Bitesize Orlando November 2023 – Issue 29

Welcome to the penultimate update for this year! November already? Where has the time gone?! We’ve got some great things to look forward to in Orlando next year and the parks have been slowly dripping more details out so let’s get straight onto the news.

As always, click a link in the contents to jump to the story or read the whole article for a complete overview.

Disney has updated the My Disney Experience App with 2 more experiences over the next few weeks. Joining TRON Lightcycle Run in Magic Kingdom and Guardians Of The Galaxy Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT, guests to the Jollywood Nights premium ticketed event in Hollywood Studios will be able to request a virtual spot for Star Wars Rise Of The Resistance (this won’t be available during normal operating hours, only during Jollywood Nights). Spaces in the virtual queue will only become available from 8 PM.

Santa has also taken up residence in Disney Springs in the Once Upon A Toy store just in time for Christmas! If you want to meet with Santa you can request to join the virtual queue at 9:00 AM, 11:30 AM, 2:00 PM, 4:30 PM, or 7:00 PM once you are in Disney Springs.

Ahead of its debut in a few short days at EPCOT, Disney has shared a first look at the brand-new Luminous Symphony Of Us fireworks extravaganza. As per the press release:

Featuring dazzling fireworks, fountains, lights and music to connect us all through commonalities of the heart, this all-new show shines a light on how each of our unique melodies comes together to form a great symphony – the symphony of us

A Disney spokeperson on the new EPCOT nighttime spectacular

The new show ticks all the right boxes on paper including a rousing score, blistering pyrotechnics, fountains and lots more but the proof will come later this week when we can get our first look at EPCOT’s brand-new daily fireworks extravaganza. Until then, look at the sneak peek of the making of the new show I have embedded below.

November 20th and 21st marked another milestone for Disney World when Genie+ prices reached a new record high in Magic Kingdom.

Genie+ is Disney’s paid-for premium queue option. Guests need to reserve spaces at select attractions during given time slots when they will be permitted to enter the faster-moving Lightning Lane queue. The price of Genie+ fluctuates depending on the park you want to visit and the day you would like to visit.

Magic Kingdom is typically the most expensive for Genie+ as it has the most attractions available so for guests with park hopper tickets, the multiple-park Genie+ option usually follows Magic Kingdom pricing which hit a new high earlier in November.

On November 20th and 21st Genie+ for Magic Kingdom hit $35 per person for each day meaning those that wanted to park hop with Gneie+ for the day also had to pay $35 for the privilege no matter whether they wanted to visit Magic Kingdom or not.

Below I have listed the Genie+ pricing for all parks for these days for reference.

• Multiple Parks (only valid with Park Hopper tickets): $35
• Magic Kingdom: $35
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $32
• EPCOT: $28
• Animal Kingdom: $25

If you are heading to Disney World in late January you will need to make a note that Magic Kingdom will be closing at 4:30 PM on the 29th of January 2024 due to the annual cast service celebration event.

Cast service celebrations are held for cast members who have reached milestones in their employment ranging from 10 up to 50 years.

Park opening hours are currently listed as 9 AM to 4:30 PM. Eary entry for guests staying in a Disney-owned hotel or close partner hotel will be from 8:30 AM.

If you want to peek into what a cast service celebration event looks like have a look at the video below.

Photo validation is one way Universal Orlando is looking at reducing friction for visitors. We already know it will play a role in Epic Universe when it opens as Universal look to open the most technologically advanced theme park in the world, a theme park that removes countless friction points from our experiences and a park that truly immerses us in the experiences within.

Ahead of Epic Universe opening, photo validation has been in technical rehearsal at neighbouring Islands Of Adventure since last month. Now Universal Studios has joined the photo party, photo validation will likely be here to stay but it will be refined as we get closer to Epic Universe’s opening date in Summer 2025.

If you’re interested in how Universal will use photo validation and how it treats your data, it’s all laid out in Universal Orlando’s privacy policy page but I will summarize the main points of photo validation.

Photo validation is not mandatory, you will even be able to opt out of it when Epic Universe opens. Without photo validation, you must provide a photographic ID along with your ticket to gain park entry. There is no mention of entering parks using your fingerprint instead of your photo which insinuates that fingerprints will no longer be used for validation once photo validation is up and running.

From the initial photo, a template is created as a baseline profile using multiple identifying markers. Every time you enter a park, attraction or experience that uses photo validation your photo is compared to the original baseline image to confirm you are the registered user of that ticket and you are entitled to the benefits (ie; park hopping, park entry, and in the future maybe even Express Pass lines).

Data will be kept no longer than 6 months beyond the date of the expiration of the ticket which is the same length of time they hold your fingerprint data for using the current entry system.

Loews, the hotel chain that operates Universal Orlando Resort hotels on behalf of Universal, has accidentally announced the name of one of Epic Universe’s hotels along with an opening date. The web page, which has since been taken down, confirmed park benefits will also be extended to the new hotels.

As has long been expected, the 2 hotels currently under construction just outside Epic Universe will be called Universal Stella Nova Resort and the sister property Universal Terra Luna Resort. Both hotels will each feature 750 rooms, resort-style pools and all the usual amenities you come to expect from a comfort-level hotel at Universal.

“where galaxies spiral ever outward, and unknown worlds revolve around unnamed stars, Universal Stella Nova Resort, opening January 21, 2025, is your new gateway to Universal Orlando Resort.”

Part of the wording on the new Loews lnding page for Stella Nova Resort. As of the 14th November the page leads to a 404 error until an official announcement nearer the park opening.

Universal Stella Nova Resort will (hopefully) open on the 21st of January 2025 and all resort guest benefits will be extended to hotel guests of the resort, namely:

• Complimentary shuttles between the north and south campus
• Early entry to the Wizarding World in either Islands Of Adventure or Universal Studios (date dependent)
• Early entry (1 hour or 30 minutes depending on the time of year) to Volcano Bay Water Park.
• Resort charging privileges and complimentary merchandise delivery to your room from resort stores.

We also have some new artist impression images of Universal Stella Nova Resort courtesy of Loew’s slip-up showing the lobby, dining area and the outdoor resort-style pool area.

According to the now deleted website page, check-in will be at 4 PM with check-out set at 11 AM. Overnight parking is listed at $18 per car with unofficial day guest parking at $45. Universal has a long-form marketing campaign ready for the new park and hotels so we should expect to see more details coming out of Universal regarding Epic Universe and the new hotels from next summer.

Seaworld has taken to social media to announce more details of the Penguin Trek family roller coaster coming to the Antarctica section of the park in Spring 2024. The roller coaster has replaced the former Antarctica: Empire Of The Penguin trackless dark ride which permanently closed through COVID although I missed an official announcement.

They were also present with Bolliger & Mabillard who are constructing this coaster at the IAAPA Amusement Industry Convention this month in Orlando to show off the new ride cars for the attraction which will be themed around a snowmobile.

Part of the 3,020 feet of track will take place indoors recreating an arctic wilderness using multimedia and special effects before launching riders outdoors for a thrilling finale that concludes with the existing penguin habitat that re-opened in 2012 following a massive overhaul and the addition of the dark ride. It was Seaworld’s first real stab at properly immersing guests in an environment and won multiple awards but it was very tame, even on the most thrilling setting.

The new roller coaster will help Seaworld keep its self-titled moniker of the Theme Pak Capital Of Orlando. Penguin Trek will be Seaworld’s 8th rollercoaster. Regarding thrills and height requirements, it will be somewhere between Grover Coaster in Sesame Streel Land and Ice Breaker near Shamu Stadium which was originally marketed with a 42-inch height requirement before being revised up to 48 inches pre-opening.

Have a sneak peek inside the now-defunct Empire Of The Penguin ride area with Clint Brinker, Vice President of design and engineering as Seaworld prepares Antarctica for new thrills with chills in 2024.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SeaWorld Orlando (@seaworldorlando)

Directly after the announcement of Phoenix Rising, the park’s 10th roller coaster following the demolition of Sand Serpent to make way for Phoenix Rising, Busch Gardens has announced more changes coming for 2024.

They are hard at work on a new ice skating show scheduled to debut for the summer season and a new animal show is coming to the Pantopia Theatre not far from Phoenix Rising. The show will evolve during its run and feature rescued animals that end up in Busch Gardens’ care. The Pantopia area is getting a lot of love this winter. Hopefully, these new additions and changes to the area will give Pantopia less of a carnival feel as most of the area is filled with game stalls.

Nearer the park entrance the Kangaloom interactive kangaroo and wallaby exhibit will be getting a lush green makeover. Now, don’t get me started on how an Australian marsupial finds a home in a theme park dedicated to the African continent but there you go. Anyway, getting back on course, the whole area will be getting a lusher green setting and new frontages.

Neighbouring water park Adventure Island will be getting its 4th straight year of additions with a new family water play area called Castaway Falls featuring multiple slides, over 100 water play interactions and 3 water dump buckets.

I will keep you up to date with work on all these additions as they come along but in the meantime, if you are planning on visiting Busch Gardens before the year’s end you can enjoy the popular Christmas Town event that runs from now through to January the 7th.

Legoland Florida has announced 2 new additions to the 150-acre resort for the 2024 season. The first is an expansion of the Ferrari multi-territory IP relationship that has seen Lego Ferrari Build and Race centres open at parks in Billund in Denmark, California in the U.S. and also our very own Legoland in Windsor.

Now a part owner of the Merlin group following a multi-billion pound deal to take Merlin private in 2019, Legoland Florida is introducing their own Sea Life Centre to the park in 2024. It will join 50 others operated by the group worldwide.

“our final exhibit is going to culminate in this beautiful tank, which is going to the theme park under the sea. So you’ll see these beautiful coral seascapes celebrating what makes Central Florida special in the theme park world.

“It’s going to be the world’s first theme park under the sea for the fish.”

Kelly Hornick, Head of Marketing & Communications for Legoland Florida on the new Sea Life Centre

Lego Ferrari Build & Race is slated to open in Spring 2024 while the Sea Life Centre will debut sometime in the autumn next year at Legoland Florida.

Thanks for reading, that’s it for this short update, I want to wish everyone a very happy Christmas. I will be back with my final 2023 update from Florida on New Year’s Eve.