One year ago, I was invited to attend the blue carpet for the opening of Epic Universe. I got to talk to celebs like James and Oliver Phelps and WWE superstar Cody Rhodes about what they’d be riding, but there was another fun surprise that day: The Mac and Cheese cones. The handheld food item at Epic’s How To Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk became a big hit early on, but when the creative team at Universal Orlando was conceiving the dish, they had no idea what they’d gotten into. Frankly, neither did I.
I previously did get the chance to try some of the cones. I'm personally invested in the delicious PB&J cone (that is pork, bacon and jam), but originally, the cones were only available at one small kiosk: Hooligan's Grog and Fuel. Universal chef Jens Dahlmann was on hand for a Q&A celebrating the park’s first birthday, and he revealed the Mac and Cheese cones were one of the biggest surprises to come out of the park's opening.
Oh yeah, and a gigantic number of them have sold. Here’s what he told CinemaBlend and other outlets:
Yeah, mac and cheese cones, wow, what a surprise that has been. So, we sold over half a million of those already in just a year. Just one of those unexplained [things]. We knew it was going to be popular, but we had no idea because when we programmed it, we thought a small little kiosk would be enough.
Dahlmann got real about how the team obviously underestimated the desire for these Mac and Cheese cones with the fanbase. Lines got long pretty quickly, to the point the lines were queuing almost as long as some of the best attractions at Epic Universe.
Two weeks later, we’re like, ‘We need another kiosk!’ [Two weeks later] ‘We need another restaurant!’ Those lines are too long, we can’t wait two hours for Mac and Cheese Cones! We put them in Spitfire, as well… the guests love it. It’s such a GREAT handheld food option.
The Mac and Cheese cones have gotten so big, Epic Universe even offered a special edition over the holidays. The Snoggletog Harvest Mac and Cheese Cone might have been the best yet, featuring sage chimichurri, turkey and the land’s signature lingonberry sauce. Still, it’s not the only snack that’s sold a whole heckuva lot.
The Bièraubeurre Crêpes Have Not Been A Slouch, Either
In a slideshow put together by Universal Orlando publicists, it was also mentioned that the popular Butterbeer crepes in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic have sold like hotcakes, too. In fact, in the first year, the Cae L’air de la Sirêne shop has sold 100,000 of those sweet treats. That's not as popular as the Mac and Cheese cones, but I'm still impressed with the volume.
Now we’ve gotten the rundown on some of the park’s most popular snacks, I’d be interested to hear a few more stats. How many DK crush floats have sold? And how many Yoshi’s smoothies have been gulped down? These are the things I find really fascinating about the new park opening, and I love it when the creatives behind the scenes give us a tidbit or two.
What is clear, as fellow VP’s Russ Dagan, Ariana Moribino and Jeff Polk also told us is that they are constantly putting themselves in “guests shoes” when new decisions are being made. So if the fans demand crepes and cones, they get crepes and cones:
Put yourself in the guests shoes. What do they want to experience? We have a lot of market research that helps us with that, but when you’re in the middle of a project and your mind starts to wander a bit, it’s really easy to go back to, ‘OK, is this good for the guest?’ Because if we can answer that question, we know we can answer whatever it is we’re trying to resolve.
I can’t wait to see what Year 2 has in store. But these comments about later hours and some permits for new attractions have me pumped. We'll be sure to keep you updated on the parks as we head into the summer months and then get into HHN season.
