Thousands of photos taken last week at Universal Epic Universe have been sorted, and are currently being generated into a gallery. It will take a day or so to get it all complete and uploaded, but they will be in the Universal-SeaWorld gallery:
https://us-sw.disneyfans.com
I have also fixed some mistakes (misspelling of “Sapphire Falls”, having the wrong Water Taxi destination, moving some files to where they need to be), but nothing significant.
There are also new photos from Universal Studios Florida, CityWalk, Islands of Adventure, and resorts such as the new Stella Nova, and visits to Aventura, Hard Rock Hotel, and even Grand Helios Hotel (with its downstairs bar, and upstairs bar). Lots of new stuff in this one.
And Discovery Cove still needs to be sorted, including underwater photos from the SeaVenture uncharge experience.
More to come…
Author: Allen
Did Disney World Christmas lights end up in Missouri?
During a recent trip to Orlando, I heard an interesting tidbit concerning the fate of the The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney/MGM Studios. Disney had this display in their park from 1995 until 2016, when it was removed due to construction of the new Star Wars land. Here are some photos I took in 2006:
https://wdw.disneyfans.com/DisneyMGMStudios/DMGM2006/OsborneFamilyFestivalOfLights/index.html
A bartender at one of the Universal resorts heard us mention Silver Dollar City and came over. He was originally from Arkansas, and that is where the Osborne’s originally had their display before it went to Walt Disney World.
He said that Silver Dollar City ended up with (some of?) these displays after they were removed from Disney, but they were not allowed to mention where they came from. This is similar to when certain off-the-shelf rides from Disney ended up somewhere else, but the new owner was not supposed to tell folks “it’s a Disney ride!”
Indeed, when we first visited the Silver Dollar City event in 2024, there were a number of displays that really reminded us of the Disney/MGM displays.
He said there were side-by-side photos online that showed some of the former Disney displays and the current Silver Dollar City ones.
Does anyone reading this know more? Please leave a comment. If we drive down to SDC this Christmas season, I may take the photos I took at D/MGM with me and see if I can spot anything that looks like a match.
Until then…
Epic Universe: Islands of Adventure 2.0?
TL:DNR – Gushing posts about how epic many things in Universal Epic Universe are will be coming. But there are already some maintenance issues that are a bummer to see.
After spending two days visiting Universal Epic Universe within four months of the public opening in May 2025, I find myself comparing it to when I visited Islands of Adventure in November 1999, just six months after that parked opened in May 1999.
I will have about 2500 photos from the new park to add to my Universal/SeaWorld photo gallery in the next week or so. I will also be adding photos from the new Stella Nova hotel, as well as new photos from Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove.
It is clear to me that this park sets new standards in theming and experience. Whereas Disney will occasionally throw in a single high end animatronic (the wicked witch from Great Movie Ride or the one in the Pandora Avatar ride, for example), Universal seems to have only put high end animatronics in their two dark rides – Monsters Unleashed and Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. These two rides contain some of, if not the, best animatronics I have ever seen. It seems unlikely Modern Disney(tm) would ever spend that much money in one of their attractions — at least not here in the U.S.A.
Yet, for a park that only opened to the public four months ago, there are already things broken that really shouldn’t be. For example, stairs leading down to the fountain viewing area are roped off due to many cracks…
I fear that “today’s construction” is sub-bar compared to how things were built in the past.
The new “carousel” (calling the Constellation Carousel a “carousel” is doing a disservice to that ride — it is far, far beyond what any of us likely think of when we hear the term “carousel”) already has paint in very bad shape:
There are just two examples, but there were other spots in pavement that had been roped off with similar cracking issues, and areas where the “shiny and new” paint jobs looked like they needed to be redone.
“All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again.”
When I visited Islands of Adventure for the first time in 1999, I waited six months after public opening to give the park some time to settle in and get things working. Even then, almost nothing in the park was working the first hour or so on the day of that visit. A few hours in, we managed to ride basically everything in the park that we wanted to. The crowds that November were low and lines were short. Islands of Adventure did not end up being the “Disney killer” many had hoped it would be, in spite of amazing theming in some areas. I still miss the Enchanted Oak Restaurant.
But, during that first visit, we noticed shortcuts. On a “castle” column, there were windows. The outside of the windows was nicely painted, but the edges remained unpainted wood.
At the fancy Enhanced Oak, they had nice menu boards, but no lighting installed yet. Instead, they used some clamp-on lights like you might buy at Home Depot. This clashed with the extremely nice theming of the rest of the establishment.
Pavement that should have been shiny and new had already begun cracking (and not in the intentional way they crack it in places like Lost Continent; it was cracking in places like Toon Lagoon).
There was already mildew (? or something ?) collecting along one of the water rides.
I *think* this may have still been during the years when Disney would brag about changing light bulbs before they were expected to burn out, and would sell you multi-day tickets where unused days would “never expire.”
It was a different time.
But still Epic…
But even with some “the construction company should be fired” issues, the park is indeed Epic. While eleven rides and two shows may not feel like a very big park, when you compare it to the “half-day” parks Disney has opened in the past, it is quite ambitious.
We can’t wait to return. But in the meantime, I’ll get some photos posted, as well as some VR360 video clips, and then break down some things we found most epic about the visit.
But give me a week or so to get caught up from this visit, and get all the photos sorted and videos converted.
Until then…
Silver Dollar City 2025 in Google Street View
Although Google has driven around Silver Dollar City, as well as down a restricted employee-only road a bit, and users have contributed many 360 “photo spheres” from inside the park, there does not appear to have been any Street View inside the park.
Until now.
On a recent visit, I roamed the park a bit with my 360 camera. The footage was submitted to Google and has since been approved. If you go to maps.google.com (or use the app on your phone/tablet) and search “Silver Dollar City,” you can turn on the Street View layer and see where I roamed:
You will find many small blue circles which are 360 photos submitted by others over the years. Be sure to check them out.
You can also click on the blue line and begin exploring the park — or at least the portion of the park I explored. I still do not know my way around this park very well so I ended up finding alot of “dead end” areas and having to backtrack.
But hey, you can see Southern Gospel Picnic in full effect!
Have fun roaming around. If you have a 360 camera, consider contributing more footage to Street View. It is a great way to “look back in time” and see how things used to look as the park continues to evolve.
Until next time…
Lost Island 2025 in Google Street View
The 360 footage I submitted to Google Street View from Lost Island 2025 has been approved. You can go into maps.google.com, search for Lost Island theme park, then click on the Street View layer to see where I went. This time, I recorded one continuous path from the entrance all the way around the park then back to the entrance:
There are some random “squiggles” there as well, which were recorded in 2024.
If you did not make it to the park this year, you can now “see” where the new Fire Runner coaster is located:
Since I submitted footage of this area in 2024 as well, you can click back in time and see what it looked like before the coaster was there.
Have fun!
Booking Universal Orlando early may be costing you big bucks…
Updates:
- 2025-09-05 – Another price drop added…
As I often point out, my first theme park visits where in the 1970s, including a big family trip to both Disneyland in California and The Magic Kingdom in Florida. Suffice it to say … I’m old and I’ve seen lots of stuff.
I have also become very good at procrastinating. Doing things early often means wasting effort as plans change.
Pack weeks in advance, and if something comes up and cancels the trip? Wasted time.
Get some work task done a month early, then the project gets cancelled? Wasted effort.
Book your Universal Orlando Resort hotels a month or more in advance, then the prices drop? Wasted … money?
A bird in the hand…
I understand why folks want to reserve in advance. That guarantees your seat on the airplane, and the room at the hotel, and the ticket into the new Epic Universe theme park.
If you are anti-procrastination, here are some tips that could save you hundreds of dollars.
Suppose on June 22, 2025, you booked a two-night stay at the new Universal Stella Nova Resort. The cost at that time would have been $358.88.
If you also booked five nights at Universal Aventura Hotel it would have cost you $1167.75.
Your $1526.63 hotel stay is now secured and you can sit back and wait for your vacation… unless you would like hundreds of extra dollars (potentially) back which you could spend to enhance your vacation (or just make it cheaper).
A bit of work can save some bucks…
Don’t stop there. Keep checking your dates at the hotel(s) and if the price drops, call in and request the new rate. For example, as I write this, the same two nights at Stella Nova have dropped to $283.50 – that is $75.38 cheaper!
And Aventura is now $673.89 for the same stay – that is $493.86 cheaper!
This means by just checking the website every so often, and rebooking when rates drop, this trip would cost you $569.24 less than when you booked early.
Let me say that again… $569.24 less!
That savings is more than enough for a $475 one-year Power Pass or come up with a bit extra or so and get the better $630 Preferred Pass.
Or maybe you just use the savings to add some extra days to the trip, or buy more beer.
But … Please note that I do not suggest procrastinating. That is gambling on the price going down, which is not always the case. As we monitor hotel prices, sometimes they go up. I suggest book early if it is a price you are willing to pay, then keep checking and call in each time you see a drop — even if it is just reduced by $10. That may seem small, but that buys you a churro or a soda or two.
Timeline of price drops.
Here is a timeline of the times these two hotel prices changed (we did not check every day so there could have been more):
Aventura price drops
- 6/22/2025 – $1167.75
- 7/10/2025 – $1150.88
- 8/19/2025 – $1121.63
- 8/21/2025 – $1075.50
- 8/22/2025 – $1037.25
- 8/24/2025 – $931.50
- 8/25/2025 – $916.88
- 8/26/2025 – $892.13
- 9/2/2025 – $776.25
- 9/4/2025 – $700.88
- 9/5/2025 – $673.89
Stella Nova price drops
- 6/22/2025 – $358.88
- 7/10/2/2025 – $329.63
- 9/2/2025 – $318.38
- 9/4/2025 – $283.50
…and there may even be some more drops. If so, I will update this page.
And as you can see, those who don’t procrastinate and book early, but do not follow up and check for price drops, may be paying alot more than those of us that wait until the last minute 😉
Unless things are really busy and selling out, in which case the prices are very unlikely to do anything but increase.
Your milage may vary.
Until next time…
More from Silver Dollar City and Branson
The Theme Parks gallery has been updated again with another batch of photos from Silver Dollar City. This updated adds some places we’ve never seen before, such as areas around rides we’d never made it to (Giant Barn Swing, for one).
https://themeparks.disneyfans.com/SilverDollarCity/index.html
There are also updates to the Other Places gallery with some new images from the Branson area, including first-time visits to two of the Crazy Craig’s restaurants.
https://misc.disneyfans.com/OtherPlaces/Missouri/index.html
And the updates will continue. . .
Iowa’s Lost Island theme park, year 4.
2025 marks the fourth season for Lost Island Theme Park in Waterloo, Iowa. It is also the 25th season for their original Lost Island Water Park.
On Saturday, I visited in a group of six, which included four first-time visitors to this new park. Their most recent Iowa amusement park experience was with Adventureland in Altoona. They had gone to Adventureland on a very busy day and said the lines were so long they only got on a few rides. Long lines were certainly not an issue at Lost Island. Crowds still have not arrived, and the four newcomers were able to ride everything they wanted, multiple times, even during the short 10:30am to 6:30pm operating day.
They left pleased, and said they could drive the four hours for Lost Island (two hours there, two hours back) and ride more things than they could have just driving across down and trying to ride things at the much bigger, much older Adventureland.
Folks, cherish these early days. Eventually, either crowds will arrive and these “walk on” days will be gone, or the park won’t make it. Either way, the opportunity to do everything you want without waiting will eventually end.
New shiny…
New this year was the addition of the Fire Runner “single rail” roller coaster. This was the first time I’d ever ridden one of these, and it was quite fun. The seats are single file, and the loading procedure is completely different from any other coaster I have ridden. As the train pulls into the station, it slowly creeps through it, never stopping. One by one, the restraints pop up as that car enters the station. The rider exits to the left, while a new rider is sent to that site. It is a remarkable design, though sitting single file, it does mean each car will have half the capacity of a traditional roller coaster design.
Also new, though originally planned for opening year in 2022, was Nika’s Gift, the carousel. It was neat seeing all the custom paintwork on it. Each panel seemed different, and even the park’s logo was hand painted. Nice.
A few other things where new for 2025:
- A few rides now have shade coverings over them.
- Trees have been grown and/or transplanted, so the “barren” landscape of the park is becoming a bit less-barren.
- Alcohol has appeared at a second location. Formerly, only Thirsty Voyager had adult beverages. This year, a single option of Islandology beer (custom made for the park) can be purchased in the Udara (Air) second of the park at Udaran Delights.
The alcohol thing is interesting, since opening year the park listed alcohol available at the two large food locations, as well as Thursday Voyager, but if this happened, it had stopped happening by the time we visited in August 2022.
There were plenty of other small changes, from menu items to drink selections, but someone else will have to detail those (or you can check photos in my gallery and look at menu pictures and see for yourself).
Photos?
And of course, new photos have been added to the gallery. They are still being processed, but they will appear here shortly:
https://themeparks.disneyfans.com/LostIsland/index.html
What about Google Street View?
I am glad you asked. A few weeks ago I learned folks could submit 360 footage to Google Street View. I started doing that for various trails around Des Moines, and added updated footage around new local restaurant (Google was still showing the former restaurant there, from when they came through some years ago). Everybody needs a hobby…
I also found a few of my 2024 VR videos from Lost Island and got them updated, but since none of them were intended for Google Street view, they are just bits and pieces of paths and make for a crazy looking Google Maps overlay…
This trip, I intentionally walked the park with plans to upload that as a more consistent path through the entire park (at least on one path; there are so many back paths and bypasses, and areas of the park I did not cover with this attempt). I expect to start working on that later this week.
I will share more thoughts on Lost Island’s continued evolution when I have some time.
Until then…
Adventureland blog merged into this blog.
My Adventureland-specifc blog has now been merged into this main Park Hopping blog. All old articles and photos should now be here, though some of the images still need some work.
The Adventureland Iowa sub-section still remains to host the Adventureland Wiki project:
https://adventureland.parkhopping.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
That wiki contains historical information of every ride, shop, show and food location that I could find information on. It is missing much from the 70s and 80s, before I moved to Iowa, but should be fairly complete since I started visiting the park in 1995.
Adventureland photos remain in my Theme Parks gallery:
https://themeparks.disneyfans.com
More to come…
101
I have begun the process of merging the Adventureland Iowa content from Adventureland.parkhopping.com over to this main Park Hopping blog. Things will be messed up (especially images) for a bit…