In light of the impending landfall of Hurricane Ian thru central Florida, most major theme parks have announced closures for Wednesday and Thursday. So far, Disney World, Universal, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Legoland have confirmed closures of all of their Florida parks, as well as Disney Springs and CityWalk.
I expect that all other area attractions will be closing soon as well. Depending on the results of the hurricane, the closures may be extended. Double check before you go, if you still plan on going this week.
Universal Studios Orlando has confirmed that their super popular Halloween Horror Nights event will be back better than ever this year! It will take place on select nights between Sept 2 – Oct 31, 2022. Tickets are on sale now!
If you don’t know, this is an after hours, separate ticketed event that takes place at the Universal Studios park. It is a haunted house, frights and gore type event, so not for the feint of heart. There will be 10 haunted houses, 5 scare zones, 2 live shows, and of course, themed foods and merchandise.
If you want to get an idea of what the frights are like, search for some videos from prior years on YouTube. Definitely make sure you know what it entails.
For more details, check the official Universal site for this event:
This is a very popular event, and certain days, such as Halloween, will likely sell out quickly. Buy your tickets soon on the Universal site above if you’re planning to go.
Universal Orlando, Disney World Orlando, and Disneyland California just announced that masks will no longer be required in indoor attractions and settings for vaccinated guests. This is in effect already at Universal Orlando and starts Feb 17, 2022 for both Disney parks. They will still be required on transportation, such as shuttles, buses, monorails, and the Skyliner.
Here’s the text snippet from the Disney World site:
Beginning February 17, 2022, face coverings will be optional for fully vaccinated guests in both outdoor and indoor locations. We expect Guests who are not fully vaccinated to continue wearing face coverings in all indoor locations, including indoor attractions and theaters. Face coverings will still be required by all Guests (ages 2 and up) on enclosed Disney transportation, including Disney buses, monorails, and Disney Skyliner.
UPDATE: As of March 15, 2022, masks are optional for vaccinated guests on the Skyliner also.
Here’s the snippet from the Disneyland site:
Beginning February 17, 2022, face coverings are required for unvaccinated Guests (ages 2 and older) in all indoor locations, including throughout indoor attractions and indoor queues. Face coverings are required for all Guests, regardless of vaccination status, in certain indoor settings including Disney shuttles and in health settings, such as in First Aid. Face coverings are optional for Guests in outdoor areas.
Here’s the snippet from the Universal Orlando site:
Face coverings are optional for fully vaccinated guests. For guests who have not been vaccinated, face coverings are encouraged while indoors.
For the full details on this and other current restrictions, refer to the following pages from the parks:
As of this writing, Universal Hollywood and other parks have not announced any changes to their mask requirements, but be sure to check the website for each park before you go.
The months of January and February are usually when the Universal theme parks like to do annual maintenance on their rides, especially water rides. Make sure to check each parks’ refurbishment calendar when planning your trip dates to make sure a favorite ride won’t be closed.
Below are just some main ones that I’m seeing as of this writing. In the calendars, scroll down to the Temporary Ride Closures section of each park, for the days that you’re considering. You have to open these in a browser, not the Universal app, for the Closures information to show up. They’re listed right before the calendar.
At Universal Orlando, the Revenge of the Mummy ride at Universal Studios and some of the water rides at Islands of Adventure have closed for refurbishment. Shrek 4D has closed permanently.
Check the calendars often, especially if your trip is still several months or even weeks away, since closures and dates for their reopening can fluctuate often. Closures do happen year-round, not just on January and February.
Of course, this applies to any other theme parks, or any other attraction/location, that you may be interested in going to as well. Always check their websites before you lock in your travel plans and before your trip dates, for any closures and changes. Or, you can use a travel agent, like me, who will stay on top of any changes for you. 😁
Let me know if you want any help figuring these out.
The popular Mardi Gras parade will be returning this year! Catch beads flying through the air as you enjoy a dazzling Mardi Gras parade with authentic floats direct from New Orleans. This year’s parade features six brand new floats along with six traditional favorite floats.
Note: there is no Mardi Gras parade on April 1, 2 and 8.
On select nights, there will be live concerts by some pretty big names, including Styx, Khalid, Marshmello, Diana Ross and more live on the Music Plaza Stage. Get there early! Check the site often for updates to the lineup.
Of course, there will be plenty of treats, from sizzling New Orleans specialties to flavors inspired by tastes from around the world, available for purchase. Be sure to visit the Mardi Gras food kiosks located throughout the park.
Access to the parade and concerts are included with the standard park entry ticket to the Universal Studios park. Make sure that you start your day in that park, not Islands of Adventure, if you don’t have park-to-park tickets.
There has been so much news from Disney lately that it has dominated the blog, but I love Universal too! Here’s a rundown on several happenings at Universal Orlando.
Halloween Horror Nights has been in full swing on select nights since early Sept and will go til Oct 31st. If you’re into scary thrills n chills, this may be for you. There are shows, haunted houses, scare actors roaming all around, and, of course, food and merch. Make sure you know what you’re getting into before you go though. This could be intense and not an event for the faint of heart. It is extremely popular though, so check for ticket availability before you make any plans.
Voodoo Donuts has a secret menu Pumpkin Spice donut, only available if you order via the Universal Orlando app. Details here.
Holiday festivities will begin Nov 13th and run thru Jan 2, 2022. This year, the Grinchmas show, Hogwarts projection show, and Macy’s parade will take place! Of course, there will be plenty of themed foods n merch and the lands will all be decked out. More details to come.
Shrek 4D is going to close permanently in January 2022. If you like that show, catch it now! No word on what’s going to replace it yet.
Revenge of the Mummy is closing for a lengthy refurbishment from Jan 7th to late summer 2022. If this is your must-do ride, you should plan your trip before or after this timeframe. No word on what they’re doing that’ll take so long though.
Mardi Gras is returning in full force from Feb 5 – Apr 24, 2022 . There will be parades, concerts, foods, and all sorts of fun! For more details, check this post from Universal, where you can also sign up to get notifications on the concert lineup.
We love Universal as much as Disney, especially the Harry Potter areas. They did an amazing job recreating those lands. If you like thrill coasters, the Velocicoaster and several others around the parks will be right up your alley. Each park has it’s own merits and are fun in their own different ways. We’ve often done trips where we go to both Disney and Universal. It’s ok to love both!
That’s all the news for now. I’ll post updates as I get them. If you want to chat about a possible Universal trip, feel free to contact me.
Bonus news! If you’ve read this far, you deserve this treat. Universal Japan just announced a partnership with Pokemon! No details on what they’re doing yet, but after seeing the videos on what they did with Nintendo, I bet this will be just as amazing! Can’t wait! Start saving now for a Japan trip!
The Universal parks are starting to open now. Of course, Covid safety protocols have been put in place, so be sure to know before you go. Keep up to date here, and feel free to contact me if you want any help planning your trip.
Well, we had a full, week-long Universal and Disney World trip all planned out for Spring Break week in early April, as part of some agent training. It’s something we actually haven’t done in a while, we’ve just been doing long-weekend trips lately. However, with the Coronavirus situation, that has now been canceled. Of course, we’re bummed, but we also understand that it’s necessary. We figured the announcements were coming that both parks were closing longer. They finally said it today, so it’s official now that we’re not going.
Of course, there are way worse things happening in the world now than us missing a trip and many people are being affected worse, so this is really nothing in the scheme of things. We’re also facing the same college and high school closings/online classes, working from home, and shelter in place restrictions as most of you, but luckily, doing fine so far. Hopefully, you are too. Crossing fingers!
I’m sure many of you are disappointed over canceled trips and other events too, and those feelings are valid. But, once we deal for a bit and put things into perspective, we can only move on from here. Eventually, things will get back to normal, albeit, probably a new normal. Hopefully, everyone will get to do what they missed again. For now, we can only have a little hope and look forward to the future.
So, we’ve decided that we will still take our trip, but virtually instead! We will do it online, just like classes are online nowadays. We will experience the parks and “ride” the rides (via YouTube videos), “eat” the foods (using some imagination), and maybe try things we’re not able to do in person (we’ll see)! Calories don’t count, and money won’t be real, so time to go wild, right? We’ll try to describe things as much as we can so that you can visualize and follow along.
Perhaps, this will give you a little bit of fun and needed escape in your quarantined lives too. Maybe, it’ll give you ideas for your future trips as well. We’ll base it on our past trip experiences so you that you can see what a real trip could be like. I’ll throw in tips n tricks along the way.
In fact, now that we’re all home more, it is a perfect time to start researching and planning future trips. Just don’t book anything non-refundable until things become more stable. Ping me if you want help.
So, join us and follow along. In fact, let’s all pretend we’re going together! Group trip!
This will be a 7 day trip during the first week of April, covering all three Universal parks (Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay) and four Disney World parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom)!
Click on the links for each day below. The content will be added as they “happen” (several times a day approximately between 8am – 10pm ET, like a normal park day). Follow along all day or check in for the final results at the end of the day. Feel free to add comments on what you want to do on future days, and we’ll try to incorporate them.
Let’s start packing! We’re flying down tonight! See you there!
Join us on our virtual Spring Break trip!
Disclaimer: The videos and photos that I’ll use are all publicly posted online. Credit goes to the original creators. I am not affiliated with any of them. They are bloggers that have the content relevant for our trip. For this, we’ll pretend we’re going along with them as well.
Adventures By Anne 