Universal Studios Florida
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| Location | Florida, USA |
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| Website | Universal Studios Florida Homepage |
| Owner | NBC Universal, The Blackstone Group |
| Opened | 1990 |
| Operating season | Year-round |
| Rides | total |
Universal Studios Florida is a theme park in Orlando, Florida, part of the Universal Orlando Resort. The park, which opened in 1990, lets visitors "Ride the Movies." It offers many shows and rides, along with countless other things for guests to see and do. Universal Studios Florida, its sister theme park Islands of Adventure, a nightclub/shopping venue CityWalk, and several on-site hotels combine to make a complete vacation destination.
Like most major theme parks, Universal Studios Florida plays host to many special events throughout the year. These include: Macy's Holiday Parade from December to early January, Mardi Gras celebration from February to April and the very popular Halloween Horror Nights in the fall.
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[edit] Attractions
The attractions at Universal Studios Florida are split into six different areas.
[edit] Hollywood
- Terminator 2 3-D: Battle Across Time
- Universal's Horror Make-Up Show
- Lucy - A Tribute
[edit] Production Central
- Shrek 4-D
- Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoons Blast
[edit] New York
[edit] San Francisco/Amity
- Jaws
- Beetlejuice's Rock and Roll Graveyard Revue
- Earthquake-The Big One- And the Magic of Effects
- Fear Factor Live!
[edit] World Expo
- Men in Black: Alien Attack
- Back to the Future: The Ride (Will be closing on March 30, 2007)[1]
[edit] Woody Woodpecker's KidZone
- A Day in the Park with Barney
- Fievel's Playground
- Animal Actors On Location
- Curious George Goes to Town
- Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster
- E.T. Adventure
[edit] Soundstages
In addition to the attractions, Universal Studios Florida is home to five soundstages that are used for a variety of purposes. This number excludes stages 18 and 19 which were exclusive to Nickelodeon Studios until Nickelodeon left in 2005. On November 9th 2006, Universal announced that stages 18 and 19 would become one of the permanent homes for the Blue Man Group in June of 2007. Under this plan, the building will become a part of Universal Studios Citywalk.[1][2]
Soundstage 21 has been used since June 2004 for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) which has produced its weekly television program, TNA iMPACT! from there, and has aired its pay-per-view events from this location since November 2004; it is referred to as the "iMPACT! Zone" for this reason.
The remaining soundstages are available for rent and during Halloween Horror Nights, typically two of the soundstages are used as haunted houses. Among the productions previously hosted in the Soundstages during the past are World Championship Wrestling, major scenes of the movie Parenthood, the TV series version of Superboy (where the series was filmed for its second to fourth seasons, from 1989-1992), roller derby show RollerJam!, numerous commercials, and the Florida Lottery's Flamingo Fortune game show. It also hosted Wheel of Fortune when it visited Orlando while on national tours. Episodes of Fear Factor and Ellen Degenres's talk show were produced between 2004-2005 at various locations around the resort, as well as the Studios itself.
During the 1990's when Nickleodeon's main home was at Universal Studios the Soundstages were used to film almost all Nickelodeon's original live action programming including: Get the Picture, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Family Double Dare, and many others.
Stage 18, one of the two soundstages that was part of Nickelodeon Studios, is currently being refurbished for a new permanent venue for the Blue Man Group. The new venue is set to open on June 7, 2007. The entire Nickelodeon complex is being removed from Universal Studios Florida, and the Blue Man Group venue will become an expansion accessible from Universal CityWalk.
[edit] Former Attractions
- Kongfrontation (based on the film King Kong (1976), opened in 1990 and closed in 2002, replaced by the Revenge of the Mummy attraction. The ride featured a queue which represented a New York City subway station. The ride itself took place in a Roosevelt Island Tramway cable car, where riders attempt to escape the wrath of Kong. The cable cars traveled above the streets of New York City and encountered the beast twice. It is the only attraction to feature a farewell sendoff for annual passholders at the resort to date.
- Murder, She Wrote Mystery Theatre (Replaced by Hercules and Xena (also closed))
- Ghostbusters Spooktacular (Replaced by Twister attraction)
- The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (Replaced by Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast, the Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera ride was reborn in 2006 in The Park at MOA in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota under the name "Yogi's Big Rescue", and at various Paramount Parks).
- Nickelodeon Studios Tour- Now occupied by the Blue Man Theater.
- Animal Actors Stage was revamped as Animal Planet Live, then revamped to "Animal Actors On Location!" once the Animal Planet contract was up.
- Alfred Hitchcock, The Art of Making Movies (Replaced by Shrek 4-D).
- The Wild, Wild, Wild West Stunt Show (Replaced by Fear Factor Live).
- Stage 54 — an exhibition of props from recent Universal films (Replaced by an interactive experience with Donkey, connected to Shrek 4-D).
- Hercules and Xena: Wizards of the Screen (space currently empty)
- Psycho home tour with video (area now part of KidZone)
- An American Tale Live Show (Replaced by Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue)
[edit] Dining
- Universal Studios Classic Monster Cafe
- Finnegan's Bar & Grill
- Louie's Italian Restaurant
- Lombard's Seafood Grille
- Richter's Burger Co.
- Midway Grill
- International Food and Film Festival
- Cafe La Bamba
- Mel's Drive-In
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official Resort Site
- Universal Orlando Resort on Google Maps
- The Evolution of Universal Orlando, Florida - Fan Site
| CityWalk • Universal Studios Hollywood • Universal Orlando Resort • Universal Studios Florida Islands of Adventure • Universal Studios Japan • Universal Studios Singapore |
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| Roller coasters at Universal Orlando Resort |
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Dueling Dragons - Flying Unicorn - Incredible Hulk - Pteranodon Flyers - Revenge of the Mummy - Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster |
