Lately a lot of rumors have been flying around the Universal Orlando Resort, Both in regards to possible new attractions, attraction updates and all kind of other crazy things. Thing's are starting to get harder to follow with so much speculation around, so we're going to attempt to sort them out for your reading pleasure!
Rumor One-The Lorax Dark Ride.
Rumor has been floating around since 2012 when The Lorax was made into a movie for the big screen. Supposedly Universal Orlando's 'Island of Adventure' theme park was/is planning in putting in a dark ride based off The Lorax someplace in Seuess Landing. However, rumor is now suggesting this, like the others, may have been scrapped. Either way it has a proposed opening date (if it happens) of Summer 2016.
Rumor Two- Jurassic Park
Rumor has it that Universal Orlando's 'Islands of Adventure' theme park may be considering adding in a new attraction in their Jurassic Park area. This could possibly be a new Roller Coaster coming to the area was well as a new improvements to the Thunder Falls restaurant. The supposed location for this is the lot currently sitting behind the Thunder Falls Restaurant, with Jurassic Park getting a new movie in 2015- This rumor is possible with an opening date of 2016 also.
Rumor Three- King Kong/Skull Island
Yet another rumor suggest that King Kong/Skull Island may be moving into an area of Universal Orlando's 'Islands of Adventure' theme park. Possible in or around the current Jurassic Park area, with the park relocating the current Jurassic Park gate closer to the Thunder Falls Restaurant. There are no real deatils with this rumor other then speculation of if this new ride would be a slow moving show style attraction or if it could be more along the lines of 'Revenge of the Mummy' which replaced the original King Kong attraction in 2002. This also as a possible proposed opening date in the 2015/2016 range.
Rumor Four- Lord of the Rings/Middle Earth
This rumor suggests that Universal Orlando may replace the currently aging 'Cartoon Lagoon' area of their 'Islands of Adventure' theme park with Middle Earth, the land which hosts the "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" movies. While unlikely, this project is rumored for the 2017 season. No details on possible attractions or even theming has been proposed.
Rumor Five- Replacing Marvel Superhero Island
Ever since Disney bought Marvel in 2009 the rumor mill has been working overtime with the belief that Universal Orlando will eventually drop the Marvel name and characters. Rumor suggests they may eventually look into replacing it with DC comic characters or even another franchise. Speculation suggest Universal already has had meetings and a plan in place but no one seems to know that the real plan or deal may involve. The soonest this could happen is 2018 which is the soonest Disney could try to re-negotiate the Marvel/Universal deal after 20 years.
So while a lot of speculation and rumors have been flying around about Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, but no one has any concrete proof or information. Some of this is old and some is new, either way they are simply just rumors and I'm not really included to trust any of them until someone from Universal makes a press release or they can no longer hide their plans from the public.
