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 park’s food and beverage offerings. Read Milo’s account below.

Theme parks aren’t just about thrilling rides, incredible shows, and silly character encounters. They’re also about exploring new worlds and feeling fully immersed in their sights, sounds, and—tastes? Yes! At theme parks, every snack, sip, and slurp is part of the experience. 

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 scientist’s lab. These are the kinds of things designers create at Universal Studios’ 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 they’re inside their favorite movies. 

A Taste of the Action

Christopher Colón is the executive sous-chef for research and development at Universal Orlando. He describes his job as “watching really cool, exciting movies with my children at home and making [the movies] come to life.” Colón dreams up new foods for Universal Studios’ 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. 

Colón’s 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. That’s 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 Colón brothers show TFK Kid Reporter Milo Bhushan some of their culinary creations.

COURTESY KACIE BHUSHAN

The Perfect Sip

Hungry guests may be thirsty guests, too. Joshua Franck leads the team that creates the park’s drinks. His job is “to design beverages that work within the themes of the different worlds” at Epic Universe. It sounds awesome, but it’s not easy. Franck says every drink has to be tested 20 or 30 times before it’s ready. If it’s not right, his team has to adjust the ingredients—or 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: “Pay attention to the food and drinks around you,” he says. “Try to figure out what’s in them, how they’re made, and why they taste the way they do.” 

Milo tries one of Joshua Franck’s bubbly concoctions.

COURTESY KACIE BHUSHAN

Dream Team

Playfulness and persistence are how you turn ideas into reality—whether you’re making a monster milkshake, a Viking feast, a wizard’s brew, or something wonderfully, totally new. The food and beverage teams “work together very, very closely,” Franck says. It’s all about building flavors. 

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. They’re part of the story.