After many years, the highly anticipated Universal Beijing Resort is opening to the public on Monday 20th September 2021. This resort is the fifth in the world to bear the Universal Studio name and the third in Asia. The park will open with two hotels, a CityWalk, 4 rollercoasters and, more importantly for us, 6 dark rides which have now been added to our database.
Construction begain all the way back in 2016, when the resort was originally scheduled for a 2019 opening. Early delays led to an overlap with the ongoing pandemic, which eventually pushed back the opening date until now. Technical rehearsals and trial operations began at the beginning of September and the park will now open to the public.
Amongst the attractions to open with the park will be three Universal Beijing Resort exclusives. The area themed to the Jurassic World film series will contain two of these, one of which is a high-tech, fast paced dark ride with a strong focus on animatronics. The other will be an inverted powered coaster with both indoor and outdoor sections (this ride is currently listed as unavailable on the official website, it will presumably open at a later date).
Kung Fu Panda: Journey of the Dragon Warrior will be another all-new attraction as the signature boat ride of the park, again within it’s own themed area. There will also be several well established dark rides that can be found at other resorts, such as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Transformers: Battle for the All Spark and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem.
The Universal Studios brand of theme parks has roots back to 1915 in Hollywood, where studio tours were first offered to members of the public. In the 1960s, attractions were added to attract further interest and the studios soon grew into one of the most recognisable theme parks in the world. Universal Studios opened their second property in 1990, in Orlando, further cementing their role as a major player when it came to themed attractions.
By 2001, Universal Studios had expanded to Asia, with the opening of the Japan resort and less than a decade later another park followed, this time in Singapore. As a continually expanding and innovating brand of parks they have remained particularly influential throughout the industry, especially when it comes to dark rides and media based attractions.
