After sharing some first impressions from Team Members about Villain-Con Minion Blast at Universal Studios Florida, we’re going to give you a full breakdown of the new attraction. This post will have SPOILERS for Villain-Con Minion Blast, so read on only if you’re feeling truly villainous and ready for all the details on what it takes to become the next member of the Vicious 6.
Villain-Con Minion Blast Queue
Once guests enter the queue of Villain-Con Minion Blast, they will find a large portion is outside. Music from the Despicable Me films plays while guests wait to enter the con. Once inside, guests move through a Villain-Con vendor room, just like you would see at a real convention. There are different booths for things such as evil fashion, and each has a screen showing off some of their wares.
The next room is where guests pick up their blasters from a slow-moving conveyor belt. Similar to picking up 3D glasses from a window, guests will pick up their blaster before heading towards the loading platform. The belt also charges the blasters, so if a blaster’s light is red, it’s not ready for use. Team Members can assist, but if the blaster is still charging, you shouldn’t take it and should grab the next one available.
There is only one size blaster and it’s very heavy. It weighs about three pounds and features a display that shows your name and an icon. When the attraction officially opens, guests will be able to use the Universal Orlando app to pair up with the blaster. Signs in the blaster pick-up room tell guests how to pair the attraction with the Universal Orlando Resort app on their phone, so they can keep track of their points and pick their name and icon.
The icon will show up in each room where you aim your blaster, so it’s helpful to distinguish yourself from other riders/players. Unlike Men in Black: Alien Attack where everyone has a red dot, the individual icons make it easier to spot where you’re shooting.
After picking up a blaster, guests go through another small section of queue before reaching the load area. By this point, the blaster should either be paired with the app or it will randomly assign you a villain name/icon.
At the load area, a Team Member will direct you to a specific round yellow dot on the moving walkway. This is where you will stand for the duration of the ride. The dots aren’t in a line, so guests aren’t necessarily standing right next to each other. The dots kind of alternate back and forth, so guests aren’t standing directly next to each other or in front of one another.
The moving walkway does not stop throughout the duration of the attraction. Its railings are about hip height for adults, as well as transparent along the bottom portion so children can see through them. This moving walkway also curves and winds as it moves through the ride.
There is a family room for child swapping if a member of your party does not wish to ride.
Training Room
The first room is more or less a training space, so you can get used to the blaster, which has two triggers. One (where a trigger would normally be) is for standard shooting, and the other (under the barrel) is for power-ups that you can collect throughout the attraction. If you are successful in defeating a villain, you can gain additional power-ups, which can be activated by the trigger on the barrel. You will start with five exploding banana power-ups — the other power-ups you gain will vary depending on the villain. Ammo seemed to be unlimited, aside from the power-ups.
With the main trigger on the blaster, you will shoot a standard round, but the projectiles can be changed to ice, lightning, and fire by hitting the different “cubes” on and off screen. There are both physical props and on-screen items throughout the ride. The rooms are pretty small, loud, and curved, making aiming difficult sometimes.
The training room resembles a factory with Minions running around and different power-ups moving on conveyor belts. Shooting at some of these things will reveal different characters and effects.
Stronghold
The second room is where you will have your first battle. This is one of the biggest rooms and features the villain Stronghold. The room combines screens and physical props to shoot at and looks like a museum. Stronghold is riding around in an armored vehicle which makes him one of, if not the most difficult to beat. If you successfully defeat him, you will earn a power-up.
Nunchuck Room
Next, guests face off against Nun-Chuck. She’s in the smallest room, flying around in an interesting looking helicopter type of vehicle. Circles fly by along the screen as she flies over them. She seems to be one of the easiest villains to defeat to gain a power-up, though. You’ll be rewarded with 100 sticky bombs as a power-up.
Fourth Room
The fourth room takes guests past pipes, but does not feature any villain. You might just catch a glimpse of a Minion, though. There is another physical power-up to collect in this room, though.
Jean Clawed Room
In this room, guests go “underwater” to meet Jean Clawed. He’s the easiest villain to defeat and his power-up is also pretty easy to obtain, although a boat is in the way. Throughout the attraction, you may notice some fun Easter eggs. In this room, there are three castle turrets referencing Magic Kingdom. If you’re feeling extra wicked, take aim at them. They can be shot and destroyed.
Svengeance Room
Svengeance’s room is a roller derby of destruction, full of Minions! Unlike the other rooms, this room is slightly different, and there are two screens on either side of the moving walkway. Svengeance is skating around the screens on a track, so can be hard to catch, but his power-up floats at the center of the screen.
Belle Bottom Room
Next, guests will encounter Belle Bottom, the leader of the Vicious 6, at a disco. She’s about as difficult to defeat as Stronghold, which makes sense because she’s the last member of the Vicious 6 guests face. She dances around the room in a floating bubble that shields her from attacks, increasing the difficulty of defeating her.
Eighth Room
In the next room — which is the biggest — several villains from the “Despicable Me” series that aren’t part of the Vicious 6 appear. This is the final battle in the attraction. These villains include Vector, Scarlett Overkill, Balthazar Bratt, and El Macho.
Iconic Universal Orlando Resort buildings appear in the background, making the room one of the most interesting and impressive. Guests will recognize the Universal Studios Florida archway, Universal’s Islands of Adventure lighthouse, Toothsome Chocolate Emporium, and even Volcano Bay. It definitely goes out with a blast!
Final Room
The final room features the Vicious 6 all congratulating guests on successfully joining their team. Scores will be displayed so guests can see how they did. As you exit, Team Members will collect the blasters. If you paired up your blaster to the Universal Orlando app, you’ll be able to keep track of your scores and see how you rank against other players.
Are you looking forward to experiencing Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast attraction at Universal Studios Florida? At this time, we don’t have an exact opening date for for the attraction, but Team Member testing suggests that it may open to the public soon. Stay tuned for more coverage and for all the latest updates.
For more Universal Studios news from around the world, follow Universal Parks News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news, visit WDWNT.