Universal confirmed the first details this week about its upcoming Despicable Me-themed attraction, now known as Villain-Con Minion Blast. This new attraction will be located in the former Shrek 4-D building, and will bring the world of supervillains from the Despicable Me and Minions series of movies to the theme park as guests enter the world of Villain-Con, the biggest criminal convention on the planet.
During this convention, guests will be able to take part in a competition to see if they have what it takes to become the newest member of The Vicious 6, a notorious group of supervillains from the film, Minions: The Rise of Gru. And perhaps most interestingly of all, they won’t be boarding a ride vehicle to do it! Intrigued? Here’s everything we know right now about this upcoming attraction.
1. Guests will blast their way through the attraction using special interactive weapons
Much like the nearby Men in Black: Alien Attack ride, Villain-Con Minion Blast will be an interactive, game-style attraction that will challenge guests to use a special blaster to complete various tasks throughout the attraction and earn a score that could qualify them as villainous enough to join The Vicious 6, who we’d guess will appear in this attraction, as guests complete the various challenges throughout the experience.
2. The attraction will use both screens and practical sets during gameplay
According to Universal’s official press release, this attraction will combine innovative screen technology with elaborate physical sets to create a one-of-a-kind, game-based adventure where guests encounter immersive environments, nefarious villains and tons of mischievous Minions from Illumination’s films in a whole new way. This combination of physical and screen-based sets should help immerse guests into the world of this attraction, and provide plenty of opportunities for guests to use their blasters in new and thrilling ways to increase their scores, every time they go through this experience.
3. Villain-Con Minion Blast will not use vehicles, instead moving guests around on special motorized walkways
Ever since work began on Villain-Con Minion Blast, one of the big rumors surrounding this attraction was that it would use a moving walkway conveyor belt to move guests from setpiece to setpiece, instead of traditional ride vehicles. And now Universal has confirmed that guests will “wind and glide” on a motion-based pathway through the different show scenes and games.
Universal Orlando Resort notably has another walkthrough attraction over at Islands of Adventure with Poseidon’s Fury, but this will be the first powered walkway attraction at the resort, which should make for a very interesting game-playing attraction. We don’t know exactly how this will work, but one thing is for sure, it won’t be like any other theme park attraction in Central Florida, and could inspire other attractions like it in the future if it is a success.
4. The ride is being co-developed by the Illumination animation studio
Though this isn’t the first attraction to feature characters from the Despicable Me universe, Villain-Con Minion Blast is the first attraction that is being developed in part by filmmakers from Illumination. This collaboration should help this experience feel even more true to the beloved films, and hopefully also means that we will see some of the voice talent from the films reprising their roles for this new attraction.
5. Villain-Con Minion Blast will officially be open in less than a year
If you’re a huge Minions fan, you won’t have to wait much longer to experience Villain-Con Minion Blast, as work is well underway on this attraction at the former site of Shrek 4D, with the attraction currently targeting a summer 2023 opening date. Though we don’t know exactly when next summer the opening will be, we could be as little as six months away from guests being able to suit up alongside characters from this franchise and become true villains. We expect to hear more about when this attraction will open in the spring, as work wraps up on this experience.
6. It will help form a new Illumination Animation mini-land for Minions and Despicable Me at Universal Studios Florida
When completed next summer, Villain-Con Minion Blast will open alongside a new Minions Cafe restaurant, which will sit across from the Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem attraction at the front of the park. These three attractions will together be part of a newly-designated Minion Land at Universal Studios Florida, which will also include other surprises from the animation powerhouse studio Illumination (which is also behind the Sing and Secret Life of Pets movie series). Though none of these additional enhancements for Minions land have been announced yet, with the new area set to launch in just a few months, we expect to hear more information soon.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first Minions-themed land for a Universal park, as Universal Studios Japan has a Minion Park area with several rides, restaurants and shops, and Universal Studios Singapore broke ground on Minion Land earlier this year, which will open in 2024. Universal Studios Hollywood even has a Minions-themed Super Silly Fun Land play area for kids next to its cloned version of Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, making a smaller land at that park.
While some may question if building a whole land around the Despicable Me franchise is the right move for Universal Studios Florida as so many already exist elsewhere, it is definitely exciting to see that progress is ramping up on bringing Villain-Con Minion Blast to life. It will also be interesting to see how Universal reinvents the theme park game experience for an attraction that isn’t technically a ride, as so many attractions like the aforementioned Men in Black: Alien Attack, as well as Toy Story Mania and Space Ranger Spin at Walt Disney World, have set guest expectations for what these rides can be for over a decade.
Hopefully, we will learn more about what to expect from this not-quite-a-ride as we get closer to its opening next summer!
