Universal Orlando Announcements 2012

In late January 2012, Universal Orlando Resort announced a slew of new attractions and events coming to Orlando in 2012 to coincide with 100 years of Universal Pictures.

As part of the Universal Pictures Centennial Anniversary Celebration, we can expect more events to be announced through out the year, no doubt including the plans for the now closed Jaws ride and Amity area. Some rumours point towards a new 3-D ride set in Gringotts Wizarding Bank, taken from the Harry Potter books.

Most of the new attractions are to be in Universal Studios Florida which has lost out to Island's of Adventure of late following the phenomenal success of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Universal CityWalk

In February at Universal's CityWalk, the amazing Blue Man Group show gets a makeover with all new music, technology and experiences combining signature moments with brand new material.

Also opening in February at Universal's CityWalk is the Hollywood Drive-In Golf, a 36-hole miniature golf course inspired by classic drive-in movies. Half of the course will have a sci-fi theme and the other half will be themed on a haunted genre.

Universal Studios Florida

Taking a leaf out of Disney's book, for the first time in Universal's history, there will be a daily parade, the Universal Superstar Parade, starting in the spring. In the past, Universal has only run parades during special holiday seasons like Christmas and Mardi Gras.

Larger than life high-tech self propelled floats with their own sound systems will feature characters from four films and shows, namely Despicable Me, Dora & Diego and SpongeBob SquarePants both from Nickelodeon and E.B. from the hit comedy Hop.

Hundreds of street performers including dancers, drummers, roller skaters, stilt walkers and animated characters will take part and the parade will stop along the way to interact with the guests.

There will also be opportunities for character meet and greets at select locations throughout the day prior to the parade with the floats acting as backdrops. A new merchandising outlet featuring Spongebob SquarePants and his friends from Bikini Bottom is also opening.

Also debuting in the spring is an all new 20 minute nighttime lagoon show. Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories which will be narrated by Morgan Freeman. You will be able to experience the show from all around the lagoon.

Guests will experience scenes from some of Universal’s most popular and iconic films projected onto cutting-edge 30 foot by 30 foot waterfall "curtain" screens combined with colourful 100 foot tall fountains, lasers, fireworks and a musical score.

The show will continue throughout the summer and then on selected nights for the rest of the year.

The enhancements to The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride will be completed in March with all-new re-mastered 4K digital high-definition animation. The whole set, audio, special effects and lighting is being upgraded to bring new levels of detail to the attraction including new high tech 3-D glasses.

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem opens in the former Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast simulator location in time for the summer. A brand new storyline has been created especially for the attraction featuring characters (and the original voices) from the 2010 film including Gru, Margo, Edith, Agnes and not forgetting the yellow "worker-bee" minions.

This is a 3-D adventure and it starts out with the guests entering Gru's home and undergoing minion training but things do not go according to plan. The finale allows everyone to join an interactive, minion-inspired dance party.

Wet 'n Wild Water Park

Lastly, just up the road at the Wet ‘n Wild water park they will be opening a new interactive family water play area this summer. The play area will feature 17 water slides and over 100 water cannons, soakers, jets and waterfalls, beaches and tropical landscaping.