Universal Orlando Releases DreamWorks Land First Look
DreamWorks Land has gotten a bit lost in the noise about Universal Orldando’s Epic Universe, but the park that will always be Universal Studios to some of us (sidebar: get off my lawn!) released a video about its other new attraction, and it comes with an opening date: June 14, 2024. As it’s a revamp of their KidZone area, DreamWorks Land is geared towards Universal’s younger guests, with a playground called Shrek’s Swamp for Little Ogres (where you can meet Shrek’s version of Pinocchio), a Trolls roller coaster called The Caterbus, and Po’s Kung Fu Training Camp, which has a gong (and, presumably, some sort of martial arts fun). There’s also a snack stand called Trolls Treats, replete with Popalicious Pink and Brozone Berry ice cream flavors.
I’m not going to pretend this interests me (and those ice cream flavors sound awful), but from an observational perspective, this looks like a lot more fun than most of the stuff Disney World is planning. They’re not pushing or subverting anything; they’re leaning into their popular movies, with everything geared towards appealing to kids. Shrek and Kung Fu Panda are hugely popular, especially the former, and have had sequels and spin-offs. And while Trolls isn’t as big as those two (and the second film in the series bombed), it’s based on a pop culture figure that’s been around since 1959. Disney, on the other hand, got rid of one of the most popular theme park rides of all time and is replacing it with something based on The Princess and the Frog, which didn’t make much money, doesn’t get talked about often, and never had a sequel until a Disney+ TV series that hasn’t come out yet. One of these feels like a better idea. It’s going to be interesting to watch Park Hoppin’ when this stuff gets going (and it’s pretty fun right now).
