|
Universal Orlando
Orlando, FL
NBC Universal / Comcast
---- THE LATEST NEWS ----
(12/1/2024) Enjoy The Winter Holiday Season at Universal Orlando
(11/29/2024) Is A WICKED Attraction In The Works?
(10/27/2024) Opening Day Delays Confirmed For Universal Terra Nova Hotel
(10/26/2024) Universal Orlando - So What Was Your Favorite Haunt at HHN33?
(9/14/2024) Super Nintendo World and Wizarding World Surprises Are Coming To CityWalk in 2025
Volcano Bay Rehabs - These dates are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as refurbishments are subject to change.
Nothing is known to be planned at this time...
Click Here to read the full Screamscape Review of Halloween Horror Nights 33
Click Here to read the full Screamscape review of Halloween Horror Nights 29
VOLCANO BAY IS NOW OPEN - Read the official Screamscape Review!
LOWES Sapphire Falls Resort at Universal Orlando - Read the official Screamscape Review!
 General Resort News - (12/1/2024) Once again, the Holiday festivities have kicked off across Universal Orlando. Now through to the end of the year guests can enjoy Christmas in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, the whimsical magic and mayhem of Grinchmas in Seuss Landing at Islands of Adventure, Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s in the streets of Universal Studios Florida and more.
(11/29/2024) After months of waiting, Wicked (Part 1) has finally hit the theaters and if the early results continue, Universal has a mega-hit on their hands, especially since Part 2 is already set to hit theaters next year on Nov. 21st, 2025. Of course, as a highly themed IP, theme park fans want to know when they can expect to see Universal Creative act on this and create something Wicked for the Universal theme parks.
Know that Universal Creative has already been working on ideas ever since the films were green-lit. I hinted at one possible idea way back in January 2024, when I mentioned that everyone should keep an eye on the former Fear Factor show venue at the park for signs of possible demolition. The park has been looking for a project to fill the gap between Diagon Alley and Men In Black for quite some time now, and at the time, I was told that corporate was close to greenlighting a project that would have seen the Day 1 show venue razed to the ground in order to build a massive new indoor theater venue designed to showcase a stage version of Wicked, but purpose-built to include a large number of special effects systems.
This wouldn’t be the first time a Universal park has performed a stage-version of Wicked, as Universal Studios Japan performed the show there in a theater for five years (2006 to 2011) along with a small Land of Oz themed area around it.
So what’s happening in Florida now? Well, we know they built the Wicked Experience retail / attraction space near the front of the park as a lead-in to the opening of the film this week, but obviously they never demolished the old show venue earlier this year to begin work on a Wicked attraction there. It does make sense, as the resorts efforts are highly focused on opening Epic Universe in 2025, and I don’t think the original intent was to open any kind of permanent Wicked attraction until at least 2026, after both films had been released and had their time to shine at the Oscars where nominations were virtually guaranteed in a number of areas, including music and costumes.
However as the film’s release inched closer and closer, I think the hype and response about Wicked may have been much higher than initially anticipated. So much so, that the film’s fans are wanting more than just a show in the parks, they want an entire themed land. So this puts Universal Orlando in an interesting position… as there are a few locations where they could make this happen, but likely outside of Universal Studios Floridia who is more likely going to move forward with yet another Fast & Furious project instead first.
Islands of Adventure could become home to a Wicked zone, perhaps taking over section of Toon Lagoon between Ripsaw and Spiderman where there already is a mostly vacant theater space and nearby shops and restaurants that could be revamped. But even more inviting may be the remains of the Lost Continent section of the park across the lagoon, where they have a completely empty large show venue formerly used for the Eighth Voyage of Sindbad show, along with the very large space taken up by the closed Poseidon’s Fury attraction, along with plenty of space between the two current used for food and merchandise locations. IOA needs a big project that could warrant a budget worthy of creating an entirely new land here, and Wicked could fit the bill.
And if none of that works, there is always some open plots left in place for expansion properties over at the new Epic Universe park, as I’m sure the future fans of Epic Universe wouldn’t mind adding a new Portal to Oz as the first expansion of that park as well. Either way, I’m sure there are already meeting on the schedule for Monday when the execs get back from their holiday vacation to discuss this very thing, so stay tuned!
(9/10/2024) Universal will be adding all new experiences, retail and dining opportunities to Universal Studios Hollywood and the Universal Orlando Resort themed to the new two-part “Wicked” films hitting theaters in November 2024 and 2025.
“The engaging Wicked experiences will differ at each of the destinations but are both designed to capture the imagination and spirit of the breathtaking world of Wicked, allowing guests to express their fandom through fashion and accessories, while stepping into the story for the first time ever.”
Starting in late October, Universal Orlando Resort will welcome guests to Wicked: The Experience – housed in the former location of the UNIVRS store and adjacent retail locations steps away from the front gate – where they will have the unique opportunity to step into the fantastical Land of Oz. This exclusive, one-of-a-kind experience will whisk guests along the yellow brick road and into a variety of iconic Wicked locations from Shiz University to the Emerald City. Fanciful costumes and props created by the designers from the film will also be on display as guests become immersed in spectacular scenic and theming that will recreate some of the most memorable moments of the film.
Fantabulous-themed dining will complement these exciting Wicked experiences at both theme park locations, as well as Voodoo Doughnuts and The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen at both Universal CityWalk locations will share the joy with the debut of a limited time treats inspired by the world of Wicked.
At the core of these experiences will be redefining new retail opportunities and exclusive products, inviting guests to rejoicify as they peek behind the Emerald City gates. An exciting variety of merchandise including elevated apparel, home goods, accessories, toys and more along with exclusive products will be available at Universal Orlando Resort, Universal Studios Hollywood and at both Universal Citywalk locations including:
The Shiz University collection is inspired by the iconic school where Glinda and Elphaba first cross paths featuring back-to-school must-haves featuring a Spirit Jersey, duffle bag, tumbler, hat, journal and more.
More Wicked themed surprises are also coming to the Universal Studios Singapore and Japan theme parks between late 2024 and early 2025.
 |
(8/24/2024) Universal Orlando has confirmed that guests staying at any of their official on-site Universal Orlando Resorts will receive the benefit of early park admission into the new Epic Universe theme park once it opens. While the exact details are not available yet, it will likely be similar to the early park admissions benefit resort gets can take advantage of now, entering either Volcano Bay or Island of Adventure one hour before the general public, with access to select attractions during that time.
With three new resort hotels opening in 2025 (Helios Grand Hotel, Universal Stella Nova and Universal Terra Luna) Universal is re-categorize their hotel experiences from the old four tier system into a new simpler three-tier system.
The top tier will be known as “The Signature Collection” and feature the new Helios Grand Hotel as well as the Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Portofino Bay, Loews Royal Pacific and Loews Sapphire Falls Resorts. For many years now guests staying at the Portofino, Royal Pacific and Hard Rock would receive Universal Express Passes, allowing them to cut to the front of the line at select attractions. It is unknown if this perk may be expanded to guests of the Sapphire Falls and Helios Grand or not, who will now share the same tier.
The next tier is the “Prime Value” hotels, which will include the current Universal Aventura Hotel as well as the new Universal Stella Nova and Terra Luna Resorts when they open in 2025.
The last tier will be the “Value Inn and Suites” tier, which will include the popular Universal Cabana Bay Beach Resort as well as the two Universal Endless Summer Resorts - Surfside Inn and Suites and the Dockside Inn and Suites.
(8/19/2024) Universal Orlando has posted an interesting new “Dining Card Vacation Package” deal. When booking these special theme park resort packages, they will include a $1,000 Dining Card to use to experience the various delicious food options across the Universal Orlando resort. The dining card can be used at Citywalk, Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay or at restaurants within all the Universal Orlando hotels.
There is an interesting part of this deal however, and that it is only good for visits to the Universal Resort taken between Nov. 7th 2024 and April 10, 2025… with a single blackout period of Dec. 20 through Jan 4 for the Christmas/New Year’s holiday. You’ll also notice that no locations within the new Epic Universe theme park or area are included in the deal… which isn’t unusual as we don’t know exactly when they might open. However… based on the dates set by this dining card deal, I’d say that there is an excellent chance that we won’t see Epic Universe ready to open until sometime after April 10, 2025.
So if you were planning an Orlando theme park trip in early 2025 and hoping Epic Universe might be ready… I’d say your chances are not very good at all.
(7/20/2024) Universal Orlando is now offering a special ticket deal exclusively for Florida Residents. For just $199 you can purchase a “Florida Unlimited Days Ticket” that will give you an unlimited number of visits to Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure from now through to December 18, 2024. Keep in mind that this “Unlimited” ticket does not include admission to special ticket events like Halloween Horror Nights, and it does not include admission into the Volcano Bay water park. It is only available for purchase online.
(5/26/2024) Universal Orlando has launched a fantastic new ticket deal you won’t want to miss. For visitings starting on June 14th, guests can purchase a “Get 2 Days Free with a 2-Park, 3-Day Ticket” offer, giving you five days at Universal Orlando for the price of just 3. Ticket prices start at $255.99 per adult for this offer and can be upgraded to also include access to Universal’s fantastic Volcano Bay water theme park as well for a small extra charge. Visit the official website for all the details about this offer and discounts on hotel packages as well!
(3/15/2024) If you’re headed out to Universal Orlando or Universal Studios Hollywood soon, get ready to enjoy the new “Butterbeer Season” event at the parks. This first annual event just started and will run through to April 30th, and feature a variety of new limited time offerings in the parks that will appeal to those who love Butterbeer.
In Hollywood this will include the opening of a Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor in the Hollywood park inside the Honeydukes location. Similar to the one ion Orlando, the magical ice creamery will offer some wild new ice cream flavors to enjoy, including a Butterbeer ice-cream.
According to the report at Blooloop other new items to be added during the special event will include Butterbeer flavored popsicles and Butterbeer flavored caramels that will join the usual assortment of Butterbeer beverages (hot,cold and frozen) as well as Butterbeer Fudge and Potted Cream.
(1/29/2024) As part of the fallout of a failed concert performance in Nashville, Elle King has been removed from Universal’s Mardi Gras concert slate and replaced with Nessa Barrett.
(1/19/2024) Universal Orlando has released the list of free concert performances taking place at this year’s Mardi Gras event.
Feb. 3 - Walker Hayes
Feb. 10 - All American Rejects
Feb. 17 - Elle King Nessa Barrett
Feb. 18 - KC and the Sunshine Band
Feb. 24 - Barenaked Ladies
Mar. 2 - DJ Khaled
Mar. 9 - Ava Max
Mar. 10 - Queen Latifah
Mar. 16 - Luis Fonsi
Mar. 17 - Zedd
(12/29/2023) With the end of 2023 coming upon of very rapidly, it’s time to look ahead to what Universal Orlando has set to take place next in 2024. As per the usually schedule, the next big event will be Mardi Gras season, which is now set to take place from Feb. 3 to Apr. 7, 2024. This will include the return of the traditional Mardi Gras Parade with a fleet of authentic floats from New Orleans, along with a wide variety of special foods and adult beverage options throughout the park. Oh, and don’t forgot the annual Mardi Gras Concert schedule, featuring big name performances on the Hollywood stage in Universal Studios Florida, all included with the price of your daily admission.
I’d expect all the exact details will be released sometime early in January, so stay tuned!
(12/15/2023) Universal Orlando sent out a reminder that they will be hosting a variety of New Year’s Eve festivities in both of the theme parks as well as within CityWalk that night,
According to the press release, “This year’s in-park celebrations are expanding to include festivities in both Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure – allowing guests to ring in the new year by enjoying unparalleled theme park thrills and exciting entertainment. In addition to experiencing popular attractions across both parks, guests can revel in festive décor, dance along to music by a live DJ and enjoy special appearances by beloved characters. And as the clock approaches midnight, guests can join a special countdown that will culminate with colorful confetti blasts and other celebratory elements. Access to the festivities is included in theme park admission and will take place at Universal Studios Florida’s Music Plaza area and Universal Islands of Adventure’s Port of Entry area, with both theme parks remaining open until 1 a.m.”
Universal CityWalk will also host a special countdown to midnight that will culminate with tons of confetti to ring in the new year. Guests will also encounter additional festive entertainment – including music by a live band and DJ – as they make their way around the electrifying entertainment complex. Plus, Bigfire – one of Universal CityWalk’s original concept restaurants – will feature a special menu from midnight to 1:30 a.m. to commemorate the new year (reservations are encouraged and can be made online or by calling 407-224-3663).
(11/25/2023) Apparently the Red Coconut Club in Universal CityWalk has been given a new Christmas holiday makeover to replace the previous Halloween makeover. The site was relaunched as the Green & Red Coconut Club for the 2022 holiday season, and it looks like they’re about to do it again this year. So far I haven’t seen anything official from Universal just yet about when it will open, so keep your eyes peeled when passing nearby.
(11/12/2023) If you are visiting the Universal Orlando theme parks this holiday season, take note of how your experience entering the parks is changing this year. Universal has now installed their new facial recognition scanner terminals at the entry of their Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure theme parks. This has resulted in the removal of the old traditional turnstile entry points, and serves as a replacement for the old biometric finger scanner system as a way to improve the entry process. We’ve been reporting for quite some time now that Universal was going to use this technology from day-1 at their new Epic Universe theme park, and that they’ve already had it in use in China since they opened Universal Studios Beijing.
For now use of the facial recognition system (or Photo Validation as they call it) is optional, but as they move forward, I would expect that it will soon simply become part of the normal experience. For those who refuse to use it, the inconvenience factor of standing in a line (possibly a long one) just to show your photo id and proof of admission to a human is likely to be enough of a deterrent to entice you to use the new system.
As for the future, the use of the system at the Beijing park links your face to not only your admission ticket, but also to virtual queue systems at the attractions and can even be linked to your credit card for food and merchandise purchases. While much of how the system will be implemented into the new Epic Universe park is still unconfirmed, early reports claim that the central hub of the new park that runs between the parking lot and the Helios hotel might remain as a free access area. Meanwhile admission into the central hub attractions, such as the Starfall Racers roller coaster, as well as access through the portals into the four themed lands would make use of this new facial recognition system. Admission into the attractions for those without admission will be refused, and for those who slip past the scanners, I’ve heard that there will be team members automatically alerted by the system who will find them and direct them to the exit until they purchase an admission ticket.
(11/7/2023) While the amusement news world has been focused on the Six Flags / Cedar Fair merger, Universal Orlando quietly raised their ticket prices. While the old price for a one-day / one-park admission previously ranged from $109 to $159, the new price is now between $119 and $179. A One-Day / Two-Park ticket is now $174 to $234, an increase of between $10-20 from the previous prices.
(10/15/2023) While we’ve been telling you for quite some time now that when Epic Universe opens it will feature an admissions system that will use facial recognition software at the various entry points to determine who belongs in the park and who doesn’t. Now it seems that some of the first test units have arrived and are being tested out over at Islands of Adventure, and I’ve been hearing it is coming to the Studios as well, if it hasn’t already. Look for signage in place describing the new system as a Photo Validation system that should scan and admit guests into the park far more quickly than the old fingerprint scanner.
(10/13/2023) With Universal Orlando now deeply focused on the construction of their new Epic Universe theme park, one might be wondering what they will do to continue to draw attendance at the main Universal Orlando resort parks between now and then. So far, it sounds like 2023 has been a pretty good year for Universal Orlando, but so far the only big draw that is officially on the drawing board for 2024 is the Dreamworks land at Universal Studios Florida. If you follow our rumors, then you also know that it seems that the same park appears to be working on a large-scale new night show on the lagoon as well, but that has yet to be announced.
From what I’m hearing, Universal Orlando is also a little concerned that it may not be enough to prevent an attendance decline in 2024, combined with the worry that many potential guests may opt to hold off on a visit next year to wait for Epic Universe to open in 2025. Universal has apparently aired those concerns in their latest guest survey they are emailing out where they float a number of possible ticket and resort hotel deals to see what would entice guests to still visit in 2024.
Options being considered range from packages with free tickets for kids, free food with a number of nights in a resort, and even heavily discounted vacation packages for visits in 2024 if you also pre-book a visit to Epic Universe in 2025. As I said, this is just ideas floated in a survey, so there are no special offers available at this time. Still, Universal has made some fantastic offers in the past, so when the time is right, I’d count on seeing some really special offers for visits next year.
(1/7/2023) Universal Orlando is now involved with the plan to build a SunRail route from the Orlando Airport to the Orange County Convention Center. Universal has pledged to contribute 13 acres of land to be used to connect the route and build the Convention Center Station, as well as said they would support the operation and maintenance of this station. Of course this only makes sense, as the same station will also be able to service Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park now under construction right across the way from the convention center.
The plan will make it very easy for both residents and tourists alike to travel between the two areas, as well as being able to remove some unnecessary vehicle traffic from the congested highway between the airport and tourist corridor. For now they have named this new expansion as the “Sunshine Corridor”.
2025 - New CityWalk Developments - (9/14/2024) According to the latest updates, the Universal Studios Store in CityWalk Orlando will be getting an expansion sometime in 2025. This isn’t just a general expansion to the store however, this is an expansion to add some very specific things that will be around for quite some time.
For starters, one section of the expansion will be to add a large themed area for Super Nintendo World merchandise. This makes sense as while any gift shop can certainly sell Nintendo merchandise, once Epic Universe opens with a line of brand new and semi-exclusive merchandise, normally the only way to purchase it would be to journey over to the Epic Universe theme park, which is not physically connected with the rest of the Universal Orlando Resort. So setting up what will essentially be the Nintendo merchandise HQ for the main Universal Orlando Resort inside CityWalk is a good idea.
The second big expansion is something people have been craving for the longest time… a way to purchase Butterbeer to drink OUTSIDE of the theme parks. Once again, we know Epic Universal will be opening with its very own Wizarding World land, making it the third site in Orlando to purchase the popular beverage, but now a new dedicated Harry Potter / Wizarding World merchandise section will be added to the CityWalk shop that is supposed to bring regular Butterbeer, Frozen Butterbeer, Hot Butterbeer as well as the new Vegan Butterbeer for sale for the first time to a location that is technically OUTSIDE of one of the (soon to be) three Wizarding World lands. In addition to Butterbeer, the themed section is also supposed to be putting some of the exclusive merchandise from each land on sale as well.
(5/30/2024) Universal Orlando has confirmed that the official “Universal Epic Universe Preview Center” will open this June within CityWalk. This will be built within the former Universal Legacy store location.
The preview center will be “an all-new interactive experience that allows guests to get an up-close look at the new theme park ahead of its opening in 2025. Through a massive model offering a bird’s-eye view of the entire park, the preview center will highlight many of the awe-inspiring attractions and experiences to be discovered within Epic Universe. Guests will also be able to see exciting elements of the model come to life via augmented reality on compatible mobile devices, shop a variety of brand-new collections of Epic Universe merchandise and pose for pictures with unique backgrounds themed to each of the park’s five spectacular worlds.”
(4/2/2024) According to a post at InsideUniversal, a couple of locations inside CityWalk will be closing down in the near future to make way for more new experiences. Quiet Flight Surf Shop is said to be closing for good at the end of April 14th and the Cinnabon location next door is also closing down on April 28th. The two locations are positioned side-by-side and visible to all guests just after they pass the entrance to the movie theater, sitting on the first floor just under the Moe’s, Panda Express and BK Whopper Bar that are on the second floor.
Nothing has been mentioned yet about what may take over these locations in the near future.
(1/7/2024) According to the local news, today is your last day to visit the Universal Legacy Store in Citywalk. Universal has also confirmed that the location is leaving to be transformed into ‘an exciting new experience for guests.”
Again, the latest rumors pointed to this actually being an official preview center for the new Epic Universe theme park set to open soemtime in 2025.
(12/24/2023) According to a post at Universal Parks News Today, the Universal Legacy Store in CityWalk is rumored to be shutting down in order to transform the location into a preview center for the new Epic Universe theme park. According to the report, a number of the large-scale props that were once set-up inside the location have already been removed.
2024 - Halloween Horror Nights 33 (2024) - (10/26/2024) As we approach the end of the Halloween season, I realized while i posted Screamscape’s official HHN 33 Review on our Feature page, I may have forgot to link to it here for everyone to read.
I am curious to know what everyone’s favorite Haunts were this year? I’ve reviewed them all myself, but as a spoiler alert, my top favorite this year was A Quiet Place. There was just something so well done in there, between the incredible sets, the atmosphere, and those wonderful creature puppets that somehow managed to give me at least half a dozen really good jump scares. That doesn’t happen to often to me at all these days, that I really had to give the crew in there their props this year for really bringing such an amazing property to life for the first time.
If you haven’t already seen it, give the official Screamscape HHN33 Review a read to seen if my opinions match up with your own experiences this year for what worked, along with a few things that I felt really did not work at all this year.
(8/20/2024) After weeks of releasing information about the various haunts and scare zones coming at Halloween Horror Nights, Universal Orlando has finally turned their gaze back to revealing just what was going on beneath the park itself, as shown on video so long ago.
According to the new social media post the screams from thousands of HHN guests have been collected in the depths under the Universal Orlando Resort, eventually ‘forming a monstrous manifestation of the horror that lives within their hearts. An evil overgrowth that would spread its hellish grasp throughout every crevice of the park’s underbelly. As the overgrowth expanded in size, its beating heart ripped a tear between our world and the vast universe of horrors that exists beyond our own. Within that universe are two distinct realms – One fueled by physical pain while the other is plagued by psychological torment. At the helm of these worlds are two entities, SINIST3R and SURR3AL, who each embody the hellscapes they stand guard for.”
(8/4/2024) The instagram for Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando has been dropping announcements for more attractions and scare zones. This includes Torture Faire, Swamp of the Undead, Duality of Fear, Demon Queens, and the “Nightmare Fuel Nocturnal Circus” show. They also mention details for something called “Enter the Blum House” is coming.
 (7/27/2024) Universal has announced their latest haunt coming to Halloween Horror Nights in the Orlando and Hollywood parks. This will be the next edition of the Universal Monsters themed haunts, led by an all female cast of Monsters to be called “Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines”. The haunt will feature The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula’s Daughter, She-Wolf of London and Anck-Su-Namun, as well as Saskia Van Helsing, daughter of the famous Monster Hunter.
“The “Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines” haunted houses will introduce guests to an all-new terrifying storyline, as they find themselves in the center of the ultimate battle between two unexpected alliances of classic female Universal Monsters. Fans will encounter Saskia Van Helsing, a new fearless huntress and daughter of revered Abraham Van Helsing – who killed Count Dracula by driving a stake through his heart and destroying his reign of terror. Saskia now faces Dracula’s daughter, Countess Marya, who arose from the dead to seek revenge for her father and destroy the Van Helsing bloodline. With a mission to kill, Dracula’s daughter, from 1936’s Dracula’s Daughter, forms a deadly alliance with the She-Wolf, inspired by the 1946 film She-Wolf of London, and Anck-Su-Namun, from the 1932 film The Mummy – only to be intercepted by Saskia and an unlikely ally, The Bride of Frankenstein. The terrifying adventure will take guests on a journey between the hunted and the hunters in a life and death battle with only one bloodline left to survive.”
The Hollywood park version will also feature a special treat, as the Haunt is being constructed inside the legendary Sound Stage 12 on the backlot, which was the original filming location for many of Universal’s horror films including Dracular (1931), Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Legendary and Grammy winning rocker, Slash, will compose an original score for the Hollywood version of the haunt, while Emmy-nominated composer Sara Barone will create the score to be used for the Orlando version.
(7/12/2024) Insidious The Further has been announced as the next themed Haunted House coming to Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood and Orlando this season.
(6/29/2024) Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has been added to the list of Haunts for Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando and Hollywood this week. For those keeping track, this is now the 8th haunt out of 10 that has been announced thus far.
You can see the teaser video below!
(6/16/2024) I missed this announcement while I was on vacation, but Universal Orlando revealed their first haunt themed to a Hollywood IP with the confirmation of “A Quiet Place”.
(6/3/2024) Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando is going to try something special this year with the creation of their first-ever “Halloween Horror Nights Premium Scream Night” event on August 29th. According to Universal this will be an “unprecedented event’ to give the ultimate HHN fans the opportunity to be amongst the first to experience this year’s Haunts at an exclusive limited-capacity event designed to keep your wait times short, along with a feast of included food and beverage items.
As you might expect, the cost for this kind of exclusive VIP style access to Halloween Horror Nights will likely come with a much higher than normal price tag. Tickets for this event will go on sale on June 6th online and cost a whopping $350 per person, with AP holders able to purchase for $325.
Watch the official website for all the details about how you can gain access and bragging rights as the first to experience everything that HHN33 has to offer.
(5/24/2024) Universal Orlando announced details for a 6th original haunted house concept a few hours ago, this one is called Triplets of Terror. “You're invited to the Barmy triplets' birthday bash. But beware, they celebrate by recreating their family's murders. Prepare for a gory gathering.”
(5/24/2024) What a week it has been for Halloween Horror Nights 33 announcements… because over the past couple days, Universal has announced two more haunts, both of which are still original creations from the in-house creative team! So if you’ve lost count… that is now 5 of the 10 haunts confirmed, and not a single Hollywood property amongst them.
The Museum: Deadly Exhibit - “You’re going to check out The Rotting Stone, the local folklore museum’s infamous new exhibit. An evil spirit escapes from within, possessing the other displays and decaying everything in its path.”
And a concept borrowed from the fiends over at Universal Studios Hollywood last year…
Monstruous: The Monsters of Latin America - “ĄTen cuídado! With La Muerte as your guide, you’ll be asking for piedad from these three terrifying monsters: the blood-sucking Tlahuelpuchi, owl-faced witch La Lechuza and bone-ripping El Silbón.”
(5/21/2024) It a move that is practically unhead of, Universal Orlando has announced two more haunts in the past two days. Just like the first one, both of these new additions will also be unique custom creations just for Universal Orlando.
We can now add GOBLIN’s FEAST to the mix, described as follows: “Welcome to the Goblin’s Feast Tavern and visit the goblin village where a lavish feast is being prepared for goblins, orcs, hobgoblins and witches. And you’re the main course.”
Then earlier today we had MAJOR SWEETS CANDY FACTORY announced as well: “You’ve been invited to chaperone a field trip to a candy factory. The deadly delicious treats turn the kids into sugar-fueled fiends.”
So now Universal has confirmed three haunts out of the 10 for the year, and not an IP in sight. So strange, but i’m really kind of liking this so far.
(5/17/2024) We finally had a formal announcement for the first haunt going into Halloween Horror Nights 33 at Universal Orlando, and I think perhaps to the surprise of everyone, it is actually not an IP based house. In fact, it is a sequel to an original concept house from way back in 2018 at HHN 28 called Slaughter Sinema.
Like any typical movie sequel, they are just calling this one “Slaughter Sinema 2”, and just like the original, the theme of this haunt takes you back to the Carey Drive-In where you will experience various environments themed to eight different fictional B-Movie films.
(5/15/2024) Universal posted a new Halloween Horror Nights video yesterday that really should give you the creeps, tying together all those teaser posts this month. The video is fantastic and a must-watch for HHN fans, and yet, it it answers absolutely nothing about exactly what is going on this season, nor what exactly the big-bad is going to be. But trust me… it’s gross and unnerving all the same.
Now there are absolutely no sure-fire links to this, but I’ll be damned if the video doesn’t give off some very strong “Stranger Things” vibes, especially the reflection of an upside-down other-worldly version of the Universal entrance archway towards the end. The video was titled, “Fear Cannot Be Contained” but there was a bit more context in the description, “The gate has been opened, and there’s no containing the insatiable evil that will break through from beyond.”
Whatever is being unleashed upon the world, has been growing for some time now inside some kind of cocoon somewhere below Universal.
You’ve been warned!
(5/14/2024) Another new HHN clue has been posted by Universal, when guests in the park hear weird noises coming out of a sewer drain from something deep beneath the park.
(5/12/2024) The Summer season is almost upon us and that also means that it’s time to prepare for the build-up to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal as well. General activity started to build up in April when the Tweets began flowing again with some fun snarky comments, and the release of the new day-glow HHN t-shirts in the park ahead of this year’s event, but nothing revealing about what this year’s theme might be has come out until this past week.
This started with a creepy photo posted on May 9th, revealing a barricaded door in a creepy hall, with a semi garbled message warning that “THEY DONT WANT YOU TO KNOW THERES SOMETHING UNDERNEATHZEV ILLN 4 WVHHVNG333333”.
This was followed on the following day by a very Blair Witch-esqe selfie-video from a woman claiming to have ‘followed those sounds’ and now finds herself alone, in the dark, somewhere “below Universal”. She begins to warn us that, “if I saw what I think I saw…” only to be interrupted by voices in the distance questioning why she’s there. She gasps out, “then no one’s safe and it’s too late!” The video clip suddenly goes black and ends…
So it sounds like something dark and evil has been brewing beneath Universal in anticipation of this year’s Halloween Horror Nights, but what will it be? Something brand new, or something with ties to a previous Universal big-bad? Stay tuned!
(4/4/2024) Universal Orlando has announced the official dates for Halloween Horror Nights in 2024. According to the post the event will run on select nights from August 30 through to November 3rd, and feature 10 haunted houses and 5 scare zones.
Unfortunately, no details about any of the haunts or if there will be an icon character to host the event this year or not were released.
(3/17/2024) The rumor masters at Horror Night Nightmares have posted the first version of their Halloween Horror Night speculation maps for the Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando events. As they say, this is just the early speculation and they promise that these will change over time, which Screamscape’s own sources have also confirmed. While some of these are just very vague rumors right now, others have a good chance of being more locked in. But as strange as it sounds, I’ve been hearing that the line-up is still very much in a state of flux right now, even with construction under way, there not everything has been 100% locked down and could be subject to change.
What’s fun is that you’ll notice that they aren’t coming right out and saying what is going where just yet, with most haunt locations marked simply by a small icon of some sort. You’ll also notice some have a small film reel in the corner to indicate if it is expected to be a licensed IP themed haunt, as opposed to those that are original creations. Also, keep in mind that these teaser maps are the creations of Horror Night Nightmares and not the Universal theme parks when you look over them.
Looking over the Orlando event map there are some icons that are subject to some fairly clear messages, or at least a general theme. For example, given what everyone has already heard in the news about Universal Orlando buying up pieces of a vintage Cadillac that would make a near perfect replica of the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 vehicle, we can only assume that the presence of a Cadillac symbol means that a Ghostbusters themed haunt will be a major attraction this year. In fact, with the new Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire movie to be released in theaters next weekend, I’d even predict that we may have our first official HHN haunt announcement before the end of the month.
As for the rest, they are all subject to interpretation. There is what looks like a Vampire skull, another strange half and half colored skull, the continent of South America, a moon and starts, a minotaur, a lollipop, one labeled F&F Unknown IP and a muted speaker. About the only one I’m going to guess is that muted speaker icon could be for A Quiet Place: Day One, which is currently slated to be released into theaters in late June. The prequel film would make a good introduction to the IP for theme park guests.
As for the rest, all the scare zones are labeled as Unknowns and they seem to indicate two shows coming… one with a castle icon in the Animal Actors show venue, and the other shows a bonfire in the Fear Factor show theater area. If they end up delaying tearing that theater down, then this could be a follow up to the Nightmare Fuel show that played there last year.
(3/6/2024) In my last update, I did post a bit of fun speculation about what could be going on with the downtime of Fast & Furious Supercharged during HHN, and how they could combine a temporary overlay of the attraction for use in Orlando and Hollywood at the same time. While I still think it could be a good idea, and something they may be considering in the future, the latest rumors are claiming that the shutdown of F&F may be entirely unrelated to Halloween Horror Nights at this time.
I’ve also been sent a little more news about the plans for HHN 2024 that seem to indicate that the event will still only offer 10 Haunts this year. So while those two new Sprung Tents are planned to be added to the event, this is to make up for the loss of Haunt space elsewhere in the park. In particular, the Parade float building will be off limits for HHN use once again, as a new parade is coming and the floats will soon be occupying that structure once again.
(3/3/2024) Screamscape has been sent a couple of interesting news bits about things that will have an impact on Halloween Horror Nights later this year. You may recall that previously Screamscape reported that you can expect to see demolition begin sometime this Spring to take out the park’s former Fear Factor show venue. While I haven’t heard a timeline update on this, our previous source estimated that it would likely begin sometime between March and April of this year. While the nearby Men In Black ride isn’t going anywhere, HHN fans will recall that a temporary building was added between the two attraction spaces that has been used to house one of the park’s smaller haunted houses each HHN season. This structure was expected to be removed as well as part of the demolition of the Fear Factor attraction, which would leave HHN down one haunt site for the 2024 season.
Meanwhile, in a possibly related news story, one of our sources has confirmed that in an internal memo posting, the was announced to the staff that Fast & Furious Supercharged would be undergoing a lengthy closure, starting on Aug 19th all the way through to November 2nd. While HHN 2024’s official dates have yet to be announced, the event is expected to run on select nights from Friday, August 30th through to Saturday, November 2nd. I think you might see where I’m going with this based on those overlapping dates.
While two weeks lead-time may be just enough time to slap together a low-quality extra haunt experience in the Fast & Furious queue, that really isn’t how Universal works. Plus remember that Fast & Furious is expected to reopen to daytime guests as an attraction on Sunday morning, November 3rd, which does not give them time to move-out the contents of a real haunt and restore any Fast & Furious content into place in a matter of hours. While some may speculation that perhaps they were just going to use the F&F queue space for a haunt elsewhere, this is also unlikely as the only space that might be made available for a haunt, would be inside the Fast & Furious ride itself. But with F&F reopening the next morning, there isn’t time for this to take place… or is there?
Readers may recall that I’ve also mentioned that Universal Orlando was working up ideas to create another annual festival event, a sort of Universal themed fan-fest to celebrate past Universal attractions and IPs that have been retired, such as Back to the Future, Jaws, Beetlejuice, GhostBusters, etc. Inspired by the “Universal Cool Japan” events that have been extremely popular at the Osaka park, Universal was also looking to create some temporary attraction overlays for their own event in Orlando, that is being eyeballed to fit into weeks between Mardi Gras and the start of the busy Summer season.
One of the rumored attraction overlays concepts that Screamscape was told about would see Universal reprogram the existing Fast & Furious immersive tunnel experience to take on a new temporary Jaws inspired theme. Sure, the guests would still be riding the F&F style party-busses but once in the immersive tunnel, the new projected media and motion-base under the vehicles would easily be able to create a new virtual experience. After all, the exact same technology is already being used over at Islands of Adventure for Skull Island: Reign of Kong. The interesting thing is that if such an idea was used to create a temporary attraction for Halloween Horror Nights here in Orlando, it wouldn’t have to be JAWS themed, they could create any kind of crazy experience they want to tie in with just about any spooky IP concept they can dream up.
From here, I’m going to ask you to cast your gaze over to Hollywood, where a highlight experience of HHN over there has always been the inclusion of the famous Backlot Tram Tour experience. During HHN season, guests board the famous backlot tram for a run through a very haunted studio backlot experience that changes from year to year through the use of live actors in various settings. The tour also typically will include stops to run through many of the famous daytime highlights of the tour, such as Earthquake, their own King Kong 360 immersive tunnel which serves as the inspiration for the bigger Skull Island version in Orlando, as well as Hollywood’s version of Fast & Furious Supercharged.
Keep in mind that while the vehicles that travel through the Hollywood and Orlando versions of F&F Supercharged are different, the actual attraction experience inside is virtually the same. This means that if Universal were to invest in creating some temporary new media for the attraction space, they could in theory use it as a new attraction on both coasts (with some minor tweaks for each of course). If they were to invest this effort into an IP that Universal owns itself and has used quite frequently over the years, such as “The Purge” for example, there is no reason that this couldn’t become something that they could use for several years in a row during HHN season a high-throughput haunt experience. Even better, any temporary HHN experience could be essentially programmed into the digital systems as a “B Mode”, leaving the parks able to easily return to the normal daytime Fast & Furious Supercharged experience in the morning. With the new digital media able to be created off-site and tested at night when the attractions are closed, this rumor does seem like it could be something very feasible that could pop up this fall.
For this next bit, lets jump back over to Orlando property, because it also seems that HHN at Universal Orlando will become even bigger than it ever was before. A post at Orlando Theme Park Zone has confirmed that Universal has filed for permits to build two more Sprung Tent buildings to be used to house two more haunts. According to the layout shown in the permit art these two new rectangle shaped buildings appear to be larger than the current Sprung 1 and 2 canvas roofed structures and are labeled as Sprung No. 3 and 4. They will be placed in a space currently used as storage space for the park’s various lift platforms as well as boneyard storage, which will simply be cleared out to allow for the new structures.
So while HHN Orlando was originally looking to me down one haunt structure for 2024, now it seems that at least 2, and possibly 3 more haunts may be added to the lineup for the 2024 season, potentially increasing the number of haunts from 10 to 12, assuming they don’t also retire the one haunt space inside the back corner of the former Shrek attraction that was not taken over by the installation of Villain-Con: Minion Blast.
???? - New Universal Pop-Culture Celebration Event - Rumored To Be In Development -
(8/24/2024) The Universal FanFest special event now confirmed to only be at the Hollywood park in 2025, but this does not mean that Orlando is to be left out entirely. With the origin of the event plans centered around being added to the Orlando resort, which is going to be busy enough in 2025 with the launch of Epic Universe, I believe we will see the special event added to the Orlando resort a year or two later if it is a success in Hollywood.
(1/27/2024) With the return of the Ghostbusters IP to the silver screen, it appears that Universal has also taken a keen interest in bringing the franchise back into the theme parks. Long time guests of Universal Studios Florida will fondly remember that Ghostbusters was a Day-1 attraction for the theme park when it first opened in 1990 with the Ghostbusters Spooktacular live action special effects show. The former attraction space was later remodeled into the Twister attraction for many years and has now become the Race Through New York with Jimmy Fallon, many guests have been wanting to see the Ghostbusters brought back to the park in one form or another. In fact, back when Universal was development a theme park for Dubai, that unrealized park’s New York area would have featured a Ghostbusters themed interactive dark ride. (Fun fact: the land would have also featured a copy of the Incredible Hulk coaster, but with a Men In Black theme instead, with the launch tunnel propped up on a giant crashed UFO…)
Back to the subject at hand, it according to an article posted by GhostbustersNews.com it seems Universal has purchased the pieces of a 1959 Cadillac from a classic vehicle collector with the goal of creating a new ECTO-1 star vehicle. The vehicle was previously cut in half for display, with the front half already having been shipped to Orlando and the back half to arrive soon. The vehicle pieces in question are not the exact “Miller-Meteor” model of car used for the original ECTO-1 in the movie, but should be similar enough to allow for Universal to custom create their own version of ECTO-1 for the theme park.
The better question is… just what does Universal have planned that they would need a new ECTO-1? While the parks have always had a collection of movie-replica star-vehicles on display, they were typically limited to vehicles attached to the IPs of current attractions, with the exception of a few Back to the Future themed vehicles that remain on display. While it would be nice to see a new Ghostbusters themed attraction in the theme parks, there are no short-term plans to do so from what I’m told. Maybe long-term, but they’ve got to get Epic Universe up and running first.
So what else could this be for? Lets just back several months to a story I posted about Universal planning a new Pop-Culture Celebration Fan-Fest event for the resort. The idea was to create another annual celebration event to fit into the calendar between Mardi Gras and the Summer season, taking inspiration from the “Universal Cool Japan” events. Instead of video game and manga themed attraction, Universal Orlando would revisit popular icons and IPs from their own past attractions slate such as Beetlejuice, Jaws, Back to the Future… and yes… Ghostbusters. One such element that was rumored for this very event would see Ghostbusters face-characters introduced to roam sections of the park with an ECTO-1 replica.
It definitely sounds like something fun is in the works!
(9/16/2023) Consider this a long term rumor about a concept that was in development by Universal to create another popular festival style event at Universal Studios Florida to take place sometime in the late spring following the Mardi Gras event until the start of the Summer season in June.
Currently the Universal Orlando resort has a pretty stacked slate of projects to fill their calendars. Following the busy summer season they’ve got Halloween Horror nights taking over all of September and October, the annual Christmas holiday events in both parks running from mid November through to New Years, followed by Mardi Gras in early to mid spring. According to the long term rumors from Screamscape sources, the parks may be looking to fill that last gap between Spring Break and Summer, and the early inspiration for this may have come from Japan.
Over the past several years Universal Studios Japan has put on a series of successful events featuring temporary attractions and displays throughout the park under the “Universal Cool Japan” event banner. The event celebrates an ever changing slate of Japanese Pop Culture icons including live action monsters like Godzilla, popular anime characters, Japanese video game series worlds and characters, and even the occasional musical performer. Universal Cool Japan blends a bit of digital fantasy and the wacky worlds of anime with a touch of Kaijui and horror influence to create a mega event all of their own that has developed a strong following.
According to my sources, Universal Orlando is looking to create their own such event that could premier as early as Late Spring 2024, but will do so by creating one made up entirely of American themed pop-culture themes, including some rumored throwbacks to Universal’s own film and theme park history. The popularity of the annual Tribute Stores in the park over the past few years has served as a test of sorts to determine things that really are popular with Universal guests.
While I don’t know everything that Universal has up their sleeve for this proposed event, the idea is to bring back some interesting iconic characters and themes, not only from Universal’s back catalog, but some themes that were once popular parts of the early Universal Orlando experience. Early concepts talked about bringing some characters back to the park for live performances, such as Bettlejuice’s Graveyard Revue on a stage, or to have the Ghostbusters roaming the park in Ecto 1. Anyone else remember the live street performance where the Ghostbusters would chase down Bettlejuice who in return would possess them and make them dance to songs like “Day-O”? How would you feel about the chance to experience a return of Back To The Future: The Ride? Just not inside the original attraction building (The Simpsons) but instead a temporary setup using the simulator bays of Race Through New York? Want to experience the terror of Jaws in a new throw-back attraction? While Universal can’t bring back the old Amity Island area, I’ve heard it has been pitched to re-program the Fast & Furious immersive tunnel scene to create a virtual shark attack sequence.
The end result is to create a special event that is a fun throwback to celebrate popular characters and film characters from the past that once had a tie to Universal Studios theme parks in one way or another. This could also result in the displaying of a lot of classic vehicles from Universal attractions making appearances for guest photos, which is something Universal has always done well with long-term displays of vehicles like the BTTF Delorean, Jurassic Park jeeps, the Blues Brothers squad car, Mystery Machine and more. I’ve already mentioned Ecto 1, but what about some fun 80’s Universal throwback vehicles like KITT or the A-Team van or a little Miami Vice vs Fast X? It’s all for fun… but with Universal Creative being heavily focused on finishing up the Epic Universe theme park by 2025, it sounds like Universal’s live entertainment creatives may be ready to try something new and fresh in the near future.
Early 2025 - Universal Stella Nova and Universal Terra Luna Resorts - (10/27/2024) It looks like there may be a slight construction related delay to the planned opening of the two cosmic themed resorts near Universal Epic Universe. Previously the side-by-side Stella Nova and Terra Luna Resorts were set to open in January and February 2025, several months ahead of the now confirmed May 22 opening of the new theme park.
While Stella Nova is still set to open the first guests on January 21, 2025 the previously planned opening of Terra Luna a month later in February 2025 has now been pushed back to March 25, 2025. Now, my first assumption may be that this could be construction delayed, but it may also be staffing related, or quite possibly a push to fill up the Stella Nova first before trying to open Terra Luna now that they’ve also opened booking at Helios Grand.
(4/13/2024) Universal has shared some new details about the upcoming Stella Nova and Terra Luna Resorts opening next year. Stella Nova, themed display to the “‘infinite vastness of the universe” will open first on January 21st, 2025. This will be followed by the Terra Luna Resort on February 25, 2025, which will allow guests to “explore the unknown and step onto planets that have yet to be discovered”.
Each of the two resort hotels will offer an array of cosmic themed food and beverage options, game rooms, a 10,000 sqft pool, fitness centers and more. Stella Nova will feature the Cosmos Cafe and Market (quick service + grab & go items), the Galaxy Bar and Galaxy Grill (walk-up pool service) and the Nova Bar in the lobby. The Terra Luna resort in turn will offer the Omega Cafe and Market (quick service + grab & go), Moonrise Bar & Grill by the pool and the Luna Bar in the Lobby. Each of the resorts will also offer their own specialty cocktail options.
If you were wondering, the partnership between Loews Hotels and Universal Orlando will continue around the Epic Universe expansion site, with Loews having launched official pages for the Stella Nova and Terra Luna. According to Universal Orlando the two resort, with a combined 1,500 rooms, will feature an affordable starting price point of $147 per night on stays of 4-nights or more. Like staying at the other Universal Orlando resorts, guests will be able to take advantage of Early Park Admission to Volcano Bay and both Wizarding World of Harry Potter areas at the main parks, as well as complimentary shuttle bus transportation to all the theme parks and Universal CityWalk.
(12/9/2023) According to the latest reports, Universal’s two new medium sized hotels under construction next to Epic Universe will open in early 2025. The “Universal Stella Nova Resort” is slated to open in January 2025 and the “Universal Terra Luna Resort” will open a month later in February 2025, with each resort adding an additional 750-rooms to Universal Orlando Resort.
Before you start booking your trip now, know that Universal’s new “Epic Universe” park is now expected to be open just yet when these hotels open. The park is on track to open sometime in 2025, but if I had to guess it would be a Spring / Summer timetable for that.
So why open the new hotels so early?
Hotels can open in a variety of ways, but you might see this as almost a sort of “soft opening” giving Universal time to open the resorts before the park while finishing up any final checklist of items that still need to be done. It also gives them time to hire and train all the staff they need to get things up to 100% by the time Epic Universe is ready to open so they can hit the ground running.
It is also good to remember that unlike the rest of the Universal Orlando Resort, these two new hotels are located very close to the Orange County Convention Center which hosts a ton of very large conventions year round. While many of you are aware of IAAPA that takes place there ever November, there are so many other major events that take place there that the Stella Nova and Terra Luna Resorts will likely prove to be quite popular with the convention crowd, especially the Megacon Orlando crowd, which would be expected to take place in early February 2025. Other major tradeshows that drop in regularly to the OCCC include InfoComm, the International Builders Show, Surf Expo, Global Business Travel Assoc. Expo, ICAST, Kitchen & Bath Show, and about 15-20 others. Essentially the OCCC is home to a non-stop revolving crowd of convention and expo attendees, so I’d expect these two new hotels to become very busy whenever there is a big show going on.
(11/9/2023) According to Theme Park Insider, a website for the new Stella Nova and Terra Luna Resorts (from Loews Hotels) went live briefly by accident, before being taken down once again. But… not before some details and images were grabbed and spread across the internet. According to the post the website listed the opening of the Stella Nova first on January 21st, 2025 (which would be ahead of the likely opening date of the Epic Universe theme park) but it is also very likely that any dates right now would simply be placeholders until actual dates are determined. A number of promotional images showing off the look of the two new Universal Resorts, both inside and outside, were also posted.
Based on the images, the overall look of the lobby areas almost seems to be a hybrid concept of Universal’s Endless Summer and Aventura resorts. I haven’t stayed at the Endless Summer yet, but the artwork showing off a room layout also reminds me a bit of the Aventura rooms, just with more color to them, making it seem more inviting and less sterile than Aventura’s Apple Store inspired mostly-white everything look.
Future Expansion Thoughts - (6/13/2024) While Universal’s new EPIC UNIVERSE theme park won’t be ready to open until sometime next year, it seems that the company is already making long-term plans to expand this new southern campus even further. The current site for Universal Orlando’s expanded theme park kingdom in Orlando was said to be around 700 acres, much of which is being taken up by the new theme park and three surrounding hotels.
News reports released this week show that Universal has signed deals to purchase additional land all all around the area, which will nearly double the size of this southern resort campus to over 1300 acres! Based on some maps I’ve seen, the new land is added in bits and pieces all around the Epic Universe site, but the majority of the new property will connect to the west of the new park, taking over most of the property running along Universal Blvd from the new hotels all the way down to just across the street from the Orlando Eye (with the exception of a few sections where existing resorts or attractions (like Top Golf) have already been built.
(12/18/2022) With the first North American version of Super Nintendo World set to open in Hollywood in February, followed by an expansion of the original in Japan the following year and then a full sized clone as part of Universal’s Epic Universe park in 2025, you may be wonder what’s next in development for Universal and Nintendo?
Previously a number of projects were rumored to have been discussed and some initial designs worked up that were to spread out and use other Nintendo related IPs, with the lead projects seemingly attached to Pokemon and The Legend of Zelda games. Some kind of Pokemon attraction was long rumored for Universal Studios Florida a long time ago, back when the first Super Nintendo World was just starting design and construction in Japan, but before things got too far along, all the spin-off North American projects were said to have been put on hold by the corporate office. They already knew they were dedicated to make new lands/attractions in Hollywood and Orlando at this point based on the Super Nintendo World coming to Japan, but wisely they wanted to see how actual guests would react to the first one before committing to other projects based on Nintendo’s other non-Mario based IPs.
All has been fairly quiet on the Pokemon side of things ever since, though there has been a persistent rumor claiming that the amazing Spider-Man dark ride at Universal Studios Japan would close at the end of their current IP contract period and be transformed into some kind of Pokemon or possibly even Detective Pikachu themed dark ride. Considering that the first Detective Pikachu film was deemed enough of a hit that a sequel was announced as almost a sure thing by Legendary Pictures before the first one even opened in US theaters, converting the urban environment inside and out of the existing Spider-Man attraction building in Japan would be an easy fit. So perhaps the next question would be… could this same thing happen in the US parks?
The closing of Spider-Man at Islands of Adventure, as things currently stand, isn’t likely to happen anytime soon, as the current Marvel IP deal Universal has locked in place for as long as they want to pay for it does come with some interesting caveats. The way it has been explained to me is that the deal actually requires Universal to maintain the entire Marvel themed land in its entirety… so in other words, Universal isn’t allowed to close down just Hulk or the Spider-Man ride and keep the rest of the land. The deal is essentially an all or nothing deal, and the removal of any one of the original attractions would be cause for the entire deal to collapse as a violation of the terms.
This is why we’ve only seen Universal upgrade and/or rebuilt the existing attractions exactly as they they were created. Spider-Man was upgraded with all new and improved animation and improved projection technology, but the story of the ride was kept exactly the same. The Incredible Hulk coaster was re-built exactly as a clone of the original, with only minor thematic improvements made to the trains and queue experience that still kept the same basic concept of the original story for the ride. Even Doctor Doom’s Fearfall went through some mechanical updates and upgrades over the past few years (remember when the crowns were removed from the towers?) only to be put back together to offer the same ride experience as before. So essentially the entire Marvel Super Hero Island is locked up like a time-capsule and unable to make any additions or major changes without the approval of Marvel… and with Disney now owning Marvel, you know that isn't ever going to happen. So Disney is just biding their time and accepting payment from Universal each year for the use of what they have, knowing that eventually one day Universal will drop the land once they are done with it and Disney will get full theme park rights to Marvel back again.
So coming back to Epic Universe once again, the question is, should Universal keep all of the various Nintendo IP’s in the Epic Universe theme park, or should they be be planning to following the Wizarding World exactly and drop different Nintendo based IPs as new attractions and lands of Universal Studios Florida or Islands of Adventure? Without a doubt spreading out the Wizarding World attractions between the two existing parks has proved to be a huge hit with guests and been a very profitable venture for Universal Orlando, so much that we’ll see a third Wizarding World as part of Epic Universe.
With that in mind, I’d think it would be only a matter of time before Universal pulled out some of those old plans and looked into eventually dropping other Nintendo IPs into Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Since Universal isn’t likely to build another similar ride system in Universal Studios Florida, as they already have Transformers, it sounds like the fate of Pokemon may be locked up until Spider-Man’s days are over or they come up with an entirely new concept. This leaves Nintendo’s other major IPs open for development, such as Metroid and Zelda, but between them Zelda is the one most likely happen. We know Universal Creative has already roughly designed a couple of Zelda based concepts in the past, and is rumored to be sending out some guests surveys right now just to feel out their audience about the idea of building a land or attraction(s) based on the Legend of Zelda IP.
So what was Universal looking to do previously? As I said, they had a couple of ideas in the fire at different points. One was simply a conversion of an existing Island of Adventure attraction… Poseidon’s Fury. The idea would have seen a new front entrance placed in front of the existing attraction, bringing guests into a castle building that would eventually lead them down into the the dark cavern passageways below the castle, which would really just be the existing entrance pathway into Poseidon’s Fury. From here the basic attraction concept would have been exactly the same of Poseidon’s Fury, leading guests from chamber to chamber for a live-action walk-through adventure story, including the unlocking of a magical doorway and passenger through the water vortex that would lead to a final epic battle sequence between Link and Ganon in the main show chamber. So yeah… same attraction, just some new theming and plot.
Another concept Universal dreamed up is kind of neat and was going to take advantage of some new ride hardware patents they filed for a few years ago. The gist of the hardware was that guests would enter the attraction as your typical slow-moving boat ride themed to the world of Zelda. The ride experience ahead would be anything but that, as the boats would be designed so that they could perform some interesting manuverse we haven’t seen before on a boat ride. This includes the ability to encounter some kind of obstacle in mid-stream that could cause your boat to rotate and begin flowing down the river backwards or even sideways. This could also involve the possibility of loading onto some kind of unseen underwater trick-track that could cause the boat to slide down a small hill sideways, perhaps with a change of direction at the bottom. The biggest trick of them all however would have been the transformation of your “boat” ride into a flying vehicle.
Imagine this as the set-up… your boat would encounter a villain, creature or obstacle that would knock you off-course, and instead of moving down the peaceful waterway, you find yourself rapidly approaching the edge of the biggest waterfall you’ve ever seen. This is no flume drop… this is a straight down plunge to your very doom, and there seems to be no way to avoid it, so hang onto your loved ones and prepare for the end. Unknowst to the riders, and hidden behind their view, your boat has now been placed directly under a new track system up in the dark rafters, and a device that may look something like a set of rotating fork-lift arms attached to the track will quietly drop from the ceiling and insert those forks into slots built into the base of your boat. Just as riders think they are going over the falls, instead the boat would magically lift up into the skies and enter an entirely new portion of the ride experience as you fly over the magical land of Zelda.
Now that sure sounds like a fun ride concept to me… but again… where to put it? Should Universal add Zelda to Islands of Adventure or somewhere at the original Universal Studios Florida theme park?
(8/3/19) Universal’s EPIC UNIVERSE was announced as the name of their next theme park coming to Orlando. All information and history about the rumors and development of this project have now been moved to an official EPIC UNIVERSE page for future reporting. Head on over and check out our complete breakdown about what was announced and what we think we know about this new park based on all concept artwork compared to the various rumors. (CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE NEWS ON EPIC UNIVERSE)
|
