Love is Universal all year long. And in June, Universal Orlando Resort amps up the opportunities for guests to showcase and celebrate their connections to the LGBTQIA+ community. This year, once again, it’s my honor and excitement to be your Pride Guide (see what I did there?) for celebrating in Orlando.
Where to start? Glorious merchandise? Entertainment? Food and beverage? The Hard Rock Hotel? Me-oh-my, let’s dive into all the ways to celebrate Pride Month at Universal.
Get Ready with Me in Love is Universal Merchandise
We should start with merch, because a stylish fit is necessary for June, for the other 11 months, and for life. This year, enjoy mainstage-ready Love Is Universal apparel and accessories at Universal Orlando Resort. While it’s available year-round, through August, 100 percent of profits from Love Is Universal merchandise will be donated to non-profit organizations that support our local communities, including the LGBTQIA+ community. How wonderful!
I’m starting with the green, rainbow-striped fanny pack and wrapping that coolness right around my waist! The strap and patch proclaim “Love is Universal” in black and white, while the rainbow on green really pops.
I’ll pair that with the gray T-shirt reminding us all to be cool, be kind, be proud in rainbow colors — and I will be snagging the matching baseball cap. In the hand that’s not holding whatever I’m eating or drinking, expect me to be snapping my black Love is Universal fan, covered in rainbow Universal logos.
Pride Milkshake at The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen
Here’s a chance to out-post and out-hashtag your friends. Who can take the best milkshake pics? At The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen in Orlando, order a Pride Shake, a true color explosion made for snaps. This chocolate-dipped, huckleberry milkshake has assorted rainbow candy, dragon fruit boba, rainbow whipped cream, and a Pride sugar cookie.
Love is Universal Nights at Red Coconut Club in Universal City Walk Orlando
For the third year in a row, Love is Universal Nights will be the can’t-miss Pride event at the Red Coconut Club at Universal CityWalk in Orlando. I have been each year, and won’t miss this year because: vibes, glorious vibes! This special event runs each Thursday, Friday, and (new for 2025!) Saturday in June: Mark your calendar for June 5–7, 12–14, 19–21, 26–28. Admission is free and guests must be 21 or older.
Technical entertainment supervisor Tom Wrobel, a proud ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, is thrilled to support offering guests a fun, festive, and safe place to come celebrate. His colleague, entertainment events director Bryan Studivant, agrees, saying, “We are visited by every walk of life at Universal Orlando Resort, and it is vitally important to reflect that back to our guests.”
Eleven stilt walkers decked out in the colors of the Progress Pride Flag will provide the backdrop of a lifetime for your Red Coconut Club! Plus, there will be exclusive, themed drink options available for purchase — more on that below.
More Pride Food and Beverage Offerings at Universal Orlando Resort
“We hope that guests leave with a sense of whimsy and fun and happiness,” says Orlando’s Toothsome bar manager Grace Yacobowsky of the venue’s second beverage offering: Sizzle & Serve. In it, a mandarin orange vodka base gets orange liqueur, lime juice, simple syrup, bitters, and hot sauce as compliments. It’s described as a fruit-forward flavor with a spicy hit and — wait for it — glitter on the inside! Assignment understood and accepted.
At VIVO Italian Kitchen in Orlando, Chef Alexis DeMoss shared how the venue’s Prideful Focaccia dish began. “It was just an idea of how we make this true to the venue and true to who we are, what we represent, and how important Pride is to us,” she says. Baked to order with all natural ingredients made fresh at VIVO, this traditional herb and parmesan focaccia features colorful jams and sauces: tomato onion jam for red, saffron alfredo for yellow, basil pesto for green, whipped beet goat cheese for purple, and olive tapenade for dark blue. Chef Isabel Thompson helped to determine these ingredients and described the process as, “kind of like a puzzle” at first. But soon, “there was a spark, and we were tasting and creating.”
At Voodoo Doughnut in Orlando, senior cook Mika Rivera wanted to give guests a happily ever after moment with their Love Is Universal Doughnut. The treat was inspired by the notion that, “we want everyone to feel you can find your person,” they said. This yeast doughnut has fruity cereal cheesecake filling with cute little velvet-topped clouds, a sour belt for the rainbow, and two gummy bears.
Here’s a full list of all the Pride-related food and beverage offerings available for purchase at Universal Orlando Resort:
Culinary Offerings
- Love is Universal at Voodoo Doughnut
- Yeast doughnut filled with cereal cheesecake, topped with gummy bears and a sour rainbow belt
- Taste of the Rainbow at The Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar
- Rainbow vanilla cake roll, white chocolate ganache, fortune cookie crumble
- Prideful Focaccia at VIVO Italian Kitchen
- House-made olive oil focaccia, seasonal vegetables, eggplant caponata, marinara, basil pesto
- Diver Scallops at Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food
- Roasted chorizo, summer cucumber-mint pico, summer corn puree, cilantro
- Strawberry Shortcake at Croissant Moon Bakery, San Francisco Pastry Company, and TODAY Cafe
- Strawberry shortcake filling, white chocolate, whipped cream, and chocolate rainbow
Beverage Offerings
- Gleaming Glory at Red Coconut Club
- Olive-infused vodka, lime juice, dragon fruit syrup, lychee syrup, club soda and lemon-lime soda
- Sizzle & Serve at The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen
- Orange vodka, orange liqueur, lime juice, simple syrup, hot sauce and bitters with a rainbow sugar rim and a golden glitter swirl
- Petals and Pride at Universal Volcano Bay
- Dragonfruit-strawberry rum, orange liqueur, lime juice, pineapple juice, dragon fruit syrup and lemon-lime soda
- Pink Pegasus at Mythos Restaurant
- Berry and lemonade flavored vodka, pomegranate liqueur, lemon juice, pineapple juice, simple syrup and lemon bitters
- The Pride Shake at The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen
- Chocolate dipped, huckleberry milkshake with assorted rainbow candy, dragon fruit boba, rainbow whipped cream, and a Pride sugar cookie
- Tranquility at Sea at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville and Red Coconut Club
- Vodka, melon liqueur, blue curaçao, chocolate liqueur, pineapple juice and cream of coconut
- LOVE is Loopy at Red Coconut Club
- Lemon-lime vodka, coconut rum, orange liqueur, and simple syrup.
Celebrate Pride at Hard Rock Hotel
With so much happening around Universal Orlando Resort, you can stretch your Pride celebrations over two days and continue your celebration overnight at Hard Rock Hotel. Why Hard Rock? They do music best, and their music amenity WAX program will feature iconic LGBTQIA+ vinyl albums throughout the month of June. An optional add-on for hotel guests, WAX offers an in-room record player and a curated collection of records chosen by Hard Rock’s team of music experts.
You’ll also hear playlists around the hotel featuring LGBTQIA+ artists in heavy rotation. Hard Rock Pride merchandise will be available in the Rock Shop in the hotel lobby. And as always at Hard Rock Hotel, you’ll receive free Universal Express Unlimited to skip the regular lines at participating rides and attractions at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure with valid theme park admission. It’s win, win, win, win.
How are you planning to celebrate Pride at Universal? Let us know in the comments below.
No Comments