Welcome to another Universal Orlando podcast. I'm Nick. And I'm Melody. Why did you make that face? That was a really long welcome. It's like a theater or a... It's still not that long. Because right now I'm thinking of a circus and they're like, welcome! But it's not that long. That's what I did. I went, welcome! Yeah, extra too long. Not too long. Anyway. Just right. We are going to Epic soon. Yes, we are going to Epic Universe. Sorry, Universal's Epic Universe. Is
that really what it is? I think that's the full name. Anyway, but before we do, for the next, what, four episodes, right? We're going to be doing a little deep dive into Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Just get all of our knowledge and stuff for these parks before we jump into all new Epic Universe stuff. So we want to focus on the first two parks first. Correct. Sorry, Volcano Bay. You are not part of this
list for now. Yep. Universal Epic Universe. I went on to the Discover Universal podcast because I know they did an episode recently. That's the full name. Lovely. Because every time they refer to it, they always say, at Universal's Epic Universe. And I'm like... Nobody calls it that. No. Just call it Epic Universe. Then you're saying universe twice. Universal Universe. So it's Epic Universe. We settled that debate. You're welcome. Okay. Well, today we're starting with Universal Studios.
What about socials? How are people going to find us? And I was going to say, but before we get into that, because I'm not bad with segues usually. Socials. Yay. You do it. Go to our Instagram. Click the link tree. There you go. Great. So what's our Instagram? He's currently looking it up because he still doesn't know. This is what? Episode 68 or something. Another universal podcast on Instagram. Just click our link tree and it'll take you to everything else. And our
little child just woke up. So time travel. And we're back. It is now. 20 hours later. Not 20 hours later. You can't do math. Still the same day. A tiny child woke up. Now a tiny child is asleep. Yep. For her bedtime instead of nap time. Anyway. Where were we? We were talking about socials. Yes. And I already did them. I already did them. And where are you, Opod, on Twitter? Slash X. I don't know if we ever said that, but there we go. Or you could just go to the Instagram
and click the link tree. Okay. It's much simpler. Now we get into the episode. Any small talk? No. No? No. Fine. You're no fun. So today, we are talking about Universal Studios. Isn't that what we're always talking about? Universal Studios. Not Islands of Adventure, just studios. Yeah, we talk about Universal all the time. Okay. So, I looked up some info, and I learned some stuff. So, before we go into what... Universal Studio has today. We'll see what it had when it opened.
You didn't even tell them what we're doing. Yes, we did. No, you didn't. We're doing a deep dive into Universal Studios. You said that already. And Islands. Yes. In preparation for Epic Universe Open. We're going to talk about the old parts because you're going to be inundated. What did you say? In preparation for Epic what? Universe. Okay. That's not what it sounded like. Well, that's what I said. For Epic Universe Open. Because you're about to be inundated with... All of these
people talking about Epic Universe. And we are going to be one of those people. Because it's exciting. It is exciting. So you have to. So if you don't want spoilers, it should be about four episodes from now. Yes. Three more after this one. No. Four more after this one will be the first one about Epic. Well, it's this one. Then three others. Studios part two, Islands part one, Islands part two. Then our trip to
Epic. Then our trip to Epic. There. So if you don't want spoilers to Epic, it is three episodes from now. Four. Three. Three episodes from now. Part two, part one, part two. Three episodes from now. That's what I just said. Three episodes from now would be the second part. Of islands. The fourth one would be epic. So four episodes from now, that's the spoiler episode. I still think I'm right. No. Whatever. I even had to show you my fingers. How you're wrong. Anyway.
Whatever. So we wanted to jump in and just do everything. Everything? Everything that is in the park. Blanketed. Okay. But anyway, before we get into what's in the park today, we look into the past. So, construction for Universal Studios started in 1986. That's old. And it was built for an estimated $630 million. Where are you getting this information? It is not on our news. FloridaDaily .com. Because I looked this up before. We started recording earlier and did
not have time to put in our notes. Fine. I would like to know, so you said 630 million built that park. Yeah. How much did Epic cost? But continue. Okay. Anyway, so for the original rides and attractions, you had E .T. Adventure, Kongfrontation. Do you want me to say what these are? Or just... Would you like to know how much Epic Universe costs? Oh boy, how much? This is the AI overview, so I don't know how true it is. Six to seven billion
dollars. I mean, sounds about right. So, how many hundreds of million did it cost for Universal? 630. 630 million versus six to seven billion? So, yeah. Ten times more? Sure. Am I doing my math right? Probably not. So, am I saying what Kongfrontation is? Yes, because I don't even know what it is. Kongfrontation was a thrilling attraction at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, offering visitors an immersive experience in
the world of King Kong. Oh, I also said when building commenced, but not when the park actually opened. When did it open? Universal Studios opened June 7th, 1990. Wow. Alrighty. So all these rides opened the same day, obviously. The ride was a technological marvel for its time, but it also experienced frequent glitches that caused it to shut down almost daily. Sounds like some rides
we know. So it says, inspired by the iconic 1933 film and its 1976 remake, Kongfrontation placed guests aboard the tram in the heart of Manhattan, under siege by the rampaging Kong, as visitors journeyed through the city streets. Encountering scenes of chaos and destruction, Kong himself made dramatic appearances, shaking the tram and roaring in fury. That sounds fun. You do realize
we have, like, a Kong right now, right? Ooh, we sit in a bus, and it's a screen the entire way through, except for the very last scene. Wow. Then it was shut down and replaced by the mummy. Okay, that's... That's okay. I accept that. Next ride, Back to the Future, The Ride. Yep. This one was based on the Back to the Future movies. I can already hear it now. Kobe let out an audible sigh. This ride catapults guests on
a high -speed adventure through time. Utilizing revolutionary simulator technology, riders embark on a mission to assist Doc Brown in thwarting the nefarious plans of Biff Tannen. The attraction's thrilling twists and turns, coupled with its dazzling special effects, made it a must -see for fans of the franchise. I miss that ride. I cry every time I go into Universal Studios and they're playing the Back to the Future music. What a shame. So was it? Did it go from Back
to the Future straight to Simpsons? I think so. Okay. It doesn't say what it was replaced by. Next ride, Jaws. Good ride. Am I just basically reading this article then? Apparently. Boat ride. You're being attacked by a shark. Yeah, that's it. Fun. Okay, this one. Don't know this one. The Funtastic World of Hanna -Barbera. I have no idea what that is. I know that was the first ride. Then it was Jimmy Neutron. And now it's
Jimmy Fallon. Okay, apparently it's paying homage to the beloved character No, not Jimmy Fallon. Hanna -Barbera. Despicable being Minion Mayhem. Yeah. It was a dark ride, led by Yogi Bear and his friends. Okay. To thwart the villainous schemes of Dick Dastardly and his sidekick, Muttly. Okay. I know who Yogi Bear is. Same. And Dick Dastardly looks familiar. Oh yeah, he does. But that's also probably because a lot of Villains. Cartoon villains look like that. But yeah. Alright. Next
one. Ghostbusters Spooktacular. Basically it was a show. Almost like. Born. Not born. It was it's own thing. You go into this one room. This is all from memory. From me watching one singular
video on it. You go into this room. They're pitching a. uh ghostbuster franchise to you and it's that one nerdy dude who gets turned into a dog in the first movie i forget his name basically he's trying to get you to franchise out a ghostbusters thing they call usually a kid up to the stage they do like a slime thing with them and whatnot it's all fun and then they're like all right we're gonna move you into this next room and we're gonna show you the holding chamber or whatever
and then the FBI comes in, and they try to shut it down, so they turn off the power, and lo and behold, it releases all the ghosts, all the lights turn off, and then the room is small, but then it silently opens up, and now you're in a much bigger room, and it's the, pretty sure it's the stair steps from when Gorza, the main enemy in Ghostbusters 1. And it's, like, those steps, and she's, like, coming out, and the Ghostbusters have to come and fight her back. Anyway, ending
the not -so -quick summary. Yes. Apparently it also had the Ecto -1 appear. I do not remember that. That's what it says. I know the Ecto -1 appeared outside, and there was, like, a street show for them. It was one of the show's highlights, so. Weird. Then, another attraction or show where I'm not entirely sure. Murder She Wrote Mystery Theater. I don't know anything about it. Can you guys tell we've gone to Universal? Not just that, but it's just I didn't know Universal had
this. This was also before our time. I know. Apparently it offered guests an immersive experience into the world of crime -solving with the beloved Jessica Fletcher. Fun. Inspired by the popular television series, but I've never heard of it. Oh well. Then we got Alfred Hitchcock, The Art of Making Movies. I kind of wish they still kind of had that. I mean, they have horror movies, I guess. I mean, they got the horror makeup show.
They need to update that show. They're still using, you know, older movies, which is okay. Yeah, that's fine. But they're still using the new Mummy movie. Yeah. And it's just like, don't use that one. People would rather know about the older Mummy movie. I'd rather know about that one than the new one. I mean, it is cool to learn stuff, but I don't know if movies still use a lot of the effects in older movies. Probably do. I have a mixture of the two, because I really
do like learning about it. Because it is cool, but also at the same time, maybe add some new stuff too. Say, this is how they did it, and this is how they do it now. Preferably not with the new Mummy movie. And then... The Phantom of the Opera Horror Makeup Show. So I guess it started as the Phantom of the Opera? Does it say what it turned into? Because it says, now known simply as the Horror Makeup Show. Oh. Then yeah, I would probably focus a lot on the Phantom
of the Opera. I'm trying to remember if they still even bring that back in the show at all. I think they talk about it. I don't know. Move on. Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular. All right. Do we have a description? A thrilling attraction premiered in 1998. So it wasn't open when the park opened? Then why are you on this list? Anyway, apparently it showed high -octane stunts, explosive pyrotechnics, and adrenaline -pumping action sequences set against the backdrop of a fictional
movie studio. And then it does stunt things like motorcycle stuff and car chases. Why do I feel like I've seen this? Maybe not at Universal. I know some other place did a show with stunts, but now I can't remember. Are you thinking of Hollywood? Maybe. I think they have a stunt show. I don't know. We'll figure that out in a few months. Then the last thing I have on the list, Nickelodeon Studios, which was... That's it? Nickelodeon Studios. Okay. Which is no longer
used, unfortunately. How sad. So that was everything that was... Some still here, but that's what it practically opened with. And that was my little deep dive into the past. I mean, you're also forgetting E .T. E .T. was the first thing I said. Oh. Yep. That's why we didn't really talk about it, because it's still here. And also, we're going to talk about it again. So now we talk about stuff that is currently at the park. And I made a long list. So basically, we're going
to go land by land. I used the Universal app for this. Good job. I don't remember which place it is, but something didn't have something, so I added it. I know what it is. I don't remember which land. We'll get to it when we get to it. Alrighty. So basically, on the app, what I did is I clicked attractions, then entertainment, then dining, then shop, then guest amenities. So you clicked everything. Yes, but that's the
order we're going in for everything. Okay. I just don't remember where stuff starts and begins. So, we'll start with Illumination's Minion Land. Woo! Woo! What is this? Oh, it's not their newest edition. Technically, that's now Dreamworks. Technically, it's their newest land. No, Dreamworks is. Dreamworks, never mind. Yeah. But it's still newish. Like, they had Despicable Me. The Minion Mayhem for a little bit, but now they have a whole land. And in this land, we have what we
just said. Despicable Me, Minion Mayhem, the ride. They don't have the ride in the name. So you added more words. Shut up. Eh. Eh? Eh. We haven't been on this ride in a while. What was before this ride? We said it. It was like a whole bunch of stuff, wasn't it? Jimmy Fallon? No. No. Jimmy Neutron. And then before that, it was the, what, Hanna -Barbera or something like that? I don't care about that one. Which one would you rather have, even though that's going to
be on one of our old news? Well, considering that my text sound and my phone ring literally has minions. Yes. My text sound is literally a minion going, banana! I'm not a big fan about this, right? They took away the 3D. I would like it if they kept the 3D. And then you're basically just watching a movie. Yeah. You literally just
sit in a chair, it shakes you a little bit. I think, from what I can remember, because it's been years of us riding it at this point, it reminded me of the Minion Rush game that you can play on your phone. Yeah, that's pretty much it. I would like to go on it again, it's just at the same time I don't. We'll go in November, uh, September. We'll have Express Passes. Then the next ride on the list... Illuminations VillainCon Minion Blast, which I spelled wrong. I spelled
minion wrong. I put two N's in. Good job. This is a ride? Question mark? Would you call it a ride? No. It's a moving arcade. It's a moving walkway. With an arcade feel to it. Pretty much. I don't know. I've only done it once or twice, and I have never had my... Yeah, I haven't done it a lot. Oh. You're not missing much. I need to get my phone to work, so then I can actually have my points on my phone, and then maybe I
would like it more. Oh. But so far, it is empty, because my points don't do anything, and I can't edit my gun and whatever, because my phone won't connect. Yeah, I don't know. Is it better with the phone connecting or no? Okay, then I would try again. If my phone connects, then I would probably have a higher... Rating for the ride. I don't know. I just don't like it that much. Would I prefer it over Shrek? Yeah, because Shrek
was cool, but this is more interactive. Shrek was cool, but it was something I could watch at home. Pretty much. You just had like the outside stuff that you don't have at home. Yeah. Then you got Illumination Theater. This is a meet and greet. Right. Trying to remember what that was. I think you can meet, what, two minions? And then you do the everybody dance party. No. No? No? That's what I thought it was. You can meet Gru. You can meet the Gorls. The girls.
The Gorls. Is it all three? Pretty sure. Maybe it was just because when I saw it, they were missing one of them, and I was very confused as to why they had, like, two of the girls but not all three. I have no idea. You can meet a lot of Illuminations. You can meet some of the same characters. I'm trying to remember their names. Margo, Edith, and Agnes. There we go. Right. They're all old lady names. Yes, they are. Granted, they were at an orphanage, so that
also kind of makes sense. Mm -hmm. I feel bad for them. Anyways, you meet a lot of Illumination characters here. Because you can also meet Minions at the end of the Despicable Me run. That's where you meet the... Okay. At least they're in an air -conditioned room. Yes. Moving on. Moving on. Now we get into food. Illumination's Minion Cafe. An actual... Good place to eat. It's actually a pretty good place to eat. We've been there, what, three times? Two or three. I've been there
more. Of course you have. Okay. I've been there two to three times. Good job. Then next you got Freeze Ray Pops, which I've still yet to go to. You haven't been to Freeze Ray? No. Then again, every time we go, we always have a different goal because the last time we went without the kids, we were eating Mardi Gras food. Uh -huh. But then every other time we do have the kids. To be fair, we could have grabbed one on the way out. Yeah. I think we just keep forgetting.
We'll do it next time. We also haven't tried the next place, technically. The Pop Banana Popcorn and Drink Cart. Dad. We haven't tried the Banana Popcorn. We did go to the cart because now we have the Banana Popcorn Bucket. You went to the cart. We have the Popcorn Bucket downstairs. That you tricked me into. I did not trick you. You tricked me. I thought it was common sense. Why would I ask for a boring popcorn bucket? Because it's easier to carry around than that
ginormous thing. Well, the kids love that ginormous thing. They were actually playing with it today. I'm surprised it's not broken. Me too. Now we go on to a store. Super silly stuff. You can find all of your Illumination Minions stuff. And also, what's the movie? Secret Life of Pets. You can find that stuff there, too. Then you got Evil Stuff, which is, I think, the exit store for VillainCon. Yep. Got my purple minion shirt there. Yep. I like that shirt. Yes, you do. Then
we got another store? Question mark? Bake My Day? Yeah, is that a store? That's a food shop. Well, yes, but I don't call it a store. It's a bakery. It's kind of like the bakery from Seuss Land that you have to walk through when you get off the High in the Sky Seuss trolley. Ah. Okay. But I think this Bake My Day focuses more on cupcakes. I don't know. I've never been in there. We should. We'll go in there next time. We can get the iconic minion cupcake that's in the movie.
Is that sold there? It should be. I'm pretty sure that's what it's based off of. Because you know how in the second movie they're going through the mall? And their secret setup is the bakery in the mall. That's what that's from. Do we need to re -watch those movies too? Yes, we do. And then the last thing we have on this list, a weather shelter at Minion Cafe. What? Weather shelter. What is that? Really bad storm, emergency. It's an emergency weather shelter. Oh. I also didn't
add bathrooms on this list. Is this like an underground shelter or something? Because I've never seen this. I don't think it's underground. Or is it just the whole building? I think it's just they have stuff set up in the building to keep you safe during a really, really bad storm. Interesting. Because, you know, it's Florida. Bad storms can just kind of show up a little bit. Or, you know, the people who decide to go right before a hurricane. Or during a hurricane. Or during a hurricane.
And it gets so bad that they have to shelter people. And not just like, go to your car, because that's smart. Just bunker down, and then you can go to your car once it's over. Well, to be fair, the parking garages are covered. Yes, but don't drive away to get there, though. I'll be fine. I go outside in hurricanes. It's quite fun, actually. And that's all we got in Illumination's Minion Land. All right. Yep. Moving on, we now have Hollywood. Hollywood. And this is a lot.
Yes. There's only one ride in this area. What? Yep. Do you want to go through this one? How is there only one ride? Read the stuff from Hollywood. Why do I have to read it? Fine. AT Adventure. Converse. Still a good ride. Hopefully they don't get rid of it. It needs some TLC. It does, I guess. I don't know. I like it. Where does it need TLC? I'm going to have some controversial... They did do TLC. They made the little ETs work again. Woo! What? I'm going to have a controversial
opinion. What? They need to shut it down for a year, keep it the same, but put in modern animatronics. But then it's not the original ride anymore. No, but I'm saying put in modern animatronics. Why? Because when you're flying over the cops and whatnot... Because you're like five feet from them. Yeah, but think about it this way. It matches the movie itself, that aesthetic. Yeah, but when you look down, you can see things
zip -tied together. Like one of the cops is holding a flashlight, and you can tell it's zip -tied to the dude's hand. Okay, yeah, that can be fixed, but they don't need to completely replace it. I don't know. That's my controversial opinion. I still think it fits, and I like it. Okay, we'll see. Okay. Okay. I would like to be evacuated off that ride, though. That'd be cool. That'd be a fun one. And you get to walk on the Green
Planet area. Every time we go on that ride, I always look at the emergency walkway for some reason. Same. I'm just like, oh, that'd be so cool to just walk. That'd be fun. Anyway, so yeah, that's the only ride in this area. You now have Hollywood Character Zone. And I looked up all the things in Hollywood for their Hollywood Character Zone. It says who would show up, which I'm going to read the list, and then you will understand why I got confused a little bit on
this list. Is this from Universal? Yes, this is on their app. Okay. So it says familiar faces you might find here include Woody Woodpecker, Scooby -Doo, Shaggy, Homer Simpson, Bart Simpson, Marge Simpson, Lisa Simpson, the Simpsons, Marilyn, Betty Boop, Hello Kitty, and Doc Brown from Back to the Future. Okay. Okay, and then the reason why I'm confused about this is because read the next thing on the list. Uh -huh. Oh, the Simpsons character zone? Yes. Okay. So why are the Simpsons
listed on Hollywood character zone? Maybe they have their own zone. Two spots. Maybe. Because I see the Simpsons outside Bourne all the time. Yeah, but that's where the Simpsons spot is, outside Bourne. I don't know. Ask Universal. Moving on. Also, we should go. I wonder how Jack would react if he saw Scooby -Doo there. Because the last time we did this, he had no clue on any of these characters. He was just very confused as to why we kept standing up to random characters
and taking pictures with them. Does he actually know their names? But now, he knows Scooby -Doo. He has a Scooby -Doo stuffed animal on his bed. And we watch Scooby -Doo Mystery Incorporated on Netflix. Okay. Which is leaving this month, which is sad. He likes Scooby -Doo now. We haven't been to Universal, or at least we haven't seen Scooby -Doo since he's learned. So that'd be really interesting for him to actually interact with Scooby -Doo. Well, we're going to have to
test that then. Moving on. The Bourne Stuntacular. Boring. Not boring. It is a good show. Okay, the show portion, yes, good. The pre -show, absolute hot garbage. Yeah. The actual show itself is great. It's just you've got to get through the pre -show first. Which is hot garbage. At least you don't have to watch the movies to understand the show. You can enjoy it without knowing the movie. Yeah, you don't have to watch the 30, 20 billion movies that they made about this one
boring dude. It does make me want to watch the movie, though. Maybe I'll watch it without you. Just to try it. I don't know. Next, we got another show. We got some shows. A symphonic spectacular. You skipped so many things. I skipped so many things. Next, we got Marilyn and the Diamond Bellas. Okay, we can skip talking about that one because I haven't seen it. I've seen glimpses of it. Oh, I have seen glimpses. I've never stopped. I think they always do it outside Mel's Drive
-In. They do. Universal Orlando Horror Makeup Show. We briefly talked about this one. We nearly missed that one. Whatever. Good show. We stopped to watch it a couple times. It's always funny. It's a must -see. I wonder when we will take the kids. Not any time soon. Because it would probably spook them. Well, we already took Jack. No, we didn't. Or was it Rose? Probably Rose. We took one of the tiny children. Probably Rose.
Did we take a tiny child? Yes, we did. I remember sitting by a tiny child, but I don't remember having a tiny child. No, we took a tiny child. Oh, yeah, because we sat on the edge. We specifically asked for the edge. Yeah. And we asked if, hey, if our child starts acting up, can we just leave? And they're like, oh, yeah, sure. Just go right out the door. And I do not remember which child it was. I'm pretty sure it was Rose. Okay. Probably because she was so small. We weren't worried
about it. Yeah. Anyway, next. We got the Mardi Gras Parade, because that goes through Hollywood. Just like the Universal Mega Movie Parade. Both of which that we have yet to experience. I've seen the Mega Movie Parade. Both of which I have yet to experience. I haven't seen the Mardi Gras Parade yet. Or me in it. I could care less about watching it. I would rather be in it. Yeah, I don't care about catching beads. No. It'd be fun to... But I also don't like everyone expecting
me to toss beads at them. You're just going to pick who you want to throw them to. Just pick that unsuspecting person. Oh, yeah, sure. Play ring toss. I am child biased. I would try to find the kids to throw the beads at. Same. Or just someone who looks like they're happy. If someone looks like... Give me the beats. I'm like, nope. Next. How rude. No, if they're being demanding, then I don't feel bad anymore. Next. Sinusational is a phonic spectacular. Very good
show. Very good. I cried. You did not cry. I cried. What, when Ghostbusters came out, you cried? When Ghostbusters came out, I cried. Then you got... I want to go back to see it. We're going to see it in September. That's what we'll do. Okay. Oh, wait, no, maybe we won't. I don't think we'll have... No, we won't. I don't think they do it during HHN. Which, by the way, we're planning a trip for that. I get to experience the Rip Tour this year. For once. Yay. For once?
You've only done it once. For once. Anyway. Meet SpongeBob SquarePants. You get to meet SpongeBob SquarePants. That is another show I have yet to show Jack. And I would probably show him the older ones. I feel like the newer Spongebob is even dumber, and I like the older ones better. Yes. Animal actors on location. Another show. I finally have seen this. Huh? I have finally seen this. Is it good for current age of children? Would Jack enjoy it? I don't think you could
sit through it. Oh. Is it long? Yes. But he also really, really likes animals. Yeah. Oh, but then he would want to get up and pet the animals. Then he's going to want to get up and go pet the animal. And then I run the risk of, because they bring a kid up on stage, a couple kids. Okay, but what's the youngest age you've seen them pull up? I don't know, but Jack is tall for his age. Okay, I still don't think they pull
up three -year -olds. Again, he's tall for his age, and I've seen kids smaller than him run up there. Oh, but he's very well -behaved when need be. They run up alone. He's very well behaved when need be. When he's in a location, he doesn't know he tends to behave better. Anyways, I don't think you'll be well behaved. Okay. Today Cafe, another place I have yet to eat. Yeah, I'm realizing I don't think I've eaten there. It's just because every time I pass by there, I'm like, oh, it's
a coffee shop. I don't really drink that kind of coffee. Oh, it's a coffee shop? Yes. I want to go. I don't think I've ever been because I didn't realize it was a place. Every time I get coffee at like a Starbucks in Universal, I put as much stuff into it that I think is going to make the coffee sweet. They hand it to me and it's as bitter as it can possibly be. Although the last, didn't we once get you a coffee that was too sweet? That was at the Starbucks on our
road. Yes, but we still successfully somehow did it too sweet. Yes, I've found a coffee. I like my caramel macchiato with... The vanilla sweet milk. Vanilla sweet cream. Yeah. And I think a pump of hazelnut or something like that. I haven't added that. Unless you've been adding it when you order it. I didn't add that for you. I thought it was the sweet cream and something else. I haven't added anything else. Okay, well, the sweet cream makes a difference. And I experiment
with whatever I would like it sweet. But I go to Universal and nobody can get my order right. Well, now you know what you like. They probably will. I guess we'll see. Anyway, Schwab's Pharmacy. Another place. This is a milkshake place. Ah, another place that I have not actually seen. It's because... Or we walk by and I just don't notice it. I don't like getting milkshakes at Universal unless it's Two Sims. Fair. Because
all the milkshakes... If I get them after my meal at like a burger place and I'm just trying to... quickly eat something and I wanted something sweet on the side and I'll get a milkshake with my meal. Didn't we get a milkshake at Mel's Dining? Yes. To me, all of the milkshakes are the same across the park. You can get milkshakes at Mel's. You can get milkshakes at the Simpsons cafeteria type place. We'll get into that eventually. Yes. To me, all of their milkshakes are the same.
So I don't bother ordering them. If that makes sense. You want the superior milkshake. Yeah, so I go to Toothsome's. So you don't waste money on the not -superior milkshake that you can have at home. Right, so, like, I'm afraid if I go to Schwab's, it's gonna be just their typical, you know, normal milkshake. And nothing special. Yeah, but I still feel like we should at least go to these places at least once. I'll go to them. To say that we have. Fine, we'll go there
in September. We can't go everywhere in September. Our trip isn't that long. We could. We have four more Mighty Rock bars. Anyway, we talked about it, and now we move on to Mel's Drive -In. My place. This is your place. My place. Even though very few people actually call me Mel. That's true. It's very mediocre. It's a decent burger. That's about it. It's calming. Now, when they had the Passholder Poutine, it was superior. So, Mel's Drive -In. Mel's Die -In. Amazing.
No, it wasn't even for die -in. No. Really? It was during Passover Appreciation. Oh, okay. It was also conveniently during HHN. I think I had four orders of their poutine on that trip. Of course you did. It was really good. I think at one point I ate two at a time. Yes, I am fat. I think it was my first. To be fair, the portion was also kind of small. For us. Yes, for us. We like to eat. Yes, I do. Another place that we like to go to, or used to like to go to, Central
Park Crepes. They brought the brisket crepe back. Oh, thank goodness. Ish. Ish. It's the normal crepe, but I think they added some weird thing to it. It's not the same thing exactly. There's like two new ingredients, and I can't, it was like a pineapple chutney or something like that. Oh. It was like something sweet. I'm like, oh, that doesn't belong on that. Well, did you try it with it? No, I mean, I saw a post about it
today. Oh. And I forgot to screenshot it. But sweet stuff with savory meat tastes good, though. Again, I don't remember what it was. All I remember is looking at it and thinking, ew. And why did they have to go and ruin it? Maybe I can look it up. Hold on. Where's their menu? I can't see the menu. There's no menu. That's stupid. I can't see the menu. I think it's because it's always changing. Oh. Anyway, you don't care much for the sweet crepes. Mainly just because they're
too messy to eat. Extremely messy. And I don't like foamy sweet. Yeah, no, if it was like just as they spread Nutella on it, like a classic crepe. Nutella is always a hit or miss with me. Sometimes I like it. Other times I really, really don't. I don't know. When we went to, I think it was in Egypt. I don't know. Of course, we always bring up this trip. No, I have a picture of you holding a broken fork with your crepe. Yes. I remember that. That was a good crepe.
And that was good. And I wish we got two. But I think it was just because it was just the crepe and like Nutella. That was it. It was very simple. I like simple, sweet crepes. That's what I wish. I don't need all the extra fancy fluff. That's what I wish the New York Crepes Place would do or whatever it's called. Central Park. Central Park Crepe. Same state. Another place I haven't been to. I don't know if you've been here. Cafe La Bamba. Technically, I've been there. But for
like events or... You can't really say Cafe La Bamba because 99 % of the time it's closed. Oh. Well, I have to say because it's in Hollywood. Fine. This is part of this whole what is in Hollywood. It's pretty... In all of my years of going there, I think I've seen it opened two times to its normal like Mexican themed restaurant. Huh. Two times. All the other times it's closed because that's where they do the RIP Tour Buffet. Do they do other stuff there, too? I'm assuming
so, if it's closed nearly all year. Oh, don't they also do the Mardi Gras stuff there, too? Or no? No, that's outside it. Okay. Now we're going into stores. Can't say much about Cafe La Bamba if we haven't really been there for Cafe La Bamba on purpose. So stores, we got It's A Wrap. Okay. Pretty sure we've been to this one a couple times, too, for some reason. I don't even remember what store this is. It's A Wrap.
is the exit store. The one by the exit. Literally, you see the little store as you're exiting the park. You know when you exit, there's all the shirts and stuff right next to the exit? You can say it's the exit store like three times. I'm talking to you because you look like you don't remember this. I don't remember this. Anyway, it's the small exit store. And it's called It's a Wrap, which makes sense because you're wrapping up your time at Universal Studios. Okay. Then
you got Studio Sweets. Yummy. We haven't been here. I haven't been here. It's right next to Universal Studios Store, which is the next thing on the list. We've been here many times. Yes. Mainly because we always try to find something and we can't find it. We come here. So we end up going there. I need to get the kids more matching outfits because they've grown out of their old ones. Yes, we do. They're at the point where they're slowing down, at least enough to get
several wares in for clothing. Yes. Then we got Tribute Store. I wrote Tribute Store because it's currently in Hollywood, but it also can be in New York, correct? Yes, there is two tribute stores and studios. Then we got Five and Dime. Also, where is the hat store? The Brown Derby? The Brown Derby hat. Is this also in Hollywood? Because it was not on the map. Where is it? It's almost across the street from Five and Dime. It's on that strip. It's not listed on the app.
Okay, well, it's not usually a store. Right now it's the Passholder Discount Store. Okay. Now we got SpongeBob Store Pants. Yay. E .T.'s Toy Closet and Photo Spot. I also found out an interesting fact. About? You know how there's a photo spot back there with E .T. and the clothes or whatever? The ride photos? No, okay. There's a photo op in that store. I didn't know there was a photo op. I've been in that store a lot, but I didn't
see the photo op. There's a life -size ET. You know the one scene where it's wearing the girl's clothing and the dress? Well, it's a life -size ET in that, and it's kind of like a closet, and apparently you're not allowed to go take pictures of it. I read a Reddit thread where it was like, oh yeah, I got chased out of the store being screamed at to delete my photo. Weird. Why? Because I think it's run by some other company, and they reserve the right to not let you take photos
of it or something like that. Then take it down. That's stupid. I agree. It's something that is there for everyone to see. It's either that or the store is getting no sales of photo spots right there, so they're being more strict on it. So it's like pay to get the picture taken, not just take a picture? Yeah. Okay, then that would make a little more sense. Then we got lockers. Wow. You got one by the exits and one by guest services. We haven't even reached guest services
yet because I went out of order. Good job. We got rental services, Universal Studios. What can you rent here? Of course. She is not prepared. Shut up. You got electronic convenience vehicles, ECVs, strollers, wheelchairs. Okay. That's it. Wow. We almost... Rented a stroller before. Can't I rent a child for Teardown Fires? No, because it's the studios. That's right. Then you got an ATM by the front gate. Because you always need more cash. Guest services. Boston Found,
Production Central. Okay. Hollywood Service, Animal Relief Area. Dog's got a pee -pee too. Yep. And a weather shelter at Animal Actors on location. That's a weird weather shelter, but okay. Agreed. Then again, I don't know what's inside. I mean, yeah, maybe where all the animals are housed. Maybe. I don't know, but it's a weather shelter, apparently. Now we're going to move on to our last location for this episode. And we will cover the rest in the next episode. Okay.
Okay. Okay. New York. We have the newly deceased Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket. Newly deceased? Yep. Oh, we're going in September. That'd be interesting. No, it's going to be gone. I know, but we'll be able to see it right after it's gone. Yeah. And I'm pretty sure we'll see it being demolished. We're going at some point. Yeah. In between now and September. So sad. Goodbye. Yes. You won't be missed. Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket, currently
on our list, but not for much longer. Yep. It's been obvious that it was going to go bye -bye. Yeah. I'm still very ticked off that my secret menu thing didn't work. Uh -huh. But yeah, that ride was rough. Uh -huh. And it's not a, it doesn't look like a ride that should be rough. No. Compared to all the other rides that are at Universal. It was bad. It needs to go. Anyway. New ride, please. Then we got Race Through New York starring
Jimmy Fallon. This also needs to go, too. I like Jimmy Fallon, but it's weird to have a whole ride dedicated to him. Like, it's cool. It was cool when it was new, and you know. The queue was fully utilized, but now it's kind of like, yeah, it's a fun ride. We should probably utilize the queue again. Maybe that would make us appreciate it a little more. No, I mean like they had shows in the queue. Do they not have shows anymore? Like the Ragtime Gals or something like that?
I don't know. There was like a singing show. Yeah, do they not do it anymore? Not that I've seen. Oh. Panda hashtag would just be randomly walking around. He might still do that. He still does. No, I mean like in the queue. Oh, in the queue. Well, I wouldn't be surprised, because, you know, it's an air -conditioned place. It's not like it's going to be dying inside. Yeah, but it's money. True. Maybe the Reds just not popular enough for them to do their shows and
stuff. Maybe. I don't know. Every time I go there, there's really not that big of a line. Oh, well. Moving on. I feel like that's a place that they could do a lot of special events. Oh, they could. And they don't. They kind of do. There's, you know, the overhang up there? That's where one of the bars at. is for RIP Tours. Oh. It's very fun. I like that spot. Yes, but I mean, like, do special events inside to kind of get people to go through that ride. Oh, yes, they should.
Anyways, moving on. Revenge of the Mummy. Much better ride. Much better. 10 out of 10. Amazing ride. Don't get rid of it. We'll ride again. And again. And again. Probably again. Oh, good ride. Have you ever been on it when it broke? Ever? Nope. Well, I mean, I guess that is a weird ride to break down. It's possible. Yeah. But I'm trying to remember when it, if we've ever had, like, a ride delay because it broke down or anything. Like, I know they did their whole,
it completely shut down to get refurbished. Mm -hmm. But I don't remember ever having, like, ugh, we're being delayed because... It's a dependable ride. Yeah. Uh, Transformers The Ride 3D. Something that is not as dependable. It's okay. I don't care much for Transformers. It's a good ride. It's a cool, like, I like it because it's... It's another ride where you don't need to watch the movies because the story is straightforward. I don't need to know what the spark is, but okay,
we need to get it. Wait, do you not know what the spark is? Kind of. Have you seen the movies? We watched a movie and a third. That's all I've seen is the first movie and like part of the second. Well, now I know what we need to watch. I didn't watch anymore. We got to pause our Doctor Who. But we finally got to Amy. Oh, well. Which is ironic. Yes. Because that's my sister's name. But I also have a sister named Clara. So, ha! That's true. And Melody is my name! Anyway. And
our daughter's name Rose. We gotta check. Anyway. Are you done? It's late. And I'm getting loopy. We move on. Meet the Transformers. I'm pretty sure it is just Bumblebee and Destructo. What's his name? Wait, what were you gonna say? Destructo. Were you going to say Destructo -Con? No, just Destructo. What's his name? Megatron. Oh. What am I getting Destructo from? What? I don't know. Sure. What did you say? Megatron. Megatron. Oh, yeah, because that doesn't sound as silly as
Destructo. Now, when we go to Hollywood Studios in California in November. Yeah, because we got two trips planned. We have to meet Megatron. Why? This Megatron... Our Megatron is boring. He doesn't talk. He has, like, his pre -recorded lines, and that's it. Oh. Their Megatron actually talks to you, and he's really funny. Cool. Then we got the show that apparently nearly killed me, the Blues Brothers show. Yes. So what's the next show? Uh, Vamos Bialo. Hope you said that
right. Probably didn't. I think that's another show that we've seen in passing. Now, I did stay and watch pretty much all of this. You went to the bathroom and you were taking forever. And I was sitting there just sipping on my drink that I got at Mardi Gras. Taking forever? Yep. You were taking forever. Right. I was really scared because I thought a girl was coming over to drag me in to go dance. Oh. Luckily, she was
not. She grabbed the person in front of me. Remember that I thought you said a girl was going to come over and hit on you or something? No. I was really confused. No. Don't they normally? Oh, yeah. I would have laughed if I came out and saw you awkwardly trying to dance. Oh, well. Then we got Beat Builders. I do like this show. Never seen it. I see it in passing, but. It's fun. They use like the construction stuff. Yeah, I love it. And I've also, I'm pretty sure I've
seen Woman Wolf Whistle at them. Who? Woman. Oh. Wolf Whistle at them. Is that what that's called? I'm pretty sure. Okay. The owl. It's weird. Yeah, please don't do that. I don't do it. No, you don't. We're going to move on now. Food. Finnegan's Bar and Grill. We have yet to go there. Yeah. That's all we've got to say about that place. We're going in September. Oh, my word. We can't do everything. Although I would like to try Vivo. Watch me. Watch me. I will
do everything. Because if you don't follow us on social, you have noticed that there is a debate. Well, at this point, it's not recently. It's like a couple weeks ago at this point. Who's debating? It was Mamadela's versus Vivo or something like that. And who's debating? Kobe from the UO Explorers voted Mamadela's against Angus, who said Vivo. And John also popped in to kind of be like, Vivo is better, but only by a little. And then there's us just kind of being drawn
in. It's like, at least it's not McDonald's. And me defending us by saying, excuse me, we have excellent taste. Well, shoot, now we gotta go to Vivo. Fine, we'll go to Vivo in September. But then we also gotta go to Mamadela's so we can compare the two. We've already been to Mamadela's. I got there to go bucks. I have to have the full restaurant experience. We got the full restaurant experience. I didn't get serenaded. I don't count
it. I don't want to be serenaded. Okay, when you went up to the room, I watched somebody right next to me get serenaded. My phone came just in time as the song was ending, and I ran out. They were not going to serenade you while you were by yourself. Yes, they would. Anyway, next place. We didn't even talk about Finnegan's. Because we haven't been. Okay, fine. We'll go. Auntie Anne's. Pretzel place. It's a pretzel place. We've been. I don't know if to this one,
but we've been to them. Yep. They're good pretzels. The end. Moving on. Haagen -Dazs. It's ice cream. Woo. Moving on. Starbucks. It's Starbucks. It's Starbucks. But we've also been here a lot. Okay. Louie's Italian Restaurant. It's frozen food. What do you want? I feel like I've been here. Pretty sure it's frozen. I don't know. It's your typical theme park Italian, kind of. I think I've just been in there a lot, but never actually got food from it because the line was always
long. Yeah. It draws a big crowd because everybody's just like, oh. It's not chicken fingers or pizza, even though they have pizza. And I'm pretty sure it's chicken fingers. I could be wrong on that. Yeah, but I don't remember ever eating there. I just remember being in there a lot for some reason. Who knows? I mean, it's a good sit -down restaurant. I think it's also because all the trips I've been to with big groups like my old youth group and school, I guess we just went
through there a lot for some reason. I just never ate there. It also has the Coke Freestyle machines. And again, it's a good group eating place. Anyway, we got through all the food. Now we go through the stores. The Tonight Shop. I don't care about the Tonight Show. Supply Vault. It's Transformers merch. Yep. The Exit Ride store. Yep. The film... Oh, this one I have to stop in. The film vault. And he makes me stop in it. Every time. All the
time. Which is so annoying because they also have, what is it, Ghostbusters stuff in there that I also really want? Mm -hmm. I need to save my money for... So this is the place where... Yeah, maybe stop splurging on everything else and save. This is where, if you want, like, a signed autograph of something, this is where you go to pretty much find it. They have a lot of stuff here. Yeah, they have a lot of stuff here. They have, like, other stuff other places,
but this is where you may find it. You can find stuff in, like, the Men in Black store, and then there's a couple other stores that have signed autographs, but... I know there's one in Islands in the Jurassic Discovery Center, I think. Yeah, in that top shop. I do want to get something. Yes, I know. Especially Back to the Future. He either wants the big poster that has everyone who signed it. But that's like 4 ,000. Or like, didn't you say you wanted a skateboard that was
also signed by everyone? I don't know. Or something like that. I don't remember. I would have to, if I got that skateboard, I would have to go get it framed. Our framing lady does a good job. She does, but oh my word. Where would you put it? I wouldn't find a spot. It took us forever to find a spot for our other thing, which is finally up. I wonder if she could do, like, a shadow box. A what? Is that the right word? Where it's, like, in a big box. It's, like, displayed.
Like a glass box. Like at a museum when they put them in the special box thingies? That's stupid. Get some lasers. Oh, my word. Oh, yes, because our children won't break that. Bulletproof glass. Talk about the lasers. Oh. Moving on. Sahara Traders? The mummy shop? Yeah. Which is okay. I don't really see many people buy stuff from there. We're not big merch people. We're not big merch people. You're a liar. How? How many Jurassic Park shirts do you have in that
closet? Two. No, three. I have three. What about these giant posters that are on our wall? That is an investment. Shrek glasses right above me. Investment. The posters only go up and down. Jurassic Park hoodie downstairs. That was like $5. Jurassic Park jacket that I was wearing earlier, and it's all around my waist, because I forgot that it's around my waist currently. Oh, no, that jacket was $5. The other Jurassic Park hoodie that I have is my work hoodie. And we don't like
merch. And it was a tax write -off. You get plenty of merch. It's just Jurassic Park. Yes. The Minion popcorn bucket. That doesn't count. Blue bubble wand. That also doesn't count. You forced me into those. The kids thing one and two outfits that they don't fit anymore. Mother of all things. Father of all things shirts. Okay, we don't need to keep listing everything we've ever bought. Most of those. My lanyard stuff. I didn't even list all the stuff we got from Harry Potter.
Okay, we're going to move on. We like merch. We just don't like. We like stuff that we can wear a lot. And Mummy is not full of stuff that you can wear a lot. Rosie's Irish Shop. Okay. I don't know what this is. I don't know what this is either. Let me look it up real quick again to find where it is. This is right by Louie's Italian Restaurant, I think. Oh, I've seen it. I keep meaning to go in there because I don't
know what's in there. It's interesting. I like how it says it's stocked with apparel and keepsakes to honor your Irish heritage. Or your affection for St. Patrick's Day. Or, okay. Moving on. Hollywood Rip -Ride Rocket Lockers. Lockers. They're lockers. Moving on. New York Service Animal Relief Area. This is where your cat goes poop. And this, if I remember, this is like tucked back where we had the Columbian Burgers. All the way back there. Makes sense. It's a very remote, quiet area.
You don't want to be smelling stinky poo -poo. But yeah, that's where that is. Revenge of the Mummy Lockers. Again, there are lockers. Free lockers. Some are paid. Are there? Yes. For the mummy? Yes. Oh, okay. At every locker location, I'm pretty sure there's at least one or two bays that are paid. Okay. Because they're just a tad bit bigger. Then you got an ATM at the arcade. Wow. They also got an arcade. First aid, sponsored by Walgreens. In San Francisco. Why is San Francisco
in... New York? Shouldn't that be in the San Francisco section? There is no San Francisco. Oh, there is. There is. Oh, I just realized that. That is weird. Hold on. Let me double check that. Universal, because I accidentally exited the app completely. No, it's in the New York area. That makes no sense. Anyways, moving on. It's color -coded. Transformers The Ride 3D is a weather shelter. Yep, which makes sense. This one makes sense, because you can actually walk out onto
the track and take shelter. Whereas the animal actors on location, that is an open building where stuff can fly in. Maybe they can, like, put down stuff so then you have just a big dome kind of thing for people to shelter in, maybe? We'll test this next time the hurricanes come through. No. We will go to Universal on a day that a hurricane is projected to come through, and we'll just stand outside animal actors waiting for them to open up the weather shelter. Okay.
Then last, we got Central Park Designated Smoking Area. Yep. Please smoke there, but also please don't smoke. Not good for you. Bad for your lungs. And your teeth. Yes. That's all I gotta say about that. Okay. There is your daily PSA. We're at an hour and 13 minutes plus the intro, so anything else you would like to add? Because that was the last bit. Well, stay tuned for part two. We got Harry Potter. World Expo, Springfield, and DreamWorks. Now we'll cover everything in
there. Maybe we'll have magically found some other deep dive stuff to add, but we will see. We will see. So yeah, that's it. Alrighty. Bye -bye.