Universal’s Dreamworks Land: You Know, for Kids

Dreamworks Land charms most with a couple of interactive stations connected to Shrek. In one guests can make a choir of frogs croak out musical numbers by stepping on different lily pad-shaped buttons on the ground. Don’t expect to tap out anything too recognizable—you’d need a gigantic legspan or the leaping abilities of the Hulk (or, I guess, a family?) to make that possible—but it’s still a cute, entertaining aside. Nearby sits Mama Luna Feline Fiesta, a small Spanish mission from the Shrek and Puss in Boots movies that’s filled with computer animated cats and various cranks, buttons, and levers. The kitties react in various adorable ways on four large screens as guests push, pull, and twist their way from station to station; it’s like Bop It without a timer and with a legion of cartoon cats responding to your actions. I spent probably 15 minutes prodding and teasing my way around the Feline Fiesta, and still didn’t see everything that could possibly happen on the screens. This is the one part of Dreamworks Land that I think adults will enjoy as much as kids.

I was an adult when Shrek came out and feel no nostalgia whatsoever for any of the movies Dreamworks Land is based on. Honestly, I don’t really like any of the Dreamworks animated features I’ve seen. I am absolutely not the target audience for this stuff—as much as I might complain about today’s overabundance of nostalgia, I would rather hop on Universal’s E.T. ride for the 50th time than check out Dreamworks Land again, and would gladly sacrifice the entire library of Dreamworks animated films if it meant saving a single movie Steven Spielberg made in the 20th century. (Well, except for that second Jurassic Park movie. That one can get bent.) 

Nevertheless, I love many a theme park attraction based on movies and characters I don’t care about. If you absolutely need to appreciate or feel nostalgic for the source material to enjoy an attraction, then it’s not a very good attraction. Shrek’s Swamp for Little Ogres and Po’s Kung Fu Training Camp—the land’s two splash zones, which are imaginatively themed and look as if they were pulled out of the movies—are good examples of how to meld function and solid design in a themed attraction slotted to be a supporting act and not a headline player. The Kung Fu Panda area is especially crafty at dressing up its modest goals with impressive design; it’s like a temple from an old kung fu movie done in a cartoon style, with plenty of opportunities to get wet, and a great opening gag featuring a giant gong that makes some unexpected sounds when “struck.” And as uncomfortable as I felt during the musical show—those singers and dancers really like looking directly into the audience’s eyes, as if personally begging us to have the common decency to sing along—parents will probably love the opportunity to sit down in an air conditioned room for 20 or so minutes.

Dreamworks Land also represents a rarity for Universal Studios. In a park guided by nostalgia, it’s based on something relatively recent. Shrek, which predates 9/11, might skew closer to parents these days (when was the last one of those, anyway?), but most Kung Fu Panda movies have come in the last 13 years, and Dreamworks’ version of Trolls is less than a decade old. (The dolls have been popular off and on since the ‘50s, but these particular characters debuted in 2016.) Universal’s current nighttime show is heavy on the Gen X hits that resonate with today’s parents, and most of its attractions across both Florida theme parks are based on 20th century entertainment. Other than the notoriously lackluster Fast & Furious ride—which is based on a movie series that debuted in 2001, and obviously skews to an older audience than Dreamworks Land—this is the first major Universal development largely catered to post-Millennial children. Its ambitions are kept in check by the practical expectations of a kids’ play area—its primary purpose is to be a playground that can withstand substantial amounts of wear-and-tear and not some heavily detailed, immersive experience—but it points to a future that’s no longer dependent on what people currently in their 40s and 50s loved as kids. Since that future is going to get here way sooner than many of us (myself included) are comfortable with (hell, it’s basically already here), it’s something Universal and other theme parks will have to get on top of as soon as possible. Dreamworks Land is a start.

Senior editor Garrett Martin writes about videogames, comedy, travel, theme parks, wrestling, and anything else that gets in his way. He’s also on Twitter @grmartin.