Updates! Three New Items at Islands of Adventure, and I Love Them!

I got smacked upside the head yesterday. Hey, what's going on everybody? Rick here for an Islands of Adventure update video with bonus content. Let's start with the bonus content because yesterday, Universal laid the smack down with information. First off, they told us Fast and Furious Supercharged is permanently closing next month. The last day to ride Supercharged is August 16th. Then they gave us some HHN news. Pass holders, premier pass holders that is. For your one complimentary HHN ticket, reservations will open up on July 21st after 12 p.m. Make sure you have your valid pass ID and ID numbers of up to eight other premier pass holders when you make your reservation starting on July 21st. Then we got smacked with information about a new show coming to Halloween Horror Nights. Stranger Things Return to Hawkins. The music, the monsters, the memories of your favorite moments from all five seasons of Stranger Things is coming to a new show for HHN. Then some information that smacked a lot of people in a bad way, but also some people in a good way. Universal Orlando confirms that all multi-night Fear with Express Pass products have been discontinued. What that means is they're not selling any packages of Frequent Fear with Express. Like Express is gonna have to be bought separately now from any type of Frequent Fear Pass. And as I was giving you that information, we just got smacked again. Universal announces that Killer Klowns from Outer Space returning to roam the streets of HHN this year. Wow, that was a lot of information. I'm gonna need you to comment in the comment section below what smacked you the hardest. Was it the fact that Fast and Furious Supercharged closing next month? Was it Killer Klowns? Was it the situation with the Halloween Horror Nights Express Passes? Or, like my wife, I think what smacked her the hardest was the information on the Stranger Things show coming to Halloween Horror Nights. But like I said, you tell me what smacked you the hardest. Tell me in the comment section below. I'd love to hear it. Later today, I'll be trying what I think will be an awesome dessert, an awesome treat. We'll have to see for sure once I actually try it. Before I go into the park, I'm gonna come over here and purchase an Epic Universe ticket. That little ticket booth located at the exit to Islands of Adventure never has a line. And of the, I think, over 50 Epic add-on tickets I have bought, that one was the cheapest, I think. $108. As far as having Epic Universe added on to the annual pass system, I have a theory that places the chances of that happening by the end of the year, between 85 and 90%. Later on in the video, I have some information that could affect what type of content goes on this channel. We'll try to find a nice, quiet spot to talk about that. I love that the All Hallows Eve has moved to the Lost Emporium here versus the boutique. The decorations in here are phenomenal. All on the top shelves, stuff from past Halloween Horror Nights. These large masks that you see here, they are from the third Halloween Horror Nights, HHN3, so those are really old. That werewolf head is from, what, about four years ago? It was what, Mummy versus Dracula versus Werewolf? So that's from that one. And even these little props here, this is from Artista. This is from the Tribute Store. And this lantern is from Wyatt Sixth. In here, we have some Masters of the Universe t-shirts. In the Legacy Store in CityWalk, they have some She-Ra merchandise. I think there's a snack I wanna try on that side, but I'm not hungry yet. So I need to walk around this way to build up an appetite so I can show you that treat later. Across the way from Starbucks and the Cinnabon, this cart over here has been dedicated to Jaws now. Someone asked me about this sipper a while back if they still had it. Well, they do. It is $25. It's a pretty cool little sipper, wouldn't you say? Just stepping into Marvel, and I think the superheroes are getting ready to show up. Go to their spots for the meet and greets. Hulk just launching. Dr. Banner angry today. Currently operating with a 65-minute wait time. Our buddy Rogue from Mississippi. I'm from Orange County, Florida. I'm local. I'm Flo-grown. Flo-grown, that's what it's called. Yes, yeah. I like that. Now, I wanna say you're from, maybe I'm saying it wrong, Clod-a-cop County? Clod-a-cop County. Is that how you say it? Yeah, don't go looking for it. It's like it don't even exist. It's so small, right? It's hippie commune. You'll just drive right through it. Not even a one red light, not even a stop sign. No, it's in the forest where you go jogging and eat. Could you do me a favor? Yeah, of course. Talk to your girl Storm about the heat. Stop, you're always trying to get me and Storm at each other's heads. I'm not trying to knock it ahead, especially with an Omega-11. It's not affecting you. You got your nice little jacket on there. I mean, it's a safety hazard for everyone else around me. I do like the yellow, you know. I love the yellow, but I'm a guy after my own heart. All right, we'll see you next time, huh? We'll do Siri. Just in time for a Dr. Doom launch. Love talking to Rogue. Love that Mississippi accent. Also love an Alabama accent. Looking at you, Ella. Oh, there's Storm. She's hanging out with Wolverine today? Maybe we can get Iceman to counteract Storm's heat wave. Come on, Iceman, do your thing. It's hot. Well, that's a random box. With the heat the way it is, I wonder if a lot of people are utilizing the water rides in Toon Lagoon today. It is so hot. How hot is it, Rick? So hot, they're keeping the doors shut for the Passover Lounge today. Normally, they just leave it open. I come in here to show you the 70 off percent section. They've switched it over to mainly Felix and the Cat, some Woody Woodpecker, and some Casper the Friendly Ghost. This is your 70% off section. Switches out every so often, so you got plushes, hoodies, t-shirts, hoodies. Again, a couple of bags there. Also, I would like to point out, the music they're playing in here at the moment is Lost Continent music. The Passover Lounge cycles through all of the music from all of the islands. That was just the first time I've ever heard Lost Continent music in there. The middle of the week, and Blondies and Wimpies open at the same time. A few people cheating with ponchos today. That's okay, they don't wanna get too wet. Oh no, our Gasoline Alley motor oil isn't leaking today. What is taking this building so long to reopen? What's the matter, you Universal? When it does reopen, and I think it's gonna reopen as a meet and greet area, I expect it to be incredibly themed with how long it's taken. So meet and greets that could happen in there would be Betty Boop and Popeye. Olive oil. So I would expect a lot of theming to the meet and greets of those people, those characters. I don't know for sure that that will be a meet and greet location, but I kinda think it is. I know all the books you can read location in Seuss Landing is being converted over to a meet and greet location inside, indoors, air conditioned. I'm just assuming they're gonna do the same thing for What's the Matter, You. This was on the thumbnail of my very first posted video on YouTube. Sam Neill, who played Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park series, also appeared in one Jurassic World movie, passed away. I sincerely hope that Universal does some type of tribute to him in this land. Whether it be in the updated River Adventure or not, I feel like Sam deserves a little tribute. You know, like his hat or his scarf or something can be placed somewhere in the queue for the River Adventure or somewhere, you know, within the ride. Here inside of Jurassic Outfitters, they've added a little section for some high-end merchandise. Look at this. That right there, $3,750 signed by Jurassic Park cast. And all this here, 2000, 1650, 1650, 1650. And the bargains over here, 450. There's Sam Neill right now. Rest in peace, we thank you for all the joy you brought us, all the good movies, all the good times. If you were ever curious about what they had inside the Encounter, I think it's more like a six-foot turkey. A Dennis Nedry-style rain slicker for $70. It's out front. Are we expecting rain today? A long time ago, I pointed out the menu boards over here at Raptor Bites, how they have cool animation on it. I don't think I've ever shown you the fact that you can change your language, English, Portuguese, or Spanish, just by pressing the button there. See, now it's in Portuguese. Spanish. And we'll leave it back at English. The wait time for a VelociCoaster is listed right there, but that's the boring way to tell you the wait time. This is the more exciting way to tell you that it's a 55-minute wait. I think when we get to the Lost Continent, I can find a quiet spot to give you that channel information that may or may not have an effect on your viewing habits. The Wizarding World sometimes has a show called Hogwarts Always. Let that sink in. I showed it during the last livestream that was here. How is Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure doing without Express? We'll find out in just a second. 80-minute wait for standby only. All right, into the Lost Continent. Unless we have some heavy machinery knocking down stuff today, we should be able to find a quiet spot to talk. Ah, I just thought of the perfect spot behind Mythos. Ooh, we have some fresh construction walls over here in the Lost Continent. Some construction walls have arrived on the south side of the land. Actually, we have a little bit of a construction wall tunnel over here. It is a lot of work to retheme an entire land. Here's our little tunnel. I bet you Mythos is still open, though. Let's get through the little corridor here and see that Mythos is open. Now for our talk, and I'm gonna need you guys to comment in the comment section after we talk. So I do three live streams a week. Each sort of has its own brand. We have the Finally Friday live stream, we have the Saturday Night Live live stream, and the Sunday Stroll. I have been experimenting with another piece of content, very, like, ultra-long-form content known as theme park therapy. That may replace one of the live streams. So I'm analyzing everything, and if I were to rank all four product, or content pieces, the three live streams and the theme park therapy, because everything happened this week. Every piece of content of those four was posted. Coming in number one was the theme park therapy. Number two, the Sunday Stroll. Number three, the Finally Friday. And coming in last is Saturday Night Live. So, again, starting tomorrow, I'll be doing the live streams. Tomorrow will be the Finally Friday live stream, and then we'll do a Saturday Night Live, and we'll do a Sunday Stroll, and I'll keep checking things. So, you can tell me what you think in the comment section below, but ultimately the data is going to rule, and I will analyze things as they occur. I'm just saying, if you prefer one thing or the other, I will notice during the live streams, as I analyze some of the most important data. So, just be aware. I just wanted to let you know the rankings so far. I'm telling you this so that you are not caught off guard, and you'll have opportunity to show your support during the live streams, but right now the rankings, like I said, number one, theme park therapy, and currently in last place, Saturday Night Live. Now, I'm not gonna make my decision based on just one weekend. I'll be analyzing over time. Just letting you know, so that when you're watching the live streams, if you wanna try to influence what stays and what goes, you'll know what I'm doing. Like I said, you can leave a comment on your thoughts, but ultimately, the data is going to rule. Since we're back here, let's get a cool shot of the VelociCoaster and the Mosasaurus Roll. A short cozy mosey over to the treat we're gonna try today. Circus McGurkis has added three new items, something Nikki would love. We're gonna try one of them. I'll put up a picture, I think, of all three, but I'm not gonna get all three. We'll pick one of them. Something looks different over here, but I think it's just my imagination. I don't think it is. Maybe it's just a fresh paint job. They look good. Maybe it's just looking good. The goose moose. The juice juice. Yeah, it's gonna take me some time to collect that data for those live streams and compare it to the theme park therapy. I'm not gonna make a hasty decision. I don't know if I can do a theme park therapy this week. Actually, I don't know. I've done three so far. Done one for Epic, some therapy for Islands, and one for Studios. But my schedule got off a little bit for some reason last week. So I'm gonna try to get back on schedule. Oh, here comes our meet and greet. See, these guys walking to the shade right there. When we have a perfectly good room in there, that's air conditioned. I swear, I thought they would have had that done by now. I mean, it's still gonna be hot in August and September, even in the early part of October. But let's not delay. Get the characters out of the shade and into some air conditioning. Okay, so right here, I think if I go back here and I just pause for a minute, this will give me an opportunity to put up the picture, most likely from our friends at OrlandoInformer.com. Go check that out. Go check out their website as we look at their pictures. And now to place the order is the Fantastic Funnel Cakes. You have a Carnival Classic Crunch Cake, $9.49. The Trapeze Cookies and Cream Twirl for $11.99. And the Big Top Strawberry Whirl Cake, $11.99. I will probably go with, you know what? Hang on a second, you'll see. First, the Strawberry Whirl. Got your funnel cake, got your strawberry topping, your whipped cream, and your vanilla ice cream. Oh boy, you know what? Maybe we'll have a second one too. And now the Oreo Cookie Funnel Cake. Got your funnel cake there, powdered sugar, your ice cream bar, your Oreo cookie crumbles, and the whipped topping. Oh, I'm gonna have a bite of this one too. Oh my goodness, those two funnel cakes were phenomenal. Probably the best desserts they've ever done at Circus McGurkus. Let's just start with the funnel cake itself. A proper funnel cake, crispy outside edge and bits of it in the middle were soft. And I especially like the ones that had like a little bit of the vanilla ice cream had seeped into it. And speaking of the vanilla ice cream, it's very similar to the vanilla ice cream bars that they sell on Hop on Pop. It might be the same thing, but the two fancy ones, the strawberry for that fruity flavor, love the strawberry glaze, that was delicious. And then if you're in more of a chocolatey mood, Oreo mood, because the Oreo crumble was amazing as well. Ah, but you would be satisfied just the basic classic funnel cake because the funnel cake itself is properly prepared and is delicious in its own right. Oh my goodness, I hope the next time you're here, you try those out. Probably shareable, I didn't eat both of them. I did that for taste testing. But if I was here with Nikki, we probably would share one funnel cake. Oh my goodness, I gotta go walk it off now. Oh my goodness, so decadent. Those two desserts. They've been there, I think, for seven or eight days. They've had them there. I don't think Universal has promoted them too much, which they tend to do with new food is they tend to hold back on the promotion of it for a week or two to give the team, the culinary team, and the people prepping the food to kinda get it down so it's proper like when it's all heavily marketed. So they've got their systems down and how to do it and it's delicious every time. But I'll market it for you, Universal. It was awesome. There's your marketing. Free marketing, free advertising. Awesome funnel cakes at the Circus McGurkis. Walking off now. I ate a little more than what I had intended. I always do when it's delicious. I'm like, you know, I don't need to eat that much for a taste test. I can have, you know, three or four bites and I can get a sense of it and I can share that information with you guys. But the problem with that method is when the desserts are too good, the treats are too good and you eat too much, which I did today. A little too much than what I had planned. Taste test gone awry. Gone amuck. Sometimes I just can't help myself. You guys, when you're in the parks, you need to find me testing some of this food. I'll just cut it in half. Give you guys the other half. Walk it off, walk it off. That was the only food I had today. Was a dessert. I didn't have breakfast, didn't have lunch. I'm still not gonna have lunch. That was enough. I ate, together I probably ate a whole one. Half of the strawberry one, half of the Oreo. I feel a little guilty about having a whole funnel cake. I know my wife, Nikki, I sent her pictures just to make her jealous because I know she loves funnel cakes. And the thing is, she was supposed to come with me today. She wanted to come with me today. She got a call at the last minute from one of her clients wanting their kid to get some speech therapy today. So she went ahead and accepted that, not knowing that I was gonna be here eating delicious funnel cake. And you know, it's full of ice cream. I couldn't take it home. Now, ooh, you know what I could've done? I could've taken her home the classic one, maybe. Got a second plate and put on top. Oh, well, I should've thought of that, you know, 20 minutes ago. She'll just have to get one another time and put up with my bragging today. How was your work today, honey? Let me show you a picture of how my work is going. It's going deliciously. But that will do it for today's video. Lots of things for you guys to comment on. So leave me comments. I will reply to everyone in this video. So leave a comment. And the adventure lives on if you click the box on your screen right now. The adventure lives on. Don't miss the magic. Don't miss the fun. Click it.