Your next trip to Universal Orlando Resort will look a little different. The popular theme park announced Tuesday, Nov. 1 that five Universal Orlando Resort attractions will close in early 2023 in order to make room for “new family entertainment.”
The affected attractions are all located in the KidZone area of Universal Studios Florida. The soon-to-close attractions include Fievel’s Playland, Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster, Curious George Goes to Town, DreamWorks Destination and Shrek, and Donkey’s Meet & Greet. According to the Tuesday announcement, shared via the resort’s Twitter page, the five attractions will close at end of day on January 15 203. Nearby attractions will not be affected, with the resort sharing, “the E.T. Adventure, Animal Actors on Location!, SpongeBob StorePants – including meet and greets with SpongeBob SquarePants and friends – and KidZone Pizza Company will remain open.”
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The closures come as Universal makes way for new additions, teasing in the announcement, “Universal Orlando Resort will soon begin work on bringing exciting new family entertainment to Universal Studios that will immerse guests in the adventures of beloved animated characters.” The theme park did not share any further details about what the entertainment could be, instead sharing that further details will be shared “in the months ahead,” though there are a few guesses as to what could be replacing the affected KidZone attractions.
While it was confirmed in March that Universal Orlando Resort will open a Super Nintendo World sometime after a same-named area opens at the L.A. park early next year, it seems unlikely that this will be the replacement. Permit filings reportedly obtained by the Park Stop blog revealed that the Florida Super Nintendo World will be part of the vast new Epic Universe park being built in Orlando. It seems more likely that a different attraction will replace the five closing attractions. Park Stop noted that there have long been rumors of Pokemon taking over the area, and there have also been concepts of DreamWorks or Illumination IP such as Trolls or The Secret Life of Pets. There have also been rumors that a clone of The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash ride from Universal Hollywood could be built in Orlando’s KidZone area, though fans will ultimately have to wait until the resort announces further details to see.
The upcoming closures mark just the latest changes to take place at a Universal park. Back in April, the welcome sign that greets parkgoers at the entry point of Universal’s CityWalk was removed. Then in May, Universal Studios’ Classic Monsters Café in Universal Orlando permanently closed to “make way for a new dining experience.” Prior to that, Universal officially closed Fear Factor Live last fall and then earlier this year closed its long-running Shrek 4-D attraction.
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