BB1's 2025 Trip Reports

[BB1]

To think we're two months into the year and I've already had two weekend trips to Orlando, I think it's the perfect time to start my 2025 Trip Report thread!

For context, YTD I've done the following parks:

Universal Studios Orlando: 4 visits (2 per weekend)

Islands of Adventure: 4 Visits (2 per weekend)

Disney's Animal Kingdom: 2 visits (1 per weekend)

EPCOT: 2 visits (1 per weekend) 

Hollywood Studios: 2 visits (1 per weekend)

Magic Kingdom: 1 visit (1 weekend)

I'll take the first post to look at Universal's offerings for Mardi Gras as it's honestly something I look forward to every year. 

Mardi Gras, arguably one of the shorter events in the park, it still has a lot of opportunities to bring new food and guest experiences to the park. The Cursed Coconut Club was excellent this year, I loved the theming and decor, but the drink selection was actually not terrible. For those who know the Universal saga on bitters, that's no longer an issue at least with the Aura Glow. Albeit expensive, it was a nice sipper for what it's worth. The theme this year played into the idea you were in the midsts of floats and a Mardi Gras carnival so to speak. With great music to the fortune teller, it is an experience you definitely don't want to miss out on. 

For the food selection I would definitely implore you to try the Pinchos De Lechon, effectively pork skewers with a piece of bread to top it off.  It is honestly my favorite food from the event, the apple strudel was great, the beignets were wonderful. The Category 5 Punch honestly packed a punch, fruity and actually enjoyable, very reminiscent of the goblin juice for HHN. 

The tribute store is arguably one of my favorite ones to date for Mardi Gras. Effectively you are walking through a cryptid museum talking about the lore of the bayou and the cryptids therein. There were plenty of nods to the failures of Animal Kingdom, from a section with colorful dinosaur toys like Dinoland, to the dinosaur relics in the display case, to the coup de gras: Disco Yeti. Yes, you heard me right, disco yeti is in the tribute store. My main gripe is that there wasn't the chance to be in the Tribute Store as like years past, as I would have definitely jumped in on this one after the success of the summer Tribute Store. Another issue is that the merch collection is fairly limited, there were alot of repeats and I feel as if, if they did merchandise in light of the tribute store theme it would go over well with the passholders. Speaking of the passholder offerings, I didn't get a UOAP magnet as I have in years past as the new magnet is one you have to pay for and the design didn't really speak to me. Which was honestly somewhat upsetting as I was looking forward to getting some new bumper magnets for March. 

I think my main take away for 2025 is that even though I have been to the park plenty of times, there is still more to see and do.  Outside of the festivities the park operations are still spectacular, even with the major school groups coming in there is plenty to do around the parks that don't involve waiting in lines. I will say the renovations on the MIB attraction are definitely noticeable, I feel like we got some updated blaster recognition and is arguably my favorite shooting dark ride I've ridden to date.

Tomorrow I'll drop some thoughts on Disney's removal of Dinoland, a review on the EPCOT Festival of the Arts and more!

[BB1]

Walt Disney World:

I've been going to WDW with my pass every other month on average bar some changes since May of last year, primarily as Dinoland has been in transition to removal. That being said I came back down after Dinoland has been removed, being there on it's final few days of operations. Suffice to say it's a shame that WDW couldn't revitalize the unique theme and expand upon it as the removal just looks sad. No matter which quote about progress you put up, it's not the same. I will say for those who saw that the Alioramus is back fully functioning, and the effects are still in gear. In regard to the rest of the park we checked out Expedition Everest, quoted at 25 min, actually waited more like 10. We took one lap around DAK before taking the bus over to Yacht Club to walk over to EPCOT.

Being it was Valentine's Day weekend, I was anticipating a decently sized crowd. That being said, Living with The Land was quoted at 45 and we waited just about 30 min. This will become a reoccurring theme as it feels as if the park purposefully hyper-inflates wait times around the parks. The Festival of the Arts was my main draw, we went over to the Japan pavilion to start out with a sake shot that came in a wooden decorated box with your name in Kanji, the wagyu bao bun and the sushi donut. Overall, I had no problems with any dishes, they were all full of flavor and felt like the quality you would want out of a food event like this.  We also got the beef wellington and the fried mozzarella, all were excellent dishes with no lapses in quality. We topped off our visit with Journey W/ Figment and hopped over to Disney Springs for lunch proper at the Boathouse. 

If you're looking for the classic 90's-00's red, black and white mickey merch, it's finally back at Disney Springs. They also have a new sorcerer mickey line which the hat is reminiscent of what MGM used to have years ago.

We decided after that to head back to USO as crowds were building at Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. I will say however WDW/Orlando in general no longer has a down season. As a child I would be in Orlando in February and have minimal lines, those days are definitely gone with the sports and cheerleading events happening. I would implore you if you're planning on a weekend getaway, be prepared for the crowds, they are still there they're not going anywhere. 

I'll be back in a few weeks with another Orlando update, pendant on whether or not I decide to come down in March or just wait for April to do passholder previews for Epic! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

[Diamondback_Is_King]

@BB1 I'm so excited to hear what you think of Epic! I still don't know how the Metro Floo is going to work, but I'm so hyped!