Spooky season is about to come to a close, and what better way to celebrate Halloween today than by visiting Universal Studios Florida’s Halloween Horror Nights event. This is easily my favorite haunt event in the central Florida area.

Similar to previous years there were 10 haunted houses / mazed and I guess technically 5 scare zones although one of them was more of a “dance party” than scare zone. Not sure if that was due a last minute change or was always planned to be that way.

However the other actual scare zones were really good. Down Hollywood Boulevard was the Masquerade Dance with Death that had some great costumes and makeup.

My top scare zone however was The Cat Lady of Crooked Lane and not just because I’m a cat person. This scare zone was incredibly detailed, the scare actors did a fantastic job and at one end of the zone there was a bit of a stage show that would be performed throughout the night explaining the story. This was really a great idea and I watched this show numerous times.

Another fun new addition to this years event was at Mel’s Die-In. It was kind of a mini-scare zone and had zombie car-hops skating throughout the crowd and even taking some pictures with guests.

I’m blessed to live fairly close to Universal property and because I love Horror Nights I make sure to acquire a frequent fear pass so I can visit multiple times during the season. This makes visiting all the houses a bit easier since I don’t need to try and accomplish all of them in one night. It did take a few visits for me to eventually get through all of them. After some careful consideration here is my top 3 houses for 2025.

#3 – Jason Universe

#2 – Terrifier

#1 – El Artista: A Spanish Haunting
In 19th century Spain, a tortured artist moves to an isolated country manor to seek inspiration. Instead, the art comes alive and possesses him. You’re about to be part of the permanent exhibition.

With the scare zones and houses out of the way let’s focus on the new Tribute Store. Well…. in my opinion this was a bit of a let down this year. It was much smaller which was due to its location in the arcade near The Mummy attraction. I believe this was because of construction being done in the other areas the shop is usually located. Due to the limited space we didn’t have the multiple themed rooms, and instead each wall within the store would focus on one of the houses like Terrifier, Jason Universe or Fallout.

Tucked away in the back past the check out area, as always seems to be the case was the new collectible medallion machine. The coins were $7 each, or all 4 for $20.

The medallion designs came as no surprise since they usually are issued for each of the big intellectual property houses like Terrifier, Fallout and Jason Universe. The Lil’ Boo coin was cute but I feel like we have seen a similar coin the last few years and was hoping for something different. I actually would prefer to have coins created for the original houses like my fav this year El Artista.

The reverse side of all the medallions has the same image of the 2025 Horror Nights logo, which I do like and makes it easier to remember which version of the event the coins were from. My memory is not quite what is used to be.

That’s another spooky season in the books, and we can start to look forward to the Holiday season. However it’s never too early to start thinking about next years event.

Have a wonderful Halloween and as always Keep on Collecting!

As the summer was coming to a close our kids had requested on last Staycation at a Disney Resort. This time we opted to visit Coronado Springs, however this post is not about that resort. Instead there was actually a special promotion going on that on our “Check-in” day we could visit one of the Disney Water Parks.

It had been quite some time since we last visited Blizzard Beach and opted to spend our day there before retiring to the resort. We do find the water parks get quite busy first thing in the morning and during our visit was no different. The entrance line was long, but moved quickly and before we knew it we were inside the park.

In previous posts we have reviewed the water park in more details, and honestly not much has changed since then. We usually start in the big wave pool before heading to some of the water slides.

Eventually we find ourselves in the lazy river which is probably my favorite. It’s always a nice way to just sit back and float along the river getting some sun and a bit of relaxation. There are always areas where things get a bit congested, and with the Disney theming some areas will spray or splash you if you aren’t paying close attention.

Towards the main entrance / exit area is the Beach Haus which is the main big gift shop. Inside you will find all the usual merchandise just themed about the water park. If you have forgotten to pack your bath suit, swim goggles or sun screen it’s all here as well.

This is also where you can find the pressed penny machine that has not changed since our last visit that you can read about here. What is new is the collectible medallion machine. The cabinet design is similar to the one we found at Typhoon Lagoon not too long ago. It has a beach worn look to it which is fine, I felt like it maybe should have looked like it was stuck inside a block of ice or a giant pile of snow to keep with the theme of this Water Park.

The coins in this set have images of Goofy in a tube probably enjoying the lazy river, Olaf is Chillin’ in the Sunshine, Mickey and Donald heading to the Wave Pool, and the Blizzard Beach Logo with the Ice Gator.

The reverse side of all the coins have the same image, which is also the same on the Typhoon Lagoon medallions. I do really enjoy this design of Mickey in a hammock as it has quite a few fun little details included. The Typhoon Lagoon logo is across the top, and Blizzard Beach along the bottom. I would have preferred to have unique reverse designs for the two parks, but I’m sure there is a reason they kept it the same.

We enjoy the rest of our day at the water park but by late afternoon the sun and water had taken it’s toll on us and we were getting pretty exhausted. The resort thankfully was right down the street and before we knew it we were relaxing in our resort room. It wasn’t a long trip but we still enjoyed our visit to Blizzard Beach and was able to add a few new coins to our collection.

---

On March 16th, 2025 a long running attraction had it’s final performance. At Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park, at the base of the giant Tree of Life was a 4-D style attraction called It’s Tough to be a Bug! Some fans were sad to see this attraction closing down, but that just means there is something new on the way. Disney has announced the replacement called Zootopia Better Zoogether that is due to open late in 2025.

As a bit of a Preview a new set of collectible medallions was released on Discovery Island in Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park.

As you heads towards the big Tree of Life there is a gift shop on the right side of the pathway called Discovery Trading Company.

Those of you that may also be pressed penny collectors will probably be very familiar with this location. Outside of the shop there is a back corner area that has two penny machines and now the new medallion machine.

The machine has a nice cabinet design with the offset section in the middle making it looks like a few wooden boxes or containers stacked on top of one another. Anything other than just a plain box is a plus in my opinion.

The set of medallions includes designs of Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde, Clawhauser and the last says Zoogether Day with some animal silhouettes in the middle surrounded by some cute paw prints around the edge.

The reverse side of all the coins has the same image which is the Zootopia Better Together 2025 logo. It also says Preview Series at the top, and Limited Edition along the bottom.

I really like these coins, and actually prefer the tarnished petina look to them. For one it makes photographing them much easier, but I do like the look of them better and it helps reduce all the fingerprints. The big question is how long will these coins be available. The new Zootopia Better Together show has been schedule to premier in December 2025. My guess is these will be available at least until the new show begins, then after that maybe we will see some new designs with “Grand Opening” or slightly different designs at that time. I’ll be sure to check back later in the year to see what happens. Keep on Collecting!

---