Welcome to another beautiful day here at the Universal Orlando Resort. It’s a slow day around the parks, but things are going to be busy this weekend for Rock the Universe and next weekend for Mardi Gras. Let’s check out what’s happening around both of the parks today. First stop is to Universal Studios Florida.
Villain-Con Minion Blast is opening this summer, along with the new Minion Cafe, and construction seems to be picking up on both projects. A few new details were added to the signs at the entrance of the attraction and we spotted banners hanging in the queue.
The Minion Cafe is really growing! There’s a lot of new steel rising up from behind the construction walls. Check out this post if you want to take a closer look at our latest update to this area of the park.
Food booths are getting ready for Mardi Gras, even though menus have not been released. We spotted a few hints, so if you’re curious, take a look at our post here for more details. All signs point to the return of the Ube Bubble Waffle, too!
Speaking of the return of seasonal favorites, the San Francisco Beer Company near the exit of Fast and Furious: Supercharged now has a vegan hand pie that might look familiar. Coffin-shaped snack, anyone? The Sambusa Coffins from Halloween Horror Nights have risen from the grave, similar to the Pizza Skulls, and can be found at this small stand here. Grab them before they’re gone!
Rock the Universe is happening this weekend and stages are set up around the park for the event. Shows will be taking place on the stage in Music Plaza, Delancey Street in the New York part of the park, and by Central Park across from Mel’s Drive-In. Signs are up for the showtimes at the Music Plaza stage.
Richter’s has been closed most of this month for refurbishment, but we’re hopeful it will reopen by the time Mardi Gras starts. It’s going to get busy once the event season starts on February 4.
The exit to Universal Studios Florida has been blocked off by construction walls and we anticipate they will be getting new scanners that can be used as entrances during busy days. We saw Islands of Adventure do something similar with their new, themed entry points.
There were walls around the small park entrance near Guest Services, but those have come down now, and it looks like we have a glimpse of what the new scanners will look like. These aren’t as thrilling as the ones at Islands of Adventure, but we’ll take them. Anything to get into the park faster.
It looks like a taste of Mardi Gras could be coming to Islands of Adventure. Food booths have popped up in Port of Entry. We’re excited to see Mardi Gras expand into Islands of Adventure a little bit.
The Owl Post in Hogsmeade has gotten a little bit of an update. They’ve changed the set up a bit and moved the furniture around. You’ll find the Owl Post mailbox is on the opposite side now. When we first walked up, we thought it had been completely removed, but thankfully, it’s just on the side facing the lockers. Did you know you can mail postcards from Hogsmeade and get a special postmark? There’s also one in Diagon Alley.
This Hagrid toy was very popular and sold out quickly when it first released, but has finally been restocked. We spotted him at the cart near the exit of the attraction, close to the stage in Hogsmeade.
Jurassic Park River Adventure is still closed for refurbishment and we can see a crew is working on patching the hole from Hurricane Ian. Spared no expense!
That’s all for our visit to the Universal Orlando Resort today. Thanks for joining us around the parks, and be sure to stay tuned for more updates!
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