Category: InsideTheMagic

We are just days away from the opening of Universal Orlando Resort’s most anticipated theme park to date, Epic Universe. For weeks, the media, Universal team members, and Annual Passholders have been able to experience the wonder of Epic Universe before the general public. They have been able to stay at the new hotels, ride the new attractions, taste the mouthwatering new food, and buy the exclusive merchandise. Epic Universe does not open to the public until May 22, but its three new hotels are already welcoming guests. The new Stella Nova Resort was the first to open in January. Next up, Universal’s Terra Luna Resort opened in March, and Universal’s Grand Helios Hotel opened on April 16. Credit: Loews Related: The Truth About Epic Universe: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Universal’s Grand Helios is the top-tier hotel for Epic Universe, offering guests who stay there their own dedicated entrance to the new theme park. It offers three types of rooms — Standard, Club Level, and Suites. The Club Level rooms offer extra amenities like a continental breakfast, a private lounge, evening hors d’oeuvres, and a private concierge. The suites at the Grand Helios are the largest rooms at the resort, offering guests private bedrooms, living rooms, and a small kitchen area, where they can have the room to dine on the delicious food offered by the hotel and theme park. Of course, guests pay a premium price for these rooms, and they expect a

As we all probably remember, in June 2020, the theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, Disney decided to make an announcement that no one saw coming. The company announced that the iconic Splash Mountain attraction at both resorts would be closing and reopening with a Princess and the Frog (2009) retheme. The news was met with a lot of backlash from fans, who felt that Disney was closing the ride because of the political climate surrounding race. However, those who looked forward to the new ride supported the fact that the original attraction was themed around a film that contained a lot of racial stereotypes and racial insensitivities. Credit: Disney Related: Magic Kingdom History: Disney Closes Splash Mountain Forever, Opens up New Chapter While the announcement was made in 2020, Splash Mountain did not close at the Magic Kingdom until January 2023, and did not close at Disneyland Park until May 2023. Both attractions were closed for more than a year before they reopened at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. The new Princess and the Frog attraction opened at the Magic Kingdom in June 2024 and at Disneyland in November 2024. Since opening, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has continued to catch a lot of heat, with guests complaining that certain parts of the ride always seem to be broken. They don’t understand how a new attraction can have so many problems. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure does not seem to

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has just signed a new bill that will impact millions of Floridians, including guests who are heading to Walt Disney World Resort. Credit: Inside the Magic Ron DeSantis Makes Florida 2nd State in America to Ban Water Mineral: What This Means for Disney World It started with a signature—but the ripple effects could be far-reaching. At a time when families flock to Florida for sunshine, magic, and memories, a surprising new law may quietly impact the very foundation of everyday life: the water. With little fanfare but major implications, Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a measure making Florida the second state in the nation to ban the addition of fluoride to public water systems. The move, aimed at giving individuals “choice,” is already generating national attention—and concern. But what does this mean for the millions of guests sipping, brushing, and bathing in Central Florida’s water, especially those headed for Walt Disney World? Could a political decision in Tallahassee alter the health outcomes of families visiting the “Most Magical Place on Earth”? Credit: Inside the Magic A Controversial Law with Quiet Consequences On Thursday, DeSantis finalized the law at a public event in Dade City, placing Florida beside Utah as the only two U.S. states to enact such a ban. Effective July 1, the legislation prevents local governments from adding fluoride to municipal water—a practice once hailed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as one of the greatest

Actor Johnny Depp was once the highest-paid actor in Hollywood; it was hard to find a year in the 90s and 00s that didn’t have Depp involved. Now, the Hollywood landscape is altogether more Depp-less following years of domestic abuse disputes with his ex-wife Amber Heard–allegations that left both parties somewhat exiled from the big blockbuster movie biz. So, while Disney may not be forking out $300 million to secure Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean 6, the House of Mouse did shell out circa $68 million for a seven-minute performance in the early days of their billion-dollar live-action franchise. Credit: Columbia Pictures Johnny Depp and the big Disney payout Back in 2010, Johnny Depp starred as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Depp ending the decade with Disney was not surprising; the actor had starred in the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies (The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End) between 2003 and 2007, spawning one of the most memorable characters, Captain Jack Sparrow, in cinematic history. The success of Depp’s character surprised even Disney. In Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, which grossed an impressive $1 billion, Depp was joined by Mia Wasikowska as the titular Alice, Helena Bonham Carter, another Burton muse, as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, and Matt Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Michael Sheen voiced the White Rabbit, with Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman bringing the Cheshire Cat and Caterpillar

Yesterday, amid the buzz of Warner Bros. dropping a flashy new trailer for Superman (James Gunn’s bold reboot of the DC Universe), Marvel Studios quietly released a trailer for Ironheart. And if you blinked, you might have missed it. There was no social media blitz. No Kevin Feige hype. No fanfare. Just a quiet upload, almost like Marvel hoped fans would scroll past it. It’s an odd rollout for what should be a big deal: a brand-new hero, a Tony Stark legacy successor, and a story that, in theory, should have been at the heart of the MCU’s next-gen narrative. Instead, Ironheart feels like Marvel’s attempt to bury a show it’s no longer sure it believes in, after two years of development. Who Is Ironheart? And Why Should We Care? Ironheart follows Riri Williams, a young genius who reverse-engineers her own version of the Iron Man suit while studying at MIT. We first met her in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), where she had a promising introduction… and then quietly vanished from all MCU follow-up conversations. Ironheart picks up after the events of Wakanda Forever, where Riri returns to the U.S., grappling with the consequences of her tech, personal loss, and a mysterious new antagonist using dark magic to rival her brilliant tech. It’s a tech-vs-magic clash, essentially Iron Man vs. a sorcerer, which should be exciting. But

The age of expansion for Central Florida’s theme parks is upon us. Over the next decade, guests can expect an explosion at the parks. Credit: Andrew Boardwine, Inside the Magic Those expansion projects officially kick off in less than a week with the opening of Epic Universe, But even Epic Universe has left open land for future expansions. While Walt Disney World doesn’t have a new theme park project on the docket, expansions and changes are coming to all four theme parks. However, with those projects just breaking ground, guests shouldn’t expect to see them for another few years. Not to be forgotten in this expansion madness, United Parks and Resorts, which owns SeaWorld in Orlando and Busch Gardens in Tampa, met with investors to lay out the company’s ambitious expansion plans to keep up with its much larger neighbors. Credit: Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Both parks added major attractions this year, but CEO Marc Swanson said this is just the beginning of the parks’ expansion plans. Swanson told investors that the company owns 400 acres of undeveloped land and plans to expand its parks and build hotels for the first time on its properties. Swanson said that United Parks is working to lock down long-term sponsorship deals that could be worth as much as $20 million to build these planned expansions. He said: In recent years, we have not pursued, nor had, meaningful sponsorship partnerships. Clearly, we have been missing this opportunity.  Starting

On Thursday, construction crews were spotted tearing down the last remaining structures of the old Tortilla Jo’s restaurant in the Downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort. After over two decades serving guests, the Mexican restaurant closed in March 2024 to make way for two new dining locations. Credit: Disney Tortilla Jo’s first opened at Downtown Disney (Disneyland Resort’s equivalent of Walt Disney World Resort’s Disney Springs) in 2004. The Table Service restaurant offered a variety of classic Mexican dishes, including tacos, nachos, burritos, and enchiladas, but it was most famous among Disney Parks fans for its fresh guacamole. Employees hand-prepared and customized each bowl tableside, making it some of the freshest guacamole at Disneyland Resort. Construction walls surrounded Tortilla Jo’s shortly after it closed last spring, but Disneyland Resort didn’t file permits to demolish the location until September. Construction didn’t begin until earlier this year, when crews began tearing apart the 20-year-old restaurant. Work has steadily progressed in the months since. Credit: Disney On May 15, X (formerly known as Twitter) user @laughing_place shared two videos of a large construction vehicle knocking down the remaining Tortilla Jo’s structure at Downtown Disney. The Disneyland Resort guest even captured part of the building coming loose and falling. This is a rare sight for Disney Park guests, as Disney typically prefers to do major construction overnight when guests aren’t there to watch. Watching them knock down part of the remaining Tortilla Jo’s structure. #DowntownDisney #DisneylandResort

Disney World’s inventive new snack is going viral. Credit: AK on Unsplash Related: Stop Skipping These Disney World Attractions, Or We’re Going To Lose Them Walt Disney World is home to some of the best theme park attractions in the world, though roller coasters and dark rides are far from the only reasons guests visit the parks. For many, it’s the atmosphere and overall vibe of the parks that make Disney World such a compelling vacation destination. Over the years, places like Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios have certainly aged, but the experience of actually exploring them remains just as magical. This rings true for the cuisine at Walt Disney World, which just got a lot… trashier? Disney World Releasing New Trash Can Candy Containers Credit: Disney Related: After 11 Months, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Still Doesn’t Work Anyone who has visited the Disney parks has likely seen the many themed trash cans around every corner and along every path. While these are essential to keeping Disney World clean, they also help tie lands together, with a trash can from Fantasyland looking different than one in Tomorrowland. Disney’s trash cans have inspired costumes, merchandise, and now candy, with Disney World unveiling its new trash can candy container. This fun new candy receptacle can be used at numerous locations around the resort, allowing guests to take home handfuls of candy in a Magic Kingdom-inspired trash can. The new trash can containers can be

We are mere hours away from the beginning of Disneyland Resort’s massive 70th Anniversary celebration, which will last more than one whole year! As part of the celebration, there will be a brand-new guided walking tour, a new show at Disney California Adventure — World of Color Happiness! –, the Celebrate Happy Cavalcade at Disneyland Park, new projection shows in both Disneyland and DCA, and some delectable new food and beverage offerings. Guests were also thrilled when Disney announced the return of Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! Parade at DCA, the Paint the Night Parade, and Wondrous Journeys fireworks spectacular at Disneyland. It will truly be an amazing time to visit The Happiest Place on Earth! Credit: Disney Related: Disney Introducing TWO New Dessert Parties For Massive Celebration! In addition to the new shows, new parties, and new foodie guide, Disneyland has also released a ton of new merchandise that guests will be packing the parks to get their hands on. And one of Disney’s newest pieces of merchandise not only has everyone talking, but is also talking itself! On May 16, Disney will release its brand-new Mickey Mouse popcorn bucket. Mickey Mouse is clad in his signature outfit — red pants, a white shirt, black tuxedo jacket, and a yellow bow tie. However, this is not just any popcorn bucket, this Mickey Mouse popcorn bucket moves and talks! @disneyparks Did that popcorn bucket just … talk?! #DisneyEats #Disneyland #Disneyland70th #HeyMickey