192. A Disney Fan's First Day at Epic Universe

Universal's Epic Universe has arrived, and we're trading Mickey ears for Power-Up Bands to explore Orlando's newest theme park sensation! Our special guest Marielle, a former Disney cast member who helped open Toy Story Mania and later worked on Disney Cruise Line, shares her candid first impressions of this ambitious new destination.

The conversation takes us through each of Epic Universe's distinct "portals" – from the spellbinding Ministry of Magic where you'll feel transported directly into Harry Potter's world, to the sensory explosion of Super Nintendo World where every corner pulses with gaming nostalgia. Marielle reveals which attractions truly impressed her (Stardust Racers ranks just behind VelociCoaster in her coaster rankings!) and which aspects of the park still need refinement.

What makes this episode particularly fascinating is Marielle's unique perspective as someone who understands Disney's operational excellence from the inside. She compares the guest experience between the two companies, noting where Universal excels with character interactions in Isle of Berk that surpass even what Disney promised with Galaxy's Edge, while also highlighting accessibility challenges and operational hiccups typical of a brand-new park.

Whether you're planning your first visit or simply curious about Universal's newest offering, this episode delivers practical advice on navigating return time systems, avoiding the punishing Florida sun in a surprisingly shade-free environment, and maximizing your time across these immersive new worlds. Join us for a delightful deep-dive that answers the question every Disney fan secretly wonders: is Epic Universe worth trading your park days at the Mouse House?

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Adventures & Mousecapades is a passion project from Alicea & Nathan Novak - two Seattleites addicted to The Mouse. We are not affiliated with Disney, nor are we travel agents. Opinions are our own.

Instagram, Threads, Facebook, Twitter: @ourmousecapades
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Episode Transcript

Alicea (00:23):
Hello everyone.
I'm Alicea, I'm Nathan and I'mMarielle.
Welcome to this week's episodeof Adventures and Mousecapades.
Today's guest has us trading inour Disney pixie dust and park
maps for a ticket to the brandnew Universal Epic Universe, and
we are dying to know if itlived up to the hype.
So buckle up, buttercup,because we are diving into rides

(00:46):
, vibes and maybe a few themepark secrets.
First off, welcome!

Marielle (00:54):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
I'm excited to be here.

Nathan (00:57):
Absolutely.

Alicea (00:58):
I know we are breaking the mold and talking universal,
but tell us a bit about yourDisney history.
Did you grow up going to thetheme

Marielle (01:09):
I did so my parents started taking me.
I think I went to Disneylandwhen I was two for the first
time and then we kind of wentevery two years after that and
then growing up it was alwaysDisneyland and I got a hold of
the like disney world vacationplanning video and I think I

(01:31):
think I burned a hole in it fromhow many times I watched it, um
begging my parents to go there,and um my, when I was nine my
brother was born and we wentshortly after he was born and it
was like the greatest place Ihad ever been.
I was just like amazed the wholetime, um, and so then we
started going there.

(01:51):
We became DVC members and westarted going there more
regularly than Disneyland, but Ilove them both equally.
I don't really have a favoritebetween the two.
And then, growing up, I youknow, when people asked what did
you want to do, I always saidthat I wanted to work at disney,
uh, and I ended up, uh,achieving that goal.

(02:11):
I started with the disneycollege program yeah and I was
on opening team for toy storymania in 2008 oh, wow yeah, just
as a college program kid, whichis almost unheard of, and
because you have to likeaudition but you have to
interview specifically foropening teams and so it was like

(02:35):
it was fit and we got to workreally closely with Imagineering
and see all the back end stuffbefore it even opened and it was
such a cool experience.
And then after that I worked forDisney Cruise Line for about

(02:56):
six years on board the ships.
I worked on the Magic, thewonder and the fantasy, so all
three of those and I was therewhen the Dream opened and left,
before they really expanded thefleet to what?
Is that now, but I loved.
I loved that too.
That was amazing.

Nathan (03:18):
That's all right.
We will absolutely be pickingyour brain later.
Yeah, for sure.
So let's shift gears a littlebit, and you know we're going to
talk about Universal a littletoday.
So have you, I'm assuming?
Yes, but have you been to theUniversal Orlando parks before

(03:38):
the existing ones?

Marielle (03:40):
I have Yeah.
So I go there because they havemore of the thrill rides than
Disney does and I'm a bigrollercoaster person.
So I'm always like, okay, Igotta go.
You know, gotta go on the Hulk,gotta go on Hagrid's.
Um the.
I didn't go on Hagrid's until,as I think it's been like four

(04:01):
years ago was the first time Iwent to that part um, and that
just blew me away, but yeah,yeah.
So then, when I heard epicuniverse was opening, I was like
well one, it's a huge deal thatthere's a new theme park
opening yeah and there's gonnabe, you know, a chance to go to
super mario.
I'm gonna be there really closeafter they open to the public,

(04:22):
so I was like I gotta go yeah Ihave to do it, of course.

Alicea (04:26):
Yes, it's a bright, shiny, brand new park.
Um, give us details about thethe trip.
Who was with you?
How long were you there?
Did you stay on property?

Marielle (04:38):
I didn't stay on property at universal, I stayed
on Disney property at Riviera.

Nathan (04:43):
You have some standards, then I get it, yeah.

Marielle (04:49):
I do get to my point where I'm like okay, get me back
on Disney property but it's afun, fun day to go to Universal.
I was with my parents.
So I actually crashed theirtrip that they were planning to
go by themselves and I was likewell, if you're going going, I'm
gonna go to epic universe for aday and you guys can hang out.
Um, so they they dropped me offin the morning to go to.

(05:11):
I just had the one day at epicuniverse, so it was like got
there right when it opened and Itried to cram in as much as I
could and I figured, you know,being by single rider would work
to my advantage too for a lotof things.
So it did in a way.
I also was recovering fromsurgery, so I is a little bit

(05:32):
kind of similar to Disney nowbut a little different.

Nathan (05:47):
Yeah, because Disney.
I mean they've had theDisability Access Service or DAS
, but it's changed a year or soago and a lot of the physical
limitations aren't qualifyinganymore.
It's more of the neurodivergentaccessibility needs that
Disney's catering to.
So yeah, interested to hearwhat your experience was with

(06:08):
universal and kind of thephysical needs.

Marielle (06:11):
Yeah, so they have a program.
You apply to it.
Before you get there you haveto upload a doctor's note, and
then it looked like a bunch oftheme parks use the same program
.
So you select the park fromthis list.
Um, I uploaded a note from mydoctor, um, and they kind of
came back with the same initialresponse that Disney had of like

(06:33):
, hey, all of our lines areaccessible.
So you know, that's that'sgoing to be your best bet is,
you know you can take awheelchair through them?
Um, the issue was I had an ECVinstead of a wheelchair because
I was going to be by myself, Um,and so I wasn't.
Um, I had ankle surgery, so itwasn't at the point where I
could do, you know, a theme park10,000, 20,000 step day, Um, so

(06:58):
I had, I had the scooter, butit could walk too, so it was
like you know, toss-up and uh,when I got there I had to go to
guest services and put my nameon the virtual queue and just
wait for guest services.
So that took a little bit oftime out of my like initial
getting to the park and wantingto to get on stardust racers
right away right yeah, so uh,but they were, they were really

(07:22):
accommodating.
Basically, their lines areaccessible, but you do have to
transfer to a manual wheelchairand that was where I was getting
run into issues, because I wasby myself, so I wouldn't have
anybody to push me Liabilityissues.
They can't push you through theline either.
So they gave me kind of thesame thing as Disney, where you

(07:42):
get a return time for the rides.
They are a lot more strict thanDisney is with the return times
there, like if it says your waitis 180 minutes, then you come
back exactly 180 minutes.
I found that Disney has alittle bit more leeway with that
, where it's like 35 and they'relike come back in 20.
It's fine, you know, orsomething like that.

(08:03):
But Universal was very strict35 and they're like, eh, come
back in 20.
It's fine, you know, orsomething like that.
But universal was very strict,and some of that could be
because it's brand new and youknow they don't want people
taking advantage there.
But it did work out just beingby myself, and it allowed me to
go use single rider line at someof the other rides and then
also like have that in my backpocket, but that also meant I

(08:24):
was going, you know, back andforth across the park to
different areas.
So I got a lot in for sure.

Nathan (08:32):
We both have had knee replacements, so we're very
familiar with needing to bringthat ECV through the line, at
least for most of the modernrides, at least, uh, maybe some

(08:52):
of the OG stuff in fantasy landin like California.
It's a little rough, but someof those lines are about 20 feet
long anyway.

Marielle (08:58):
So, um, so yeah, that's interesting that they
make you transfer to a manualchair as accessible as disney um

(09:26):
, kind of the same familiarissues that the other universal
parks have of, like, you know,being worried, uh, for people
who are in bigger bodies to tofit in some of the rides.
They did have a lot more liketest seats outside that I
haven't seen across universalbefore.
So that was nice, um.
But, like super Mario, thereare stairs everywhere it's, it's

(09:49):
all stairs, all you know,elevators, all um.
I can't think of the word, uh,escalator, escalators, um, so
that that was a big, a bighindrance there yeah um, but I
mean, it didn't prevent me fromanything.
So I I kind of got to a pointwhere I just parked it outside

(10:12):
and I was like, whatever I'llwalk, I'll walk through there.

Nathan (10:14):
Yeah, um, so yeah okay, I'm glad it worked out, yeah
yeah, yeah.

Alicea (10:34):
What was your first reaction going into Epic
Universe?
Did anything surprise you rightaway?

Marielle (10:39):
It's the concept of each portal being into a
different land of Epic Universeis very obvious when you first
go in and there's a lot of spacetoo, like it's a huge park.
It's very spread out and thenthe center is the.
I can't think of it.

(11:00):
I think it's Celestial Park isin the center and they have
these big, grand fountains andstatues and you can see the
brand new hotel right there toothe helios, I think, is what
it's called yes, helios grand orsomething.

Nathan (11:14):
Yeah, something like that yeah but that's all just
right.

Marielle (11:16):
When you walk in and you're just like wow, like this
is, this is so pretty, and thenit's almost overwhelming of like
, where do I start?
Like you know because you havesuper mario, that's super
popular.
You have how to train yourdragon, which is very well done,
like just in terms of theming.

(11:38):
And then you have um harrypotter, which is also like
mind-blowing of just how wellit's done.
And and then I didn't go toDark Universe, but I've heard
good things about it.
I'm just not a scary movieperson.
And.
I didn't really want to go bymyself if anything was super
scary.

Nathan (11:57):
Hey, I am right there with you.
I am not all about the scarystuff, yeah.

Marielle (12:02):
Like I get freaked out on Haunted Mansion sometimes
with those things that pop up inthe graveyard, so I was like
I'll skip that one.
But I have heard very goodthings about that part too.
So, it was just mostly like oh,where do I start?
Because I don't even know whereto go, but it was all just so

(12:23):
well done, so so cool.

Nathan (12:26):
You did a great job.
My next thing I was going tolist off all of the portals and
lands to everything.
So, congratulations Exactly Umso celestial park like.
How did that set the tone foryour visit?

Marielle (12:40):
It's kind of interesting because it doesn't
really fit with the rest of whatis in the park, but it's kind
of like the central hub if youwanted something you know, quick
and easy.
You could go on the carousel,which was like so pretty, um I.

(13:11):
I also didn't stay at night,which I kind of wish I did,
because I've heard very goodthings about just how pretty it
is there, and it was a way tojust kind of like get your
bearings again.
If you were lost or didn't knowwhere to go next, you could kind
of just hang out there yeahthere isn't a lot of shade, so
it was very open, very sunny,central florida typical like 90

(13:32):
degree weather and 90 degreehumidity, um.
So that was kind of uh, likeyou could take a break there,
but I wouldn't necessarilyrecommend it unless you were
sitting like really close to thefountain and could get some of
the water.

Nathan (13:47):
Did it look like you're going to have a bunch of like
trees grow in?
Is it just because it's soyoung, or was there really not a
lot of shade that they've putin yet?

Marielle (13:56):
It looked like, uh, from what I could tell, they
didn't really have a plan to addmore.
It was all concrete.
Um, and there's stores rightwhen you walk into in a
starbucks that has, you know,the epic universe cup there too,
which I made sure to get to umbut that part is all shaded and
then it goes over towards how totrain your dragon and stardust

(14:18):
racers.
Stardust racers is probably, Ithink, and the Carousel are one
of the only rides that I thinkare in Celestial Park, so
they're not necessarily behind aportal, so they're kind of more
out in the open and that's likean across from store.
So there's a lot of space foryou to just kind of like plan
out your day there pretty much.

Alicea (14:39):
Yeah, you said you're a coaster person.
Yes, so how was Stardust?
It was Stardust Racers, right?
Yes, yeah, so did you get onStardust Racers?

Marielle (14:48):
I did and I did both sides.
I did both the green and theyellow.
It was amazing.
I don't know if either one ofyou have been on VelociCoaster.

Alicea (14:57):
No, not yet.
I want to Nathan will youactually go on VelociCoaster.

Nathan (15:01):
I mean maybe in another life, Sure.

Alicea (15:03):
I love coasters yeah.

Marielle (15:06):
Yeah.
So VelociCoaster when I went onit I was a little freaked out
because it doesn't have theshoulder restraints, it's just
the lap restraint.
Totally worth it.
Like probably the best rollercoaster I've ever been on.
Like I would say that andCosmic Rewind are like 1A, 1, 1b
for me, and then I would putstardust racers at number two

(15:27):
behind that and like probablyhagrid's at like 2b.
so um, you know like gettingreally I can't pick, um, but
yeah it it's.
It's so good like I would haveloved to go on that one at night
because I feel like you couldget more of the theming there,
but it still came through thatthe two tracks are racing

(15:48):
against each other.
The music kind of immerses youwhile you're on the ride so
you're not really thinking aboutanything and you do get really
close to the track next to youso it keeps that competitiveness
going between the two and Idon't want to give too many
spoilers about it.
But there's there's a coupledifferent launches that really,

(16:11):
just like you know, send youback in your seat and it's like
I got off and I was like Ishould just get in line again.
Like this is this is so good and, funny enough, it was the
shortest wait from almostanything, which I thought was
really interesting, given thatit's, you know, a thrill coaster
.
Yeah, um, but I didn't see itget above.

(16:32):
Probably like I think 40minutes was the highest that I
saw it all day so are the?

Nathan (16:37):
are the two sides symmetrical, just like opposite
shaped, or are they actuallydoing a little bit different?

Marielle (16:43):
they're slightly different in terms of like the,
the twists and like whichdirection you go and um, kind of
some of that um, but they arepretty similar and you don't.
It's like you can't really tellthe difference until you go on
both sides right.

Nathan (17:01):
I didn't know if it was like mission space where, like
you, have an intense side and agentle side, but you're still
racing.

Marielle (17:08):
Yeah, they're both very intense, excellent, yeah.
That kind of stuff.

Nathan (17:14):
I'm okay with it's.
I can't do galaxy.
Oh.

Alicea (17:19):
Guardians.
Yeah.

Nathan (17:20):
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind just rewinds my
gut and I just, it's thespinning, it's the.
I just I can't handle it.
Velocicoaster I think Aliciaand I would both get on, quite
frankly but we typically fallinto that larger person bucket,
where these rides and theseseats just don't work for us.

(17:42):
So I'm actually really happy tohear that they have more test
seats out at the new park, causethat will well, that will save
us from perhaps needlesslywaiting in line.

Alicea (17:54):
Yeah, I think I could do Velocicoaster now.
When we were at the park beforeI was much heavier and what
just wasn't I was so bummed thatI couldn't fit in.
Yeah.

Marielle (18:06):
Yeah, yeah, I would, I would be too.
Um, but Stardust is kind of thesame seat.
Uh, you sit up a little higher,but it's still the same kind of
restraint.

Alicea (18:16):
Yeah.

Marielle (18:16):
Um and the same they.
You know, locker, walk througha metal detector, can't take
anything with you.
Um, I know, which was also kindof a bummer, because I was like
I want to, I want to takepictures, I want to like yeah
tell everyone about this, but noI have to get one of those.

Alicea (18:31):
I wonder if they allow the the cameras that you
basically strap on your chest ohthey, they might.

Marielle (18:38):
Yeah, I didn't see anyone with them.

Alicea (18:40):
You can't hold anything, yeah, I haven't heard that
track at night is phenomenal.
Like the track isn't lit at all, it's only the cars themselves.
So it really looks like cometsgoing across and everything.

Nathan (18:53):
Yeah, that's cool yeah.

Marielle (18:55):
Yeah, it's harder to see that detail in the day.
You can see the comic or thecomet part on the, you know, on
the track or the train.
But yeah it's.
It's a little harder to see.

Nathan (19:11):
Got it Now.
I know you didn't spend a tonof time in uh in Darkmoor over
in the dark universe.
Did you take a peek in there atall?

Marielle (19:15):
Uh I, I walked in really quick and I was like, oh,
this looks cool, and then I Ikind of walked out.

Nathan (19:20):
That's fair, that's totally fair.
So, The question that thatAlicia had prepared was did it
remind you of Halloween, horrorNights?
And so it sounds like yes, inthat both you and I would say no
, thank you.

Marielle (19:33):
Right, yeah, yeah.
That was immediately the vibethat I got in when I walked in
there.
I was like, oh no, that's notfor me.
I'm more of a not-so-scaryHalloween party girl.

Nathan (19:45):
That sounds fair.
Yeah, all right.
So Ministry of Magic TMUniversal already has the
Wizarding World of Harry PotterTM.
It lands at both of its othertwo Orlando parks.
So how does this iterationstack up against those?

Marielle (20:05):
I would say it's a.
It's a good fit.
It's kind of a bummer to methat they're not all combined um
, because epic universe is onthe complete opposite side of i4
from the rest of the which wassurprising to me.
I didn't know that going in andI was like driving through this
residential area like am I surethere's a theme park over here?
yeah there it is, so it's kindof it's set in france okay so

(20:30):
all of the theming is is veryfrench um and you like,
immediately when you walk in,you're just immersed in harry
potter, like you feel, like youare a character in the movie.
Um, there's so much.
If you have a wand, there'slike.
I feel like there's way more todo there that's interactive
than at the other parks um yeah,so, uh, that was really cool.

(20:54):
There's a lot more of the movingpictures.
Um, it seemed like there wasstill some stuff that wasn't
quite open yet or quite ready,and I'm not sure if they're
still building on that.
Um, because over the, the onlyride over there, is ministry of
magic, so the rest is streetperformers.
There's, uh, the show which.

(21:16):
I I didn't go to cause, I wasmaximizing ride time.
Right, Right Um but I've heardgreat things about it.
I saw some of the streetperformers, which was really
cool.
There's a bakery, there's achocolate store with all of the
typical Harry Potter stuff.
I would say there's a lot moreto explore and kind of get lost

(21:37):
in than Harry Potter at, uh, atuniversal um, because there's
more like back alleys and thingsyou can go down, and so you
kind of get caught and interactwith some of the pictures that
call you out when you're walkingby.
Yeah, it's really fun, um, andif you're close to someone with
a wand, that works in your favortoo, cause then you get to see

(22:00):
all of that.
I didn't buy one but I was, youknow, around people that had
one.
It was it was so cool to see and, um and you could see all the
kids just immediately likethinking that they were in Harry
Potter, which was amazing.

Nathan (22:16):
What'd you think of the uh of the ministry magic ride?

Marielle (22:19):
Oh it's so cool, it's like it's, it's definitely worth
the hype if it works the wholetime.
And that's where some of theissues are with the park is I
don't think they're ready yetfor the full capacity of what is
going to come at them.
Um, cause I think when I went Iwent the beginning of July I

(22:43):
think there's still a limitedcapacity a little bit for
capping ticket sales.
Okay, um, so it was busy maybeyeah, Um, it was busy.
uh, like immediately, and youget early entry if you stay on
property too, so like I didn'thave that advantage too.
Um, and every I think every daythey open a ride for early

(23:07):
entry, like a different part.
Oh okay, yeah.
So sometimes it's Ministry ofMagic, sometimes it's how to
Train your Dragon, sometimesit's Donkey Kong.
Oh, nice it just kind of dependson the day.
Ministry of Magic was one ofthose 180 minute wait rides but
I was like I'm here, I've heardit's worth it, I'm going to do

(23:28):
it, so I got the return time.
The ride went down while I hadmy return time, and so then they
gave me an express pass, whichI could have used at any other
ride, but I was like nope, I'mgoing to wait until this comes
back ride.
But I was like, nope, I'm gonnawait until this, this comes back
up and this is what I'm gonnado and like the queue is, so you

(23:52):
walk through and you go throughthe flu powder and you are in
the ministry.
Like I thought I walked intothe movie wow that it's.
It's crazy.
There's giant posters ofprofessor umbridge and she's
talking and um, because the thetheme of the ride is that you're
at the trial of doloresumbridge and so that's why

(24:12):
you're in the ministry of magicand um.
So you see all these charactersas you're walking through um.
Because I had express pass, Imissed a little bit of the queue
, but you could still see someof it, sure.
And then getting on the ride.
I know Disney has reallysensitive ride systems.
Like you know, haunted Mansionis pretty sensitive.
Yeah.

(24:33):
This one is probably the mostsensitive ride system I've been
on.
They have you, you're sittingin.
It's kind of like a Tower ofTerror elevator style.
Ok.
But your feet have to stay onthe ground, otherwise the ride
will stop interesting whoa, yeah, yeah, and you have to keep
your back against the the thing,otherwise the ride will stop

(24:55):
too.

Nathan (24:56):
So it's, yeah, it's that sensitive sounds like the
designers and operations weren'tquite talking to each other,
right, right?

Marielle (25:06):
because, like you know , you got little kids on these
rides I don't know how thatworks sometimes um, but I think
you've run rides before.

Nathan (25:14):
I mean, imagine, if I'm like toy story mania, if, like
I'm sorry, if little billy sitsforward to, like you know, shoot
the gun or whatever the theride's gonna stop, like that
would be a nightmare right,right, and I think.

Marielle (25:28):
I think that it goes down so much because of all the
technology that's in it.
So it's probably a combinationof the screens and the ride
vehicle and the um.
I think there's animatronics inthere.
I would say like it's, it's.
There's so much going on thatit it is like it's comparable to

(25:50):
rise of the resistance.
I would say in terms of liketheming and just like.
Oh my gosh, I can't believe.
I'm here right now, yeah.
That's, that's the level that itis, so it is like they're
they're inching on Disney, uh,catching up there with that ride
.

Nathan (26:09):
It sounds like it also is similar to rise of the
resistance in terms ofreliability.
Yes, yeah, yeah, that's theother huh, yeah, right, you know
that's actually perhaps apositive, for disney of
everybody goes like man, whycan't you just get rise to work?

Marielle (26:23):
and it's like well, nobody else can do a complex
ride like this either exactlyyeah, that's why there's a,
because I mean I yeah yeah,right, I got off and I was like
you know, at least disney hasthe b mode if kylo's not working
right or you know, this doesn'thave anything, it's just nope.
You gotta come back later andhope for the best.

(26:43):
So, yeah, yeah, interesting,and that one was probably like
my top ride, that I was like Ihave to go on this, um.
So I was really glad that I gotto go a through the full thing
without anything happening yeahum, because I did get there,
like really close to when itwent back up, um, and I was
behind, uh, a really famous,famous YouTuber, so they were

(27:06):
kind of like crossing theirfingers.
Everything worked right for him.
So I was like, all right, cool,I at least get to get that
benefit, nice yeah.

Alicea (27:16):
Yeah, all right.
Isle of Berk From what we'veseen online, this seems like one
of the most immersive lands ata theme park that we have ever
seen, with all the characterinteraction opportunities.
It kind of follows through andmaybe beats the promises that
disney made on galaxy's edge forstar wars fans.

(27:37):
Um, what did you think of this?
How to train your dragonexperience?
And, more importantly, did youget to meet toothless

Marielle (27:44):
um I did not get to meet Toothless.
The line was a little too longfor me.
Not having read the books orwatched the movies, I was just
going in there as like hey, I'veheard this is really cool and I
should go on it into epicuniverse.

(28:06):
I was like, okay, my prioritiesare harry potter and super
mario, at least for me.
And then it was like if I havetime, I will do everything else.
Um, so, since I had those likereturn times, it was like, okay,
let me go back and harry potterand super mario are on opposite
ends of the park so it was likeokay, I got my return time for
harry potter.
let me go check out super marioand see what that's doing, and
then I was like oh well, Ieither have to wait in line or

(28:30):
because I can't get anotherreturn time.
Right.
Or let me go see if somethingelse is going on.
So that's when I was like, okay, let me go into Isle of Berk.
It's very close to StardustRacers.
So if you go on Stardust Racersyou get a good bird's eye view
of what that land looks like,which is really cool.
Like you mentioned withgalaxy's edge, I would say that

(28:50):
it's it's very comparable tothat, and probably beats it in
terms of character interactions.
Um, like I, I saw toothless andI saw just the look on people's
faces of just like I, wow, likeI can't, a can't believe this is
real yeah and b that it's likein a theme park, and I'm
experiencing this.

(29:10):
I also didn't go on any of therides in there, but I have heard
great things about them too.
Um, I had a friend who went to,uh, the cast previews and I
would say that they're a littlebit more unbiased than I am in
terms of theme parks because I'mvery much like Disney's the
best and then everything else.

(29:31):
But they had nothing but greatthings to say about that area
and it was again very immersivewhen I was riding through on my
scooter and if I had been withsomeone who was very into it
like I would have been, like,absolutely, let's go do
everything I'm glad that I wentin and got to experience it,

(29:52):
because I would feel like Imissed out on a huge part of the
park if I didn't at least go inand see what was going on.
Um, and the rides, I would saythat that part has a lot of
kid-friendly rides, especiallyif super mario gets overwhelming
for people.
That's a good area to go in.
You know there is, uh, theyhave a water ride in there, so
that's a great way to like cooloff in the middle of the day too

(30:15):
.
I would say, yeah, theydefinitely give galaxy's edge a
run, a run for their money andkind of kind of beat dis Disney
in terms of what they expectedGalaxy's Edge to be or what
they're trying for it to be yes,I think you nailed it.

Nathan (30:31):
Disney cast this vision before Galaxy's Edge opened of
what it would be and howengaging it would be.
And hey, if you got such andsuch a score or an achievement
or something like that onMillennium Falcon, then when you
go into Olga's or somewhereelse, like the interactions
would be based on yourexperiences and they, like there

(30:53):
was just going to be this wholejust super immersive, like you
are diving into the land.
That I think they did with thehotel that they had, yeah, and
unfortunately it didn't last toolong and was priced just
astronomically pun intended, butthey cast that vision and then

(31:20):
their follow through on it hasbeen you see some stormtroopers
every once in a while or, yeah,like you're starting to see some
characters out a little bit,but it just seems like it's so
much more over the top andyou've got like the blacksmith
and the twins walking around.
You have all of thesecharacters that you know from

(31:40):
the movies, that they're justtrain your dragon from how to
train your dragon Right, not instar Wars.
Sorry, I'm mixing metaphors here.
No, it just yeah, I think.
I think universal you know wehaven't been there yet, so this
is just what we've seen from abunch of stuff online and a lot
of YouTube videos from folksthat we, you know, frankly trust

(32:03):
it seems like universal wasable to execute a lot of the
vision and the style ofimmersiveness that Disney had
hoped to do and just didn'tquite get there.

Marielle (32:18):
So, I'm excited to see that sometime.
Yeah, I would say that it feelsmore organic too, not that
Galaxy's Edge doesn't feelorganic, but I think because and
maybe I missed this for mandoand baby yoda to show up and you

(32:46):
have people waiting around tosee all these characters,
whereas at universal they'rejust around, they're just
walking like it is their homeand they're supposed to be there
, and you are like, why are youhere?
Not in a bad way, but just likeyou know.
Hey, this is our place and thisis where we're supposed to be.
Um, and I I don't know ifthat's a difference in terms of,

(33:09):
you know, like guest engagementor anything like that, but it
does feel a lot more organicthan Galaxy's Edge.
Previews for the one in uh, forgalaxy's edge at disney world,
and I heard all those samethings that you said of like,
yeah, you know, just wait untilit opens and then, with your

(33:32):
magic band, it's gonna followyou around the park and it's
gonna be like.
You know you can be an actualoutlaw like han solo, and you
know it was like, wow, this isgonna be amazing and and then
it's still amazing.
Right, but it's just not quitewhat it was hyped up to be.
Yep.

Alicea (33:49):
Yep, I do wonder if the characters are going to continue
to walk around at Universal orif it's just it's brand new.
You know, we'll do this for thefirst six months and then tone
it down a bit.
I hope they keep it.
Yeah, I do too.

Marielle (34:05):
Yeah, yeah we'll do this for the first six months
and then tone it down a bit.
I hope they keep it.
Yeah, I do too.
Yeah, yeah, I think I thinkthey might, but just based on
feedback from everyone of likehow cool it is and you know that
and super mario does have, youknow mario and luigi out there
too but, it's.
It's a little more staged like.
Disney is, of like sure in line.
Take a picture yep again, thisfeels more like organic, of like

(34:27):
oh my gosh, I didn't expect youkind of, like you know, on the
cruise ship, when you're walkingaround and there's a character
you're just like oh, I wasn'texpecting that yes, 100.

Nathan (34:36):
Okay, so you've mentioned super nintendo world
tm.
Uh, how immersive.
And we were just talking aboutimmersivity.
Yep, I just made up a word withIsle of Burke, like how
immersive is Mario world andDonkey Kong country?
Like how does, how does thatfeel?

Marielle (34:52):
It also feels like you are in the video game.
Like I was really impressed atall these areas and how
immersive it was.
Um, because you know, disneyalways gets hyped up for that
aspect of it.
Like you can't tell, you don'tknow, you feel like you're
somewhere else, you tune out thereal world.
I felt like that here, which Ican't necessarily say about the

(35:16):
other Universal parks, but Idefinitely felt that here I
would say Super Mario is themost overstimulating out of all
of them for sure, because rightwhen you walk in, it plays the
sound like you're going up thegreen pipe and you get on the
escalator and there's RainbowRoad, right like you walk

(35:37):
through peach's castle and thenit's just like, oh my gosh, it's
, there's the music, there's thegame sounds.
There's mario and luigi downthere talking.
There's the, the flowers thatare chomping at you, there's,
you know, the coin spinningaround yeah um, everyone with

(36:00):
their little um are they calledpower-up bands?
yeah something, yeah bands yeahall of those everywhere with the
coin, things like it's.

Alicea (36:09):
It is crazy in a good way yes, yeah I've been to the
one in california and it isextremely bright, very colorful.
So much movement, loud, it isdefinitely over stimulation.

Nathan (36:27):
I was not on that trip to california because I think
that was halloween, horrornights when, yes, I was yeah I
didn't go um like I'm imagining,with you two talking about this
and what you're describing likethe picture in my head is just
like like cartoon land or liketoon land, in like roger rabbit,
and it's just you go behind thewall and it's just like insane

(36:49):
and uh, yeah, I could.

Alicea (36:50):
I think overstimulating is 100 the right word for that
it's amazing though yeah one incalifornia is I don't know if,
if the one in florida is acarbon copy of it.

Nathan (37:00):
Um, just that part of it , because I know there's no
donkey kong country incalifornia, but oh, um yeah, I
think the one in florida is acarbon copy of what they have in
japan, and then the one incalifornia is pared down a
little bit because they didn'thave as much room oh, that's
right, they don't have the yoshiride there yep, yep, yep.
So, speaking of rides, innintendo world, there's minecart

(37:22):
madness and there's Bowserschallenge.
Did you get a chance to to doany of these rides?

Marielle (37:28):
I did both of those.
Um, I didn't go on Yoshi, whichI wanted to, because I am a big
Yoshi fan, like I played thatgrowing up.
Um but I was also, like youknow, half of it's in the sun
and it's like two o'clock in theafternoon Like I don't really
want to.

Alicea (37:45):
I don't want to deal with that.

Marielle (37:46):
It's 90 minute wait, like, uh, no, I'd rather wait 90
minutes for Bowser's challenge.
So, um, that one, uh, like Iwalked in and I was like, oh,
I'm literally in the the racefrom Mario Kart, like I am in
Bowser's castle, um, and I didthe single rider line with that

(38:10):
one while I was waiting forreturn time for.
Donkey Kong, so that one is oneof the ones where people use
the single rider line as like.
Well, I'm going to bypass theregular line, so I don't really
care.
It doesn't move very fast, soyou could wait just as long as
the regular line if you use thesingle rider line and it's a
little deceiving because you cansee where you're going to get

(38:30):
on, but you just don't move asfast as everyone else.
Yeah, and that one is.
Also.
I will say that that queue hasa lot of stairs.
There's a lot of twists andturns that you don't see when
you go through the single riderline, so I may have missed some
of the queue that I didn't see,um, when you go through the
single rider line, so I may havemissed some of the queue that I
didn't see.
Um, but the ride itself, uh, Ialso didn't have a power up band

(38:52):
and it probably would haveworked better if I did.
They do say you don't need onefor the ride, so they're like it
just keeps track of your points.
I don't know what the pointsare used for either, um, but you
don't need one to race and itis.
I mean, you're, there's fourpeople to a car, uh, and the
actual system for how you'reriding is pretty cool, because

(39:15):
you put on a mario hat and thenthe visor is like magnetic, that
the 3d visor sticks up to thehat and so yeah, it kind of just
like clicks in and then you'reready to go and you don't click
that in until you get into theride.
So you pull out the visor fromthe car and put it on the hat
that you've been wearing in line.
Um yeah, and you, it has one ofthe twist things in the back.

(39:38):
You can twist it to fit on yourhead and then you, you know you
go through and you you'repretty much racing against
another car next to you, but allfour of you have different, all
four of you in the car havedifferent things that you can do
.
Your shells are different, thatyou're shooting.
I didn't quite know what I wasdoing on the ride.

Alicea (39:58):
I'll be totally honest.
They do not do a good job oftelling you what to do on this
in the queue, even the regularqueue because yeah, I've done
this one and it's fun, but Ididn't know what I was doing
yeah, I was just.

Marielle (40:11):
I was kind of just shooting things and hoping to
like hit someone or something,and then I was like wow, that's
cool um and I just thought itwas.
Yeah, it was really fun.
You know, I was just like Iprobably, you know, I wouldn't
wait more than like a hundred.
I mean, to be totally honest, Iprobably wouldn't wait more
than 90 minutes for it, butsince it was new, I was like

(40:35):
it's a free pass for having thehighway time.
I'll suffer those consequencesand do it.
And you know, I I thought itwas I ended up waiting, I would
say probably 70 minutes, 75minutes in the single rider line
, Um, which, yeah, it was.
It was long, but I was like I,I don't feel bad, I don't regret

(40:58):
waiting that long either.
It was totally worth it to me.
Um, and it, it was really cool,yeah.

Nathan (41:04):
What you guys just described just described of not
really know what you're doing.
That's how I feel every time Iget on web slingers in
Disneyland.
I'm just like I don't know, I'mflailing my hands around.
Did I win?
I have no idea.

Marielle (41:14):
So I've heard, if you like chop, you like a chop
motion that kind of helps.
Oh yeah, that too, yeah yeah.
And then I look like a crazy,like fruit ninja person, just
like chopping everybody in thecar does.
So you're good.

Alicea (41:32):
Yeah, donkey Kong Country, I've heard it's a
little bit different, maybe notquite as overstimulating.
And then the Minecraft Madnessis there.
Did you get on that one,because that looks really cool
to me.
Minecart madness is there didyou get on that one?

Marielle (41:46):
I did?
Really cool to me it is um,that was one where I was like I
have to go on this because itlooks like you jumped the track
and oh my gosh that is so cool.
Um, I also felt bad because myboyfriend is a huge mario fan
and I was there without him andso I was walking through and I
was like if you don't want me togo on and I won't go on it
until you can come, and he waslike no, it's fine, go on it.

(42:08):
And I was like okay, thankslike bye, I'll tell you how it
is.
Um, so I I did go on that one.
Uh, donkey kong country,correct, is not as
overstimulating as the rest ofsuper mario.
Um, but you do have a lot ofthe, the drums, uh, so that

(42:29):
theming is there.
The I forget what theirsignature like drink is called,
but I did get that because I waslike I heard a lot of good
things about it.
It's in a donkey kong barrelwith this huge like waffle cone
thing on top, and yeah, it wasum I forget what's all in and
now it's.
It's definitely like coconut,pineapple, like very tropical

(42:51):
thing um happening, but I wouldsay the line for that is almost
as long as the line for thecoaster like it was crazy, yeah,
because everyone wanted thatcup, so that's hilarious yeah,
yeah, uh.
And then the the queue forminecart madness is kind of like
tucked in the back a little bitum again, like I had a return

(43:14):
time for that, but they sent methrough the single rider line so
I got on pretty quick when Iwas on there, um, and I happened
to get on with a reallyfriendly group of people, so
that was fun.
Um, you have four people in thecart.
It's a lot shorter than Ithought it was going to be.
So, um, kind of like Tron,where I was like, oh my gosh,
this is going to be so cool andit's so fun, and then I was like

(43:36):
wait, it's over already Like ohthat's it.
Um, so that was kind ofdisappointing, but the
animatronics are really cool.
The ride is really cool.
Um, I will say that one is onewhere you kind of have to be
aware of like body, differentbody types sitting in that,
because there's like this,there's like a knob thing in the

(43:58):
middle which isn't like it goes.
It's supposed to go betweenyour legs but it doesn't really.
It's kind of further back so itends up going like up your butt
a little bit, and so I'm justlike that's a little, a little
awkward and it gets.
It is very bumpy too, so it'sjust kind of like not very
comfortable while you're goingthrough it.

Nathan (44:15):
Who thought this one through.

Marielle (44:17):
Yeah, it was like the test and adjust period was not
long enough for this ride likeyeah,

Nathan (44:23):
more testing and more adjusting, please.

Marielle (44:25):
Yeah definitely more adjusting, so, uh, but the and
the part where you jump over thetrack like it's kind of like a
blink and you'll miss it momenttoo, so you really have to pay
attention, but you do get a nice.
Uh, there's a little bit ofwater during that too, so that's
a nice in the florida heat.
Yeah, um, that one was uhreally immersive too, like you

(44:49):
have all the different um, Imean, I think diddy kong was in
there, definitely donkey kong,and then the, the old guy that I
can't remember his name now,but papa or something
Yeah, yeah, he's, he's there toowith, and his animatronic, I
think is the most prominent,which is is very cool.

(45:10):
Um yeah, and that again I wouldsay also, like downside of
super Mario is there's hardlyany shade anywhere unless you're
in line, so that that kind ofis rough.

Alicea (45:23):
And so that kind of is rough, yeah yeah.
Uv umbrellas for the win.
Yes yeah.

Nathan (45:29):
All right.
So we've talked about a wholebunch of rides.
Which one stood out to you themost and why?
Was it the thrill or thetheming?
Was it something that you justwere completely unexpected and
surprised by?

Marielle (45:43):
I would say that, stardust Racers, I was surprised
by.
Um, I would say that, uh,stardust Racers, I was surprised
by like I.
I knew going in that it was a,it was a thrill ride, but I
wasn't expecting it to be asgood as it was, uh, so that kind
of that was a pleasant surprisefor me.
Um, and I would say, uh,ministry of Magic was also a

(46:09):
really big surprise because I Ipurposely went in like not
knowing anything about what theride was about.
I didn't watch any videos, Ididn't even know that it was,
you know, the trial of DoloresUmbridge, until I walked in Um,
and that.
That was just like my mouth wasopen the entire time I was on
that ride.
It was just like every, everynew screen, every new turn was

(46:31):
like oh my gosh, how are theydoing this?
This is so cool, like I I can'tsay enough good things about
that ride and I think, overall,like the theming of super mario,
like if I was, if I was a kid,like that would be the coolest
place I had ever been.
I think like it, especially akid that plays super mario like

(46:52):
yeah wow, like, and the amountof souvenirs they have there is
crazy

Nathan (46:58):
They took a page out of disney's playbook on that one?

Marielle (47:02):
yeah, they did and they got me good like

Nathan (47:07):
I don't know, I unfortunately I don't really
connect with any of the uhnintendo stuff.
I just I never had one.
I had a friend who had theoriginal nes, but I, I just I
just I had an atari 2600 and yepthat, that was my thing.
A little, a little simplergraphics, not quite as
impressive.

Marielle (47:27):
Yeah, I was always a big Mario Kart person, and so
when I heard there was a ridethat you could like it's going
to be like you're racing I waslike oh man, like.
I gotta, I gotta do that, aslong as it's not rainbow road,
because I always fall off onthat one, but anything else.

Alicea (47:46):
Yeah, amazing Any standout snacks or meals while
you were there.

Marielle (47:55):
So I didn't eat a lot.
I brought a lot of food with meBecause I also wasn't.
I didn't do a lot of researchon that before and I was really
trying to maximize my time forrides while I was there.
Sure, but I would say thatwhatever special drink they have
at Donkey Kong, like definitelyyeah definitely go get that.

(48:18):
They did have different likethe Coke Freestyle machines and
you can get a refillable cup andand do all that.
And there was apparently therewas different um specialty
drinks for different parts ofthe park, like celestial park
had a special drink and then Ithink dark universe had a

(48:39):
special one um which I saw Ijust didn't get because I was
like Nope got to go.
I gotta.
I gotta go on rides.

Nathan (48:47):
You're a woman on a mission.

Marielle (48:48):
Yeah, yeah.
So that was my.
I can't provide too much there,but um.
I've also heard really goodthings about um.
I think there's a pizza placethat's right by celestial park.
I've heard really good thingsabout that um, and I did spend a
bit of time on you know likereddit or places before just

(49:10):
seeing people's experience oflike, okay, what time did you
get in, how long did it take you, what rides were down?
Um, funny enough, I thinkduring the week is busier than
the weekend for epic universeand I'm not quite sure why, um,
I don't know if they have passedlike their annual pass holders

(49:30):
are blocked out you know, um I'mnot sure yeah, but I'm I'm not
sure, but that was definitelythe case when I I was there on a
tuesday, and it was super busywell,

Nathan (49:44):
Well as as a former disney cast member, you have a
perspective that alicia Alicea Idon't.
You know where we are general,you know part going public, but
you have been on the inside ofof.
You know what it takes toreally have an amazing guest
experience.
How does epic universe compare,uh, against disney in terms of

(50:06):
that guest experience andstorytelling?

Marielle (50:09):
um, I have really high standards with this because I
come from Disney.
So there were, like I hadexperiences that were on both
ends of the spectrum.
I had experience that werereally great, like the initial
cast members I talked to, orteam members since we're
universal yeah, friendly.

(50:37):
When I first came in, um, Iwill say, when I was talking to
the guest experience team aboutyou know, like, hey, I'm by
myself, how am I supposed to getthrough these lines?
You know, in a manual wheelchair, I really had to advocate for
myself in that aspect with them,like, and I had to specifically
say like, hey, I know you havesomething where I can get a
return time.
Is that an option?
They were happy to just let mebe like yep, well, figure it out

(51:00):
, that's your option, sorry.
So I really had to like bringthat up or ask if there was
anything else that that couldhappen.
So that was a little bit of abummer, but I'm glad that I, you
know, really brought that up tothem and once I did, they were
like oh, yeah, actually, yeah,that's something we can do.

(51:20):
And I was like thank you,that'd be super helpful yeah um,
it definitely seems like youknow the.
They're not at a point wherethey're tired of guests or
anything yet, so they're, theyare really excited.
Um, I will say the team membersin harry potter, I think,
because that ride goes down somuch they get a lot of the same

(51:43):
questions, the same people.
And that that was the one placewhere I did have a pretty
negative experience.
Um, you know, I went up to askbecause they tell you, okay,
okay, you have your return time,and I'm like, okay, I can't get
another return time until thisone is redeemed and the ride is
down.
So I genuinely don't know whatto do, and so I went over there

(52:05):
to ask, and as I was asking,there's 10, 12 other people
around me asking what to do,what to do, and the team member
was just like, hey, everyone,the you know, the ride's not
going to come back up justbecause you're standing here,
and yeah.
And she was like you have a lotof time, like go spend your

(52:25):
time doing something else andcheck the app, and it'll tell
you when, when you come back up.
And the cast member part of meis like, well, you know one,
people aren't always glued totheir phones- when they're at
the parks.
That's a pretty big like pieceof feedback people give yeah
both for disney and universal Idon't want to be on my phone the

(52:46):
whole time, yep.
Second, like they don't know,like a lot of there was a lot of
foreign guests that were therethey don't know.
They're just asking a question,like they don't have all the
information that you have and sokind of like you know, I feel
like there's a little bit ofthat like shift in perspective
or like you know, rememberingthe audience that you're talking

(53:06):
to, or remembering that it'stheir first time, it's their
vacation, it's their like theydon't come here every day like
you do, yeah, um.
So part of it I was just mybrain was just like that would
never happen at Disney.
Like even if you were the worstday you had ever had, like I
can't imagine a cast member eversaying you know, go spend your

(53:27):
time doing something else to agroup of people at Disney.
At least not in that way, likeright right, there would be a
much you know nicer way to saythat yes um, the team members at
stardust racers.
They seem to love their liveslike they just are.
Like, I think they feel likethey lucked out and that's the

(53:48):
coolest ride to work at.
Um, same, with, uh, super mario, like you know i't, they were
really good at moving peoplethrough, answering people's
questions, managing the reallylong queues that spilled out of
the regular queue line umredirecting people, like a lot
of the guests were willing totake pictures, uh, for you, if,

(54:19):
if, everything else was busy.
Yeah, um, you know the teammembers.
I didn't, you know I don't seeas many of them walking around
as I do at at disney, um, andthere is just like that slight
difference of like, oh, there'sa little bit of like something
magical missing, but it was amuch more positive experience

(54:41):
than the other universal parks,I'll say.

Nathan (54:43):
Yes.

Marielle (54:43):
Yeah, yes.

Nathan (54:44):
Yeah, it sure sounds like it, and I think we've both
experienced that as well,especially of the two legacy
universal parks in orlando.
We'll call it the yeah likeit's just there's just that
disney magic is just not quitethere.
Typically, you will see itshine through every once in a

(55:08):
while and it like at least to us.
We go like oh, you used to beat disney, didn't you?
like yeah, we could tell likethe folks who have been through
traditions but are now atUniversal, versus the people who
have never been at Disney andnow work at Universal.
There was a cleardifferentiation.

Marielle (55:27):
Yeah, it's either you've worked at Disney before,
or you're a double dipper whereyou work at both at the same
time yeah.

Alicea (55:35):
Would you go back?
I would wait to go back.
I would say I think they needto work out some of the kinks in
terms of crowd management.
You know, ride load management,and it's not a fault of the
park, I just think it's so new.
It's not a fault of the park, Ijust think it's it's so new.
And they, um, you know, I thinkthey maybe underestimated how

(55:59):
excited people were going to beabout it.
Uh, may 22nd, I think, yeah,yeah, yeah, something like that.
So I would you know, I wouldgive it a year or so.
Until you know, let them workout some of those kinks, get
some feedback from guests.
Um, the crazy thing to me isthat you know, I know the I

(56:20):
guess I'll call them legacyuniversal parks.
Uh, they've also gottenfeedback about accessibility and
lack of shade and they didn'tseem to take any of that into
account in opening this park andthat's probably the biggest
piece of feedback I had to them.
Like you really need to listento your guests in that regard,
um, because you'll, it'll justbe a better experience for

(56:42):
everyone yeah um, yeah, likeI've.
I've never seen so many peopleget heat stroke in the time that
I've been in florida it was alittle.
It was a little scary, um,honestly, I mean, I used to live
there in the middle of thesummer and this was the first
time, I mean, I saw probablyfour or five people that were
affected by it while I was atEpic, and so that was like wow,

(57:05):
you know, and I don't know ifshade would have made a
difference but it is somethingthat I know that people complain
about and have given themfeedback about.

Nathan (57:14):
So yeah, when you do go back, is there anything that you
do differently?
Uh, something else that you'dprioritize?
Or maybe is this a like is thisa one day park?
Is this a two day park?

Marielle (57:27):
Um, I would say it's probably a two day park.
Um, I'm not sure.
If you do today, I don't thinkyou need to do express pass I'll
say that, um, if, if I was withother people, I probably and
only going for one day, Iprobably would have sprung for
the express pass even thoughit's it's pricey yeah but you

(57:49):
know, if I'm with people whereagain we're like we want to
maximize our ride time, I'm onlyhere for one day and I I did
leave um like early evening too,so I didn't do like a full, you
know, park day, and that'sprobably something I would
change if I went back to.
I would stay later yeah too,because I've also heard, you
know, like dark universe and uh,harry potter, like those lines

(58:15):
mean they die down at the end ofthe night.
So you know you can go on thosemultiple times if you you know,
go after 830, nine o'clock, so Iwould probably change that.
And to just see the park atnight too.
I think that would be reallycool and maybe, you know, I
would stay on property so Icould get the benefits of early

(58:36):
entry.
But that would depend onpricing for the hotels.
Since I'm DVC, it's like, well,why would I pay for the hotel
if I already have this?

Nathan (58:49):
So yeah, we understand that calculus.

Alicea (58:54):
Do you have any tips that you would give somebody
planning their very first tripto Epic Universe?

Marielle (59:01):
I would say to figure out what you want to do first
and start there, yeah, anddefinitely pack your patience if
you're going and also kind ofdetermine what you're okay with
skipping, because if you areonly going for one day you're
bound to not hit everythingthere, especially because you

(59:26):
know like Bowser's Castle willgo down at the same time as
Ministry of Magic and so thenyou know everyone kind of floods
, those other rides, and you'rekind of just like stuck.
So you kind of have to be okaywith missing some things.
And I would say, you know, bringa fan If you're going in the

(59:49):
summer, bring your own water,but really kind of make a plan
of how you want to go around thepark and what you want to do
and what's a priority for youand also realize that you're
going to be walking back andforth a lot and you may not get
to do everything, but I feellike I hit a lot of the big

(01:00:12):
things and was pretty lucky todo so while I was there.
So yeah, and if you can only goon one Stardust Racer, I would
say go on the green side insteadof the yellow.
There you go.

Nathan (01:00:25):
Pro tip right there.
Yeah.
Well, speaking about being aprofessional and we're going to
shift back to Disney here it'snow time for Alicea’s patented
Disney torture test.
But you've been a cast member,you know all of the inside stuff
.
But seriously though, Muriel,good luck.

Alicea (01:00:44):
All right, this is just your Disney favorites.
From Disney, pixar, star Wars,marvel, anything under Mickey's
umbrella.

Marielle (01:00:53):
Okay, my favorites, my favorites,

Alicea (01:00:55):
your favorites, your favorite character

Marielle (01:01:00):
Sergeant Calhoun Okay, from Wreck-It Ralph.
Wreck-It Ralph.
Yeah, very underrated, I'd sayshe's my favorite underrated
character.
Favorite princess is Cinderella, mostly because Walt's favorite
piece of animation is when shetransforms in the dress um.
And I was like, oh yeah, um.

(01:01:21):
And growing up my family alwaystold me that I kind of looked
like cinderella and they wouldcall me marielle cinderelli.
So that was like a yeah um, andthen underrated princess is
probably Magara from Hercules,nice.
Pixar character is ooh, that'sa tough one.

(01:01:43):
I would say Barbie from ToyStory Nice yeah, because I love
pretending to be tour guide,barbie, when I'm at.
Disney with people.
It's one of my favorite thingsto do.
Star Wars,

Alicea (01:01:58):
oh no, no, no.
Just your overall.
I'm just saying you can choosefrom all of them.
I was like I can keep going ifyou want.
I can pick every, I can go.
Marvel.

Nathan (01:02:08):
We're going to go through the whole Disney catalog
of all 500 or so movies and Iwant you to tell me which
character?

Marielle (01:02:16):
Yeah disney renaissance and then you know,
keep going, yeah no overall, andthen yeah, no overall your
favorite overall or no, I wouldsay overall, cinderella is my my
favorite yeah, because thatwas, you know, a main driver of
me.
Like I gotta go to florida andsee her castle like this is of
course, this is yeah, it's thebest

Alicea (01:02:38):
favorite movie

Marielle (01:02:41):
um emperor's new groove all right yeah, yeah,

Alicea (01:02:47):
I don't think nathan likes that one.
I'm calling him out.

Nathan (01:02:52):
Thank you Alicea.

Alicea (01:02:53):
I, I love it.
I think it's great .

Marielle (01:02:54):
Yeah, they have a for Halloween.
At Disneyland they have alittle poison bottle, drink
bottle that has the llama on itand I was like somebody, please
get me this and send it to me,otherwise I'm going to.

Alicea (01:03:08):
I have a purse, that is that.
Oh my gosh, I love that
Favorite ride.
Oh, Cosmic Rewind for sure.
All right.
Yeah, rock and Roller Coastersis second.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have beenon that one with the lights
fully on and fully off.
Wow, so not like fully off,nothing glowing.

(01:03:29):
Whoa, you are in pitch.
Yeah, it was really freaky, butit was also one of my favorite
things I've ever done, becauseit's so cool.
It's a deep space mountain there.
Yes, yeah, yeah
Disney World or Disneyland?

Marielle (01:03:46):
I would say Disney World, and my justification is
that I know everyone says thatDisneyland was like.
Well, it was Walt's baby.
Yeah.
My justification is like Disneyworld was Walt's dream that was
, you know.
He bought that land.
He had so many ideas for whatto do there, and so we.
The fact that we get to live inthat and experience that is so

(01:04:08):
cool.

Nathan (01:04:09):
I love that perspective.

Alicea (01:04:10):
Yeah, yeah, I do too.
That's nice.
Out of all the individual parksthat you've been to, which one
is your favorite?

Marielle (01:04:35):
I would say Magic Kingdom.
There’s just something aboutthe castle being bigger and it
being so separated from thetransportation and ticket center
and it's just like on its ownlittle island and there's more
space and it just feels like youknow, this is how it was meant
to be yeah yeah

Alicea (01:04:45):
favorite hotel or resort oh yeah.

Marielle (01:04:49):
No, that's a tough one .
Probably the Polynesian.
That's the first resort that westayed at on my first trip and
then I just think the themingthere is unbeatable, I think,
and it being on the monorail andyou can go to the beach there.

(01:05:11):
They have the pool, you don'thave to go to the park to go to
get a dole whip but Riviera.
I was also present, pleasantlysurprised with like, in a really
good way, like I was expectingit.
I tour, we toured it and I wasexpecting it.
Like, oh, it's like a hotel.
You know it's not really DVC,but it doesn't feel like a hotel

(01:05:33):
when you're in the room and Icould watch the Epcot fireworks
from my balcony, like that wasso cool, like yeah.

Alicea (01:05:42):
Favorite DCL ship

Marielle (01:05:45):
the magic.
Yeah, she's.
She was the first one I workedon and she's the original and I
think I, just I like this.
I prefer the smaller ships tobe totally honest yeah um, and
you know, I think she has a lotof charm in a really cute way.

(01:06:06):
Um, I like how intimate it is.
You can get to know the crewmembers better than the larger
ships.
You get to know the peopleyou're sailing with.
Um, it doesn't feel asoverwhelming or like, oh,
there's too much to do.
I think it's the perfect amountof what to do and she used to
have the cool itineraries andnow they moved them to the dream
.

(01:06:33):
oh, that one's tough becausebecause I don't eat on property
that much Okay got it.
Yeah, we're more of like aneat-off-property type family,
but I do love me some Disneysnacks.

Alicea (01:06:51):
So what’s your favorite snack?

Marielle (01:06:51):
A churro for sure,

Alicea (01:06:53):
from where

Marielle (01:06:55):
Disneyland actually has superior churros yes, I do,
and there was a carrotspecifically, there was a carrot
cake churro they had a coupleyears ago uh, during halloween
beating heart yeah, and it wasat the churro cart outside of
haunted mansion and I got toexperience haunted mansion
holiday for the first time andto the magic of a carrot cake

(01:07:16):
churro and it was like wow.
It was a core memory in mybrain for sure, yeah, that's
yeah well yeah, the one.

Nathan (01:07:25):
The one thing I will, I will share with you, if you
haven't already.
Go to Nomad Lounge next timeyou're in Animal Kingdom.

Alicea (01:07:33):
Oh yeah.

Nathan (01:07:34):
And get the churros there.
Okay, they are.
Arguably.
I could say they are actuallybetter than the Disneyland
churros.
Oh, wow.
And they're gluten-free, whichmeans they're healthy and good
for you, right, yeah?

Marielle (01:07:51):
Right and good for you , right yeah.

Nathan (01:07:53):
Right.
So like my happy place is NomadLounge with an order of churros
and a beer, and like, yeah, I'mset.
Like if the kids want to goride Avatar and all the like go
have fun, I will be right here.

Alicea (01:08:13):
And they're better because they're made fresh right
there.

Marielle (01:08:15):
They're not sitting out yeah.

Alicea (01:08:18):
Because it's a part of the Tiffin's restaurant right
there too, yep, okay.

Marielle (01:08:22):
Good stuff I'm going to have to see.
My go-to at Animal Kingdom wasjust the dole whip with the shot
of rum, and so now I'm going tohave to.
Oh, that's good too, also.

Alicea (01:08:32):
Yeah, yeah, I may have done that,

Marielle (01:08:41):
Yeah, that's right yeah.

Nathan (01:08:42):
Well, Marielle, congratulations you survived the
torture test.

Alicea (01:08:46):
Yay,
that was one of my favoritetorture tests, yeah, not that
I've had a lot, but I love aDisney one.
Well thank you so much for spending some time with us
and talking about Epic Universe,or sorry, Universal Epic
Universe.

Nathan (01:09:03):
Universal's right,

Alicea (01:09:04):
no, no, no, there's no S .

Nathan (01:09:10):
Which corporate naming committee was involved in that.
Okay, fine, whatever,

Marielle (01:09:13):
the same one that designed Donkey Kong, I guess,
yeah.

Alicea (01:09:16):
But thank you, it was so fun to hear your perspective of
it and I want to go yes.

Marielle (01:09:24):
I know.
Hopefully this makes people youknow excited to go and gives
them a little bit more boots onthe ground experience.
Yeah.
Thanks for having me.
I really enjoyed talking withyou both and if you ever want a
deep dive on cruises or openinga ride, hit me up for sure.

Nathan (01:09:44):
We will be in touch 100% .
Thank you so much, Marielle.

Alicea (01:09:49):
Thank you.
Please remember we are notaffiliated with Disney,
universal or any of theirsubsidiaries.
These are personal opinions andsuggestions based on our own
experiences.
We recommend working with atravel agent or contacting
Disney or Universal directly toplan your perfect vacation.

Nathan (01:10:06):
If you have questions or suggestions or would like to be
interviewed on our show toshare your vacation experience,
please send an email to podcastat ourmouscapadescom you can
follow us on socials.

Alicea (01:10:19):
We are at Our Mouscapades.
You can find us on Instagram,facebook threads and YouTube.

Nathan (01:10:24):
And please give us a rating and review in your
podcast app.
That really helps people findus.

Alicea (01:10:31):
Of course, don't hesitate to share us with your
friends and fellow Disney loversof all ages.

Nathan (01:10:36):
Thanks for listening.
We'll be in your ears next week.
Thank you for flying Star Tours.
Bye-bye.