Theme Park Rangers Radar: Farewell to KidZone; parking lot hair care; ‘Puss in Boots’ posing

Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel
·6 min read

KidZone has been part of Universal Studios theme park for decades, but there’s still a lot to absorb there. And not just from the water bucket that dumps on visitors to the Curious George Goes to Town attraction. Five of its attractions are closing later this month, so Theme Park Rangers made one last round with Woody Woodpecker and the former home of Barney the Dinosaur.

The week also included a fun-size movie promotion at Universal and unusual (but not recommended) hair styling in a theme park parking lot. Radar is a weekly roundup of Central Florida attractions morsels and moments. It appears at OrlandoSentinel.com on Wednesdays.

Kicking around in KidZone

The end for a five attractions within the KidZone section of Universal Studios is approaching. The final day for guests to see Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster, Curious George Goes to Town, Fievel’s Playland, DreamWorks Destination and Shrek & Donkey’s Meet & Greet is Jan. 15.

Folks without young children or doing wellness checks of E.T. Adventure probably don’t make frequent stops in the Zone. It’s right there in the title: This stuff is for kidz.

Universal Orlando hasn’t announced plans for the area beyond that there will be “family entertainment … that will immerse guests in the adventures of beloved animated characters,” a company news release said.

On a recent KidZone outing, likely my final trip, it felt eerie knowing that they were going away. At least they weren’t deserted. The place was teeming with strollers and reminiscing grown-ups. I made mental notes, wondering as I wandered.

  • I hope someone has thoroughly video-captured Fievel’s Playland, because it’s loaded with creative uses of the old theme park standby: We humans are now the size of something small. There are many products melded together to form this play area. Kids can run through books and boots and an animal skeleton that has a slide incorporated. Playland includes a waterslide that’s more like to get kids sprinkled than drenched. In my old age, it will be nice to explore KidZone via the chip in my head.

  • Curious George goes to town also has a load of details in the form of a cute monkey-driven town where one can get soaked in a number of ways. And behind the facade, away from the water, is the two-level Ball Factory that’s so tucked away you can call it double-secret. If one could bust through the back wall of Ball Factory, they’d land in the parking lot of Hard Rock Hotel.

  • DreamWorks Destination was created in pandemic times and merges meet-and-greet opportunities with a dance party and movie trivia while maintaining social distancing. While one isn’t nostalgic for those early days of COVID, or heaven forbid, sentimental, it is an example of the creative minds and “show must go on” mentality of the times. Plus, the space was once the home of A Day in the Park With Barney, a wonderfully air-conditioned attraction that closed in 2021. (If you close your eyes, you can hear the screaming/”I Love You, You Love Me” song.)

  • The Woody Woodpecker coaster is one of those gateway attractions to serious thrill rider status. Plus, it comes with Woody’s trademark cackle. Here I wondered if it could be repurposed to a more contemporary character. But I also wondered if its time was up. The ride opened in 1999, the same year as Islands of Adventure’s Incredible Hulk Coaster (wholly rebuilt in 2015-2016) and Dueling Dragons (now dismantled and the site of Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at IOA).

  • Shrek & Donkey haven’t been KidZoners long, migrating from the park’s Sunset Boulevard after Shrek 4-D closed last January. There’s usually a good queue of folks waiting to meet them, and Donkey’s quips are high-quality. Could he be the best interactive character in the parks? (IOA’s Enchanted Fountain may be gurgling at that notion.)

Reminder: Other KidZone attractions, including E.T. Adventure, “Animal Actors on Location” show, SpongeBob StorePants and KidZone Pizza Company restaurant will carry on after Jan. 15, Universal says.

Hair-raising

It would be a mean-spirited to make a list of people behaving badly in theme parks … but easy. We could make that work using only parking lots as the settings.

Latest offense spotted: Arriving visitor flings car door open, hops out, stands in the adjacent parking slot and dramatically applies hair spray. We are not against grooming, but it shouldn’t hold up traffic. Unable to park and get on with their theme park days were people trying to get into that adjacent slot and the vehicle behind that, which led to a backup of impatient parkers.

After an employee encouraged her to relocate, there was an “Oh, there are cars here in a parking lot?” look of surprise. The visitor put belongings back in the car and then violated my No. 1 theme park parking peeve: Walking into oncoming traffic.

It all falls into category of Know If You’re Blocking the Way. Be aware if you’re blocking the flow of traffic at the parks. We’ve got coasters to ride, with or without good hair.

This ends the 2023 bad behavior rant. Repeat, repeat.

It’s the small things

Just to even off the karma, here’s something to like. At Universal Studios, there has been a photo op / backdrop to promote “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” film. It stands outside the “Animal Actors on Location” theater.

Notable is the size of its cutout characters. They don’t tower over the kids. Puss, Kitty Softpaws and Perrito look like they’re contemporaries of the children. As a youngster, I was confounded by walkaround characters who were adult-sized when their real-life animal counterparts should be much smaller. Today I’m more forgiving of proportion impropriety, but this “Puss In Boots” display is a fresh change.

Weekend outlook

· Orange County Regional History Center’s Lunch & Learn looks at 100 years of the Orlando Public Library at Friday’s session (noon-1 p.m.) There are in-person and virtual options for $5 ($14 with lunch). More info: thehistorycenter.org.

· The final day to experience the “Hot Wheels: Race to Win” exhibit at Orlando Science Center is Sunday. It’s included with regular admission. More info: OSC.org.

· Gatorland’s half-off admission for Florida residents continues through Jan. 31. Tickets must be purchased at the attraction to receive the discount. More info: Gatorland.com.

What’s on your radar? Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com