Universal Canceled 5 BIG Projects for Universal Studios Orlando

While the Universal Orlando Resort is currently a sprawling complex of three theme parks, a water park, the CityWalk complex, and 11 resort hotels, the company’s Florida outpost began as a single theme park – Universal Studios Florida – over 35 years ago. Over the decades, the original park has been home to iconic attractions like Back to the Future: The Ride, T2:3D Battle Across Time, Kongfrontation, Jaws, Transformers: The Ride, The E.T. Adventure, The Simpsons Ride, and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, among others. However, for every legendary attraction that has previously or currently called Universal Studios Florida home, there have been planned attractions that, for one reason or another, have remained unbuilt.

*NOTE: We’re only talking about the Universal Studios Florida theme park. So, not Islands of Adventure or Epic Universe (each of which has its own history of unbuilt attractions) and none of the other rumored or planned third gates, hotels, or CityWalk expansions at Universal Orlando Resort.

The ORIGINAL Fast & The Furious

Currently, the largest construction project at Universal Studios Florida is Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift, a massive coaster being constructed at the front of the park (replacing Rip, Ride, Rockit), which is cloned from the Hollywood park and themed to the iconic film franchise. When that attraction closes next year, Universal has confirmed that they will be closing their OTHER Universal Studios Florida Fast & the Furious attraction, Fast & Furious Supercharged. However, before both Hollywood Drift and Supercharged, there was almost another ride based on the franchise.

In the mid-2000s, Universal revealed plans to close the then-15-year-old Back to the Future: The Ride and reuse the ride system to create a new experience based on either The Simpsons or the Fast & the Furious franchise. They ended up going with the former, partly because at the time, the latter only consisted of three films.

While The Simpsons Ride and its surrounding Springfield area have been a consistent cash cow for Universal Studios Florida, the fact that Fast & the Furious has become a billion-dollar franchise, inspired several other aforementioned theme park rides, and is owned by Universal (as opposed to The Simpsons, which is now owned by Disney), we’re guessing that some Universal executives regret that choice.

Ice Age Land

In the early 2010s, Universal planned to transform Woody Woodpecker’s KidZone into a land based on the then-Fox-owned property Ice Age. The land’s headline attraction would have been an “indoor boat ride located at the back of the land. This ride would be set within a massive glacier and would take riders through cavernous scenes filled with a mix of animatronic characters and projected media. Outside, a massive iceberg pirate ship from the fourth film would be seen between the ride’s entrance and exit.”

Beyond the boat ride, concept art also showed a rethemed version of the Woody Woodpecker kiddie coaster that would have featured an animatronic Sid trying to escape the clutches of a carnivorous flower, and a playground with slides, log seesaws, vine swings, play huts, and an interactive area themed to the character Peaches.

Plans for the land didn’t move much further past the concept stage, however, which ended up a blessing in disguise for Universal, as Ice Age was purchased by Disney as part of the 20th Century Fox acquisition, meaning if it had been built, they would have been stuck with yet another Disney-owned property in their park, similar to the Simpsons situation.

Pokémon Snap!

Pokémon was another long-rumored KidsZone replacement. According to rumors, the land was close to announcement and was to have been headlined by a Pokémon Snap Safari ride based on the classic N64 video game. Using an omnimover ride system – think Haunted Mansion – the ride allegedly would have been interactive and allowed riders to “snap photos” ot 200 Pokemon characters in multiple areas representing different environments. Allegedly, Universal management decided to hold off on the plan to gauge the reactions to the first U.S. Super Nintendo World installations in Hollywood and Orlando’s Epic Universe, though they could be revived in the future.

Harry Potter and the VR Broom Ride

Thanks to the massive success of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Diagon Alley after its 2014 opening, rumors have abounded for years that an expansion of the area would overtake the old Fear Factor Theater in the back of the park to expand the Potter footprint.

At one point, the space was set to be home to a VR attraction that would mimic riding one of the series’ flying broomsticks. During the development of Epic Universe, the ride was pulled from Universal Studios Florida and was instead planned to be the second attraction at the new park’s Ministry of Magic portal before being dropped from that park as well.

Jurassic Park

While the Jurassic franchise has been one of the headline islands at Islands of Adventure since Universal’s second gate opened in 1999 – headlined by the Jurassic Park River Adventure and the Velocicoaster – the franchise was originally earmarked for the Studios park.

In the early 1990s, Universal was so excited about the then- upcoming Jurassic Park film that they began brainstorming attractions for both Universal Hollywood and the then newly opened Universal Studios Florida. After briefly considering a Jeep attraction, they settled on a water ride based on a sequence from Michael Crichton’s original novel (which was ironically cut from the film). The Hollywood version was eventually built in that park’s lower lot, and still stands as Jurassic World: The Ride today. In Florida, the ride was originally planned to be built at the back of the park, where Men In Black: Alien Attack stands today. In addition, the earliest plans for the ride called for the animatronic dinosaur portions to be covered with a roof, and even a sequence with a live cast member being “eaten” by raptors. However, as the film’s popularity exploded and Universal’s plans for what became Islands of Adventure continued to grow, the franchise was moved to the second gate.

As Universal Studios Florida marches on towards the future, the park’s past is littered with attractions that went unbuilt within its walls. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on Universal history.

Universal Orlando Is About to Have a Really Cool Opportunity. Let’s Hope They Don’t Blow It.

 

Which of these rides do you wish Universal Studios Florida had built? Let us know in the comments below.

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