All Things Travel Podcast
Listen in each week with Wonder and Beyond Travel Co-Owners and destination experts Ryan and Julie.
He is your travel professor, teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. She is a Disney-loving, Maryland mom of 3 and a specialist in family travel.
Whether they're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories…it’s always All Things Travel.
All Things Travel Podcast
Inside Epic Universe: A First Look at Universal’s Most Immersive Theme Park Yet!
In this unforgettable episode of All Things Travel, Ryan is joined by a very special guest—his 16-year-old son, Caleb—to take you inside one of the most buzzed-about travel experiences of the year: Epic Universe at Universal Orlando Resort.
Whether you're a thrill-seeker, theme park foodie, Harry Potter fan, or Super Mario fan, this new park has something for everyone—and Ryan and Caleb are giving you the inside scoop fresh off their trip!
👨👦 What makes this episode extra special? You’ll hear:
- A father-son breakdown of Universal’s Epic Universe, one of the most anticipated theme park openings in recent years.
- First impressions, favorite rides, and real-time tips from a day filled with thrills, snacks, and strategy.
- Honest reviews of all four lands:
• 🧙♂️ Wizarding World: Ministry of Magic
• 🎮 Super Nintendo World
• 🧛 Dark Universe (Universal Monsters)
• 🐉 Isle of Berk (How to Train Your Dragon)
🎡 We cover everything:
- Planning strategies, including how to make the most of your one-day access to Epic Universe.
- Tips on using the Express Pass—when it’s worth it and what to expect.
- What rides and lands are best for teens vs. younger kids (hint: Epic Universe leans older).
- Dining experiences from Toadstool Café to the Black Goblet, including surprise hits and what we’d skip next time.
- What rides stood out (spoiler alert: Monsters Unchained is a contender for best ride in Orlando!).
- What it’s like getting to Epic Universe from Universal’s main resorts—and whether it's worth staying near the new park.
🎤 Caleb shares what it’s like experiencing Epic Universe as a teen—from the mind-blowing theming in Super Nintendo World to the immersive storytelling in Ministry of Magic. His insights on favorite rides and what makes a park truly "epic" give a fresh, younger perspective you won’t want to miss.
📍 Whether you're planning a future trip to Epic Universe or just love staying on top of the latest in theme park travel, this episode is packed with:
- Real guest experiences
- Practical planning tips
- Insightful reviews of rides, shows, food, and more
- Recommendations for families and thrill-seekers alike
🌍 Ready to plan your own "epic" day at Universal? Visit WonderAndBeyondTravel.com to start designing a vacation that fits your family’s style and pace.
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Visit our website www.allthingstravelpodcast.com and click on "Plan Your Next Vacation"
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Hello and welcome to all things Travel. and his son just got home from his trip to Universal Orlando and visited Epic Universe today. We welcome his son, Caleb, as he and Ryan share all about their trip.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts. Ryan and Julie, I'm your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation, and she's a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories, it's always all things travel. We are excited to talk about Universal and epic universe. How are you doing today, Julie?
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:I'm doing good. We had a busy weekend, but the weather is beautiful here in Maryland, And I cannot wait to hear about this trip.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Well, I've got somebody who's gonna help us share all about it. I've got Caleb, my 16-year-old son here with us today. How you doing, Caleb?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I'm doing great.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:All right. He's actually excited to do this. he said several times he's excited to do the podcast and talk all about Epic. at the end of the night, he looked at me as we were leaving the park and he said, dad, that was an epic day. And then he stopped and he's like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that I inadvertently made a dad joke.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:I was just gonna say, that's a dad joke.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Well, I posted on Instagram, yes, it's epic outside the gates. And my college age daughter, dmd me on Instagram and she said, dad, this is lame. So, I get it from both sides. All right, we are gonna talk about this trip today. just to give you a little bit of context, this was for Caleb's 16th birthday and he really wanted to do Universal even before Epic Universe was announced we were excited to kind of double dip with that. We spent three and a half days total at Universal and did the park to Parks, did Volcano Bay, did Island to Adventure, did Universal Studios. So we can talk a little bit about that if you want, Julie, but obviously our focus right now is talking about our day at Epic Universe. And I say day because right now if you have a vacation package, you are allowed one day when you go to Epic Universe.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:It looks like for 2026, that's not the case.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Correct.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:tickets have just said three day park ticket. And it's like, as opposed to right now when you're buying tickets, when we're recording this, it's like two day plus one day epic. It's a little confusing.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:absolutely.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:so
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:And,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:capacity controlled.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:and also as of today, they have now added Haggards to the express pass last week it was confirmed, but it's not public. How's that for being cryptic? It's confirmed but not public. That Hagrid is part of the express pass. Now, starting today,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:So when you guys were there, it was not
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:So for us, we used the strategy of just going there first thing in the morning because it was not included. And that worked just fine, We pretty much just walked straight through the queue, which was about a 15 minute walk.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:we had to wait a little bit. But yeah, we got pretty much through,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:we were first in line so it helped.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:amazing.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah. We were first in line for islands of adventure that day. let's talk about that and let's talk about Epic universe. But before we do that, if you have not listened to last week's episode, Julie and I break down all the things going on at Walt Disney World this summer and give you some 20, 25 travel plans when it comes to Walt Disney and the options and promos that are there now.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:okay, so we're gonna do this as a. Leisurely interview where I have some questions that I think our listeners would also have. and you guys are gonna give me
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Sure.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:and if there's things that you wanna add on, we can certainly do that.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:All right.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:I think let's back up before you went on the trip and talk a little bit about planning the trip. this was a trip that was supposed to be a couple months ago, but then we decided to wait until Epic opens. I remember Ryan, us talking like, oh, now the Epic tickets are available, and then, oh, now Express Pass is available. going into the trip, did you have a general touring plan in mind
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yes.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:a reason you chose that day?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yes.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:did you have an idea of how you were gonna go around the park?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yes. So when it became apparent that Epic was gonna be open when we were there, or that we were gonna be there when Epic was open, Caleb and I kind of started to talk about Epic Universe. We watched the promo videos that Universal put out to kind of learn about the lands. And then I started to do some deep diving just a couple weeks ago as it opened for previews. what are people talking about? What are people saying? so we knew we had a three day. park to park ticket plus a one day at Epic Universe. our ticket included, park to park access to Islands of Adventure, volcano Bay and Universal Studios. And then one day at Epic, the way that it works now is the day that you go to Epic, you can go in and out of Epic, but you cannot go to other parks that day. So there are some restrictions there. and so we kind of talked about what we wanted to do. Then Express Pass came out, and then the question was do we pay for Express Pass because it was not inexpensive, but all of my wisdom from theme park planning said what? Yes, I mean, we, we had to do it because we didn't wanna miss out on the things that we didn't wanted to miss out or that we didn't wanna miss out on.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:I remember before Express Pass came out, you were like, our goal is like three rides.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah, Caleb, when we talked about it, it was kind of like, we're gonna do what we can do and we're gonna see what we can see and we're just gonna be excited about that. Caleb, as we talked about what we were most excited about with the four Lands, what were the ones that we talked about the most?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I mean for sure. the Harry Potter, that was a huge thing. That's Universal's kind of staple. You've got the.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Dagon Alley and universal Studios and you've got the Hogwarts and Islands of Adventure and that was a big thing. How are they gonna add some more onto that?'cause they already have two big pieces in the parks, so that was really cool to see how they
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:on Fantastic Beasts in the Ministry of Magic.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:so it's based off of the second Fantastic Beast movie. it's all about Paris and then during the ride you're transported from Paris to London
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:and
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:it's amazing. We also talked about Nintendo world, and I know Caleb was really excited about that with the Mario Kart ride, Caleb was just blown away. And we'll talk about each of the lands here in a little bit, but I think Caleb was blown away at the theming when we walked in
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:So if you had three rides that were your must dos going into the trip, what were they?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mario Kart definitely,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mm-hmm.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:monsters Unchained, which was in the, dark universe. And to be honest, Up until right before we went, I didn't know if Harry Potter was gonna be an option. and it certainly was.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:That's awesome.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:so yeah, I think as far as pre-gaming, we just kind of looked at the different lands and prioritized. and then, once we got to the resort, I'm kind of talking to the vacation desk people. Okay, what should we do with transportation? how should I plan this out?
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:So I've, one more question about the planning. once you did have Express Pass, did you have an idea of like, okay, this is where we wanna go first?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:the lands that we were most excited about were our priorities. We didn't realize, to be honest, how much we could do in the day. we were like, we know we want to do Nintendo. We know we want to do Harry Potter. We know we want to do dark Universe. If we get to how to Train your Dragon, that's okay.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mm-hmm.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:it's
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Express Pass really. So right now with Express Pass, there's only several things, that are not included. Harry Potter is one of them. So we knew we had to monitor that time because we were gonna have to wait regardless for that ride.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:All right, so talk to us about transportation to Epic Universe, because it's not on the same campus as Islands of Adventure, universal Studios and all of those resorts. what was transportation like getting there? Was it far, did you feel like it was convenient
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:when I checked into the vacation planning desk, I asked the, person working there what time the buses started, and they started at 7:00 AM because early entry for a resort guest was at eight. and so Caleb, what did we do that morning?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:We got up at maybe five o'clock in the morning. don't even know, but
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:we,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:FI 5 45, but
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:We got down there. I mean, we
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:we were downstairs by about, because here's the thing, Julie, why not? I mean, we have one shot at this, and so
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:day
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I would rather be there. At the beginning we got downstairs about six 15. and then there was a bus right there waiting.'cause the woman at the vacation planning desk made it sound like if you're not there at seven, you're kind of out of luck. But it was not that way at all.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:completely. It was
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:we wait and so the buses are at the resorts and they're in the same place. The buses for Volcano Bay would be at those resorts. We were staying at the Royal Pacific, I would say it was about a 15 minute bus ride. it felt a lot like Disney, going from your resort to one of the parks. One we got off at the, at the Royal Pacific spot. We walked up and we were first in line at one of the lanes
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:that's amazing.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:and I'm like, we are here, we're ready to go.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:what time did you get there?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:We got there about,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:six 50
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah, I would say around seven o'clock and there were people there but over that next hour it filled up and, I was glad that we were where we wanted to be, especially'cause I didn't know a lot about the directions in Epic Universe. in City Walk, what did we see the night before Caleb? They had an epic preview center. What did they have in the middle of that?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:they had a giant model of the entire park. we kind of got an idea from that to see exactly where we wanted to go
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:what they kind of looked like. it wasn't enough to prepare us for what they actually looked
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:right.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:so weird to go to a park that you're not
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Oh yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:where to
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:absolutely.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:to like Magic Kingdom. I know where everything is.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:That's crazy.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:two of the four lands were open,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:For
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:that early hour. And that was the, super Nintendo world, and that was the dark universe. so we decided to go to the Super Nintendo world first.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mm-hmm.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I think a lot of people went over to Harry Potter to get in line, for the ride.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:but
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:all of the lands, I would say overall, they were people, eaters. there could be thousands of people in those lands, and it did not feel like it at all.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:I don't love the strategy of going to just wait in line when it's
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:No.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:on early entry because you might be one of the first people in line, but you're missing everything else
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Sure.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:early
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:since we had the express pass, we had a little bit of privilege with that, of knowing that we were gonna be able to go into most things. we thought we were going to Mario Kart. We actually ended up going to Donkey Kong'cause I was kind of following the crowd. And that ride would, that ride wouldn't start. And so at about eight 15, I'm like, Caleb, why don't we come back? And so we jumped out, went right to Mario Kart, actually decided to use our express pass and
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:and
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:what did you think of Mario Kart?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:it proved to me that Epic universe has a lot more technology than what we were expecting in rides and what they've been doing over the years. the whole point of Mario Kart is you have goggles and you put'em on. They're a, they're ar goggles on augmented reality, but you put'em on and it, you know, they have images displayed and you're shooting things just like you are on Mario Kart, and it was really amazing. It was a fun kind of interactive ride.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Are you in a ride vehicle
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:You're in a ride
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah, it,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:It's almost like Toy story mania if Toy Story mania was moving the entire time.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Is that fair,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah, I mean, it's based off of Mario Kart, so it's a race, you know,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:wheel and you turn and your goal is to get coins or whatever it is. And so, you know, you're turning and you're riding in a car essentially.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Caleb, what version or game system of Mario Kart did you grow up on?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I didn't ever actually had any, Mario Kart or anything. I have played Mario Kart, a lot with my friends in their houses, but I was always a We sports.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:but when you were playing with them, was that on a we system for Mario,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yes, I think so.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:So I guess we would work.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:That works. I have a classic N 64, like the original Mario Kart, my kids even play it now and it's so
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Wow.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:gonna be so excited to see that.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:did you end up getting on Donkey Kong or No,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:We,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:actually did
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:we kept joking. It was like the fates were against us that day because, once it got up, we left went to other places and then came back, found out they were at capacity. And then found out that wasn't part of the Express Pass, which I didn't know.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:And then it started raining, so it was shut down for weather. So we're like, well, I guess we're just not supposed to ride that ride today. And you know what? We did so much, Julie, that it kind of became a joke. so we're just like, well, I guess we're not supposed to ride that that day.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:And that's okay next time. So give us an overview of what lands you visited, the attractions you
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Sure.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:the meat of the day,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:epic Universe is four distinct lands with a hub called Celestial Park that has a carousel and a rower coaster and several restaurants and shops and kind of what looks like it's gonna be an entertainment center. Helios, the hotel, first of all, let me talk about the.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:where's the hotel? It's outside the park or inside
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:it's inside you can walk straight from Helios into Epic universe. Yeah. It's kind of like the Grand California and walking into California adventure.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I told you through a text and then I explained it to Caleb. I said, celestial Park seemed to me like if the Riviera Resort, which is one of my favorite resorts at Disney, because I just love how beautiful and I love the calm theming. I said, if that was a theme park, it would be Celestial Park.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:It was the Italian style roofing and the white brick all around that made it really feel
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah. four Lands, you've got the Super Nintendo world. Caleb, why don't you talk a little bit about what are the things that are in Super Nintendo world?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:For sure. well, I mean, it's,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:so you've got theming all around. There's these little, wristbands that you can buy that are really cool. You buy them, they're sort of like magic bands, but they only work in, one park or in the, in the Super Mario world. So you go around and there's there's three rides. There's a Yoshi's adventure, which is sort of a,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:A kid ride.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:you don't really do much. It's a nice relaxing
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:It's a great way to get pictures of the land, to be honest with you.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah. you got the Mario Kart, that's the one we talked about earlier. And then you have the Donkey Kongs. But I can't talk about
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I have no idea.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:But the Donkey Kong ride is in a distinct Donkey Kong area too, which is cool. with those wristbands, there's places all around to use it. And there's actually, so it's not just, you're not just using on the ride, you're, but you can connect it to the rides there. It's all over the land. You're collecting, coins and points and all that kind of stuff.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:It's the same way
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:a great job of making their lands very interactive. But for, food wise, there is a, toad themed restaurant, which is very good. We ate there, had a little snack there.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yep.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:it's a nice little place. it has, 3D kind of images on the walls that move. they have a few snack shops around. they do not have breakfast, which we found
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:that's one of the things I was gonna talk about when we talked about dining The lands that were open didn't have breakfast.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Oh, that's weird.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:that was really different than Disney because a lot of places will have a breakfast menu. and I think that's one thing I would say with Universal is, especially in Epic univers, I know other places, I mean, we have breakfast in the other parks. there weren't breakfast options and that almost did feel like an oversight, we walked into the Toad Stool Cafe and they're like, well, you could have the spaghetti or the hamburger and we're like, no, no, we're not doing that.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Oh.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah, so we ended up having breakfast in Paris, in the Harry Potter section, which was a lovely breakfast and a lovely place, but it just wasn't what we thought. one thing that I really liked about Universal, I'll talk about dining here and then I'll pass it back to Caleb to talk about the other lands. One of the things I really like that they do is their quick services are table delivery. So you sit down at the table and then there's a QR code that you can, they get you into the app or you can just use the app, you order, and then you put your table number in and they bring you your food.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:So
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:you can order at the counter or you can just sit down at the table. And that was really nice, that felt more relaxed than everybody huddle up at the counters.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Was it only like that in Epic or
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:All over the parks.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Oh, cool.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah. and I will say too, from the last time I went, there was a lot more mobile ordering options at Universal than there was before.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Anything else about Super Nintendo World, Caleb?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I don't think so. I do think that it is the best themed, You walk in and you are in that,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:land, you're not seeing anything else. You're seeing the sky and what's around it. And I think that's great because it's supposed to be in a video game.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I think it really makes you think that you're in the video game. So I think that's a very important part of it.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:I feel like when Ryan sent me a video of it, I was like, this doesn't even look real.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:doesn't look real.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:real.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:for.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah. Totally. So next we decided to go to Paris One'cause we knew we wanted breakfast and the, cast members in line told us that was a great place to go for breakfast. tell us about that, Caleb.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I mean like you said, it was set in Fantastic Beasts, the second movie, the Crimes of Grindelwald, so you feel like you're in Paris.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:1920s Paris.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:You walk in and it's very clean. There are some side alleys that are a little bit more dirty, that have some pieces of the movie in them, but for
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:So think Noc, turn alley, seedier places, darker places.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:The main area was very Paris. It was clean. The shops all were themed. there was lots of spells to do,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:spells you can do with your wands. And the cool thing about Harry Potter is they actually have a second gen wand, which is about$20 more expensive than the other wand, has a light up at the end. So when you do a spell, it lights up with an LED and also has haptic feedback. So when you do spells, it will vibrate in your hand, I don't have one, so I don't know what that's like, but I'm sure that that is a very cool, upgraded experience.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:But the cool thing is you brought your wand from, you know,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:you know,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:five years ago
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:have
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:three or four years ago, and it worked just fine.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Oh
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:So yeah,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:everything pretty much works. all the spells that were around. And they also have updated maps too, for the wands that have all the spells around it. So mine work just fine. you're not feeling left out by people who have different wands. Yours will work perfectly fine. they have a circus show there, which is also based outta the second movie,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:CIR Circus, a Canis,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mm-hmm.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:We went to that. And the cool thing is it's kind of a small circus tent, like it is in the movie, and it's up against a building. so you walk in and, just like the magic of Harry Potter, it opens up in front of you and you're just walking through, and then you're in a full size, theater for the show. I thought it was gonna be a magic show, and it really wasn't. But it was still really neat.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Beasts
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah. Think of it as a Fantastic Beast show.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Like a retelling.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Kind of an extension, kind of a nod to that, and, the themeing here was just amazing, Julie. it was so cool.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Ugh.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:The restaurants, the shops, the signage, and they had street atmosphere characters. they had actors dressed, like a French aura, that I was kind of talking to. He was kind of looking out for Grindle wa you know, henchmen to try to break into the ministry, and had his wand in a holster, like a 1920s cop. it was just really, really cool.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:So you ate breakfast there
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yep.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:were there other places to eat inside Paris?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah. So, so there were, there were a couple bars, there was a main cafe called the Cyrene. That's where we had breakfast and a snack later. the cast members at the check-in said, don't forget about the other restaurant in Paris. I forget the name but And so we went there for dinner that night and had really good food. Kale had schnitzel, and I had bratwurst and salad. it was almost German themed. but, but yeah, very, very good food. There. There, there's no sit down restaurants in any of the areas. They're all quick service,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:dining.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:table service you
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:no table service. it feels like table service'cause you're ordering from the table. there's lots of opportunities, you know, from anything having to do with Fantastic Beast, having to do with Harry Potter, things like that.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:the rides?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yep, So let's talk about the ride. they had a standby section, and I think when we first looked at it, it was, what, a hundred minutes?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I thought it was 140,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay. it was a substantial way and I was willing to do it'cause we gotta do it. they have a single rider line and a walkthrough line, at Islands of Adventure so many people wanted to see Hogwarts, that they added a line to see the Ministry of Magic. I said, let's just walk through. let's just see it. I didn't even commit to the single rider at that point. Caleb, why don't you talk about how we walked into the ride.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah, so you go into what's a sort of subway tunnel terminal in, in the side. It's very easy to find. you walk in and it says metro flu on the side, which is what they use in the movies to travel. you wait in your line and the, park attendant tells you where to stand. So you start walking, you're walking into this chimney fireplace. area. It's just like they do in the movie. And when you start walking, I'm sure it's sensors or something, it picks your movement up and it starts, shooting up green smoke and just like they use fire in the movie, but it's green smoke to represent it. And you walk through and you're in this hallway and the brick turns from this kind of hard, broken down to this clean, black, sleek brick, just like it is the ministry magic in the movie. And the same thing happens when you come out. The green smoke comes up and you come in and it's just so well themed. I mean, the ministry, you feel like you're in it, it's like the movie. I was just blown away by the amount of theming
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:So when you walk into rise of the resistance at Hollywood Studios and you see the stormtroopers, it's kind of that, but on a different level. I mean so much better. we were just gonna walk through'cause you could actually just hang out there and check it all out. I asked where the single rider line was because if you didn't want to go on the ride, you could just walk straight through to the exit. we got in the single rider line and got on the ride in like 20 minutes.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Oh my
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mm-hmm.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:That's amazing.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Now what's funny is we went back later and tried the same thing and the single rider line was actually longer than the standby line. our experience was great. the whole ride is based around the trial of Dolores Umbridge.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:mm-hmm.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:antics happen and she escapes and you have to help, everybody find her it felt like you got into a car, kind of like Tower of Terror,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mm-hmm.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:but then it moved around like the forbidden journey.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:with no motion sickness. What did you think of the ride, Caleb?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:The one thing I liked a lot was that right off the bat I could tell we weren't missing much of the queue. The single rider line, wasn't, the greatest queue But, we weren't missing much. You could see it if you wanted to take pictures, you could. There were stuff on the walls that were always there. I mo I agree a lot about the ride. It was not something that blew me away necessarily. The animatronics were very good. They had some new technology that they had been using. But the screen, it was kind of like, Green gots in the way that it used animatronics and screens, But yeah, I mean, it
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:it fit really well with the other Harry Potter rides and the other lands in the sense that, the moving around. So yeah, it was a pretty solid ride.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I think partly too, Paris felt really good for us because there was such low capacity. So I will say, a disclaimer for all of this is, we had the express pass and we were there on the fourth day. It was open and they were very heavily controlling capacity. So I hope this is everyone's experience, but I'm afraid you can tell when you go through the lands, the cues that are set up, they are expecting way more people than were there, with the turnstiles and the switchbacks and all that kind of stuff.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:is that the only ride in Paris?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:so they have a ride in a show and we both felt like it needed one more ride.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah, it it,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:something to just,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:because it was the largest land.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Oh,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:It felt like it was the,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:ride.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:maybe technically it's not, but it felt like the largest land to me.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:It was
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:so it felt like it needed one more thing. overall,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:like the wands and the spells, that's an
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:or
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:you're definitely gonna spend a lot of time there between eating and shopping and wand use and all that kind of stuff. and then we went to Dark Universe. Caleb, tell us about Dark Universe.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Dark Universe was very underrated in my mind I wasn't expecting much of anything. but I was very much blown away like I was for all the other lands. you kind of, you
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:in and you can already tell it's kind of spooky. It's kind of scary. I mean, that's the point of it. It's monsters and you see, they've got a graveyard and they've got smoke coming outta random places and the trees are dead. And you walk in and you see Frankenstein's mansion and
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:you turn the corner, like you walk in and it's kind of underwhelming and spooky, and then you kind of turn the corner and Frankenstein's mansion is right there.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:it was amazing. we came back at night when it was dark and it happened to be storming and lightning, which made
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:So Cool.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:it was lightning in the background and everything was lit up, especially when the, tavern was catching on fire, which I'll talk about later. But
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Was it actually Thunderstorming or that's part of the
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:No, it was thunderstorming.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:we were in a downpour. Had its snack at Toad Stools Cafe, and then walked over to Dark Universe because we wanted to see it at night.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I wanted to see it at night.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah. And it was worth it. The only thing that was bad about it storming was that the characters weren't out because during the nighttime, the monsters come out. During the daytime you've got the monster hunters. and The invisible man. We saw multiple times.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:my
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:This land has two rides. It has a, a roller coaster curse of the werewolf. It has a inside dark ride called Monsters Unchained. And then there is two, quick service places here. There's a, a Burning Blade Tavern, and if people have seen the, the windmill that catches on fire, And das Steakhouse. where we had lunch. But the first thing we did was we went on Monsters Unchained. And how excited was I to go on this ride? Caleb
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:You were so incredibly excited and I was making fun of you the whole time, and I feel bad for that because of the amazingness. That was monsters unchained.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I think it's the best ride in Orlando.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:It's not for kids. It's not for kids.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:the ride. Tell me
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Are you sitting in like a
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Like
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:the whole queue is based around Dr. Frankenstein's mansion, and his great, great granddaughter, Victoria Frankenstein is picking up his legacy and trying to right his wrongs by controlling the monsters.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:one monster she can't control is Dracula. And so you help her try to, find and control Dracula and what could go wrong, right? and so what happens is you get into a Rhine system, kind of like, the forbidden journey, almost exactly like it. But they've changed it so there's no motion sickness. There's been very little issues with Itor reported in that way, and you are up, down, all around throughout the ride you get, chased by the different monsters. So you've got Dracula and his brides, the wolf man, you've got the monster from the Barack Lagoon. You've even got a nod to the Phantom of the Opera playing the organ as you're going into the ride. it is fast-paced fun. scary and just so cool.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Was it scary?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:it is. Not a little kid's ride at all.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:But
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:the height minimums,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Correct. but the whole land is based around the classic universal monsters. So you've got Frankenstein, bright of Frankenstein, Wolfman, you know, kind of all those classics. we ended up, over the course of the day, riding this ride three times. One because we loved it so much. And two, because the wait times, I mean, 20 minutes was the most that I saw. I think part of that is since it's not a little kids ride, you've got all of your families at different places. it was just the best. I loved it.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:awesome.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:and then we rode Curse of the Werewolf. That is a smaller rollercoaster. What did we think of Curse of the Werewolf, Caleb?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:It was about five times more intense than we ever thought.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:we had aid at do steak house and I was coming, coming out, and we wanted to ride that. And I was like, Hmm, I don't know about this. And I was like, I'll be fine. we got up there and it is crazy. The cars are spinning, which I was going through. There's spinning and you go backwards. we were not prepared for that. I mean, you seeing it go by and then riding it is two very different things. And after eating lunch, me and me and my dad, when we first finished, we looked at each other like, oh, that was something.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:It was a good ride. it's a really good ride. And we were told by cast members to ride it at night, but we couldn't because of the weather.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:delay.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:it's a really cool, those two rides are strong rides in that land. and then for lunch, we went to DOS Steakhouse, which I knew I wanted to go to. And again, that was confirmed by cast members, Hey, you should go here.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:we both had the DA Steakhouse burger, which looked black and bloody and, the whole menu was kind of that, theming. food was really solid. The, the theming was really solid. I was super happy with the entire land.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:all right, so that's three lands,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Outta four. And then we hit, how to Train Your Dragon, which, you know, the aisle of Burke. And for me, this was the sleeper hit because I've certainly seen the movies, when the kids were younger, but that's kind of left my mind and it was fantastic. talk about this land what the theming was like and what our experience was like here.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:just like every other land you walk in and you're in it. you walk in, they've got a huge, river just because again, you're on, you're supposed to feel like you're on an island. So it's got a huge, kind of lake pond right in the middle. you've got the roller coasters flying by the music, the kind of Celtic music's playing all around. You've got shops, you've got dragons. There's dragon dragon animatronics around the land. it's not just in the rides or in certain parts. I have a video of baby dragons on the side, fighting over fish and animatronics and it's very cool. we didn't eat there. actually no, we did
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:No, we didn't eat there, but I did think that we might eat there. I looked at some of the menus and there was some really solid food options there.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I mean, we explored a little bit and the first thing we did, we were a little hot and tired at that point, but we went to the show and that was amazing. The show blew me away. I was a little disappointed in the, circus show. it was good, but I was expecting a little bit more. And this show, I mean, made it
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:it's a show about this dragon and how it's so untrainable and you find out some more about it later. the dragons they use in the actors, it's all so good. And they're flying above you and they're doing all these things. I could tell the little kids were loving it.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:they were cheering the whole time and it was very well done.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:in this land there is a boat water ride where you're battling each other with water guns. there is a really good roller coaster that goes throughout the land. There's another adventure ride, where you go up and around and there is a kids play area.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah. rides that are there, you have Fire Drill.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Fire drill is the one in the water. and so base we didn't, we're kind of wims when it comes to getting wet.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:The one thing I will say is that we spent probably the least amount of time, and also we didn't do as many rides in this land. But that is not to say we did not like it or we did not think it was
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:one of the WA rides would get wet and the other ride looked like I would throw up. So we kind of stayed away from
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah. it was the height of the afternoon, so
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Is that Dragon Racers Rally Kayla, that you thought you were gonna get sick on?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mm.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:That looks like it. the picture looks like things are flying up in the air.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yes.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:circle. You're,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I can, it just didn't look, you know,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:was the afternoon. I was tired. I just didn't
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:A
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:look like something I
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:and we rode the rollercoaster we bought, we both thought that was a solid rollercoaster.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:good.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Um,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:cool.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:hiccups Wing. Delighters. Okay.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Absolutely.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:the cool thing is it goes into the pond, like in this tunnel under the pond, and it comes back out, which I thought was a very
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:similar to how they do that in the movies.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:And then the name of the show was Untrainable
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:The untrainable dragon, right? Yeah. That was solid.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Awesome.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:And then after Isle of Burke the one thing that we hadn't done,'cause we did the carousel'cause darn it, we're gonna do it all. We did the carousel before going to Isle of Burke
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:in Celestial Park.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:In Celestial Park, we did the Star Just Racers, which is a dueling roller coaster. the day before was kale's, first time in the velo coaster. So he's kinda like, this is gonna be good, but it's not gonna be, it's not gonna be any velo coaster. It's gonna be fine. that roller coaster kicked our butt. It was so intense I don't know if it's'cause we weren't expecting it. It was intense.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:It was, yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:the woman in front of us on the How to Train Your Dragon Ride did tell us,'cause we were saying out loud, we were gonna go to that next. She did tell us it was better than the veloc coaster, which we were like, you, no, that's not possible. How's that possible? So we get on and it was not better, but it was intense. the ups and downs. I mean, the steepness you were, you were definitely feeling it and you know your head was hurting after you felt like you had been thrown and your body had been pushed in ways it wasn't supposed to be
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Caleb,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:in.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:like a 16-year-old. You're not supposed to feel that way after a rollercoaster.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Caleb is a theme park trooper, but he also, understands his stomach. Let's just put it that way.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:I hear you. That's amazing. I've heard that that coaster is really intense. So in CES Show Park, you've got Stardust resource and you've got the Constellation Carousel. and
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:there's dining and shopping there
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:So it's almost a hub. There's several true sit down restaurants.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:So in Celestial Park it looks like there's the Atlantic, which is a full service restaurant.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yep.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:The Blue Dragon Pan-Asian restaurant, is
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:that's connected to Helios?
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay. that's part of the hotel.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:there's a lot of snacks and beverage type places throughout
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah. a lot of kiosks. you can tell that it's gonna be a place for people to mill around kind of an entertainment space. There's a stage there. and then also as we've talked about on the podcast, Julie Epic Universe is in close proximity to the convention center, so they're thinking that groups that come to the convention center will buy out Epic, like in the evenings or something like that. So I think they just have a lot of open space in the middle.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Right. I think that was the idea behind having those portals so that you
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:close off a portal
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:and you completely could, I mean if you wanted to close off the Super Nintendo world or Paris, you could do that and be completely immersed in it.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Wow,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:having a pharmacist conference in Super Nintendo world
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:sounds amazing. So let me back up a minute. We talked about what you had for lunch. said a couple times that you snacked at Toad Stool Cafe. do you remember what you got?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:So that was kind of our nighttime snack.'cause we were waiting out the weather and waiting for it to get dark so we could go to to Dark Universe. we had the TMI Sioux was kind of a, a Mario Brothers themed. And then I got some, Garlic, Parmesan, toad stools, that you could dip in and marinara
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:didn't do a lot of,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:it was good?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I thought everything we had there was good that day. what about you, Caleb?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah, the Amisu was very well themed. It was, I don't know exactly what they're called, but they're the yellow blocks with question marks in them. They were themed just like that, so it was like a graham cracker or something on the side
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:good.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:everything that we had at, epic Universe was a hit. And you know, you and I have talked Julie off the podcast that, universal has some really good food, but in the parks is not always where their good food is. I think Epic has helped with that.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay. you said you had breakfast in Paris. Did we say what you ordered? Like what you remember having there?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I had a croissant sandwich with fruit. Caleb had a ham sandwich, like a baguette sandwich, We both had the burger and fries at Do Steakhouse. the cafe layer De la cyrene is where we had breakfast, and then we had a snack later. I had a beer and you, had a soda. Caleb. I think we were just charging our devices hanging out for a while. the bar moonshine was just a, it was actually an American themed bar, that was just, just cocktails and drinks. And then we had dinner at a place called, Le Noir or the Black Goblet. and that was kind of, that was more themed, like the, the three broomsticks, leaky cauldron kind of thing.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:so we talked all about the parks, we talked a lot about food. We talked a little bit about your planning. Tell us a, let's kind of transition to like some tips and what would
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:So we talked about how you got Express Pass and how we were a little like back and forth, like, should we get it? Should we not?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:you think Express Pass was needed? I know that this trip was low capacity, Do you feel like.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:well definitely if we look forward,'cause I mean spending the other days at Islands of Adventure in Universal Studios, I mean we just, because we stayed Royal Pacific, we have the unlimited express pass to be honest. We just kind of take it for granted. It would be hard not to do that.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mm-hmm.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:think for me, It was still worth it because I knew I would have the experience of every ride, even if I could do things multiple times. Like we did Mario Kart twice, Mazdas and Chain three times. We were gonna do the Harry Potter ride twice. to be honest, we could have done most things multiple times if that was really our strategy. And just going into it, having the peace of mind of not stressing, I think was really helpful.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Within your trip, remind me, where did you go the day before and the day after?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:we did both. We did, islands of Adventure and Universal studios and we went back and forth.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:you had
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:three park days
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:strategically. So we got there in the afternoon and we went to Volcano Bay, and that was kind of our volcano Bay Day. I wanted to have a day at the parks that we were familiar with the first full day. then I wanted to do Epic, and follow it up with kind of our greatest hits. That's kind of what we do at Universal Studios. The last days, kind of, what do we wanna do again? And I thought that was good. I thought that was good placement.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay, so what type of planning tips would you give future guests when they're thinking about planning their day at Epic Universe? As far as like their touring plans, that kind of thing.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:what do you think, kale, if you were talking to, a group of your friends and they said, Hey, we're going to Epic, what advice would you give them?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:First thing I would say, you have to be ready to go all day. And if you're not, you're just not gonna see everything. The second thing is that you have to take advantage of the low wait times. when you see a low wait time and you wanna ride that ride at that moment, I suggest you ride it. if it's a 20 minute wait, just do it. It might be 50 when you come back. The third thing I would say is that, even if you don't like a land, every land is themed very well. If you're not a big How to trainer Dragon person or Harry Potter fan, still enjoy it. You can still eat, you can still do certain things. you don't have to be a fan of everything that's there to do it. everything is so well themed that you might a fan after you go in the land.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I mean, to be honest when you say that, Caleb, I kind of stopped and thought, you could go into the wizarding world and enjoy being there and not,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:and not
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:and not have anything to do with Harry Potter at all.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:that all the time.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Like,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:wondering about that because Fantastic Beast is definitely not as well known as,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:seven movies
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:if you just wanted to go into a land that has amazing theming and have good food and good drinks and just relax, you wouldn't have to do anything with Harry Potter.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:the same way that I never grew up with a, Nintendo, but I still can go in there and I can have fun and I can still think it's amazing, even though it's not, my childhood of growing up with that. I still thought it was amazing.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:ama.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:one thing I will say when planning is when we had inclement weather, a lot of stuff shut down. So there was a lot of weather dependent rides, that could impact your day. I agree with everything Caleb said and I would add to that. Get there first thing in the morning, even though. The capacity was low. It set us up to have an amazing day just'cause we were there. We were excited. We were first in, I mean, we were first in line, we opened the park and I think it was open till 10. I think we got back on the bus at nine 30. So I mean, we had a really full day. But why not? especially because right now you have one day, you really have to do that. it's not a day to go back and take a nap at the hotel, which to be honest, I kind of like the fact that it's not right there, like the other resorts.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Would you recommend, like in the future when potentially you could do more days there, would you prefer to stay at the hotels closer to Epic or do you think because there's two parks near the other hotels and City Walk, it still makes more sense to stay at those original hotels?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I think Epic is the best park, but you have more bang for your buck staying over by City Walk.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:what do you think,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I totally agree with that. you've got three Parks Island Adventure University, Stu, and City Walk. it's such a great night if you come back from the parks, have a little rest time, and then go to City Walk that night,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:an eight minute walk from all of that, from, two parks makes it so much easier. You're not waiting for buses, you're on your own time. We got there early in the mornings because we weren't waiting for anything, We could walk and is it you wanna walk outta your hotel and be in one park, but then have to take buses to every other, other, other thing, or have three parks to your walking distance and take one
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah, C, because when I compare it to Disney, that's always the advantage of Universal the proximity to those, especially the premier hotels, we tend to stay at, and have my clients stay at because of the express pass. There's just no way to change your trip for the better than have an unlimited express pass and have it included in your stay,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:just to clarify, when you stay at those premier hotels, you have unlimited express pass included for islands of adventure and Universal Studios. It is not included for Epic Universe.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:not at this time.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Express Pass. Correct. Epic Universe's Express Pass is a completely separate purchase and at this time it's not unlimited
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Correct. we were able
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:It's a
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:have one experience. Of each thing that was on the Express Pass,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:for our day, that was plenty.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:That was still a free, you know, get on the ride So having it multiple times would've been nice, but you know, it's not like we're going back to the rides every ride three times,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:a good point. to clarify, for the hotels that are near Epic, only Helios is walking. The other ones Terra, Luna, ANOVA, are not walking
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Right.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:I feel like when I saw them I was driving to the airport and it felt like they were kind of like in the middle of nowhere. Anything you would've done differently?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I don't know.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:It doesn't sound
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:it.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:to be honest, our timing all worked. I wouldn't have gone any later, even though we were there super early. I wouldn't have chosen to do that differently. We took advantage of the parks that were open. We stayed and saw everything we wanted to. other than not having downpour rain for an hour or so, yeah. what would you have done differently, Caleb? After seeing everything
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:we saying?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:during the day, is there anything you would've done differently than what we did?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:we didn't get on the My cart, which was my only kind of regret for the day. when it comes to Epic, obviously, we had no idea that it would've not used the express pass, or it would've been rained out. So I think just taking advantage of going and doing it, even if it was a, 30 or 40 minute wait.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:to know.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:the ride was at capacity,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:the line was so long they cut off the line?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:And it was posted at 45 minutes and the guy said it was at capacity and I kept watching and it was always at 45 minutes. So I'm like, I don't wanna walk all the way over there. it was kind of odd, so that's why I just said about halfway through the day we're just like, I guess we're not gonna be on this ride.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:well, that's because with it being so new, they're not sure like, is it gonna
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:they don't wanna clear a two hour
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:okay. But I have one more question and this isn't on the outline. So
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Okay.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:What do we think about the park for kids? What would you say? The minimum age to enjoy the park. And I don't mean they have to do everything. my kids are currently six, four, and two. mind. I'm not gonna take them until the youngest is like six.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I agree on that for sure. One of the reasons why I picked Universal was that it's more of an upper age. you know, there's still families there, but I think the rise are a lot more. I. upper in age. what I told dad was that, in epic universe, there's a lot of intense rides and I wish there were some more that were less intense. Mario has a good
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mario. Yeah. Mario
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:yeah,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I Burke are really the only areas that are kid appropriate,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I mean,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:they have a carousel.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:it's a lot of intense rides and that's fine for someone my age, someone maybe a little bit younger, especially adults, but it's a lot more of an intense kind of park and area. And I would agree with you on the, six year olds, there's still lots of things they can do, but I just don't think for the two year olds and
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:younger toddlers
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:I mean,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:the other universal parks. Like I wouldn't take them to any universal park until they're like minimum six, I think. But I was just wondering your thoughts on the Epic.'cause like Dark Universe, there's no way they're going there. don't even
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:husband in Dark Universe, with Ministry of Magic being the only ride there. Like, they're not necessarily gonna appreciate, I mean,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:right.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Would kids like that show?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:they would, and I think part of it too is when you go through Hog's Meet and Diagon Alley, no matter what type of Harry Potter fan you are, you're gonna love those areas.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mm-hmm.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:may not know what is going on with Fantastic Beasts,
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah,
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:so, what I'm thinking is do you feel like there's enough going on in Isle of Burke and Super Nintendo World to like make that day worth it, is that a place that they could just hang out in Super
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I don't necess.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Isla
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:I
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Iowa of Burke, they definitely could. I think there's enough for a half day there for kids if they take advantage of everything.
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:another thing is that for me, when you come back to Paris, I really enjoyed going around and seeing all the places that you could shop and eat. Little kids don't like to go in stores and look at products. me and Dad were in the same store probably four different times. I enjoyed that It's one of my favorite things, going around seeing all the different things you're not gonna necessarily get a 2-year-old to stand and do that.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:but I guess like you said, there's the playground at Love Burke,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:they would be able to do that stuff
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Yeah.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:the interactive stuff and Mario, while one parent goes off and does
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:But yeah, it'd be hard. cause you're not even gonna walk into dark universe.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:I have a lot of clients that want to do Epic and I'm kind of like, I feel like we should wait a little bit, on ages, so that's good to know. so wrapping up, what was your favorite ride, if you had to pick one?
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:What do you think Caleb?
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:probably monsters unchained. three times in one day kind of gives it away. I agree. I think that's an obvious choice for me. I really liked Mario Kart a lot. I thought that was really cool in the technology they used.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Ryan,
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Monsters Unchained absolutely a hundred percent. everything was good. There were no duds at this park that we experience.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:Everything was good. I think kind of what Caleb said, it would be nice if there was a little more mild rides.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:A hundred percent.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:But we know that there are at least three sites in Epic that they will be developing. We don't know what it's gonna be. The thought is that are gonna be some more. Moderate rides. but obviously they haven't announced plans yet, but we're hoping that
caleb-struble-hedstrom_1_06-01-2025_190417:Mm-hmm.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:soon because we know they'll need it for capacity.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:Caleb, thank you so much for coming on today and giving us your thoughts. It was definitely fun to go on this trip and spend this epic day with you at Epic Universe.
j_1_06-01-2025_190417:world is full of wonder. And your next at Great Adventure is waiting at Wonder and Beyond Travel. We work with you to create a one of a kind journey, taking the stress off your plate so you can focus on the joy of exploring and the memories that will stay with you forever. ready to start planning or just wanna dream a little bigger, head over to Wonder and Beyond travel.com. We'd love to help you get started. You can reach out to us at Wonder and beyond travel.com.
ryan_1_06-01-2025_190417:We look forward to talking to you next week on All Things Travel. When we discuss yachting vacations,
