The history of our Orlando Informer Meetup so far

This winter will mark our 12th Orlando Informer Meetup. And while limited crowds, low wait times, and unlimited food and (non-alcoholic) drinks were pretty much constant right from day two, you’d be surprised at how much else has changed along the way – it’s been quite the road getting to the expansive, well-oiled, immersive experience that we see today.

Want to know what it was like, building up this after-hours enterprise bit by bit over the past six years? Come be an OI historian with me, and we’ll walk that nostalgic, revelatory road together.

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1. September 28, 2015

Our first Orlando Informer Meetup bares very little resemble to the giant, all-encompassing operation that we know (and love!) today – it was actually just a little gathering of 53 members of our comm u nity over at the Navigators Club, a private venue located in Universal’s Islands of Adventure (it’s tucked away up in the second floor of Port of Entry, the park’s introductory land).

That evening’s dinner menu might be pretty limited to what we see today across two entire theme parks, and the only item we had in the exclusives department was an ice sculpture, but this first OI Meetup more than accomplished the task at hand – and, even more importantly, it paved the way for today’s extravaganzas.

(You can read all about the 2015 OI Meetup here.)

2. May 21, 2016

The next setting for the Orlando Informer Meetup was far more elaborate and dramatic, making for a truly wondrous night. Guests were welcomed into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ – Diagon Alley™ via a red carpet, where they could experience Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts™, Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees, and practically all the shops of the byzantine downtown London area until their little hearts’ content. Even better, we had a special arrangement set up for the Hogwarts™ Express, allowing passengers to ride back and forth to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ – Hogsmeade™ over at Islands of Adventure, even though that land wasn’t part of the night’s proceedings.

There were two more items that helped to make this early OI Meetup unique, even across all these years. That evening, a reserved viewing area was set up for our distinguished visitors to watch Universal Studios Florida’s nighttime lagoon spectacular. And then, immediately afterwards, we all got to sit in an amphitheater while daytime guests were exiting the park to hear Mike Aiello, the senior director of live entertainment for Universal Orlando Resort, talk all about the amazing work he does.

3. March 10, 2017

There’s one constant you’ll notice pretty much every time we throw another Orlando Informer Meetup: we’re genuinely trying to outdo ourselves. For March 2017, we expanded our theme-park horizons yet again, this time encompassing all of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ – Hogsmeade™ along with Diagon Alley™, and I remember, at the time, just how excited all of us on the OI team were at the possibility. This may still only be a small sliver of today’s festivities, but it was a terrific opportunity for our guests – and it, of course, made for a terrific night for all involved.

4. September 2-3, 2017

On the one hand, the September 2017 OI Meetup wasn’t that different from the March one, taking place strictly within The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ – Diagon Alley™ and Hogsmeade™. On the other hand, however, it carries two distinctions that would prove to be trendsetting: it was the first time we got to throw an exclusive party at Universal twice within one calendar year, and it was the first time we were able to do a whole weekend (in this case, on Saturday and Sunday night).

5. June 2, 2018

Almost three years into the endeavor, we managed to achieve a hitherto unimagined scenario – after steadily seeing word of mouth about the Orlando Informer Meetup grow, and after seeing how it had started to become an experience that was valued by our visitors, we had the distinct honor of renting out almost all of Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. It was something truly extraordinary to be able to do, and it was tremendous to see how everyone responded to it. There really was no turning back after this.

But June 2018 stands out in our history tour for one additional reason: out on the streets of the New York backlot, we were able to unfurl our next exclusive experience in the form of a parked taxi that guests could answer trivia questions within. Winners got free OI shirts – and insane amounts of street cred, of course. (Best of all, we never told anyone about our trivia cab beforehand – it was just something that could be stumbled upon over the course of an enchanting, two-park night.)

6. December 15, 2018

This really was – for me, at least – the Orlando Informer Meetup where everything was just taken to the next level.

How can you make little crowds, low waits, and unlimited food even better? Easy – having all that fun during Christmastime. While you couldn’t count all of the holiday decorations and seasonal overlays of shows as something exclusive to the after-hours proceedings, they still do act like a type of experiential multiplier, making everything that much more exciting and immersive. (If you’ve never been to Universal Orlando at the end of the year, I honestly cannot recommend it enough!)

This was such a wondrous OI Meetup, in fact, that it’s since become an annual tradition (well, so far, that is) – we’ve come back for the next two Decembers after this.

7. April 27, 2019

By this point in the Orlando Informer Meetup lifecycle, everything had gotten down to something of a science – one night, both theme parks, and hotel discounts were now the norm. But maybe because of this, we decided to go ahead and throw a little extra magic into the mix.

In Sting Alley, a small, highly themed byway that snakes through the New York backlot in Universal Studios Florida, we got to set up a 1920s-style façade; behind it was a speakeasy, replete with an exclusive (and premium) alcoholic concoction – called Informer Elixir – and meet-‘n-greets with period-specific characters. Even better, in order to even set foot in this special section, you had to first bounce around from one character to another all throughout NY, solving their riddles and getting access to a secret password (hey – it was a speakeasy, after all!).

8. December 13-14, 2019

Coming back for another Christmas at Universal was a no-brainer – but we managed to still up the ante by adding on a second night for only the second time ever, this time doing a Friday and Saturday.

By this point, the OI Meetup was taking on such a life of its own that being able to do a whole weekend each and every outing was a viable possibility. We were like proud parents, watching our little precious baby starting to grow up.

9. February 28-29, 2020

Voodoo Lounge at February Orlando Informer Meetup

For our first weekend in 2020, we took all the fun we summoned with the speakeasy the year before and created something even bigger and more immersive: the Voodoo Lounge. This themed area was set up in Universal Studios Florida’s Central Park and contained several set pieces and actors, blacklight face-painting, a live snake (or two), and, once again, exclusive drinks. There was a custom soundtrack playing in the background, and even the lagoon’s fountains were color-coordinated, sealing the mystical deal. (There was so much going on here, in fact, that we’ve devoted an entire explanation to it!)

The Voodoo Lounge was easily my favorite thing at any of the Orlando Informer Meetups thus far, but I’m eager to see what else the future may hold – I’m confident that the best is still yet to come.

10. December 5-6 and December 11-12, 2020

What is one to do for the big 10th OI Meetup milestone? Why, throw two parties across just as many weekends, of course.

Right after our February shindig, 2020 – we don’t need to tell you – took a pretty hard turn for the whole world, resulting in constrained proceedings and cancelled public gatherings. This included an Orlando Informer Meetup scheduled for that summer, resulting in the only time we’ve ever had to change dates. But come December, we welcomed guests back with our most momentous OI Meetup yet, spanning two parks and four nights – making up for the lost time, marking the OI occasion with pomp and circumstance, and ending the year on a celebratory note.

With the now-standard holiday accouterments stretching as far as the eye can see, it was, indeed, a merry Christmas for all.

11. June 4-5, 2021

For our first summer celebration since 2018, we came back with a bang. We decked out our check-in area with custom OI Meetup branding and photo-ops for the occasion. Plus – we splashed into summer with the addition of a water ride to the attraction line-up during the after-hours portion, and even had a custom Orlando Informer cocktail available for purchase for the ultimate cool-down. Can you say “OIcean Attack”? (We can’t, either.)

Orlando Informer Meetup tickets are limited. Learn more and secure yours today.

Questions? Email meetup@orlandoinformer.com or call/text us at (855) 245-4636.

OI Meetup tickets are limited.

Learn more and secure yours today.