Banana Popcorn & Villains-Blasting: Universal Studios Orlando’s Minion Land IS FINALLY OPEN!

The wait is over, as Illumination’s Minion Land at Universal Studios Orlando Resort is finally open!

Credit: Discover Universal

From banana-flavored popcorn to an attraction where guests can blast villains, there’s something for everyone at Universal Studios Orlando’s newly-opened Minion Land at Universal Studios Florida theme park. The new area at the Central Florida Universal park is the product of a collaboration between Universal Creative and Illumination and offers guests ample opportunity to celebrate everything about the Despicable Me universe, including themed food, shopping, and entertainment offerings.

Universal Studios invites guests to “blast your way to supervillain stardom in the new Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast attraction. Visit Illumination’s Minion Cafe, where mischief is always on the menu. Get a sweet treat at Bake My Day and more.”

Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast

On Friday, Minion Land opened to guests with the centerpiece attraction–Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast, an interactive experience that takes guests through various levels of destruction. The most innovative part of the attraction is that the experience is ever-changing.

Credit: Universal Parks & Experiences

Per People Magazine:

The area’s main new attraction takes guests along a moving pathway as they’re armed with blasters and attempt “to cause as much mayhem and destruction as possible to earn points” as they challenge the Vicious 6, who were introduced in 2022’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru.” Players can use the Universal Orlando Resort app to customize their player profile and sync to their blaster, creating a seamless gaming experience in which they can keep track of their points, unlock special blaster enhancements, earn digital collectibles, and more.

“It was exciting to think about how we can bring more play to the parks and add a connected experience to that play so that those gaming fans not only have the ability to see their score, but now they can store their score and compare their score via the app with each other,” said Universal Creative Director of Immersive Experiences Victor Lugo.

The new attraction is reportedly somewhat reminiscent of other “point and shoot” attractions, such as Universal’s Men in Black Aliens Attack, and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Toy Story Mania! at Walt Disney World. But there’s a big difference: the new Minions-themed attraction gives guests a unique experience every time, and guests are able to keep track of their scores, allowing them to stay in a fully-immersive gameplay mode for a longer period of time.

Credit: Universal Parks

“You see parents challenging children and vice versa, and sometimes the kids win, and sometimes the parents win,” Lugo said in an interview. “But in every case, it’s an opportunity for families to collaborate together.”

New Food Offerings Inspired by the “Despicable Me” Film Franchise & New Shopping Opportunities

The new offerings at Minion Land join the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem attraction, which opened to guests at Universal Orlando in 2012, and Universal’s Director of Experiences says the new additions complement the existing attraction and allowed his team “the opportunity to expand” the Illumination franchise at Universal. “It’s something very special to us,” Lugo explained.

Credit: Universal Parks & Resorts

Minion Cafe: Don’t Worry–Not Everything’s Banana-Flavored

Universal’s new Minion Cafe opened to guests earlier this summer and serves as another expansion of Illumination’s film franchise in the park. The new venue has nearly 20 menu items that are inspired by Despicable Me characters. Otto’s Noodle Bowl, “Cheese Ray” Sandwiches, Mel’s Meatball Mountain, and Carl’s Crispy Cauliflower are just a few of the offerings. (Who can say no to a “Despica-Bowl?”)

Credit: Universal Parks & Experiences

Credit: Universal Parks & Resorts

The new marquee dining location is located on Illumination Avenue, not too far from a themed shopping venue, Evil Stuff, the exit gift shop at the Villain-Con attraction. Minion Cafe, which replaced the former Monsters Cafe, has three different themed spaces inside the location, including a dining room that looks like the Minions’ break room that features a vending machine stocked with supposed “mischievous items” because, well, Minions love mischief and mayhem, of course.

Credit: Jen Juneau Haupt

Universal Orlando’s new Minion Land has been a long time coming. A tweet by @LandonProducer shows some of the progress at the theme park as of June 2023.

Minion Land looking good at #UniversalOrlando #AtUniversal pic.twitter.com/K2uSHKlsn4

— Landon McReynolds (@LandonProducer) June 14, 2023

Other offerings at Universal Studios Orlando Resort’s new Minion Land include the Bake My Day dessert shop, the Pop-A-Nana popcorn stand, and Illumination Theater, where guests can interact with characters from the Despicable Me film franchise with meet-and-greet experiences.