New Nintendo World secrets, the best Universal eats for the holidays, and Christmas dinner: Your weekly theme-park recap (Dec. 14-20, 2020)

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Happy holidays! Here’s what you need to know in the world of Orlando theme-park news for the week of December 14-20, 2020.

1. We’ve gotten even more glimpses into Super Nintendo World, the brand-new theme-park land that is coming to Universal Studios Japan on February 4, 2021 (and, eventually, to Epic Universe here in Orlando, whenever it is that new park opens). Previously, we had gotten our first looks at Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge’s queue, ride vehicle, and AR headset; this past week, Universal and Nintendo decided to show off just a bit of the area’s interactive activities, exclusive merchandise and food, and a hitherto-unseen secret section, called the Underground Level. The highlights? Mushroom-flavored popcorn and a question-mark-block tiramisu, easily.

You can see everything for yourself here.

Shigeru Miyamoto demonstrates the paratrooper key activity at Super Nintendo World
Shigeru Miyamoto demonstrates an interactive activity at Super Nintendo World

2. There’s still time to try out these exclusive new Christmas-themed bites and sips, which one of our writers was nice enough to go out and sample for you. Get fully into the festive season with Earl’s Nutty Nog and its perfect complement, the Gingerbread Whoopie Pie – but be sure to stay away from one specific dish in your yuletide travels.

(Worried that Christmas arrives this coming week? Don’t be – Universal celebrates the holidays until January 3, giving you plenty of time to partake in the seasonal goodness.)

See what’s what in our review here.

3. Speaking of which, if you’re going to be spending Christmas at Universal Orlando, we have a full breakdown of what meals you can choose from and enjoy on the big day. As always, these are located at the resort’s various hotels, and although they have been a bit streamlined to fit the needs of the pandemic moment, there is still more than enough holiday goodness to imbibe.

Find that complete list here, and enjoy!

Earl's Nutty Nog Holidays 2020
Earl and his Nutty Nog in the Holiday Tribute Store

4. As we look ahead beyond the holidays and to a new, more-or-less normal year (hopefully!), we also need to start getting back to good, old-fashioned vacation planning. And what better way to begin than with Disney dining? We have five big tips to help make your now-long-saved vacation dollars stretch even farther than before – what better way to ring in the new year?

Discover our secrets here.

5. But why stop there? Here’s another way to turbo-charge your next Disney excursion – and it, interestingly enough, has little to do with Disney World. We have six reasons that you should consider doing a Disney cruise as your next vacation, and they all pretty much revolve around this one basic concept: the freedom to do whatever you want, almost whenever you want.

Our tips should be more than enough to prepare you for when the Disney Cruise Line starts back up next spring, and you can find them here.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all the latest info. And then be sure to discuss everything with 110,000+ other Universal die-hard fans in our Orlando Informer Community on Facebook.

The post New Nintendo World secrets, the best Universal eats for the holidays, and Christmas dinner: Your weekly theme-park recap (Dec. 14-20, 2020) appeared first on Orlando Informer.