This year brought with it Florida’s biggest theme park news in years: Universal Orlando opened the doors — or portals — to its newest park, Epic Universe, this summer. There are five immersive worlds, over-the-top themed environments, crazy new rides, film franchise-inspired eats — truly a theme park-goer’s dream. Our only gripe? I-4 was absolutely not ready for the onslaught of parkhoppers now jamming up Central Florida roads on Saturday mornings (and every other hour on all the other days). Traffic was bad; now it’s worse. But hey, what other city can say it has a designated neighborhood for riding dragons?
This article appears in Best of Orlando (R) 2025.