The Minions have had a presence at Universal Orlando since 2012, however the Central Florida theme park’s latest land is totally devoted to these small, yellow and notoriously difficult-to-understand creatures. Minion Land opened at Universal Studios Florida on Aug. 11, ushering in a brand new and thrilling period for these cartoon creatures.
I not too long ago had an opportunity to go to the brand new land, and whereas I’m not fairly prepared to serve an evil grasp, I did study what it takes to develop into a mischievous Minion. Here’s all the pieces you need to know earlier than your go to.
What is Minion Land?
Minion Land options characters, tales and settings from the “Despicable Me” movie franchise, from Gru’s lab to the Villain-Con worldwide conference for criminals. Guests can meet characters from the movies, experience family-friendly sights, store for Minion merchandise and dine on Minion-inspired dishes.
The land is close to the primary entrance to Universal Studios Florida, changing the Production Central space and remodeling it into Illumination Avenue.
Minion Land sights
Minion Land is house to two sights: the preexisting Despicable Me Minion Mayhem experience and the all-new Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast.
Despicable Me Minion Mayhem
Despicable Me Minion Mayhem is an animated motion-simulator experience that follows Gru’s newest evil plan for world domination. The better part is that you get remodeled right into a Minion to assist him obtain his devious desires. If motion-based display rides get to you, you can request a stationary seat and nonetheless benefit from the experience. This experience has a minimal top requirement of 40 inches, and company underneath 48 inches will need to have a supervising companion.
Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast
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TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY
Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast is an action-packed attraction that mixes screen-based animations and immersive bodily units to transport riders to Villain-Con, the worldwide conference for supervillains. Rather than a conventional experience car, company stand on a transferring walkway and wield blasters to see if they’ve what it takes to develop into a member of the world-renowned Vicious 6 (the villainous group featured in “Minions: The Rise of Gru”). You earn factors by capturing all the pieces in sight and usually inflicting mayhem befitting a supervillain.
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You can hyperlink your blaster to the Universal app so as to monitor your rating every time you experience and unlock secret missions and particular options on your blaster. I’m, to put it flippantly, a aggressive individual. As quickly as I rode this experience as soon as, I instantly wished to go once more to enhance my rating and earn a spot on the chief board. During the 48 hours I used to be in Orlando, I rode this attraction 5 occasions (and, sure, I did make my means into the highest 10 villains for the day).
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This experience has no minimal top requirement, however riders have to be in a position to stand on their very own and company underneath 48 inches will need to have a supervising companion.
Illumination Theater
Illumination Theater is just not an precise theater however an outside theater facade. It hosts day by day meet-and-greets with the Minions and different characters from the movie, reminiscent of Gru, Margo, Edith and Agnes, together with characters from the film “Sing.”
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Adjacent to the Bake My Day bakery, the Illumination Theater is a bit hidden. This tucked-away location bodes nicely for guests hoping to meet their favourite characters as a result of I by no means observed a protracted line of company ready. I waited lower than 5 minutes to meet Edith and Margo, Gru’s adopted daughters.
Minion Land meals
Minion Land has 4 eating places the place you can get your repair of meals made with the Minions’ favourite taste of banana and even Minion-shaped tater tots. I had an actual inner battle over consuming a miniature Minion in a land devoted to celebrating them, however I’ve to be trustworthy, they had been scrumptious.
Illumination’s Minion Cafe is a quick-service eatery with indoor and outside seating and Minion-themed dishes. I had Agnes’ Honeymoon Soup ($14.99), a inexperienced tomato soup topped with crispy pork stomach, a tomato gummy bear and basil oil; it was served with a pimento cheddar grilled cheese sandwich. Both the soup and the sandwich had been recent, tasty and filling.
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I additionally had the aforementioned Minion Tots ($5.49) and a refreshing drink referred to as The Antidote ($7.99), a banana-flavored soda topped with a yellow cream topping and graham cracker crumbs. If you love banana-flavored candies, you’ll love this drink, however it would not fairly reside up to my beloved frozen Butterbeer over at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
You can place a cellular order within the Universal Orlando app earlier than arriving at the restaurant. Or, if you arrive with out inserting an order, you can scan the QR code at your desk after your hostess seats you.
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The different three spots to seize treats in Minion Land are walk-ups solely. You can get freshly baked cupcakes, cake pops and extra, in addition to store for Minions merchandise, at Bake My Day bakery and reward store, choose up some banana-flavored popcorn from the Pop-A-Nana popcorn stand or cool off with a colourful popsicle from Freeze Ray Pops.
I attempted the banana-flavored popcorn ($6.69) and liked it. It wasn’t too candy or sticky and was a really perfect deal with to eat whereas strolling across the land.
Minion Land procuring
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Bake My Day in Minion Land. TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY
There are two merchandise places in Minion Land: Bake My Day and Evil Stuff. Bake My Day is housed throughout the similar space because the bakery and options cute clothes, stuffed animals, drinkware, equipment, keychains and extra. Think of it because the extra lighthearted of the 2 retail places.
You’ll discover the Evil Stuff Shop at the exit of Villain-Con Minion Blast. This retailer sells objects impressed by the attraction, together with a duplicate of the blaster you use on the experience. You’ll additionally discover a wide range of different Villain-Con and Minions merchandise like attire, toys, cellphone instances and extra.
Bottom line
Minion Land brings much more family-friendly sights and experiences to Universal Orlando, one thing the park appears to be prioritizing these days. For company with younger kids, there may be now much more the entire household can expertise collectively, particularly with the land being themed to such beloved characters. I am unable to wait to get again for my subsequent go to, and I promise it isn’t just for the prospect to enhance my rating on Villain-Con Minion Blast.
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