More Minions-themed walls are surrounding yet another snack stand, and demolition begins in Production Central as the new Illumination Avenue continues to develop at Universal Studios Florida.
Navy blue walls surround the snacks kiosk beside Universal Music Plaza, with construction site minions and the emblem of kindhearted supervillain Gru depicted. A large portion of Production Central will become part of the upcoming Illumination Avenue, with the new Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast joining Despicable Me Minion Mayhem in the array of attractions.
This area at the entrance of the park is also home to Transformers: The Ride 3D and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. The exact layout of Illumination Avenue is currently unclear, considering the two main attractions of Production Central are separated from each other by experiences connected to “Despicable Me.”
The location of this kiosk, and its apparent absorption into the Illumination theme, suggest more of Production Central may disappear than originally thought — as this encroaches on the music plaza space that was thought to be separate from Minions, and almost reaches the area’s boundary with New York.
Villain-Con Minion Blast and Minion Café are scheduled to open this summer.
Demolition Begins on Snack Stand
We also spotted demolition work has begun on this snack stand.
Part of the pale yellow façade has been removed.
Concrete has been revealed beneath the exterior. Yellow scaffolding is also in place to assist the Team Members.
While we aren’t entirely sure what the plans are for this snack stand, the trend as of late has been to completely demolish structures. We’re not sure if it will be replaced or simply gone forever at this point in time.
Illumination Avenue
The Silver Screen Snacks stand near the front of Production Central was removed earlier this year, and a new venue was recently spotted taking its place. So far, only the roof of this future kiosk is visible.
The adjacent Silver Screen store has also been caught up in an overhaul, with all of the prominently featured Betty Boop signage disappearing. No official announcements have been made for its future, though the entirety of this area seems to be preparing for the arrival of the Minions. The Hello Kitty Store in this area is also gradually becoming un-themed while it remains open.
While construction continues on the Minion Blast attraction and Minion Café, the façade of Despicable Me Minion Mayhem is also undergoing a refurbishment. The ride remains open, but construction walls, scrim, and scaffolding are up around the entrance. The refurbishment is likely because of concerns about falling debris. A noticeable missing brick was spotted just above the attraction’s entryway in late January. At that time, a large covered purple entryway was installed, seemingly out of an abundance of caution. That covered entryway remains in place.
The exterior wall of the Transformers: The Ride 3D show building behind Minion Café was recently painted bright blue and will reportedly have “Illumination” painted on it next.
Universal Studios Florida is inundated with various revamps, re-themes, and refurbishments at the moment. Across the lagoon, Woody Woodpecker’s KidZone is boarded up with a hefty DreamWorks land underway. The lagoon itself is partially drained whilst work commences on a new nighttime spectacular to replace “Universal Orlando’s Cinematic Celebration.” The various haunted houses for Halloween Horror Nights 32 are also materializing, especially behind Fast and Furious — Supercharged.
What are you most excited to see on the upcoming Illumination Avenue? What do you think the future of Production Central will be? Let us know in the comments.
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