Seven rumors on Universal Orlando’s future

Theme Park Tourist had a run down of seven rumors circulating about the future of Universal Studios Orlando/Islands of Adventure. While I agree that some are more feasible than others, that doesn’t necessarily mean I fully agree with said rumors or TPT’s assessments of them.

The first being that Universal is nixing Brendan Fraser from the Revenge of the Mummy preshow/finale. Yes, Fraser has had a bit of a career resurgence lately, but that doesn’t make his long-dead franchise any more relevant than it was when the ride opened 17 years ago!! There were previous rumors of Universal Creative switching him out for Tom Cruise as a way to promote the megastar’s 2017 reboot… but those plans fizzled when the movie bombed.

The second is updating the aging Jurassic Park River Adventure to bring it in line with the newer Jurassic World ride at Universal Hollywood. I agree the area is a bit disjointed between JP (like the visitor’s center and carnival games themed to the original movie) and JW (with both Raptor Encounter and Velosicoaster heavily themed to the latter franchise) …but I also agree isn’t going to throw that kind of money at this immediately after opening Velosicoaster.

On a similar note, some people are claiming that Universal could import their Jurassic World Adventure from Beijing. This, as the article brings up, leads to a multitude of problems from the lack of space (having used their last expansion pad for the underwhelming Skull Island: Reign of Kong) to the aforementioned issues of money and theming. It’s a cool idea… but probably not happening anytime soon.

Fourth is that Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash is staying in Hollywood because a couple drawings on a construction wall, said wall is directly across from the exit to Despicable Me: MINION Mayhem and a vague tweet of a banana is all the proof we’ll ever need of a Minions ride/import of Minions Park. Never mind the Hollywood version of Leash was planned specifically to fit into the old Shrek footprint, we have a banana tweet, so case closed.

Then they can get rid of the admittedly anachronistic Betty Boop/Hello Kitty stores in favor of more banana colored plushies and the Classic Monsters (which are moving to Epic Universe anyway) in favor of more marketable yellow ones.

They (TPT) then suggest a better idea – move the hypothetical Minions attraction to the empty Blue Man Group/Nickelodeon Studios building BEHIND Despicable Me and if, as they suggest, Universal takes down the Hollywood Rip Rocket (as it would need a complete overhaul in 2025 anyway)! This move would give them more then enough space for a Minions Land AND still have room for The Secret Lives of Pets in the Shrek 4D stage – and they lose zero theming as all three animated films are from Illumination!

Sixth, they take a look at what could replace “Fear Factor Live!” quickly concluding “the smartest move, maybe the only move, is to hand over the arena to the wizards.” I could not DISAGREE with them more!! Not only because there will already be a Fantastic Beasts area in Epic Universe, but as the story points out that leaves MIB as an outlier.

The author appears to be somewhat conflicted on this attraction calling it both “the greatest shooter ride in Orlando” and a rapidly aging relic whose franchise – like Fraser’s Mummy films – is increasingly irrelevant (see 2019’s failed reboot MIB: International) and fueled solely on “Millennial nostalgia,” So take both FFL and MIB out, and Universal Creative has a LOT of real estate to play with – enough for a Spirit themed western town (to promote the movies/Netflix series of the same name) or Trolls land… or any number of other IPs not named “Harry Potter.” They’re called “Universal CREATIVE” for a reason.

Seventh and final one is a look at Universal Kidz Zone calling it “The world’s largest Rorschach test.” Some look at it and see Pokémon (of the choices given, I think it’s the best fit for the area) others see the Mario-centric area from Epic Universe. Some people even want a SpongeBob area (he has a store wedged randomly between ET Adventure and “Animal Actors LIVE on Stage”). I’m sure they’ll come up with something…

Speculation: What could replace Shrek 4-D at Universal Orlando?

The BIG story of the week that literally every Disney/Universal blog on the internet – including this one – is buzzing about is Universal’s announcement that it’s closing their tired “Shrek 4-D” attraction after 18 long years. Good riddance.

Hopefully, they’ll replace it with something better (which at this point would be almost anything). Unfortunately, they didn’t say what that replacement would be, and most of the aforementioned blogs only ran the press release. However, I did find two pages brave enough to speculate on the matter…

Theme park Insider thinks it could be “Kung-Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest” (as it replaced the show in Hollywood in 2017), “Sing on Tour” (Universal Studios Japan) or “Untrainable” (Universal Beiging) or “The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash” (Hollywood)

Theme Park University dismisses both “Off the Leash” as well as a potential Trolls ride… for a Minions walkthrough? I’m all for a Minions mini land (mini Minions Land?), but I think if they want to go THAT route, it’s better to do it all out in the now vacant Kidzone than waste valuable space at the entrance to the park.

What’s that? You “don’t care” about my opinion? Well, you’re getting it anyway. Yes, I know I’ll probably be way off, but, hey, it’s fun to speculate anyway…

I’m not an expert on what live-action franchises Universal owns, but I DO know they have theme park rights for Dreamworks and Illuminations, so I’ll focus there. As TPI points out, “Emperor’s Quest” would be the most logical choice as it’s a movie, so all they have to do is switch out the theming and it’s ready to open. Conversely, it gives them the option to switch out said movie if a newer franchise surfaces or, more likely, if the rumored Kung-Fu Panda land becomes a reality at their upcoming Epic Universe park.

Both articles tried to downplay the chances of an “Off the Leash” import, but it makes more sense than either Sing OR Trolls. Not only is it from the same company as Despicable Me (which it would sit directly across from), but the colorful brownstone facades would be a thematic tie-in with the rest of the park’s “New York Street.” In fact, it was literally designed with that exact space in mind. Plus, the bigger question: Which of the three will still be relevant in ten or fifteen years?

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see a bright, candy-colored Trolls ride in Orlando as much as anyone else… but I don’t see it happening in the “Shrek 4-D” space (maybe put it in the unused arena over in Islands of Adventure). I also like the idea of another live – and, more importantly, air conditioned – show (rather than just another screen) but, aside from being relatively cheap to perform, I doubt “Sing: On Tour” has any real staying power.

They also own the rights to Madagascar, but despite an upcoming sequel, a new TV show on Hulu and the plethora of live action theme park shows (like “Operation: Vacation” from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay) and shorts (like Wildly Madagascar, an 11 minute film, perfect for a post holidays in-fill) the franchise unfortunately comes off as dated, as well as the anemic Ice Age (which, like Madagascar, hasn’t had a real hit in over a decade… but has a new film opening in 2022 that needs promoting).

But, let’s not count out the previously mentioned “Untrainable” from Universal Beijing just yet as they’ll need something to keep guests entertained until Epic Universe opens in 2024 and the other empty arena at Islands of Adventure (the one that used to host “The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad”) in Lost Continent, which is another example of cohesive theming.

TL;DR –The Kung-Fu Panda movie from Universal Hollywood seems the most logical choice (for now anyway), but I’d really like to see some stray Pets (leashed or otherwise 😉 ) invade that otherwise unremarkable corner of New York St.

Inevitable, but still sad…