Inside EPIC Universe: Ministry of Magic & Dark Universe | Episode 92

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello, Mouse years. Wow. That was. It's not Mouse ears. It's mouse ears. So. I'm so sorry. It's been a. It's been a week. [00:00:08] Speaker B: Keep it rolling. [00:00:10] Speaker A: Mouse ears universe. People, as we can all tell, it is podcast, day night, whatever we want to talk about. Thanks for joining us on another episode. Your go to source of all things travel, but mostly Disney, Sponsored by lovely fairy tale journeys travel. Whether you're a first time visitor or a pro at the parks, we're here to bring you the latest news, insider secrets, fun stories from the happiest and most magical places on earth. Make sure you give us that, like, give us a follow on whatever platform you may be listening to or watching us on. And don't forget to check out TheMousersBlog.com where we dive even deeper into Disney trips tip and all of the park magic. And one. Apparently I can't talk today. This is great. Now get ready to geek out as we take an epic journey into the Wizarding World Ministry of Magic and the dark universe. And that magical journey starts right now. Hello. If you just saw that intro, you know what a mess this episode's gonna be. For me at least. My name is Kelton. I'm one of your hosts. I am back from a week off. It was a long week indeed. But it's Thursday nights for us. I'm happy to be here with you guys. I've got three great people with me as well. Hello to Brooks. Hello, Brooks. [00:01:52] Speaker B: Hi. Dee ho, neighbors. We are all finally back. [00:01:55] Speaker A: We're all back. It's great. [00:01:58] Speaker B: Tremendous. Stupendous. Phenomenal. [00:02:01] Speaker A: And of course, we've got Jenny up there as well. Jenny. [00:02:04] Speaker B: Hello. [00:02:04] Speaker A: Welcome. [00:02:05] Speaker C: Hi. [00:02:06] Speaker D: It's good to have everyone together. [00:02:08] Speaker B: Yes. The star of the stage. [00:02:12] Speaker A: Oh, yes, thank you. [00:02:16] Speaker D: It was fun. [00:02:18] Speaker A: That was a whole like, you know, thumper reaction right there. [00:02:24] Speaker D: I know. Well, you know, I have to. Yeah. [00:02:30] Speaker A: And okay, a little bit humble about this. There you go. And we also have Steph with us as well. Hello, Steph. [00:02:38] Speaker C: Everyone in the Mouse ears universe. [00:02:40] Speaker A: Mouse Ears years. Not ears. Here's you. Yeah. Anyway, as you guys know, we are. Yeah, the meu. We're getting ready to dive in yet again to another great episode. Talking about the Wizarding World Ministry of Magic. It might be a rough episode for me and Dark Universe. However, before we dive in, we're taking it on over to the man of trivia himself. This is. It will be the most accurate trivia question this month. Brooks, take it away with our trivia. [00:03:19] Speaker B: Why, thank you, Kelton. This trivia question is brought to you by Fairy Tale Journeys Travel. Next time you want to book a Disney cruise, let the agents of Fairy Tale Journeys Travel take care of all the details for a stress free experience at no additional cost to you. When you book with them, not only do you get expert advice, but you can also receive up to $1,000 of onboard credit. This offer is only exclusive to bookings made with Fairy Tale Journeys Travel. So contact them today and let them know that the podcast sent you and we hope you enjoy a magical Disney cruise getaway. Now, tonight's trivia question. We're going head to the Wizarding World. Not of Waverly Place, but the Ministry of Magic. Today's trivia question is why did the Ministry of Magic use paper airplanes to send messages instead of owls? Stay tuned to the end of episode to find out. And now back to the Epic man himself, Kelton. [00:04:21] Speaker A: Thank you, Brooks. That was a great trivia question if you ask me. Anyway, we're going to move on. Yeah, we're going to move on. Don't ask, don't ask. It's okay. We're just going to move on. So I know you guys are excited. Moving right along the Ministry of Magic portion, or I should say land and the Dark Universe. Land of Epic Universe. For our second, really our third episode of Epic month for the podcast. Here we go. I get ready to geek out. Universal Orlando is about to get even more epic with Epic Universe. They are adding two sensational lands. The Ministry of Magic in the Wizarding World and the spine tingling Dark Universe. Tickles your spine. Think of that one. In this fun one hour, we're gonna. Well, let's hope it's gonna be one hour, right? Well, in this great episode, we're gonna unpack everything we know about these two other lands for Epic Universe. And at least we have two people who have actually been and got to experience the lands as well. So we will also hear from Steph and Jenny on that side. So I think it's time. Whether you're a Harry Potter theme park fan or a monster movie buff, buckle up those seat belts. Pull down your lap bars. Pull on the seat belts to make sure that you are secured for a magical monster filled ride. [00:05:50] Speaker B: Make sure your hands are inside the vehicle at all times. [00:05:53] Speaker D: Pull the yellow strap. [00:05:55] Speaker A: Yellow strap. Hands up. And here we go. We're going to start with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for Ministry of Magic. Jen, take us away. Because you not only got to experience this, this attraction, you know the land, but you got A picture with Joey Fatone himself. When you were in the attraction, you were a friend. [00:06:24] Speaker C: Did. [00:06:25] Speaker A: Jen was actually a friend. It was Joey and friends. [00:06:30] Speaker D: It was. I was the friend. [00:06:33] Speaker B: Would you say it was epic? [00:06:35] Speaker D: It was epic. That was epic. He was so much. He's a lot of fun. He does break out into song. He and his family just break out into song randomly. [00:06:46] Speaker A: Isn't he a theater kid? [00:06:47] Speaker D: Our people. He was so our people. [00:06:49] Speaker B: Is he still on Broadway and Juliet? [00:06:53] Speaker D: I don't know. Did not ask him. Did not ask him that. [00:06:58] Speaker A: I'm just gonna say none of us have got autographs since our house, so I'm not sure what you were doing in line the entire time. [00:07:06] Speaker D: I was trying to be respectful of him being with his family. And some of my Disney training kind of kicked in with that, because if you have worked at theme parks, you know, you do not make a fuss over the celebrities that are there. [00:07:25] Speaker A: I feel like he. [00:07:26] Speaker B: He should be, like, the unofficial, like, mascot or spokesperson for Epic Universe, because I've seen he's been there a lot. [00:07:34] Speaker D: Yes, he has. Yeah. He definitely knew his way around. He shared some tips with us. He was great. [00:07:41] Speaker A: But hold on, y' all. Joey Fatone gave us tips. Tips from Joey Fatone himself. [00:07:48] Speaker B: Each tip that you give came from him. We need to have that highlighted as a Joey tip. [00:07:53] Speaker D: A Joey tip. [00:07:56] Speaker B: A JT Joey tip. [00:07:58] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:07:58] Speaker A: Can't say. [00:07:59] Speaker D: Gt. [00:08:00] Speaker B: Okay. [00:08:00] Speaker D: When we went to Epic, I was talking with Steph. You know, we were on our way there, and I'm like, I just. I love Harry Potter. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, and I was so excited about this land, and I was so excited about. Especially about battle at the ministry. Like, I. I just could not wait for this. I was. When I got there, I was a little bit confused. Like, I understand traveling via the flu network, but you're in 1920s Paris, which they did an incredible job of recreating. It is beautiful. It is one of the smaller lands. I know last week we talked about some of the lands are much bigger than others. This one's pretty. Pretty compact. It's a bit more open, but it's still a smaller land than what Nintendo was. It's beautiful. They did a really good job recreating a 1920s Paris, which, you know, it goes with everything in the park that they just did an outstanding job. But Somehow you get 1990s ministry in London, and it just. There's a little bit of a disconnect there. So I just want to put that out there. There it feels a little odd because it's like the flu is taking you to London, but ahead 70 years, 80 years. So kind of like a time travel thing. I don't know. Pro tip. Not a Joey tip. This is a Jenny tip. Before you go and visit that area, you need to watch Harry Potter number five. Number five, which is. [00:10:01] Speaker B: Order of the Phoenix. [00:10:02] Speaker D: Order of the Phoenix. You need to watch Order of the Phoenix and you need to watch the first beasts. The whatever creatures and beasts. Magical beasts. I'm sorry, my brain is just fried. [00:10:19] Speaker B: It's gonna be fantastic beast and where. [00:10:21] Speaker D: Fantastic beast. You need to watch the first one of that and just trust me, when you get there and you experience all this, you will completely understand why I'm saying that. If you don't do anything else. Watch those two twist my arm. So I know, I know. It was great. [00:10:40] Speaker B: Threaten me with a good time. [00:10:41] Speaker D: If you read the books, you'll really like it. [00:10:46] Speaker A: Read the books, then watch the movies, then go, yes. [00:10:50] Speaker D: Yeah, let's do that. Homework. There's your homework. But it's a pro tip, so I'm going to get right into it with the battle at the Ministry. First of all, you travel via flu, the Metro flu network, which is just incredible. That is so much fun. So much fun. The green light, the smoke, it really feels like you're. You're moving through. The theming of that is just fantastic. [00:11:22] Speaker B: Now, do you close smell of smoke as you're traveling through the flu? That is magical. [00:11:28] Speaker D: It is very magical. So if you're not familiar with the wizarding world, the flu is the big giant chimney and there's floo powder, and that's how they travel from one place to another. So they just throw it in there. There's a green light and you're wherever you need to be. So guests travel from Paris to the British Ministry of Magic, which is London, for the trial of Dolores Umbrid. And then upon arrival, you walk in and I cried, y' all. I cried. You walk into the Ministry of Magic, and it is the most spectacular thing I think, that I've seen. It was just breathtaking. I did a video call with Steph and the girls, and. And I'm all like, this is so beautiful. There's the statues and there's so many intricate details. The good thing about this, and you can wander all through there if you want. It's a huge area. The good thing about that is you don't have to ride the ride to be able to go in and go through the flu and see all of that. You don't have to do battle at the Ministry, so you don't have to get in line to do that. You may have a little bit of a wait to go through the flu, but you do not have to ride the ride to go through that part. So if you don't want to do the ride, you can go in and see that. So let's see. It's an omnidirectional lift and you're witnessing the trial. I want you to think an elevator. Kind of like Tower of Terror. Much nicer. Way nicer. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. [00:13:32] Speaker B: Tower of Terror is beautiful. [00:13:34] Speaker D: Yeah, it's beautiful. I used to work there, you know. It's beautiful, but not like this. This is all. I don't know, it's really pretty, it's really nice. But you. It's on an arm and it can move all different directions and I will not give anything away but you move through the attraction. Now they are using a virtual cue system which or virtual line. And they are still having issues with. [00:14:05] Speaker C: That which during previews. But by the time it opens it should be hopefully smoother sailing or no virtual line. We don't know yet. [00:14:17] Speaker D: We don't know yet. But if you're going and there is still a virtual line. [00:14:21] Speaker B: Hey guys, big news. Epic news. That debut from Universal since the time of this recording. So just popping it in right here. So we're talking about the Battle of the Ministry in this episode. Well, Universal has just announced that they will not be using a virtual queue anymore for the Battle of the Ministry ride. So that means it's first come, first serve. If you're ready to ride, get there early and queue up the old fashioned way during previous times have gotten up to over 300 minutes. I don't expect that to be that high as it gets closer to opening. But get your wands ready. The battle awaits. And this time you're in control of your weight and queue and hope you continue to enjoy this episode. [00:15:05] Speaker D: You pay attention to the times that they're going to drop those. Sometimes they show up a little bit early, sometimes they show up late. I know ours was about 10 minutes late before they dropped those. So I'm glad that I kept checking and refreshing to get that and luckily we were, you know, those to get that. This ride, it moves forward and backward and it tilts and you're going side to side and it's like traveling in a one of their elevators. It goes all different ways. I don't want to give Anything else away, because it. It was really good. However, we did break down on it. So the first time when they called our time, we were eating lunch and. Or we were. Were we eating? I think we were eating. And they called our time and it went down. So they gave us a Express Pass specifically for that ride. So we went and got some moonshine, and then. Yeah, careful with that moonshine. And then we went back and we got in line and we were able to bypass the virtual line, people, because we had that pass. And we get on the ride and we're riding it, and I'm like, this is really good. This is really good. And about a third of the way through, we broke down. Not only did we break down, we were at an angle like this. So we were stuck hanging like this for a good 15, 20 minutes before they were able to get things up. And then we went through the rest of the ride without any of the screens, without the animatronics working. And it was a bit terrifying because you couldn't really tell which way you were going to be moving. And everything was dark. It was a little bit terrifying. It kind of ruined the ride a little bit for me because now I've got that experience. I didn't really get to experience the full thing the first time around. So then they gave us another Express Pass, and it was a hard ticket Express Pass that was basically a. You broke down on it. You get to go, you know, move through as fast as you can in the line. And when we went back through that, that's when we were standing in front of the big golden statues. And I looked over to the side and I'm like, that guy looks familiar. And I was like, oh, my God. I went to Brian. I'm like, do not look behind you, but Joey Fatone is getting behind us in line. He's like, what? I'm like, don't look, don't look. But it's Joey Fatone. And I don't think it really. [00:18:06] Speaker B: Don't look. Why aren't you looking? [00:18:08] Speaker D: I'm like, don't look. I don't want to, like, cause attention. Well, Joey, I don't know if it's just a celebrity thing. I've seen other celebrities do it. But he kind of not wedged himself, but moved to where we were kind of blocking him just a little bit. He felt safe. Yeah. And I. I hope so. But I think that a lot of celebrities will do this unconsciously, just as a. You know, try to. [00:18:36] Speaker A: They know how to block themselves. [00:18:37] Speaker D: Yeah, they know how to block. So I was like this and I just kind of leaned over and glanced at him and I was like, I'm surprised you're not being mobbed right now. And he said, well, you know, sometimes I am and sometimes I'm not. And we kind of laughed and he said, sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not so good. And so we kind of laughed and we made a little bit more room so he could wedge in a little more. So he was behind us in line for a good 20 minutes. So we were talking and. I know, I know, like I'm in line and I didn't have. [00:19:13] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you for everything you've done for us. [00:19:15] Speaker C: Kudos to the way that you handled that, like, first interaction. That, that was clever. I like it. [00:19:22] Speaker D: Yeah. I was like, hi, I'm a huge fan and like draw attention to him. Like I, I was trying to like not draw attention. [00:19:31] Speaker A: Smooth operators should have just walked up and shake his hand. Like, we're really big fans, you know, Joey Faton and friends. We see you all the time at Eat to the Beat. So we're looking forward to have you back this year. Thank you. [00:19:45] Speaker D: Yeah, I didn't even make it that far. I was so star struck by him. He's super nice. His family is nice. His wife is really funny. Like, we had a good time in line, but I was still trying to be respectful that he was there with his family. So we also saw a few vloggers, Disney vloggers or you know, vacation vloggers that are pretty big. And one of them, I'm a huge fan and I did not go and introduce myself or ask her name or anything. She was obviously working and getting content and I was like, if I do not ask for a picture with Jody Fatone, I am going to regret this for the rest of my life. So having been through the queue before, I knew that we were going to be coming up on an area where we were going to be way back against a wall, kind of in a corner. So I waited until we got to that area and I said, can I get my picture with you? And he's like, oh, yeah, sure, absolutely. And he was so sweet about it. So I got my picture with Joey Fatone and he was wearing a bowser shirt and it was awesome. And he is really, really nice. We did split up when we got actually to the ride. Now we were able to ride the ride that time and it was really, really good. Really good. They did an excellent job with that. I'm still a Little bit. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had been able to get through it the first time all the way. Because then it was kind of like, you know, I had seen stuff that wasn't working, and it kind of ruined. Ruined it a little. [00:21:35] Speaker C: My experience is a little bit different. I won't talk about the preview incidents I went through, which was different than Jen's, but I was able to get on it. They made us sweat. But anyways, we were able to get on. I think it was like 20 or 30 minutes before the park closed. And, you know, Mike and I had a smile from ear to ear the entire ride. We were in complete awe by just how much they brought the movies and the characters to life. You know, it's. Yes, there's a lot of screens involved, but there's also these animatronics. And then it's still like, you take the movie concept and your favorite characters, you create a brand new storyline without, you know, it being super outlandish. It flows very well with, you know, the movie, but then you actually feel like you're there. It's just immersiveness to a whole other level. And I think that the use of, like, this elevator vehicle was brilliant. And I won't give more details because it really is something that, even if. Honestly, even if I were to explain it to you, you'd still be like. And when, by the time you actually get there, you'll be like, wow. Like, this is incredible. But, you know, was it my favorite ride in all of Epic Universe? No, it wasn't. Was it incredible? Yes. Yes, it was. I mean, they did a phenomenal job either way. And I just love how much detail they put into everything from start to finish with the attraction. I'm talking that cue and the whole thing's indoors, which is even better. [00:23:33] Speaker D: The storytelling throughout the queue and then through the ride is just seamless. Just so, so, so incredible. Yeah, I, like, I don't want to give any of it away, but there is one spot we got to that I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, this is so amazing. But, yeah, I think you're muted, Gelton. [00:24:00] Speaker B: You're muted. [00:24:01] Speaker A: I hate when that happens. And that's how I won a million dollars. I mean, that's just the secret to winning the lottery. So both y' all got to ride and go through the battle of the Ministry, which I can't wait to get on, or at least, you know, one day when Brooks and I get there, we will get there. [00:24:28] Speaker B: Yes. [00:24:29] Speaker A: Now, did you guys get to see the other. I don't know if you want to call it attraction show that is also in. You guys did not. [00:24:38] Speaker D: It was running. [00:24:40] Speaker C: Hold on. Before we get. I know we spent a lot of time on Battle of the Ministry or at the Ministry, but for the sake of just explaining it, Jen, do you or anyone else want to kind of read the little description of like the storyline that is Battle of the Ministry? [00:25:01] Speaker B: I mean, I can if you like me to. Real quick. [00:25:03] Speaker C: Okay, go for it. [00:25:05] Speaker B: So with the Metro Flu, a unique mode of wizarding transport inspired by the iconic FLU network from the films, guests will travel from Paris to the British Ministry of Magic for the trial of Dolores Umbridge. Upon arrival, they enter the Ministry's grand atrium and explore various departments before boarding magical omnidirectional lifts to witness the trial. The event takes a dramatic turn when Umbridge attempts to escape, prompting guests to join Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and a house elf named Higgledy. Did I pronounce that right? I don't know. Anyway, join a house house elf named Hickles in a thrilling chase. This high stakes pursuit moves up, down, forward, back, backwards, sideways and more throughout the Ministry, I guess dodge attacks from Death Eaters and creatures a the way. Yeah, I can't wait to meet Higgles. [00:26:18] Speaker A: Senor Higgles. [00:26:20] Speaker C: You actually, you actually see her in the queue is when you first get introduced to her before the actual attraction. [00:26:26] Speaker D: Which is pay attention to what she's saying. Also because we did not the first time. Yeah. [00:26:34] Speaker A: Pay attention to what she's saying. [00:26:35] Speaker B: I mean, I would give her a sock if I could. [00:26:42] Speaker A: That's good. So, okay, moving on to the. I guess to the second attraction. A show for. Would that be Cirque? Like Cirque du Soleil, you know, like show. [00:27:07] Speaker D: I do not speak French. Half of these I am not even going to attempt. It'll be a blooper reel unlike anyone has ever seen. But the circus area, that show was not running when we were there, so we did not get to see it. Same here. However, I'm going to skip ahead a little bit. There were a lot of. There were some street performers, there were characters just kind of walking around in. In wizarding garb. Like they were, you know, part of kind of the atmosphere. We saw this kind of like horn trio. It was a. A trumpet, a trombone and I think it was a saxophone. I'm not sure what it was. I have video of it, but they were amazing. So there's a lot of streetmosphere in that area. That is. Is great. But we did not. We were not able to see the show, so. And I can read a little bit about that. It's step into the big top for a live stage show inspired by circus featured in Fantastic Beasts. The crimes of Grindelwald. Prepare to be dazzled by live performers and aerialists, Stunning puppetry, brilliant special effects, and a fantastic and fantastic beast like never before. The show centers around Ringmaster Skender. Is that his name? Who has stolen new gosh suitcase home to creatures like the. Was it the Demi. [00:29:07] Speaker C: Demiguise. [00:29:09] Speaker D: Demiguys. I don't even know that. [00:29:11] Speaker C: Derek call. And the moon calves. [00:29:14] Speaker A: Not to be mistaken. Like a demogorgon. [00:29:18] Speaker C: Exactly. [00:29:18] Speaker A: Not a demogorgon. [00:29:20] Speaker C: Definitely not. [00:29:21] Speaker D: In a desperate bid to have seen stranger things. Failing circus to its former glory. And it's up to Gwenlyn to rescue these creatures before they fall into Skinder's greedy clutches. So it sounds amazing. If it's like anything else in that park, it's going to be great. I was just not able to see it because it was not running. [00:29:41] Speaker C: That one's based on the second Fantastic Beasts and where to find them. [00:29:46] Speaker D: If anyone's curious, just watch the whole series, people. Read the books. Read the books. [00:29:53] Speaker A: You know what? This is one of those things. Everybody got to go. It was all dressed. Rehearsals or what? You know, technical rehearsals. Nothing we can do at that point. [00:30:06] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, we'll get there. It'll happen. [00:30:11] Speaker A: So onto food and shopping. [00:30:13] Speaker D: Food and shopping. Now, let me tell you, there is some seriously good food in this area. I am not even going to try to pronounce this name. We're going to call it the Cafe. It is a. [00:30:28] Speaker B: The air cafe. [00:30:30] Speaker A: Everybody's going to know what the cafe is when you talk about it. [00:30:33] Speaker D: I think, yeah, the cafe is amazing. It has all this carved marble. There's Fantastic Beasts or hidden, like little hidden things that we won't talk about from down the road. [00:30:49] Speaker B: We might tell you where to find them. [00:30:51] Speaker D: Where to find them. Yes, there were. They have like French sandwiches, but the portions are really big. Again, it is a what you would consider a quick service, but you go to your table, you order on the app, and they bring it out to you. [00:31:12] Speaker C: So again, it looks like a restaurant, though. It's elegant and nice. [00:31:16] Speaker D: It is beautiful. It also, if you go back down to the back wall, if you can find a table by the back wall right before you go outside to the. [00:31:25] Speaker C: Little courtyard, there are outlets and they have seating outside. So if you like people watching, you can Sit outside. Like an actual Parisian restaurant. [00:31:38] Speaker D: Yeah, it's nice. Brian had his first butterbeer there and. [00:31:44] Speaker C: It'S known for its famous butterbeer crepe, which I'm sad I didn't get to try, but it was pre packed every time I went. [00:31:52] Speaker A: So I do have one question. Brian's first butterbeer, was it a frozen one or just the normal regular? [00:32:00] Speaker D: We went with the original because it was his first. We went with the original. Gonna go OG we went with the OG So when we go back, he will be having all of the butterbeer. [00:32:11] Speaker B: I was gonna say. Thoughts? [00:32:13] Speaker D: So good. So good. [00:32:16] Speaker A: Good job, Brian. What said good job, Brian? [00:32:20] Speaker D: Yeah, good job. They also have a really good lavender lemonade. Like that was really good, the lavender lemonade. So there's also the goblet place. I don't know. We did not get to go in there. That place was packed. We did not go in there. [00:32:42] Speaker B: And Slytherins probably goblet Noir. [00:32:46] Speaker A: Gosh darn Slytherin. [00:32:47] Speaker D: I'm not even going to attempt these names. [00:32:49] Speaker C: Goblet noir. [00:32:51] Speaker A: We all can do the next one. [00:32:53] Speaker C: You see, I thought that one was actually like a quick service. It's predominantly drinks. I mean. Yes. Can you get a couple bites and stuff? Yes. But when I went. Yeah, it wasn't what I expected, but it's very dark and eerie like you would expect for dark wizards. [00:33:13] Speaker A: Slytherins. Yeah. [00:33:15] Speaker D: Now the next place is when you walk in, you go to the right and you go all the way down far. Moonshine. [00:33:23] Speaker A: Yes, sir. Let's do it. [00:33:25] Speaker B: Now that's from southern Paris. [00:33:30] Speaker D: Brian had a little. And I mean a little drink. And after a few sips, he looked at me and his eyes were big and he said, this is the strongest drink I've ever had in my life. [00:33:45] Speaker B: I was going to say that a little can go a long way. [00:33:50] Speaker A: They probably blew that up in southern Georgia. [00:33:53] Speaker D: Yeah, he was feeling it. He was. I don't know what they're putting in that. [00:33:58] Speaker A: How much was it? [00:33:59] Speaker D: What? [00:34:00] Speaker A: How much was the drink? [00:34:03] Speaker D: I think it was like $15. [00:34:06] Speaker A: That's. That's pretty good for theme park. [00:34:10] Speaker D: Somewhere around there I would have to go and look. I think it was somewhere around there. I don't know. I just. I got. And it tasted like grape. It wasn't grape, but it tasted like grape. But the one that you can put the packet in and it's fizzy and it gets all sparkly. [00:34:24] Speaker C: It changes colors. [00:34:26] Speaker D: It changes colors. [00:34:27] Speaker A: Oh, that's cool. [00:34:28] Speaker D: Yeah, it was nice. And that one was. They do have non alcoholic options there. [00:34:35] Speaker A: Okay, Brooks, you can drink with us. Go to bar Moonshine. [00:34:39] Speaker D: So but it's a little watering hole. It's a little place. It is awesome. There is also some carts there like butterbeer carts. They only mention one but I'm almost positive that I saw two options there. So I don't know if maybe that was like a preview thing. But the day that I was there, there was a second cart that was like further down. There's a lot of photo opportunities in this area. Also down by the bar Moonshine, there is some shade. So keep that in mind. There's I think in every land other than how to train your dragon, there's little areas that you can get to that have shade. So overall the park is very sunny. You know, the trees aren't fully grown and all that but you know, you. [00:35:40] Speaker C: Just, you just brought a point that I hadn't noticed until just now. There are outside seating areas in Nintendo. There are outside seating scattered throughout celestial, but obviously there's no shade. Yeah, I don't recall any outside seating that's not attached to like a dining of sorts At Dark Universe, which we'll talk about. There's really not a lot of. There's not outdoor seating that's not attached to a dining or anything at Ministry. Is there maybe one bench and then they have a few benches scattered about an isle of Burke. But it's part of that atmosphere with like the wooden carvings of dragons. Now that I'm thinking about it out loud. [00:36:27] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:36:28] Speaker C: Food for thought. [00:36:29] Speaker D: Food for thought. Shopping. They have a great little candy area. It's like sweet treats. Rimmel. [00:36:43] Speaker C: They just came out with cakes today. Like specialty cake desserts that I saw a blogger post. [00:36:52] Speaker D: Beautiful. That place was beautiful. [00:36:54] Speaker C: K Ramel. [00:36:56] Speaker D: K. Ramel. There's you know, the general Harry Potter type stuff. There's also a really cool. The Metro flu gift shop. Is there Torren Flu. I don't know. And then there is a place where you can get a wand. And that was, that was a really, really cool place. It was, it was different from like if you were gonna walk into Ollivander. So it's based on the store from Fantastic Beasts. So. But it was really cool. Lots of wand options. Hint, hint. There's also a lot of places to use the wands. Now they do use. They are selling the new wands, the new interactive wands there. You can use your old wands but they are selling the new wands. [00:38:02] Speaker C: Pro tip. If you don't want to wait until you get to the park and do the lime there to get your wand. When I stood at Terra Luna, they were actually selling some wands from the Ministry of Magic there. So my bet is that you'll probably find that at Stella Nova and probably Helios, too. [00:38:22] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:38:23] Speaker C: Pro tip if you don't want to do that line at the park, because there will be lines. [00:38:28] Speaker D: There will be lines. But there was a much bigger selection. Like, when we walked in, I was like, oh, wow, there's a lot of options. Some fun facts. There are familiar wands displayed all around the portal. So wands that belong to, like, Harry and Hermione and Newt Grindelwald. And. And, of course, at the very top is the Elder Wand, which was, you know, owned by both Grindelwald and Dumbledore. It was cool. It's a lot of little hidden things. There's a lot to look at. There's a lot to see. It's not a big land, but it's very immersive, just like the rest of the park. It's so, so immersive. This zone in Epic Universe also features the tallest buildings ever created for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. So the Ministry of Magic is actually larger than the tallest building in Diagon Alley at Universal Studios. So little tidbit there. It's beautifully, beautifully done. Very immersive. I wasn't as impressed with Battle at the Ministry as I had hoped I'd be, but it was still incredible. And I got to meet Joey Fatone there, so yay. [00:39:58] Speaker B: I mean, that would make it the most impressive ride of all, meeting Joey. [00:40:02] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:40:04] Speaker B: Did he have a tip? Did he have a tip for Ministry of Magic? [00:40:09] Speaker D: So one of his tips for Ministry of Magic was to pay attention to what the house elf was saying. I made a comment that I was like. I didn't even realize that she was, like, telling a story that was going to set up the rest of this. And he's like, oh, no, no, you got. You got to watch this. And. And he said, what was the other one? I'm sorry. He had another tip for Nighttime, but for the life of me, I cannot remember what it is. [00:40:43] Speaker A: That's okay. [00:40:44] Speaker D: Another Joey tip. [00:40:45] Speaker C: Well, I do want to say two things about the Harry Potter world. One, again, emphasizing that they're kind of like Nintendo World, had a lot of interactive areas and just, you know, magical creatures and a lot of the windows, because, again, you're looking at Paris, 1920 Paris buildings, and a lot of windows, like shops and stuff. Even if the shops aren't open because they're not actually shops. They're just decorations. When I was there for the preview, I saw scattered everywhere, guests with their wands interacting with different things on all these windows. Whether you were in the main strip or even in the dark, you know, area with Goblet Noir, there's some really cool interactive experiences there that, you know, I feel like people should definitely not overlook because the guests that were interacting and doing such stuff, activities, they were fully immersed and they would draw in crowds because people wanted to see what was going on. So definitely, you know, I think that'd be really just a fun thing to do with kids, especially if maybe a kid is afraid of a dark ride. Because it is a dark ride. Maybe not tall enough or whatever, but this is something they can actually do with you, of course, and enjoy the theming and the land and all the different details that have gone into it to make it, you know, an elevated experience. So that's definitely something I wanted to highlight. The second thing I wanted to highlight, which I thought this was absolutely just darling. If you end up going to the bathrooms at Ministry of Magic, that area, they actually have the. The bathroom signs as wizards. [00:42:39] Speaker D: Yes. [00:42:40] Speaker C: So you've got like the family bathrooms, got all family wizards. You've got the male wizard, you get the female wizard, which is really cute. Just like these little details that just like, you're like, oh, look at that. You know, you get. You get so stoked about it. They also. One thing that I also wanted to really highlight people. Universal did a phenomenal job with including the water bottle refill stations at every land all over. In addition to the Coca Cola machines, they are everywhere. They have so many. You definitely don't feel like you're trying to search for water wherever you go. So there's definitely a lot of places to do that and just very important, especially for any guests that are listening, any travelers are listening to this podcast. And you're going this summer to Epic. You're going to want to stay hydrated. It is hot. [00:43:33] Speaker D: Really. [00:43:33] Speaker C: It doesn't matter how much shade there is. You're going to have to walk through the sun to get from one land to the next. You're going to need to stay hydrated. So definitely a lot of places to like without even looking for them. They'll pop into your line of sight. [00:43:50] Speaker D: Speaking of that. Speaking of that. Sorry, Kelton. No, you're fine. If you are used to going to Islands of Adventure or Universal Studios, you will know that those Coca Cola cups, the freestyle cups, do not fit in the lockers. You have to dump them out, slide it in sideways, put it in that little tiny locker. The all of the lockers at Epic are the big full size locker. So think something like Tron. Like you could easily get two lounge flies in there at least. So also I want to say for battle at the Ministry, it is a dark ride and it is on that arm. But don't let that scare you. It is not near as violent as, as like Forbidden Journey is. So it's a much smoother ride. You're still going to be moving a lot, but it's not that intense. That's not really the intense part of it. So that's all, that's all I had. I loved it. I loved it. [00:45:02] Speaker A: Now they've certainly done better, better and better every time they built the land. So no, I think that's a great way to wrap up the wizard world of Harry Potter Ministry of Magic land there at Epic. So let's continue on around that circle there. And we're moving into the old Dark Universe land. We've got everything, you know, Curse the Werewolf, Frankenstein. I thought I saw a video or a tick tock of like the Invisible man was out there too. I mean they've got. You talked about streetmosphere with the Harry Potter world. Everything seems to have it. So you both also got to experience all the attractions I would know call entertainment all of Dark Universe as well. Hopefully you didn't have any problems. Who wants to start with some Dark Universe stuff? [00:46:04] Speaker C: So I'll take over Dark Universe. Just a quick overview. I know you did a great job right now, Calton, but I'll read what we've what Brooks put together because it is very good. So a dark Universe. At Epic Universe, guests can step into Universal's monster filled world, discover two new thrill rides. Monsters Unchained. The Frankenstein Experiment. Yes, that's a long name. I didn't choose it. Whatever we're calling it Monsters Unchained and Curse of the Werewolf. You can also experience creepy character encounters with classical Universal monsters and new ones too. And also experience spooky eats. For example, fans can dine at Das Steakhouse, a vampire themed quick service spot where the menu features kebabs, burgers, sandwiches and more. This gothic land is a playground for fright fans of all ages. So we're going to focus first on the attractions because obviously this is, you know, where a lot of the focus and the pull, the draw of people is going to be. And that's going to be Monsters Unchained the Frankenstein Experiment and Curse the Werewolf. We're going to start with the big one that's Monsters Unchained. Because this one is located inside Darkmoor Manor or Castle. I think, I think it's the Darkmoor Manor. You know, you kind of get that ooh and the ah feeling when you first go into the Harry Potter castle over in Islands of Adventure to go into that attraction. Similar feel as far as you're walking into this castle, you're like, oh my gosh, this thing is larger than life, creepy and cool. And so I went actually on this attraction during the day and at night the facade is still the same. You know, at night you'll have some extra lighting. [00:48:02] Speaker A: I was gonna say, I've heard, I've heard and seen pictures. The lighting is wow. [00:48:06] Speaker C: Yeah, it's, it's immersive. It definitely, you know, you're not gonna, it's not gonna be a very light lit up land like Super Nintendo World where it's lit up at night. But you know, dark universe is not. You've got the eerie spooky lights, dark lights, black lights, purple lights, you know, little spotlights here and there. But anyways, you go in and this is a ride where you do have the opportunity to either go regular standby queue, single rider lane or express pass. Now the first time I went on it, we did single writer and because it said it was like 80 something minutes and we're like, nope, not doing that. So what would have been like an 85 or so minute wait ended up being just a 10 minute wait as a single writer. So you go in and you're actually, you cut most of the line because you actually have a separate area for your lockers if you're a single rider. And then you kind of get, you have like a back entrance next to the, the gift shop at the exit of the ride and they kind of dump you in and mesh you into the rest of the people in the queue. So the first time around I didn't really get to see much of the queue. It's dark, it's stony, it's. You'll, you'll. So this particular attraction, what is it about? Let's start there. I did, I should have done that from the beginning. Venture deep into Frankenstein Manor, where Dr. Victoria Frankenstein continue continues her family's experiments, attempting to harness the power of these iconic monsters. But beware. Her control falters and Dracula breaks free, unleashing a torrent of Monstrous Fury. I had no idea what the storyline was when I did this. The first time around. So I figured Frankenstein was going to be in it. So, you know, when I'm doing the queue and I don't see a lot of the pieces to it because I get a very short version and I see like Dracula's coffin open and you're like, oh, that's cool. You know, but eventually you go into the boarding of the attraction. This is like this massive room. I'm talking massive. Like I walk in and you're just like, I'm inside a mountain. It feels huge. And right in front of you, it's this like can, you know, like magic carpet style conveyor belt that's moving the, the retraction ride a vehicle. And it's kind of like the Harry Potter ride. Forbidden. What is it? [00:51:03] Speaker A: Forbidden Journey. [00:51:04] Speaker C: Thank you. Forbidden Journey where it's, you know, you're sitting and there's like, it's like a box and you're sitting in there and there's four of you. It's the same kind of system there. And turns out that it is an arm. You are unarmed. Okay, but this is like this massive, massive, massive conveyor belt. And you just see like a bunch of people just lining up and you just go in. You're like, well, don't fall when you step on the moving platform. Yeah, your girl might have tripped. You have to walk at an angle. Walk at an angle. People don't go straight. Your leg is gonna go that way. So anyways, and I'm going with another group. So, you know, just playing it off. I eventually get on, put on my thing. I'm like, okay, what? I don't know what's gonna happen. It's literally a norm. It, the whole thing is just doing this the whole time and the entire attraction, it's not for kids. In my purse, in my personal opinion, I do not think this is, is something for children. They will be, they will be freaked out. You know, the creatures and the monsters. It's freaky. Okay. Am I scared? No, no, no, it's. But you know, you'll see like zombie like, like, like, you know. No, no, don't take your children. But the greatest thing about this attraction, and I mean the greatest thing is the animatronics. I mean, they knocked it out of the park. The amount of animatronics, the lifelike and life size of these, you know, robots is just unbelievable. Like, there is no screens. I think that's not true. There are screens, but I mean, it's like 80% animatronics and 20% screens. Probably not very accurate, it's more like 70, 30. But, I mean, it is just mind blowing how many animatronics are operating and everything is just focused around these animatronics. You do see the entire arm from. From the two rides next to you, which I didn't like that. I. I feel like that kind of takes away from the illusion a lot like you, literally. Yeah. At one point I'm like, well, it's a good thing I'm afraid of heights because I'm looking. I'm like. I was freaking out at one point because you're pretty high up and you're, you know, you're doing. If you're not watching me, you're gonna be like, what the heck is she doing? I'm making a lot of hand gestures as if my arm was the actual robotic arm from the attraction, because that's the only way I can describe it. It's just physically showing you. So, yes, that's one thing I did not like about this, is that you can actually physically see how the ride operates the entire time, which to me takes away from some of the illusion at the beginning. You see it a lot more once you get, like, halfway through the attraction. That's when the storyline obviously develops a lot more and it gets, you know, the plot and the thrill kind of amps up, so then you're. You're forced to see other things. And again, it's fan. I mean, I can't talk highly enough about the animatronics, but, you know, I did do it twice. Is that a ride that I would say is a top for me? No, Michael absolutely loved it. You know, it just felt very, like, different. Different theme and a topic. It felt, you know, not Kitty at all. You know, it's like nostalgic to an extent because of the types of monsters that were utilized. You'll see Frankenstein, you'll see the Wolfman, you'll see Dracula, you'll see Dracula's brides, you'll see Dr. Victoria Frankenstein, you'll see Igor, you'll see. What is it? Gilly man? The underwater one, the green. You know what I'm talking about? Whatever. There's another one there. So you'll see all these different, you know, characters, and it's just. It's cool, it's different, it's very. It feels more adult in its content. Very, you know, Halloween horror night vibes, you know, but really the point to make about this attraction is to go in and admit, admire the animatronics and that massive conveyor belt where you're gonna go and get onto the vehicle. [00:55:53] Speaker A: That's. [00:55:53] Speaker C: That was crazy. But. And then you see. Oh, my gosh, I forgot to say. So when you get on, you. You're facing where you came from and there's like this massive, like, middle torch down. Down the middle. It's not even a torch. It's like this whatever lightning broad thing, and you're seeing lightning bolts just going all over the place. Oh, it's so cool. Like, it's. [00:56:16] Speaker A: It. [00:56:16] Speaker C: You're like, oh, this is gonna be crazy. But, yeah. So that is Monsters Unchained, the Frankenstein Experiment Number two, Curse of the Werewolf. This one is what I would consider the kiddie ride. I didn't go on it at night. I went on it during the day. It's not scary as far as, like, an attraction goes. This is like a mini roller coaster, the thing. So I had another agent actually reach out to me who saw that I went on it and was curious as to whether or not the spinning of this attraction was, like, really, you know, intense. So the way this attraction works is that when you eventually get into your vehicle and this attraction does have regular standby, express or single, the entire queue is outdoors. It does get hot. Single cube moves a lot slower on this one. I don't know why, but I don't know. It just does. I think it's just because the loading and unloading is a little bit slower. Less. Less vehicles in motion at this. At the time, this one. So when you go on, the vehicle has one vehicle has two people in the front and two people in the back, but you're both facing outwards. The reason being is when you actually take off in this roller coaster, the actual vehicle you're in does spin with the motion of the coaster. It is not a continuously spinning, like a teacup situation. It's just. It goes with the motion of the ride. And it does spin to an extent, like a Guardians of the Galaxy, how that vehicle can move. But obvious. Not obviously, but this one does move a little bit more than that one, I would say. I personally don't get sick on rides, so for me, I was totally fine. I did not feel like it was overly nauseating or anything like that. I was in a vehicle with another, like, a motor mom, a dad, and a young child. And this little boy wasn't scared at all. Honestly, during the day, it was so bright that the portion of the ride when we had the werewolf animatronic kind of like above us, which is just. I didn't even see it, like, literally I was blinded by the light. So if anything, this would be something for kids to go on during the day, not at night. I'm assuming at night it might be a little bit creepier. It is not a high intense roller coaster by any means. I would consider a kiddie coaster. Not for kids under, like, eight, unless you like thrill rides. But I still consider it to be just very light in nature. It does have a portion where it goes up and then it swings you back and then it goes off again. But there is no launch, like, there's no heavy launch like hiccups wing gliders over in Isle of Burke. That one does have some launches. It's a phenomenal ride. Definitely on the faster side. This one is not real. It's very tame for a coaster. In my personal opinion. It's all right. Way too short. Way too short. It's one of those attractions where you're like, I don't want to do a long line because the attraction doesn't merit it because it's short. But again, if you have kids, I would do this one. Not Monsters Unchained. That's my opinion, and that's what I will be telling my clients when they decide to go. So. Curse the Werewolf. Check. All right, so there's a lot of different things that you can experience in Dark Universe. During the day, it's really not that scary. It's got the eerie to it because it's all dark and stone and you got some mist going on. But, you know, talking about kids and what they could possibly do there. Well, you do also have the Darkmoore monster makeup experience. When you first walk in through the portal over to the left hand side, there will be a little, like, doorway, really? And there's going to be a gentleman or a woman standing there with, like a little podium. And it almost looks like there's like a restaurant of sort. And it's not. They're taking your name and then you're gonna go in. And it basically resembles, like a barber shop. You've got mirrors and you got a few seats. And I was able to see that there were a couple kids in there getting a makeover experience. You can, you know, turn into Dracula. You can turn into a werewolf. You know, I think it's really cute that they, you know, Frankenstein. I think it's cute that they've included, incorporated something like this to just kind of keep littles entertained and just have a little bit of fun of it. So that's something that you can do. It is obviously a separate price for that experience, but an experience to consider nonetheless. You also have, as we've talked about in previous lands, a lot of character experiences and streetmosphere. I think that's one of the best things that Universal has incorporated at Epic Universe is the fact that there are a lot of actors out and about and interacting with guests for a very unique and elevated experience. I was able to see Igor. I was able to see a random person who was an actor, but I have no idea who he was outside of the Burning Blade Tavern. [01:01:56] Speaker D: And he is phenomenal. He's so interactive. [01:02:01] Speaker C: He was talking to people, but we were just focused on eating and then getting out and continuing the day. But, like, what's just fantastic is just that they're everywhere. Like, truly, you know, you don't have to try hard to find them. Now, how many characters are there gonna be once it officially opens? When the crowds spike and previews were busy, but when the crowd spiked, how many are there gonna be out there? I don't know. You know, we're gonna all kind of find out at the same time. But I'll tell you, for previews, they were out all the time. They were just. You're just walking and then all of a sudden, oh, look, there's, you know, so and so or whatever. And people were actually pretty respectful in just like kind of forming a circle around some of the characters that are forming like a little bit of a line if they wanted a picture, whatever. But, you know, still something cool and unique and, you know, every interaction is going to be different. So that's definitely also something that guests can look forward to when exploring Dark Universe. All right, so one of the last things to talk about is the quick service locations. They technically have three, if you consider the little, like, kiosk cottage thing a quick service. But the first one that we'll talk about is Das Steakhouse. Because as soon as you walk in through the portal, that's gonna be on your right hand side. And it's pretty cool. They're actually, you know, there's seating area instead of, like, you have windows, but almost looks like it's like. Like a jail of sorts. You know, you've got like the great embedded in the stone in the facade. So you see the people out, you know, in there eating from the outside, and it just looks eerie and just dark and mysterious. But anyways, Das Steakhouse, that's a very, very popular location. I did not get a chance to eat there. They do have this one dessert that I've seen over and over and over. Again, that is getting great reviews. And it's like lobokota and it's like this raspberry. It's like a cake and a raspberry sauce. I wish I would have tried it. I did not get a chance to. I think they also have a burger there and you might have seen it. They have the bread, Pat the bread. The burger bread is black. Like, it's like. It looks like it's charcoal almost. That one's also getting a lot of Instagram pictures and views and whatnot. So that's Das Steakhouse. Arguably, that's the largest quick service location at Dark Universe. Because eventually I made my way over to the Burning Blade Tavern. Now, when I went the Blade, you'll see the windmill that turns on fire. It's not on the whole time. When I went, it kind of like turned on. It's always like spinning, but it turned on with some flames for a little bit, then it turned off. So it was like, kind of like. It kind of remind me of the dragon over in Universal Studios in here in the Harry Potter world there, where it just shot out for a bit and then it just. Whatever. So that's how the Burning Blade Tavern facade looked like for me. And I thought it was gonna be like a bigger sit down kind of quick service location. But no, it is. [01:05:32] Speaker D: You walk tiny. [01:05:33] Speaker C: It is so, so small. It is dark. It is so dark. It definitely has got like, pub vibes. Yes, that's right. Pub, P U B vibes. There's a little counter and people are getting all the drinks and stuff here naturally. But, like, we were in line, it was packed and we were trying to see if we could find seating anywhere. And it was just people. People are also trying to like, be in there and step away from the sun and the heat. But it was. It's crammed, it's small. It is not what I expected. But when we were in line, Michael had the brilliant idea, thank God, to do like a mobile order because we were there for the garlic pretzel bread steak. [01:06:23] Speaker D: So good. [01:06:25] Speaker C: I cannot believe how good it is. Like, you think it's just gonna be bread? No, sir. No, sir. Don't do yourself that disservice. Try it. It is absolutely delicious. Especially with that, like, garlicky butter thing. No, I would pay for it again, it was a lot better. It was not dry, it was not hard. It was just great. It really was just like a great snack. Pack your gum, pack your mints. But it was great. And luckily, so he ordered that. And so when you walk In. I didn't realize this at first. Towards the right hand side there is a door and you can go through that door and they have a pickup window to your left and then like few seating areas to your right. So we were able to kind of snag a little table there. He got it from the window so much quicker than just having stood there in line. And we were in there in line for a while and it was just like not moving. So pro tip, you know, if you're just trying to get in, get out, definitely mobile. Order from Das Steakhouse and try and see if you can weasel your way to the outside portion. It's not big, but you're not going to feel claustrophobic like the inside area felt, if I'm being honest. Yeah. I don't know how great they thought about that space out because it's going to draw in crowds. It's got great drinks. It really, you know, is. [01:07:53] Speaker D: But it's really, it is really tiny. I have a pro tip that people are probably going to want to know considering that there's a lot of alcohol that flows in this park. The monster makeup experience, Adults can also do that. It's something that your agent can pre book, you can prepay for it. However, if you are an adult and you get your makeup done, they will not sell you alcohol in the park. Keep that. [01:08:26] Speaker C: I did not know that. [01:08:27] Speaker D: Keep that in mind. The lady at the front desk told me that I was asking, you know, some questions and yeah, they, they will not sell alcohol to you if you are in the. The full face makeup. So. [01:08:44] Speaker B: Probably a smart idea. [01:08:46] Speaker D: Probably a smart idea because. [01:08:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:08:51] Speaker C: But people can get rowdy. [01:08:53] Speaker D: People can get rowdy. Also, you know, you had mentioned the Blade. It only we were there for, I don't know, maybe about 30 minutes or so because we were there as the park was kind of winding down. The Blade only caught on fire once. The entire time that we were in that area. Like it was just once. And I was like, okay, well maybe it'll be like the dragon and it'll be up, you know, on a timer. Apparently it was not. I don't know if that's something that's going to change in the future and maybe they were just getting bugs out. But that was a cool but very underwhelming, very tiny place. But they did have that character guy there and he was very entertaining and interacting and talking with people. But also overall, this, this land is dark and, you know, spooky and there's, you know, fog and that kind of stuff, but the sounds. And I know I talked about the sounds in the last episode. The sounds, the creaking and the. It is, it is so, so good. Like, I just got goosebumps because it's very eerie. It's like if you walked into a haunted house and where everything creaked and groaned and just the sounds of that area. [01:10:25] Speaker C: Well, even just walking through the portal and then you see like the purple screen as you're being transported and then you have bolts, right? You have electricity and you hear the electricity crackle as you're going through the portal. So it's like, you know, because the only. The only portal that has like a tunnel of sorts where it's completely enclosed is Nintendo World. The other ones, it's like an archway and you just kind of go through it. So. But. But all of them do have a screen, you know, to kind of give you the effect that you're going through this portal with whatever mist. But it was just cool. It's like these little details. You see the purple, but you also see electrical bolts. You're like, huh, we're getting into this Dark Universe area. But thank you for the pro tip. I honestly didn't know that myself about the makeup and adults, but it makes sense. Alright, so moving on to the last quick service location at Dark Universe. And that is the Delacy's cottage. We were gonna get some cinnamon roll bites, but we ran out of time. Michael really wanted them. People have been raving about them. This quick service spot is named after the family observed by the monster in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein. Here, guests can find a variety of snacks, include treats like cinnamon bread, ice cream, twisted taters and more. You actually, it's. It literally looks like a little cottage. It's small. It's. It's a window. It's not something that you go in and sit down. So you order from the window, like a little kiosk of sorts, and then you kind of go on your merry way. So definitely a grab and go food location and. All right, so that'll lead us into shopping. I'll go through it quick. Honestly, the shopping is kind of standard across all the worlds. You're going to have merchandise catered to that world and the characters that you're gonna see that are pronounced there. So here at Dark Universe, you've got pretorius scientific oddities which bring a piece of the eternal world of the Dark Universe home with. Oh. Where you can bring a piece of the eternal world of Dark Universe home with you. You can select from an Array of commemorative merchandise and mementos. You get a lot of the characters. You got a lot of cute stuff. You got a lot of scary stuff. You got clothing, you got plushes. You've got mugs, you've got cups, you've got keychains, the works. The Manor storehouse, Located at the exit of Monsters Unchained, the Frankenstein Experiment. This shop is themed as a storage area filled with artifacts and oddities gathered by the Frankenstein family's assistance, offering guests a unique shopping experience. This one's a little bit bigger. It's definitely something that gets crowded because everyone's kind of roaming around and filing in there after the ride ends. And there's also. This is also where guests can kind of jump in. Single guests get their single lockers. So I don't recall, remember, I did single line. So I don't remember. I don't remember if there's lockers for, you know, regular line guests, But I would assume they do if single line has it too. You can't bring your bag on that ride. You can bring your bag on your ride on Curse of the Werewolf. I forgot to mention that we didn't have to drop. Drop our stuff anywhere for that one. Only for the Monsters Unchained. Anyways, that's the store at the exit. And then you have the Guild of Mystics. These wagons at the exit of Curse of the Werewolf offer souvenirs to commemorate your daring escape the forest and away from the clutches of the werewolves. You'll get things like, you know, a few clothing items, some charms, trinkets, jewelry, the works. Just like your typical little kiosk with a few, you know, commemorative items. And then we'll wrap it up with some fun facts. There are over 6,500 different lighting elements that bring to life the rich stories that of Darkmoor's history. Many fixtures were custom designed and fabricated to tell the Darkmoor stories of the vampires and scientists. Ooh, that's interesting. In this land, you'll discover remnants of caged monsters with decayed enclosures that once contained the mole people. Inspired by the 1956 Universal Monsters film. I will say, when you walk into the universe, you actually see. See some sculptures. You'll see, like, a hidden tunnel with, like, a grate, and there's, like, smoke coming out, and there's some noises. You think something's gonna pop, but you're literally expecting for something to pop out at you as soon as you walk in. Like at Halloween horror nights, it does not happen, but you're anticipating that. You get the Smoke effect and everything. Then you've got some coffins that are open that you can take some pictures in. You've got some spooky like skeletal statues as well. And then it's kind of like a little bend before you actually walk into the grandness that is dark more. So the last fun fact is the Latin inscription on the well at the town's center translates to never forget that you exist by our will alone. No, but you know, I didn't notice. Like, yes, there is a fountain in Isle of Burke and there's a fountain here in Dark Universe. Don't recall a fountain in Nintendo World. [01:16:13] Speaker D: It's right outside. It's Mario. It's right outside by the store. [01:16:19] Speaker C: Yes. Okay, so that one has. And then where is the one at Harry Potter? Do they have one? I don't recall. I don't recall. [01:16:26] Speaker A: They have to, I would think. [01:16:27] Speaker C: I mean, I'm thinking it might be behind the statue that was the green female statue. It might be there. I have to go back to my pictures. But anyways, cool. Very cool. Now we've gone through Dark Universe, we've gone through Harry Potter and the Ministry of Magic. Before we wrap up this incredible segment, I do want to highlight a and let everyone know that today, the day of this recording, May 15th, Universal did release their 2026 vacation packages. Now the biggest thing about this is that, well, up until now you could only purchase a one day ticket to Epic Universe and no park hopper. Universal is completely revamping how they are creating their vacation packages for 2026. So what that actually means is instead of purchasing like a one day ticket or doing like a, you know, mentioning the different parks, now you're going to purchase whatever amount of days that you want to do the parks and keeping it at that. The only difference will be is whether or not you want to add in Volcano Bay or not. Now another thing, Volcano Bay is going to be closed from October to March. So that's a pretty lengthy period where it's going to be unavailable. So the Volcano Bay park is not going to be automatically included into these tickets. But let's say you wanted to purchase a three day ticket, not three park, three day ticket without Volcano Bay for example, you'll be able to go to all three theme parks, Epic, Universal and Islands of Adventure or whatever configuration you want. Let's say you want to do three days of Epic Universe every single day. Yeah, you can now. You can now. So thank you Universal for changing these packages, making us travel agents happy and us guests also happy. Because this is a game changer. So contact your favorite fairy tale journeys travel agent and get those 2020 universal vacation packages booked and take advantage of this fantastic, fantastic new program or package experience that they have now basically rolled out starting today. That is all. Yay. [01:18:52] Speaker A: No, I think that's a great way to put it. Start planning for 2026. [01:18:58] Speaker C: So we're already. Halloween season's already around the corner, and Christmas is right after that. [01:19:04] Speaker A: So, you know, I mean, could not have said it better myself. So we did have a trivia question back a little ways. Brooks, you gave us the trivia question. Why don't you end it? [01:19:16] Speaker B: Yes. If you do not remember the trivia question, it was, why does the Ministry of Magic use paper airplanes to send messages instead of owls? Jenny, do you have a guess? [01:19:33] Speaker D: I know this one. [01:19:34] Speaker B: You know this one. [01:19:35] Speaker D: I don't even need to guess. I don't need to look at the answer. I know this one. [01:19:41] Speaker B: So what? Why? [01:19:46] Speaker D: Because owls are very, very messy and lead little. Leave little owl presents everywhere they go. I don't know what we can say and not say, but they leave evidence that they were there. It happens a lot on people's cars. And it got very disgustingly awful and yucky and so they make a mess. [01:20:17] Speaker B: Yes, that is correct. Unfortunately, the owls were incredibly messy. They left feathers and droppings all over the building, which must have been a pain for the custodians, even if they could use magic to clean it up. Because I imagine those were magic droppings as well. [01:20:37] Speaker D: Yeah. So could you imagine being in like an elevator with one of them and. [01:20:44] Speaker A: You know, confined space? No. [01:20:46] Speaker C: So. So I'll say this. When we were in the Ministry of Magic grand atrium, before getting into the actual line for the attraction, Michael looks up and he's like, I'd work in those offices because if you've seen the pictures, if you haven't been, or if you've been, maybe you notice or not. But on the sides of the atrium, so you got your main fountain in the middle, but on the sides, you actually have little offices all lit up along the sides. And they have all the details, like at the office space and everything. And I'm like, that is so put me in one of those. I will happily plan trips from all my clients. And while watching all these people ooze and aahs into the Ministry of Magic attraction. I mean, it is cool. [01:21:42] Speaker D: Cool. [01:21:44] Speaker C: But, yeah, I didn't notice it until he pointed it out personally. But can you imagine all that shiny green tile filled with droppings that's why. [01:21:53] Speaker A: We use paper airplanes. [01:21:55] Speaker C: Exactly. And on that note, Captain, take it. [01:21:59] Speaker A: Away, Brooks, thanks for a great trivia question there. Well, folks, that just about does it for this week's episode of the Mouse Ears podcast. Go ahead, Stephen. [01:22:09] Speaker C: We didn't thank Tony for being our 100th subscriber. [01:22:15] Speaker B: Oh, that is right. Tony McDaniel. [01:22:19] Speaker A: Tony, thank you. [01:22:21] Speaker B: On today, May 15th, we are calling it Tony Day and the Mouse Ears podcast became our 100th subscriber on YouTube. [01:22:32] Speaker D: Yay. [01:22:33] Speaker B: Yes. Everyone listening or watching? I will present this. I haven't even talked it talked it out with the rest of my co hosts, but I feel like they would agree if you follow us on either Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, wherever, or YouTube, if you screenshot that you're following us, you will receive a shout out in the episode. So, Tony, Tony, thank you for being our 100th subscriber. And this is Tony Day on the. [01:23:09] Speaker C: Mouse Ears podcast who is also an FTJ agent. Yay. [01:23:13] Speaker A: Thanks, Tony. [01:23:14] Speaker D: Yes, thank you, Tony. [01:23:16] Speaker C: Sorry, Kelton. [01:23:17] Speaker A: And don't forget to join the Masters Podcast Facebook discussion group and our Facebook page. You can also follow us on TikTok X and Instagram to stay up to date with all things travel, but mostly Disney or Universal in this episode. If you are interested in having a Fairy Tale Journeys agent book your next trip, visit fairytale journeys.com and let them know the podcast sent you. Lastly, if you enjoy our weekly episodes of the podcast, we'd love for you to leave us a review wherever you listen until the next episode where we will be breaking down a celestial park and the three new hotels at Universal Studios Epic Universe. Thank you very much. Enjoy the rest of your Tony Day here on the Mouse Here podcast. We will see you on the next episode. Bye everybody. [01:24:10] Speaker B: Bye, Tony.