Epic Hospitality

In May, TFK Kid Reporter Milo Bhushan attended a grand-opening event at Universal Epic Universe, a new theme park in Orlando, Florida. He spoke with people who prepare the parkâs food and beverage offerings. Read Miloâs account below.
Theme parks arenât just about thrilling rides, incredible shows, and silly character encounters. Theyâre also about exploring new worlds and feeling fully immersed in their sights, sounds, andâtastes? Yes! At theme parks, every snack, sip, and slurp is part of the experience.Â
Imagine, after a fun-filled day of training dragons on the Isle of Berk, biting into a Viking mac-and-cheese cone. Picture yourself cooling down with a fizzy green potion that could have been brewed in a mad scientistâs lab. These are the kinds of things designers create at Universal Studiosâ Epic Universe. This brand-new theme park is filled with things to taste and explore.
The culinary professionals who design theme-park treats are creative wizards. They mix science, storytelling, and flavor. The goal is to make guests feel like theyâre inside their favorite movies.Â
A Taste of the Action
Christopher ColĂłn is the executive sous-chef for research and development at Universal Orlando. He describes his job as âwatching really cool, exciting movies with my children at home and making [the movies] come to life.â ColĂłn dreams up new foods for Universal Studiosâ themed worlds. His creations have to taste great, and they have to match the world they belong to. He crafts cuisines for everything from monsters, dragons, and wizards to kart-racing plumbers.Â
ColĂłnâs brother, Marcos, works with him. As executive chef and director of culinary operations, Marcos figures out how to make enough of the food to feed thousands of hungry visitors. Thatâs a big challenge! He leads a team of food-service professionals. This team makes food that tells a story and can be served in huge quantities to hungry guests at a busy park.

The Perfect Sip
Hungry guests may be thirsty guests, too. Joshua Franck leads the team that creates the parkâs drinks. His job is âto design beverages that work within the themes of the different worldsâ at Epic Universe. It sounds awesome, but itâs not easy. Franck says every drink has to be tested 20 or 30 times before itâs ready. If itâs not right, his team has to adjust the ingredientsâor sometimes, start over. The process takes patience, creativity, and persistence.
If you dream of creating fantastical food and drinks at a theme park, Franck has some advice: âPay attention to the food and drinks around you,â he says. âTry to figure out whatâs in them, how theyâre made, and why they taste the way they do.âÂ

Dream Team
Playfulness and persistence are how you turn ideas into realityâwhether youâre making a monster milkshake, a Viking feast, a wizardâs brew, or something wonderfully, totally new. The food and beverage teams âwork together very, very closely,â Franck says. Itâs all about building flavors.Â
Theme parks like Universal Epic Universe create fantasy worlds that let guests become immersed. Next time you visit a theme park, pay attention to your snacks and drinks. Theyâre part of the story.