Universal Studios Florida
| Location | Florida, USA |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1990 |
| Owner | NBC Universal, The Blackstone Group |
| Operating season | Year-round |
| Website | Universal Studios Florida Homepage |
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.
Attractions
The attractions at Universal Studios Florida are split into six different areas.
Hollywood
- Terminator 2 3-D: Battle Across Time
- Universal's Horror Make-Up Show
- Lucy - A Tribute
Production Central
New York
San Francisco/Amity
- Jaws
- Beetlejuice's Rock and Roll Graveyard Revue
- Earthquake-The Big One- And the Magic of Effects
- Fear Factor Live!
World Expo
- Men in Black: Alien Attack
- The Simpsons Ride (coming Spring 2008)
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
Lagoon
- Universal 360 A Cinnesphere Spectacular
Soundstages
In addition to the attractions, Universal Studios Florida is home to six soundstages that are used for a variety of purposes. There were formerly seven soundstages, however, Stage 18, one of the former Nickelodeon Studios soundstages, was redesigned in 2007 as the Sharp Aquos Theatre, where the Blue Man Group performs beginning June 1. The soundstage and the core production facility were made a permanent part of Citywalk.
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. SeaQuest DSV was shot at USF from the show's second through final season. It also hosted Wheel of Fortune when it visited Orlando while on national tours. Episodes of Fear Factor were produced between 2004-2005 at various locations around the resort. An annual week long special of Ellen Degeneres's The Ellen DeGeneres Show is also shot at the Studios every spring. Universal Orlando-Ellen
During the 1990's when Nickelodeon'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, All That and many others. While Stage 18 is now used as the Sharp Aquos Theatre for the Blue Man Group, Soundstage 19 and the core production facility are home to Sun Sports and FSN.
Former Attractions
- Back to the Future: The Ride, opened in 1991 closed in 2007. The ride is to be replaced by The Simpsons Ride, and is scheduled to open in Spring 2008.
- 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 Blue Man Group LIVE at the Sharp Aquos Theatre.
- 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 Tail Live Show (Replaced by Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue)
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
Express Pass
Both Universal Orlando parks use a line skipping system called "Universal Express Plus Pass". This system allow people who pay an additional fee (the fee varies based on the time of year and can be as much as $50 a day) to use a separate, shorter line for all the rides at the parks. The "express pass" lines were often 20 minutes or less on rides where the normal line was over an hour. People who buy the pass get to skip in line once per ride. People who stay in the three hotel affiliated with Universal can use their room keys as "express pass" that allows unlimited uses of the faster line for each ride. There are a limited number of "express passes" available each day and they are often sold out in advance.
See also
References