food IS a theme park
We’re gearing up for spooky season in Orlando, and that means Halloween Horror Nights is coming back!
Universal Orlando Halloween Horror Nights
This annual Halloween event takes place at Universal Studios Florida, and it has some seriously dedicated fans! This is where you’ll want to go if you truly enjoy the spooky, scary, and gory part of the season. But for 2026, they’ve made a major change to the ticket offerings.
If you’ve visited Universal Orlando, you might be familiar with Universal Express Pass, which allows you to skip the long standby lines at rides throughout the parks.
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
One of the most popular rides to use Express Pass is Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure in Universal Islands of Adventure in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a ride that has notoriously long standby lines. Well, if you were planning to use Express Pass for this ride this summer, you’re going to be out of luck because it will no longer be offered for the ride.
If you’re like us and you hate waiting in line like us, then this theme park update is going to make you thrilled!
Epic Universe
Universal Orlando has added a new skip the line service, meaning we get to climb onto our favorite attractions even faster than normal.
Universal Orlando has found a whole new way to keep us on our toes.
Islands of Adventure Main Entrance
You can plan for rope drop, chart out your most efficient walking route, and feel like you have cracked the vacation code, but the parks always have a surprise waiting for you. Some changes seem tiny at first and then end up shaking your entire morning strategy. For example, if there’s a certain Magical Motorbike ride you want to hit first, you might want to hear this before you set that alarm.
Now is the perfect time to start planning your trip to Universal Orlando!
Universal Orlando
The other big theme park resort in the Central Florida area is a hot ticket right now, with the newly added Epic Universe having opened in May 2025. Plenty of people are adding Universal to their 2026 vacation lineup, and if you’re in that boat, we’ve got some top tips to share for your trip!
Both Disney World and Universal Orlando offer a way for you to pay extra to skip the standby lines at most attractions and access a shorter, faster line. In Disney World, you can purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass. In Universal Orlando, you can buy an Express Pass, which is similar but generally covers more attractions (and costs more money).
Universal Orlando
Disney World also has Lightning Lane Single Pass, which applies to select rides, where you pay an additional fee just to skip lines at those rides, like a pay-per-ride system. Universal has started to test out something similar: Express Pass Single Attraction Access. We’re going to break down that new option for you.
If you’ve visited Epic Universe in Universal Orlando, you’ve probably seen some pretty long standby lines, especially for the more popular rides.
Mine-Cart Madness
We’re talking HOURS-long waits for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic. The lines for Donkey Kong: Mine-Cart Madness in Super Nintendo World can get pretty long, too. And, well, there’s no way to skip those two long standby lines…except now, there is. That’s because Universal has just added both rides to its Express Pass option.
If you’re headed to Universal Orlando soon, we’ve got some big news to share with you.
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
You see, something has changed about this ride in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and you’re going to want to know about that change. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure has been added to Universal’s Express Pass.
While Epic Universe isn’t officially open to the public yet, Universal just started Passholder Previews, and we’re starting to get an idea of how Epic will operate once it’s open.
Yoshi’s Adventure
Universal has an incredible skip-the-line service called Express Pass, which is offered during previews and when Epic Universe opens May 22nd.
If you are looking to skip the line at some of Disney World’s most popular attractions, you may have considered purchasing Lightning Lane.
Mad Tea Party Lightning Lane
Lightning Lane is Disney World’s pay-to-skip-the-line service, and it recently replaced Genie+, and Genie+ replaced FastPass+. There are three different versions of Lightning Lane, which can get confusing. Lightning Lane Multi Pass is similar to both Genie+ and FastPass+. Lightning Lane Single Pass is the replacement for Individual Lightning Lane. The newest Lightning Lane offering is Lightning Lane Premier Pass, which some have compared to Universal’s pay-to-skip-the-line service, Express Pass.
Some people have very strong opinions about Lightning Lane as the service is not free; while everyone is entitled to their opinion, there are five Lightning Lane myths that you should stop believing.
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