relevant to your travels.

Imagineering’s axe has taken another attraction scalp now “It’s Tough To Be A Bug” has permanently closed at Animal Kingdom. The Tree Of Life Theatre will re-open later this year with a brand new Zootopia show. Recent permit filings indicate possible sweeping changes to the theatre interior as well (I really hope those benches are going!)

In some good news, neighbouring Kali River Rapids in the Asia section of Animal Kingdom has reopened following its winter maintenance closure in January.

Disney’s Pop Century resort is one of the most popular value-tier hotels thanks to its location on the Skyliner. People are now being warned that the resort is undertaking a room refurbishment which is currently scheduled to end around mid-February 2026.

From late March 2025 to mid-February 2026, guest rooms at Disney’s Pop Century Resort will undergo refurbishment. While all resort amenities will remain available, you may notice construction during daytime hours.

While a room refurbishment isn’t usually as noticeable as a pool refurbishment it does mean you may notice some construction noise and activity while work is taking place. Disney Likes to mitigate the effects by taking whole floors or buildings out of inventory while they undertake the work so the disruption should be minimal.

This will likely push more visitors than usual to the All-Star Resorts which recently had a refurbishment. You may find limited availability going forward this year with all the hotel renovations taking place following a bumper few years for Disney World as revenge travel became the norm post-COVID.

It’s worth noting that many of Disney World’s room refreshes take longer than originally announced as Disney likes to increase occupancy and pause the work approaching Christmas so that could happen here.

Disney, Luicasfilm and Epic Games have been working together on an updated mission for Millenium Falcon Smugglers Run to coincide with the new “The Mandalorian and Grogu” movie hitting theatres on May 22nd in the US. Do you see any coincidence there with a certain new park up the proverbial street opening on the same day?

Smugglers Run is only 5 years old so the new mission announcement was a little surprising but I’m sure it will be a welcome addition to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.

To celebrate Blizzard Beach turning 30 in April Disney World has extended the opening of the winter-themed water park by 1 month.

Since Disney returned from the COVID shutdown Blizzard Beach has traditionally been closing in April with Typhoon Lagoon taking over water park duties for the summer season. This year Blizzard Beach will remain open until April 30th with dance parties, fun games and other memorable experiences to celebrate 30 years of (fake) snow water bliss.

If you’re in Disney World in April and head to Blizzard Beach lookout for dance parties, special anniversary-themed food and beverages, fun family games and cool prizes throughout the month.

Typhoon Lagoon will open on May 1st for the summer season when Blizzard Beach will shut for its seasonal refurbishment, meaning we will have another year of only 1 water park operating at a time. Could this be the new Disney norm?

Since this article was published, Disney made a surprise announcement, on April 1st of all days, that for the first time in 5 years both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach will be open simultaneously for the summer season.

Blizzard Beach will close briefly for maintenance and cleaning on May 1st but will reopen again on May 21st. This small but welcome addition with give visitors more choice and hopefully cut down some of the queuing for water slides in the water parks which have regularly been an hour or more throughout the summer since only one park has been open.

Disney just announed another major refurbishment for a popular attraction in Magic Kingdom. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin will be closing in August for a multi-month refurbishment to upgrade the attraction and ride mechanics.

The attraction will return in 2026 with a new show scene along with upgraded ride vehicles leading to enhanced gameplay mechanics.

The standard laser target attraction has been going strong in Magic Kingdom since 1998 but it has been showing its age for a while now. The multi-month refurbishment will include the following upgrades.

• A new show scene introduces “Buddy”, your new mission helper. He will provide final checks, encouragement and target practice using the new interactive features before your adventure.
• New ride vehicles with colours inspired by Star Command and Buzz Lightyear. Now Each vehicle will have on-board monitors providing real-time score tracking and other gameplay information.
• Old fashioned and unwieldy mounted blasters are being replaced by newer, lighter handhled version allowing for a full movement around the gameplay arena. The new blasters bring constant laser visibility ( in 2 colours), light, sound and haptic feedback.
• The current static “Z” targets are all being upgraded with responsive technology that lights up and reacts when hit by a laser.

Check out the short Instagram post from Walt Disney Imagineering announcing the changes below.

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A post shared by Walt Disney Imagineering (@waltdisneyimagineering)

Earlier this month Disney dropped the third installment of it’s Youtube series “We Call It Imagineering”. This episode is called “Behind The Rides” and gives a fantastic account of some historic ride vehicles plus a look at what’s in use today and also a peek into the future ride vehicles being designed.

For Disney World visitors, you will get a sneak peek at the technology behind Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run and a peek at early concepts for the new Cars attraction coming to Magic Kingdom in 5 years or so. The 20 minute video is a fantastic watch if you’ve only the slightest interest in Disney and theme park operations, or if you ever wondered just how they do some of the fantastic stuff we get to ride. I’ve embedded the video below.

It’s fair to say that Savi’s Workshop’s popularity isn’t as high as it was when Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge debuted five short years ago. The still popular but expensive lightsaber-building experience caters to quite a niche market, a niche market that may have had itsfill of these expensive pieces of plastic.

To that end Disney is debuting new experiences for visitors building their own Lightsabres at Savi’s. Starting from May 4th (Star Wars Day) guests will be able to build lightsabers with “limited-time reclaimed and reforged” components. Here’s the blurb from the press release.

Over the centuries, countless lightsabers fell into the hands of smugglers and bounty hunters. Remnants of ancient battles and abandoned scrap have been scavenged from the distant reaches of the galaxy’s outer rim. Now, Guests can build them into elegant tools that symbolize balance in The Force.

The reclaimed and reforged theme joins the standard themes, which determine which lightsaber parts you will use in your build. As a reminder, the themes are:

• Peace and Justice
• Power and Control
• Protection and Defense
• Elemental Nature
• Reclaimed and Reforged (while supplies last)

Disney has had a busy month on Instagram. First, it announced Buzz Lightyear’s refurbishment at Magic Kingdom. Now, Disney Live Entertainment has shared a brief time-lapse of the work going on inside the Sunset Showcase Theatre for the new Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After show. I have embedded the Instagram story below.

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A post shared by Disney Live Entertainment (@disneyliveentertainment)

Separately, Disney has also shared that “Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After” and “The Little Mermaid: A Musical Adventure” will both open on May 27th inside Hollywood Studios. This will bring much-needed capacity back into the park before MuppetVision 3D closes for good on June 7th.

Epic Universe preparations are in full swing! Express Pass sales have started for Epic Universe and combinations of parks for the general public but over in the park itself, cast member previews began earlier this month. Along with the previews we also, finally, have some in park photos courtesy of Universal. There are no non-official photos as yet because there is a blanket ban on photography for preview guests while Universal Creative put the finishing touches to the park but the photos shared by Universal, although clearly staged, look absolutely gorgeous.

Harry Potter fans listen up, I have some exciting news for you! Universal has released an updated 2nd iteration of their interactive wands allowing guests to interact with each Harry Potter land in new ways.

The new wands light up and feature haptic feedback when casting spells and interacting, neither of which are available in the original version of the wands.

5 new special effects have been added to existing lands in Universal Studios and Islands Of Adventure bringing the total number of interactions to 30 over Hogsmesad and Diagon Alley. Hogsmesad has 2 new experiences while Diagon Alley Has 3.

Knockturn Alley Staircase – defend yourself by conjuring your patronus after a dementor emerges from within the dimly lit staircase.

Ariadne’s Spinners – cast a spell to repel spiders before they take over the newspaper-covered glass windows.

Knockturn Alley Sky – cast a spell into the nighttime sky to control a storm or counter-spell to calm the sky.

Duelling Club Tent – In Hogsmeade, guests can cast a spell to bring an abandoned duelling dummy to life and test their duelling spells ability.

The Owl Post – cast a spell to freeze mischievous pixies as they dart across the window and hide behind packages.

The new wands come in 4 different designs and integrate with the Universal Orlando app where guests can create a profile and embark on quests and timed challenges while tracking their journey through the world of Harry Potter.

Until now the wands offered a singular experience, but version 2 allows Harry Potter fans to connect with the world they love on a narrative journey. This is just the first step Universal has taken in bringing live-action role-playing (LARPing) into its parks.

When Epic Universe opens guests in Wizarding Paris will be able to search for the Niffler, a magical creature and embark on a search for the Philosopher’s Stone. Universal has also upgraded existing interactive stations with new tech and effects for users of the existing wands.

Universal has also shared a first look at retail experiences in Epic Universe when it opens. Each of the 5 themed lands will feature its own merchandise and F&B locations along with larger stores in Celestial Park. In total, there will be 20 immersive merchandise locations throughout the park. Here is a brief rundown of some of the experiences you will find.

Celestial Park will have several shops selling some merchandise that you can find inside each land but not all so if you spot something you like make a note of where it is. Various Emporia will house 3 separate shops; Sensorium Emporium, North Star – Wintry Wonders and Lens Flair.

On a quarterly earnings call, executives confirmed that there will be no official hotel openings until 2027. The original timeline for 2 hotels at SeaWorld with the first boutique experience opening next to Discovery Cove in 2026 has been pushed back.

No reason has specifically been given for the delay aside from a slide titled “Strategic Initiatives Update” saying that onsite hotels remain a long-term goal of the company and that the “ultimate decision will be in the best interest of the company and its stakeholders”.

On the same call Marc Swanson, CEO of United Parks, SeaWorld’s owner, shared that United Parks is “in discussions with multiple potential IP partners to feature globally recognized IP in rides, attractions, and other activations in our parks”. He didn’t elaborate on any timelines or which brands they are in discussions with although there has been a long-term agreement to use Sesame Street characters through properties in United Park’s portfolio for the last few years.

Expedition Odyssey will open this spring at SeaWorld Orlando (they are running out of weeks so expect an imminent opening). Replacing the ageing but still fun Wild Arctic simulator attraction that closed in 2020, Expedition Odyssey will “blend cutting-edge technology with real-world video footage, delivering an immersive experience that transports guests into the heart of one of Earth’s most extreme environments”.

Featuring a state-of-the-art motion system guests will glide, dive and soar through a breath taking arctic landscape. Race alongside marine life, dodge falling icebergs and navigate powerful currents guests will leave the attraction feeling part of the environment.

Through pioneering underwater cinematography and advanced filming techniques, SeaWorld hired an award-winning production team to venture into some of the most remote arctic wilderness to document the area’s most iconic wildlife and scenery.

A proposed Florida Bill amendment aims to clear up the murky area around gratuities (tips). This is particularly prevalent with international visitors, some of whom may not realise the importance of tipping when in Florida and the United States in general. If passed, the amendment would include the following:

• An automatic gratuity can be added for a party of six or more guests
• The restaurant must detail who is receiving the automatic gratuity — server, waitstaff, etc. This includes informing customers how much they are receiving and what percentage. They don’t have to do this currently
• This must be explained on the receipt as well as the menu
• If service is not up to par, then as now, the customer does not have to pay

The amendments are in direct response to customer concerns that automatic gratuity in Florida is getting out of hand, particularly in the quick service sector.

Most establishments already charge an automatic gratuity of 18% for parties of 6 people or more at table service restaurants, but some establishments have started charging for fewer than 6 people. The bill amendment aims to clarify what the service charge is for an who will be receiving it.

This it for this feature-packed month. I’ll be back in a few weeks with another update for you to enjoy.