Since Universal Studios Florida opened in 1990, it’s been one of the world’s hottest tourist spots. The Orlando theme park lets visitors “ride the movies” with many world-class themed attractions at their disposal.
Current favorites at the park include Transformers: The Ride 3D, Fast & Furious: Supercharged, E.T. Adventure, Hogwarts Express, Men in Black: Alien Attack, and The Simpsons Ride. However, some genuinely beloved attractions have come and gone over the years.
Let’s look at 10 retired Universal Studios Florida attractions we’ll never stop missing.
10. Shrek 4-D
Shrek 4-D opened in June 2003 in the Production Central area and closed in January 2022. This 4D movie and simulator ride featured the A-list voice cast of the Shrek films. The plot, set after the events of the original Shrek movie, chronicled Shrek and Donkey’s attempts to save Princess Fiona from Lord Farquaad’s ghost.
The queue featured clips from Shrek, the pre-show saw visitors given “OgreVision” 3D goggles in a dungeon setting, and the show incorporated physical effects like seats moving and vibrating, water splashes, and blasts of air, all to make this fun attraction’s experience more immersive.
9. The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show
The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show opened in July 1991 in the World Expo area and closed in September 2003. Accompanied by a scripted performance from its cowboy and cowgirl-clad actors, the show exhibited spectacular stunts and special effects of the mechanical and pyrotechnic variety. With a convincing Wild West backdrop, this was one that fans of classic Western movies adored.
8. The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera
The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera opened in June 1990 in the Production Central area and closed in October 2002. One of the park’s original attractions, it was a simulator ride with the concept that Dick Dastardly and Muttley kidnapped Elroy Jetson. The audience joined Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo in giving chase to save the helpless boy. This was a loud, colorful, and fun ride aimed at kids — but everyone who rode it loved it.
7. Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies
Another of Universal Studios Florida’s original attractions, Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies, opened in June 1990 in the Production Central area and closed in January 2003. After being surrounded by posters of Hitchcock’s iconic films in the queue area, followed by a pre-show with clips from said movies, it ended with the main event, a show focusing on the cinematic mastery behind the infamous shower scene in Psycho. This one could give you nightmares.
6. Twister… Ride it Out
Twister… Ride it Out opened in May 1998 in the New York area and closed in November 2015. It was an indoor special effects experience featuring Twister stars Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt in recorded video messages. The queue took visitors past props from the film, and two pre-shows described the experience of filming it.
In the main event, guests receive a tornado warning and are led to a set resembling the drive-in theater from the film, where strong winds and the chaos that ensues are simulated in a fun way — chaos including a flying cow!
5. Earthquake: The Big One
Earthquake: The Big One opened with the park in June 1990 in the San Francisco area and closed in November 2007 (when it was repurposed as Disaster!). Based on the movie Earthquake, the pre-show featured a video with the movie’s star, Charlton Heston, introducing the attraction. The main show saw guests experience an exhilarating 8.3 magnitude earthquake mimicked in a San Francisco BART station, with loud rumbling, cracks forming, and water gushing. It was exciting!
4. Jaws
Jaws opened with the park in June 1990 in the Amity Island area and closed in January 2012. Guests queued in a convincing Amity setting for the fictional Captain Jake’s Amity Boat Tours before embarking and being told they’d be sailing past the site of the area’s infamous shark attacks. After being assured the culprit was long dead, it wasn’t long before a shark inevitably attacked. With water splashing, fire burning, and an animatronic shark lurking, the captain ultimately guided riders to safety. The ride ended with the smell of roast shark lingering after it died biting down on a cable. Terrifying!
3. Kongfrontation
Opening with the park in the New York area in June 1990, Kongfrontation closed in September 2002. Based on the 1976 King Kong movie, guests queued in a graffiti-filled replica of Manhattan’s Roosevelt Island Tramway station for the ride, where news reports of Kong’s rampage played on television screens. After boarding a tram, guests finally met the giant animatronic Kong, who attacked — with banana breath, no less. Explosions and sudden drops added to the horror, but it was seriously fun.
2. T2-3D: Battle Across Time
T2-3D: Battle Across Time opened in April 1996 in the Hollywood area and closed in October 2017. Guests queued in the Cyberdyne lobby, watching company propaganda playing on television screens. A pre-show in the “Miles Bennett Dyson Memorial Auditorium” told of Cyberdyne’s technological advances before John and Sarah Connor hacked the feed to warn the audiences about Skynet.
After being told to ignore the Connors, audiences were ushered into an auditorium to see a demonstration of a new Terminator. However, when the Connors arrived, a war ensued in 3D that audiences experienced in highly immersive detail. This one was awesome.
1. Back to the Future: The Ride
One of the best simulators ever, Back to the Future: The Ride, opened in May 1991 in the World Expo area and closed in March 2007. In the queue, set in the fictional Institute of Future Technology, guests were told they’d be participating in an experiment, with Christopher Lloyd reprising his role from the movies.
The pre-show saw Thomas F. Wilson as Biff stealing a DeLorean and vanishing into time, prompting guests to join Doc Brown in chasing him. The pursuit across time was as exciting an experience as you could wish for — including encountering a dinosaur. Simply brilliant.
