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— Hastin (@hastin) October 6, 2021
Two weeks ago we shared that we had heard enough to believe Fear Factor Live is closing. At the end of the post we hinted there were other rumblings going around about other closures and new attractions. Today the other shoe fell with a behind-the-scenes note, confirmed by Universal Orlando, that Shrek 4D is closing January 10, 2022. We had heard this too was closing but have not heard from enough other sources to confirm at that time. While there are several rumors of what could be replacing Shrek we believe Alicia at Orlando Park Stop has it right: it's a Minions Villains Con experience. This, plus Minion Mayhem, will flesh out a nice Minions mini-land at the front of the park for families.
On the same note, and also confirmed by Universal Orlando, is a lengthy refurbishment for Revenge of the Mummy from January 7, 2022, through "late summer". While we haven't yet heard the amount of work being done it would not be surprising to see at least a partial track replacement, upgrades to the effects, and possibly upgrading the queue. This is great news for the attraction as Universal views the ride as saving and not one to replace.
Over in Japan, The Pokemon Company and Universal Studios Japan announced a joint partnership for medium-term and long-term entertainment projects. This announcement is unique in that it's with that one park and not with the overall Parks & Resorts division. My thoughts are Pokemon will be part of the very popular summer anime entertainment offerings featured at USJ. My guess is this is a test run with Universal and once the event goes well Pokemon will enter into a longer-term partnership with the other parks for new rides, shows, and attractions.
Finally, it seems the pre-pandemic plan to fix the Fast & Furious Supercharged problem seems to be still on and possibly the much-rumored escape rooms for CityWalk. There seem to be several projects of various sizes happening throughout the resort prior to Epic Universe that will keep the resort fresh before Epic Universe arrives.
