Earlier today Universal Orlando placed a ban on all outside liquids to the parks which caused quite a bit of confusion at security for guests as it seemingly came out of nowhere.
As far as we know, this is a temporary ban, but for anyone traveling to the park in the immediate future, keep this one in mind. The ban on water and other outside liquids includes not only Universal Studios, but also IOA and City Walk as well. It includes factory sealed items apparently as well, so leave the water and other items in the car to be safe.
UPDATE: Universal Orlando has lifted the ban on outside bottled water and other drinks.
Whether or not this is a reaction to something that happened somewhere on park property or not is still not known. Maybe too many people sneaking in alcohol disguised as water? Mardi Gras is going on at the park right now and it's not exactly a secret that people do such things regularly, even more so during special events such as that.
It's just strange that they're turning away sealed bottles that haven't
been tampered with. According to the
Orlando Sentinel article, trash cans were
filling up with unopened bottles of water. Seems like quite a waste to
me on that one and very confusing. I'd understand it if it was open
bottles, but originally sealed? Very strange business there.
Either way, prepared for longer lines as this news may or may not be getting to guests coming to visit and the security check points could wind up getting a little jammed because of it. Just how long will the ban last? No one is certain, but the
Orlando Sentinel spoke with Spokesman Tom Schroder in an email and got this in response, "this is the result of a review of our procedures and is not permanent."
Typically Universal has allowed people to bring in bottles of water and snacks as needed for guests, and this is a little concerning for folks. It will be interesting to see how they deal with special needs guests during this ban as well. Of course, bottled water and other drinks are available for purchase within City Walk, Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios.
Stay tuned as we follow this one. As soon as we get more information we'll pass it along to you here and of course on
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h/t to
ThrillGeek.com for first reporting on this.
