"We put a couple of Easter eggs to [insert old attraction] in the [insert refurbed ride and/or queue]! Self high five!! Look at us - We're so smart and clever!!!" - Modern WDI
This will be among the things that will be open the next time I'm planning to be in the Orlando area in late 2026. I'm currently planning to... go visit Universal parks instead.
So we just did the same last month. We hadn't been to Uni since 2016 and were waiting for our kids to get tall enough to actually enjoy a visit there and we wouldn't feel short changed. That being said, we are DVC, and did 6 day park hopper, 1 day water park (included with our resort stay), broken up by pool days and a universal day somewhere in the middle of 12 days total.
Quick take. Having DVC and access to military salute ticket discounts are 51% the reason we still go to WDW every 12-24 months. Even with 'free' rooms, and heavily discounted tickets, we still spent $3800 total for the trip. This included 1 big ADR and 1 TSB meal at Cinderella's castle (great food, btw) and SciFi diner, and 1 ridiculously priced dinner at DS at Planet Hollywood. The rest was spent on mobile ordering in the parks and resort meals. BUT, the food at Disney is far better, and far cheaper than the offerings at UNI. We were highly disappointed with food quality and overall options there.
As for UNI overall, we had the opportunity to do previews at EU, but the lady at will call talked us out of it. This was later verified by a family that had went the prior day that said his family spent $600 on EU tickets to ride 3 rides in 10 hours. EU has A LOT of bugs to work out. I'm sure it'll be great in a year or two though.
As for the rest of Uni/Adventure proper, it's still just 'okay'. Buying their fast passes were off the table for the price involved, but we were able to ride most everything we wanted with 15 minute waits, except for Hagrid's (didn't get to ride). Velocicoaster is probably the best extreme coaster I've ridden. We waited 65 minutes for the ride. It was worth it.
The rest of the park is unchanged and ageing. Potter land continues to be the best thing there and the only land that was packed. Forbidden Journey was walk on all day and needs a LOT of love though. I have no doubt that EU will be a hit once it hits its stride, but WDW has absolutely nothing to worry about in regards to immersion and offerings. WDW just really needs to focus on upkeep of their stuff better. Avatar FoP screens were fuzzy and hard to see, and Soarin desperately needs new projectors, and many rides were operating in some sort of B mode.
