Shrek 4-D officially closed last month at Universal Studios Florida. The former attraction has since been surrounded by temporary work walls covered in Minions graphics.
The leading rumor for what will replace it has been a Minions-themed moving walkway attraction. (Think of it as across between a walk-through and a ride.) Today, a new notice of commencement for the project may have confirmed this rumor. See the video version of this story for additional visuals.
The rumored concept to replace Shrek 4-D involves a moving walkway where guests are given blasters to shoot at targets as they move through scenes, all while standing on the moving belt. The attraction is theorized to take place at the Villain-Con location, as seen in the Minions film.
Villain-Con seen in Minions movie, Video source
Today, a notice of commencement was filed with the Orange County Comptroller for work to be done on Building 40, the former Shrek building. The description says it is for “Equipment Installation,” similar to prior documents filed for the project.
According to this document, Glidepath Limited is listed as the contractor for this installation. That company designs and installs moving walkways, which are used in everything from airport baggage carousels to moving walkways in aquariums and other entertainment venues.
One of the rumored features for the Minions moving walkway attraction is that it will be able to turn around corners. As you can see in the video below, Glidepath already creates moving walkways that can accomplish this.
The Minions Villain-Con moving walkway attraction is expected to utilize a mix of physical sets and digital media to create an interactive experience for families.
A previous notice of commencement for the project, which was for “Audio and Visual Equipment” installation, listed Holovis, Inc. as the contractor. They specialize in interactive and immersive screen and projected media installations.
Universal Orlando has not yet announced what will be replacing Shrek 4-D, but all of the rumored pieces of the puzzle are starting to be confirmed from permitted documents.
Despite not announcing that the new attraction would be based on the Minions franchise, the walls around the former theater are filled with the popular little yellow characters. Universal’s official social media channels also teased the replacement with a banana, the Minion’s favorite food.
The building had also been utilized for Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses in previous years. The new Minions attraction is rumored have been designed to leave enough extra space in the building to continue using it for haunted houses during the seasonal event. It is expected that the Minions attraction will be able to remain open while that additional space is being utilized.
While rumors originally had this new attraction opening in time for the release of the second standalone Minions film this summer, new rumors suggest this Minions Villain-Con moving walkway “ride” will instead open in early 2023. This has not yet been confirmed by Universal Orlando.
Check out our previous story, or the video above, for more possible details on this upcoming attraction. Stay tuned to the website as we will be covering this project as it progresses.
Subscribe to the news feed or enter your email address below to never miss an update. Main Image: Glidepath Group | Original Photos: Alicia Stella | Special Thanks to Sonoma15
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9 Comments
Edgar Flores
I’m excited to see the progress going on at Universal’s Epic Universe. I wonder if Epic Universe will be competing with Disney Parks around Florida. Disney Parks are nice but I don’t know if Universal Parks will be at the top of the leaderboard. I love Disney Parks but I also love going to Universal Parks even though I never went to one of them. I will go to Universal Studios Hollywood and maybe I will go to Universal Studios Orlando and every Universal Parks around the world.
@UniversalMummy
This is the biggest cop out in attractions I’ve seen in a long time. This isn’t just unacceptable, it is downright a shameful concept to begin with. It is not a great idea and will be laden with legality issues surrounding injuries of pinched fingers of toddlers, shoelaces getting stuck in moving floor pieces, clothing snags, and other such issues. Moving walkways ara dangerous enough when they move in a straight line. Having nothing to hold onto, nothing to brace yourself with, the need to stop the walkways at times for safety reasons which could potentially cause guests to fall or stumble, mobility issues for those who are disabled, it’s a majorly problematic concept. It’s a cop out from building an actual attraction and a complete insult to those who pay the steep admission price. I mean if they wanted this, they could go stand on an escalator or the walkway from the parking garages and play a game on their phone at the same time. Stupid stupid stupid.
Joem
So Men in Black with no place to sit?
VWS
More like Toy Story Mania I bet…
Laureen Tingley
I am having trouble imaging standing in line for a ride and then stay standing for the duration of a ride. Am I missing something?
Pat V
My recent trip to Universal Orlando was extremely disappointing and I completely agree with @Universal Mummy, Lauren Tingley and Joem! Universal has no creativity and useless designs to fill space! Really…a people mover is the best they can do??? This is about as useless as the carnival games and waste of space in Simpson Land.
Chris in PA
I was really hoping Universal would finally do a Scooby-Doo themed attraction. Think of sitting in back of the mystery machine while traveling on track-less cars. More of a fun house with different villains popping up and around you. The hall scenes where you zoom through different doors along with other people’s cars around you. Scooby-Doo has been around for 50+ years and has generations of fans. I like the minions, but they are just not Scoob.