Theme Park Bits: Universal’s New Haunted House, Bobcat Brings The ‘Pain’ To World Of Color, R.I.P. Straws At Disney
In this edition of Theme Park Bits:
Come for the views, stay for the drinks.
See more food and bev from#AventuraHotel, Bar 17 Bistro athttps://t.co/HR8akelDKQ.pic.twitter.com/0Dikb6T7jY
— Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL)June 25, 2025
When Universal’s Aventura Hotel opens on August 16, it will have a rooftop bar and grill called Bar 17 Bistro with views of all three Universal Orlando parks. Now the resort has shared afirst look at the bistro’s menu, which features frozen drinks, bao buns, salads, sliders, and mocktails.
Universal Orlando has also given a preview of one of the new haunted houses for its Halloween Horror Nights 2018 event.Carnival Graveyard: Rust in Pieceswill transport guests to a world where “the caramel-coated carnivals of yesteryear have long died, but something sinister has festered within the decay.”
Work walls now up around the World of Color platform at Disney California Adventure, the show is now set to return late this yearpic.twitter.com/MX1PnszzkP
— WDW News Today (@WDWNT)August 17, 2025
At Disney California Adventure, the nighttime showWorld of Coloris out of commision right now, but it still managed to getcaught up in the James Gunn controversy. This week, actor Bobcat Goldthwait took to Instagram to defend Gunn and ask that his own voice be removed from the show. In the process of doing this, however, it appears he may have leaked plans for what the show will look like when it returns at some point later this year.
According to Goldthwait, he is set to reprise his role as Pain fromHerculesin a version of the show called “World of Color – Villainous.“Theme Park Insiderspeculates that this could mean the show will be making its return in Halloween form.
#PixarShorts Film Festival returns with new features, including#Bao#DCApic.twitter.com/l0fGbWvLU0
— Parks And Cons (@ParksAndCons)July 11, 2025
The Pixar Short Films Festival is back at California Adventure, and now it includesBao, the 8-minute short about a dumpling come to life, which hit theaters last month in front ofThe Incredibles 2.
Meanwhile, Clarabelle’s Hand-Scooped Ice Cream is offeringHard Floats spiked with alcoholat California Adventure. Not to be outdone, the Scat Cat’s Club at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort in Florida is peddling “Boozy Baton Rouge Beignets,” which literally come served with alcohol pipettes protruding from them, as seen below.
A post shared by Your Magical Compass (@yourmagicalcompass)
This time next year, the experience of sipping on a summer drink at Disney may be a little different for some people. The Walt Disney Company is following in the eco-friendly footsteps of Starbucks and other companies byeliminating the use of plastic strawsand stirrers at its parks worldwide. The change will go in effect in mid-2019, so if you’re planning on visiting afterStar Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens, you better pack your Mickey Mouse straws. Can an illicit black market for straws in the parks be far off?
Over at Disneyland Park, Space Mountain has a new indoor queue, as you can see in the video above.
There’s been some sad news at Walt Disney World recently, as a 70-year-old man with a pre-existing heart condition died of a heart attack in the wave pool at the Blizzard Beach water park. According toCinema Blend, his death was listed in the resort’s quarterly injury report, which also made mention of a man losing consciousness on the Mission: Space ride at Epcot and a woman going into labor on the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
V.I.PASSHOLDER Nights Registration Now Open for All Event Dates!https://t.co/Q33T4y0P50pic.twitter.com/fSFLSHAbGt
— WDW News Today (@WDWNT)June 09, 2025
Mark your calendars now: the Magic Kingdom and Epcot haveV.I.Passholder Nightscoming to them.
Elsewhere at Disney World, a number of new hotels have joined the growing list of places where guests can use the"Digital Key” feature on the MyDisneyExperience appto unlock their room doors with their smartphones. Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, Beach Club Resort, Beach Club Villas, Boardwalk Inn, and Boardwalk Villas are all now ready to respond to your smartphone commands. Rumor has it Disney is also developing a smartphone appto help guests take better pictures.
Hong Kong Disneyland’s upcomingAnt-Man and the Waspattraction now has an official name. It’s calledAnt-Man and the Wasp: Nano Battle. In the video above, you’re able to see this name being announced by the stars of the movie, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily.
In Japan, theworld’s first Paddington Bear-themed parkhas opened near Tokyo. In Germany, theworld’s first virtual reality water slidehas opened, utilizing waterproof VR headsets.
