The Mardi Gras Tribute Store at Universal Studios Florida is getting closer to its final day, which means a new summer theme will be coming soon. The table at the exit of the Tribute Store has added new props that potentially tease the theme for the summer 2024 Tribute Store and a new summer parade.
Summer 2024 Tribute Store & Parade Hints
The props are located in the final room of the Tribute Store, on the desk in front of Baron Ton Ton, this year’s “icon” for Universal Mardi Gras. They stand out because they don’t match the pirate-y theming of the rest of the room.
There’s a VHS tape, tokens, strips of arcade tickets, game tokens, a cartridge, and membership cards for Mega Video Rentals.
The VHS tape features stickers reading “Science Fiction” and reminders to rewind the tape.
The label is for a film called “Time Ghosts Again” with the tagline “It’s Time… Again.” It’s 1988 “A Tribute Store Production” with a 91-minute runtime, PG-13 rating, and the following description:
Suddenly, every morning the world wakes up one minute before their alarms go off. The Geo-chronological Error Regulations & Ghost-hunters (G.E.R.G.) are called to put a stop to it! BUT! Once the beloved Gerg the Llama goes missing, a ragtag team of newbies steals a modified Time T.W.I.G. and breaks the time-space continuum to save the Day! Or did any of it happen to begin with….?
Gerg the Llama is a recurring Tribute Store character. Time Ghosts and G.E.R.G. were referenced in the 2023 Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store.
One of the Mega Video Rentals Membership Club Cards is for Baron Ton Ton. It’s club card #88 and the address listed is 6460 Hollywood Blvd.
The strips of yellow tickets are for Mega Castle Arcade.
A floppy disk is also on the desk, underneath the VHS tape. Instructions say to insert it into a skeleton. It’s labeled Skeleton “Laughing” Action Giggle Animatronic and is created by Tribute Software. It’s disk 24.
The Baron Ton Ton figure in this room used to laugh and had glowing red eyes but is silent now, so it’s possible that this prop could be a joke alluding to that effect.
A swimming shark has also been added to the bayou projections in an earlier room of the Tribute Store. Until now, only gators have been seen swimming by. Now, a giant shark makes an appearance every so often. We’re gonna need a bigger Tribute Store!
See the shark swimming in the video below.
The props and shark all hint at the summer Tribute Store and a rumored summer parade. We previously reported on the rumor that the summer Tribute Store would celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first “Ghostbusters” film alongside other classic films, similar to previous movie-themed summer Tribute Stores. A Mega Movie Rentals or arcade-themed store would certainly make sense. Alicia Stella previously reported on X that Universal had trademarked the name “Universal Mega Movie Parade” for use in theme parks:
The ghosts and ghost-hunter references on the VHS definitely hint at “Ghostbusters.” The shark is a clear allusion to “Jaws,” which had a room in the 2022 summer Tribute Store. We don’t know if “Jaws” will be included in the store this year or if it could have a float in a coinciding Mega Movie parade. The time travel story, font, and use of the number 88 may be referencing “Back to the Future,” which also had a room in 2022. Perhaps it will make an appearance again.
At this time, the new summer parade has not been announced, but we’re sure there will be details released soon. It looks like our summer might include the Universal Mega Movie Parade and Mega Video Rentals Tribute Store. What movies would you like to see featured in this year’s summer Tribute Store? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned for more updates!
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