Along with today’s announcement that The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man 4K3D would close permanently next year at Universal Studios Japan, the park also announced the demise of two other attractions — Terminator 2 3-D and Backdraft. Both have been “in limbo” for three years, as they never reopened after the COVID-19 related closures.
Terminator 2 3-D and Backdraft both opened with Universal Studios Japan on March 31, 2001 and closed on September 14, 2020, as part of budget cuts following low attendance after the COVID-19 pandemic reopening. At the time, this was announced as a temporary measure, but the park officially made these closures permanent as of today.
This officially brings an end to the storied history of these two attractions, as other versions at Universal Parks worldwide have already closed.
Terminator 2 3-D opened in 1996 at Universal Studios Florida, and in 1999 at Universal Studios Hollywood. The Hollywood version closed in 2013 to make way for Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, while the Florida version now is home to The Bourne Stuntacular. The hybrid between live performance and theatrical show took guests on a journey into the future war between humans and robots with the T-800, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as John Connor, played by Edward Furlong. James Cameron envisioned the film as a mini-sequel to “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” reuniting the original cast for the short 12-minute feature.
Backdraft, meanwhile, opened in 1992 at Universal Studios Hollywood as a practical demonstration of the fire effects used in the 1991 Ron Howard film of the same name. It closed in 2010 to make way for Transformers: The Ride. You can watch a video of the experience below:
Both of these attractions will not reopen, and the spaces will be reused for future additions to the park. Backdraft is located in a small plot of the San Francisco area between Minion Park and Jurassic Park, creating more room to expand the presence of Gru and his yellow pals. Meanwhile, Terminator 2 3-D is located right across from the soon-to-close Spider-Man attraction, leaving a large space ripe for development.
Of course, no announcements have been made yet about the future of any of these spaces, so stay tuned to Universal Parks News Today for the latest.
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