Universal Studios Florida today officially opens its new DreamWorks Land. It's a retheme of the former Woody Woodpecker's KidZone with new experiences featuring three popular DreamWorks franchises, plus cameo appearances by two others.
Despite being themed to IP with strong multi-generational appeal, this is not a land filled with all-ages attractions. It's a playground, designed for children. So let's judge it as such. The best theme park playgrounds offer plenty of small opportunities for self-directed play, rather than a collection of queued attractions with long waits. That might make it look insignificant or even boring to adults, but grown-ups are not the intended audience here.
I visited the new land during its media preview yesterday, and found that DreamWorks Land delivers not just several active play areas, but also abundant character meets, a couple of shows, and one rethemed roller coaster that's designed for the kids. The first thing that families will see in the new land is one of those franchise cameos - Gabby's Dollhouse.
Coming from the creators of Blue's Clues, this Netflix series by DreamWorks Animation might not be as well known to Gen Z and Millennial audiences as the other three franchises in the land. But the young kids this play area is designed for will know it and might demand to line up for a photo here before seeing anything else in the land. Prepare yourself.
If you get past Gabby, the first zone in DreamWorks Land is Shrek. Start at his cottage, where you can meet the big green ogre, Princess Fiona, and Donkey.
Look down and notice the detail in the pavement in this zone, where you can see larger ogre footprints as well as donkey hoof prints set in the ground.
The zone also includes a small splash pad for small visitors.
Another interaction here is King Harold's Swamp Symphony, which allows you to control a frog choir by stepping on the lily pad associated with each frog.
Behind that lies another interaction, Mama Luna's, where we found Kitty Softpaws playing with the call-and-response video display.
There'a also a large play structure in the zone, Shrek’s Swamp for Little Ogres, which includes an interaction with Pinocchio as well as Shrek's outhouse slide. (Wait for the sound effect at the end of that slide.) But there's not much shade up there, which will be an issue in the hot Florida sun most of the year.
The second zone in DreamWorks Land belongs to Trolls. Poppy's Playground offers some welcome shade for toddlers in a soft play area.
The biggest attractions in the land is the new show in the old Barney Playhouse theater, DreamWorks Imagination Celebration. This is the one attraction in the land that's aimed at adults as well as the kids, with a storyline about growing up and losing your imagination.
It's also where we get that second IP cameo, as King Julien from Madagascar crashes the show at the end to lead us in his theme song.
This zone also features the land's one ride. The former Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster has become Trolls Trollercoaster in DreamWorks Land. It's the same Vekoma Junior Coster as before - an excellent first coaster for young fans.
The final zone in DreamWorks Land is Po's Kung Fu Training Camp.
This is where guests will find the Turtle Talk-style Po Live! digital interaction, which I imagine will be much better when the Dragon Warrior has some lively kids to interact with, as opposed to a bunch of jaded media people like, well, us yesterday.
I do want to commend Universal for placing this show in a covered area, equipped with fans to keep cooler air moving. Along with the indoor, air-conditioned Imagination Celebration show, Universal is providing relatively comfortable environments for fresh family entertainment, as opposed to the broiler that Walt Disney World created for its new Encanto show.
Also helping to cool off kids this summer, Po's Kung Fu Training Camp also includes many heat-beating wet play elements, just like the old Curious George play area did in this space. And speaking of curious, in case you were wondering, the E.T. Adventure officially is not part of this land and now has a new marquee just next to the entrance to DreamWorks Land.
Universal Orlando needs a strong, well-themed play area for the many families with young children who visit the resort. This transformation better serves today's kids, as the old Woody Woodpecker theme best served kids who are now becoming grandparents themselves.
Yes, I would love to see Universal create an all-ages, attraction-filled DreamWorks-themed land in the United States. But we are getting one in How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk at Epic Universe next year. And in the meantime, even though Universal has closed its old Madagascar land at Universal Studios Singapore, its delightful Shrek land - Far, Far Away - remains, as does a licensed Shrek land at Motiongate Dubai.
But, for now, here, let the kids enjoy this new DreamWorks Land.
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I think this is a solid retheme that resonates more with today's kids than what was presented in KidZone, which were mostly from the 80's and before. However, I really wish Universal (and other theme parks for that matter) would scatter kids attractions around their parks to allow families to stay together throughout their day. That's something I distinctly remember about the the design of Hard Rock Park and their designers (who also worked on developing IOA a decade prior) noted the importance of keeping the family together as they explored the park. Relegating the kids rides and playgrounds to a corner of the park continues USF's major issue that makes the little ones and their supervisors feel like second class citizens in the park and feel like they're being put into "baby jail" while everyone else is having fun on the big kid attractions.
My biggest wish for this "land" would have been to have the Kung Fu Panda boat ride from Beijing. Universal really needs a slow family friendly ride like that and this would have been the perfect spot for it.
I agree with Russell that the family stuff should be sprinkled around the whole park but the biggest cheap change they need to do is plant more trees!
I'm glad that Robert is highlighting lack of shade or consciousness from corporate to provide heat relief to visitors. Florida has always been hot and humid over the summer but it seems to be getting worse.
Nothing inspires the words "We're not coming back" like folks waiting in line or doing things under the baking Floridian sun for hours on end.
Providing AMPLE shade and indoor spaces goes a long way towards retaining visitors!
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I'm glad to see ET got a little love out of this project as well. The new signage and painted bathrooms next door look great. And they've been putting a lot of work into the ride itself during the past year or two. I wasn't expecting much out of DreamWorks Land with Epic Universe coming next year. I think they did a good job with what was likely a limited budget. But, yeah, any additional shade they could have added to that area would have been welcome.