There are several updates for Universal Orlando.

In case you missed it, Halloween Horror Nights is taking place now through November 4, 2023.

There’s a new Blumhouse Photo Experience in the CityWalk Promenade. Experience photo ops with scenes from The Exorcist, M3gan, Black Phone, and Five Nights at Freddy’s from 3pm-11pm on all Halloween Horror Nights event dates (except 10/26). All CityWalk guests are welcome.

Halloween Horror Nights multi-night “Fear” Passes are sold out for the remainder of the 2023 event nights. Single-night tickets for select nights through November 4th remain available for purchase.

There’s an exciting new update to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ Exclusive Vacation Package. For bookings starting on September 28, 2023, you will now receive the Special Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour™ Flight in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley™ featuring four hard-pack flavors and a Honeydukes™ Cooler Tote!

The Universal Volcano Bay water park will be closed seasonally on select dates starting on October 31st. These dates are subject to change. Check the park hours calendar for up-to-date park hours before your trip to any of the parks.

Buy a 3-day ticket and get 2 more days free! You get 5 days to experience all of Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure. Upgrade to include Volcano Bay and/or to go to multiple parks a day with park-to-park tickets. More details here.

Feel free to contact me if you would like me to help plan your Universal trip.

Pics © Universal Studios

The Minions have their own land in Universal Studios Florida now! Minion Land on Illumination Avenue officially opens today, August 11, 2023, at Universal Orlando Resort. This immersive new land will put guests in the middle of Minion mayhem.

Villain-Con Minion Blast is a new attraction that “blends immersive sets, interactive game-based technology, and an original storyline for a first-of-its-kind attraction that puts guests’ villainous skills to the test to see if they have what it takes to become a member of the Vicious 6 – a notorious group of supervillains from the hit film, ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru'”. You will stand on a moving walkway type mechanism with your blaster and prove your villainous skills as you move through the various scenarios.

After all that villainous fun, you can continue the mayhem in the Disposable Me Minion Mayhem attraction. This simulator ride turns you into a minion and engages you in humourous family-friendly mischief. There doesn’t seem to be any change to this ride if you’re already familiar with it.

Of course, you should stay hydrated and fed after all that mayhem. The new Illumination’s Minion Cafe will provide you with an “entertaining dining experience that features three themed areas designed after beloved Minions Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto: the Kitchen, the Breakroom, and the Dining Room”. It will feature many items inspired by the Minions franchise. There will also be an express window with a limited menu if you just want to grab something quickly.

Several other locations around the land will provide more refreshments and retail therapy.

Bake My Day is a fun bakery and shop featuring Minion-themed sweet treats and merchandise.

Pop-A-Nana features sweet and savory popcorn, including a special banana flavor, inspired by the Minions’ love for bananas.

Freeze Ray Pops serves refreshing frozen treats inspired by Gru, the Minions, and Vector.

Evil Stuff is a new retail store offering Villain-Con and Minions merchandise.

Illumination Theater is a new location with photo ops and meet n greets with characters from Illumination films like Minions and Sing.

This new land sounds like a lot of fun. Are you excited to check it out?

Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about a Universal trip.

©Universal Studios

Sorry for any confusion!

My post about the Orlando Informer ticket sales starting “today” was supposed to be scheduled to go out the wee early morning of June 6th, but it looks like it got posted this morning, which is the 5th. So ignore all those references to “today”. They actually will go on sale tomorrow, the real June 6th at 10am ET. Sorry again!

Here’s the post again:

• Winter 2023 Orlando Informer Tickets

Enjoy the rest of today before the ticket sale hunger games tomorrow! LoL

Alert! Tickets for the Winter 2023 Orlando Informer events go on sale at 10am ET, June 6, 2023! Queue up early!

The Orlando Informer events give you private evening hours at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure parks in Orlando after their normal closing times. You can ride all the rides with much shorter wait times, enjoy special event bonuses, and indulge in unlimited select food and non-alcoholic beverages from the park restaurants and food stands. Yes, unlimited butterbeer!!

OI ticket holders can then book a Universal resort room for significant savings on June 7th.

The Winter 2023 Orlando Informer dates are:

• November 17-18
• December 1-2
• December 8-9

This year, they are also holding Mini Meetups that just run for several hours in Islands of Adventure park only and are limited to those 18 years+. Tickets for these go on sale today as well.

The Mini Meetup dates are:

• November 16
• December 7

You can just buy individual nights or do both nights of one weekend for some slight savings. The registration fee for the OI Meetup is $229 for Friday night, $244 for Saturday night, or $363 for Friday and Saturday, plus processing and tax.

Even though the event’s official start time is after the normal park closing time for that day, you can enter the parks at 5pm and enjoy a few hours of the park rides and shows that may not be available during the Meetup hours. The Winter dates will allow you to see the parks decorated for the holidays and you should be able to catch the iconic Macy’s Christmas parade in Universal Studios if you enter at 5pm.

We did our first Orlando Informer event last December and then did another last February. Check out our Dec 2022 Trip Recap for a summary of our experience there. There were events this past weekend too, so you can catch some YouTube videos coming out now. We didn’t go to these this time.

For more details about the events or to buy tickets, visit the Orlando Informer site:

• Winter 2023 Orlando Informer

These Orlando Informer events are very limited and extremely popular, so tickets can sell out fast. If you’re interested in going, I recommend you hop online a little before 10am ET and join the virtual queue to buy tix as soon as you can.

If you want to chat about Orlando Informer events, feel free to contact me.

At Universal Studios Orlando, Mardi Gras starts today! There will be live concerts, dazzling parades, plenty of beads, and lots of delicious food! This festival will be held on select nights from February 4 – April 16, 2023.

The main highlight of Mardi Gras is the big parade, right? So, Universal will have a spectacular parade with six new floats straight from New Orleans! Of course, the old favorites will return as well. Check the Universal app for dates and times.

You can catch plenty of beads as a spectator, or you can sign up to throw beads yourself from the floats. Spaces are limited though, so sign up in the Universal app as soon as the Virtual Queue window opens each day or book a float dining package, if available.

On select nights, there will be live performances on the Music Plaza Stage, kicking off with Patti LaBelle tonight, Feb 4th! Check the Universal Concert Lineup for the most up to date listing of performers and showtimes.

Of course, you can’t have a party without food! There will be many new foods this year, as well as some past favorites! Explore traditional Cajun favorites and international dishes inspired by Carnaval celebrations around the world.

Visit the International Flavors of Carnaval menu page to see what foods and beverages each booth is offering. Don’t forget to check out CityWalk and the Universal resorts for their share of Mardi Gras food as well.

For more details on Universal’s Mardi Gras celebration, visit the Mardi Gras event page.

Join in the festivities! We’ll be there!

Feel free to ping me if you’d like to chat about a Universal trip.

Pics © Universal.

The holidays have started at Universal Orlando! Join the Grinch, Manheim Steamroller, and our friends in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for all sorts of fun!

See the Grinchmas Wholiday Spectacular for a live retelling of the classic holiday tale starring the Grinch. You can also meet the Grinch himself and Earl the Squirrel, Universal’s mini celebrity, at various times of the day.

Listen to joyous holiday tunes by Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees, the Frog Choir, and the iconic holiday sensation, Manheim Steamroller. Manheim Steamroller will play live performances on the Music Plaza Stage at 7pm on Dec 3, 4, 10, & 11. Admission included with your park ticket.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will join in the festivities with holiday decor and the gorgeous projection show against the Hogwarts Castle on most nights from dusk to park close.

Don’t miss the fun holiday parade featuring the gigantic Macy’s parade balloons, popular Universal characters, and of course, Santa Claus!

Of course, there will be plenty of holiday themed food for your belly and merchandise for your shopping list.

Special events include The Grinch™ & Friends Character Breakfast. Join the mean green one himself and the Whos too for a morning feast. Start your day with a tasty buffet with food and fun for everyone. Additional ticket purchase required.

You can also join in the celebration with the Universal Holiday Tour on this 4.5 hour evening event. Experience special meet and greets, foods, shows, and more during a special walking tour around the parks. Additional ticket purchase required.

We plan to join in the holiday fun at Universal this year. Stay tuned for trip reports. Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about a Universal trip.

Pics © Universal