Universal says it’s on like King Kong AND Donkey Kong!

So as everyone has heard by now Universal has made a couple of very exciting announcements recently. First, in what may be the one of the worst kept secrets in the industry, they finally officially announced the return of King Kong to the Florida resort in the all new attraction Skull Island: Reign of Kong. If that wasn’t enough, they must have felt one ape wasn’t enough as the next day Universal announced that they had signed a deal with Nintendo to feature their characters in their parks in the forms of rides and attractions. Universal, take my money now!

Let’s first talk about King Kong. Now of course the big ape has had a history at Universal parks. He first made an appearance on the world famous Hollywood Tram tour in 1986 and as a much more hands on attraction (pun intended) in Orlando. While both were extremely popular attractions, their runs would both come to an end albeit in very different ways. Orlando’s version closed in order to make way for the Revenge of the Mummy attraction while the Hollywood version, was tragically destroyed in a fire. Universal acted fast in Hollywood and within 2 years reopened a new Kong attraction in 2010. This one however was drastically different taking advantage of the greater technology of the time. This time through the use of 2 giant HD screens, guests were thrust into the middle of a fully immersive 3D Skull Island and Kong’s battle with ferocious dinosaurs.  Of course this lead to the question if everyone’s favorite banana breathed behemoth would find his way back to Orlando. While nothing was announced, not too long ago construction started on a site located between Toon Lagoon and the Jurassic Park sections of Islands of Adventure. Rumors were flying around about the attraction and what it would be like. The craziest, and coolest I might add was that a sequence would involve the giant ape appearing and somehow picking up the tour guide from the ride vehicle and taken away!  No matter what rumor you may have heard, we were all salivating for something official. We would all be rewarded on May 6^th when Universal officially announced Skull Island: Reign of Kong would be arriving at Islands of Adventure in the summer of 2016. It is described as a massive fully immersive attraction (in fact the longest in Universals history) and involves indoor and outdoor sections will brings guest face to face once again with the legendary Kong. I know I am not alone in saying a visit to IOA next year is a must!

So a day after the internet was set abuzz by the announcement of one Apes return, he could soon be joined by another. Yes, in another blockbuster announcement, Universal announced they struck a deal with Nintendo to use their vast collection of characters throughout their theme park properties. Donkey Kong, Mario, Link, Kirby and Pokemon just to name a few could be joining everyone’s favorite wizard before we know it. While no concrete details or plans have been announced, there are 2 prevailing ideas that have been floating around. With the talks between Disney and Universal in regards to the use of Marvel Characters supposedly heating up, this lead to speculation that a Nintendo makeover of Marvel Superhero Island was in the cards. While this idea is intriguing to me, and lead me to have a few suggestions of my own (more on that in a later post), the other possibility that has been floating around seems a little more plausible. The Kidzone section of the Orlando theme park has been rumored for a revamp for a while now so of course this would lead to guesses that Woody and friends would move out in favor of Universal’s newest family members. Well whatever Universal has planned, based on past history, we know it will be done to the utmost detail and immersion.