Universal Studios: Minion-topped cupcake now looks down at theme park
A pink cupcake, topped by a binoculars-wielding Minion character, has been placed atop the former Monsters Cafe building at Universal Studios theme park.
Workers were making adjustments atop the structure Thursday as park passers-by strolled past the construction area.
Universal Orlando is planning a Minion Land, part of which would be the Villain-Con Minion Blast attraction that is set to open sometime this summer. It has also announced a Minion Cafe without sharing many details.
The cupcake structure is not on the same corner that the rotating Universal monsters — Frankenstein, Wolf Man and Creature from the Black Lagoon — stood over a kiosk during the Monsters Cafe era. That restaurant closed in May 2022, and blue tarp now covers most of the building.
Instead, the new pink pastry is on the corner next to the new attraction coming to the former Shrek 4-D, closer to the park entrance. It may not be finished as a pole, perhaps for a full-blown sign or additional enhancements, was extending from the side of the cupcake’s cherry, where the minion stands.
No official word if the cupcake is banana-flavored.
Universal also has added a Minion-covered construction wall around a counter-service eatery next to Music Plaza and the Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon attraction. It could be a sign of the boundaries of Minion Land, although Universal has been refurbishing several booths in the Studios park and next door at Islands of Adventure. The new attraction is across the walkway from Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, which opened in 2012.
The back of the Transformers 3-D building, which looms behind the cupcake building, has been painted a blueish green. It had been an industrial gray.
Elsewhere in Universal Studios, the walls remain up in the KidZone area, in which five attractions were closed earlier this year. Merchandise related to “E.T.” is now stations just outside the “Animal Actors” show where the Brazil food booth stood during Universal’s Mardi Gras celebration. E.T. Adventure ride remains open but the entrance is at the far end of the KidZone construction wall. Its Toy Closet merchandise area has be closed for refurbishment.
The bulk of Mardi Gras booths have been removed since the celebration ended last month. There have been no festivals or concerts announced for the coming months, so the wider concourses could be staying awhile, until scare-zone construction cranks up for Halloween Horror Nights, which begins Sept. 1.
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