The site was re-themed to Po's Kung Fu Training Camp as part of DreamWorks Land, which opened at Universal Studios Florida on June 14, 2024.
Everything that changed here
across the land, newest first- 2024
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DreamWorks Land opened on the cleared Woody Woodpecker's KidZone site, with the Shrek's Swamp for Little Ogres playground built on the former Fievel's Playland footprint.
Wikipedia names both Shrek's Swamp Meet and Shrek's Swamp for Little Ogres as replacements for the KidZone attractions, so no single successor is asserted as a linked record. -
Opened as the headline live show of the new DreamWorks Land at Universal Studios Florida, a roughly 20-minute theater-in-the-round production featuring characters from Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and Trolls with pop songs, dance, puppetry and projection technology.
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Opened as the sole coaster of the new DreamWorks Land at Universal Studios Florida, a retheme reusing the track of the retired Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster with a 'Trolls' Caterbus ride vehicle.
Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster→Trolls Trollercoaster -
DreamWorks Land opened on the former KidZone site, and DreamWorks Destination was succeeded by the DreamWorks Imagination Celebration stage show in the DreamWorks Theater.
No source confirms the successor show reused the former Barney theater structure; Orlando Informer describes the DreamWorks Theater as newly built. - 2023
The playground had been almost entirely removed, with a small portion of the water slide's main structure still visible among the trees from the E.T. Adventure queue.
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Curious George Goes to Town and its Ball Factory operated for the final day and closed permanently after roughly 25 years.
January 15 was the last operating day; Wikipedia and Orlando Informer date the permanent closure to January 16, the first dark day. -
Fievel's Playland and Fievel's Water Slide operated for the last time, closing permanently after more than 30 years.
January 15, 2023 was the final operating day; Wikipedia's Universal Studios Florida article says the attractions operated until January 15 and closed permanently the next day, which is why some sources, including the Fievel's Playland article, date the closure January 16, 2023. -
DreamWorks Destination closed permanently along with the majority of Woody Woodpecker's KidZone, which was cleared to make way for DreamWorks Land.
20222 changes
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Universal announced that Curious George Goes to Town would close alongside Fievel's Playland, Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster, DreamWorks Destination and the Shrek and Donkey meet-and-greet, with a last day of operation of January 15, 2023.
ClickOrlando article published November 1, 2022 at 10:10 PM. -
Universal Orlando announced that much of Woody Woodpecker's KidZone would close for new family entertainment, naming Fievel's Playland among the attractions whose last day of operation would be January 15, 2023.
The announcement named Fievel's Playland, Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster, Curious George Goes to Town, DreamWorks Destination and the Shrek and Donkey meet-and-greet; E.T. Adventure and Animal Actors on Location! stayed open. No replacement was named at the time.
20215 changes
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The playground returned to normal operation with both its water play area and the Man with the Yellow Hat's Ball Factory running again, though worn paint and debris from the long closure were visible.
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The former Barney theater reopened in May 2021 as DreamWorks Destination, a DreamWorks Animation character experience in the same show building.
Sources conflict on the day: Orlando Informer gives May 28, 2021 and Wikipedia gives May 29, 2021, so the date is held at month precision. The Barney courtyard theming was removed. -
DreamWorks Destination opened in Woody Woodpecker's KidZone inside the former A Day in the Park with Barney theater as an indoor stage show and character experience featuring DreamWorks Animation characters.
Day-level date unresolved: Orlando Informer gives May 28, 2021; Wikipedia gives May 29, 2021. Recorded at month precision rather than picking between two secondary sources. -
Universal Orlando confirmed that A Day in the Park with Barney had permanently closed, ending a run of more than 25 years.
Universal's statement read: "Yes, A Day in the Park with Barney has permanently closed at Universal Studios Florida." Declining attendance over the years was cited alongside the pandemic. -
Three different character sets rotated on a circular stage in roughly 20-minute segments, drawing on Shrek, Trolls, Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar, with three themed photo opportunities available to guests.
20204 changes
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The show was pulled again on August 9, 2020 as a stated temporary closure alongside other lower-demand attractions, after which Barney met guests only at outdoor greetings.
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The show returned in June 2020 after Universal Studios Florida reopened to the public on June 5, 2020.
Sources fix the park's reopening at June 5, 2020 and the show's return to June 2020; the show's own first performance date is not separately documented, so the beat is held at month precision. -
The show went dark with the rest of Universal Studios Florida when the park closed for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Park-wide shutdown, not an attraction-specific closure; the show returned that June. -
The play area went dark with the park-wide COVID-19 shutdown, and its water play and ball factory stayed suspended after Universal Studios Florida reopened, remaining unavailable for more than a year and a half.
The March 2020 date is the park-wide shutdown, not a closure; the cited sources document that this attraction stayed suspended past the park's reopening and later returned.
19992 changes
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The playground stopped being part of the World Expo area and became part of the newly created Woody Woodpecker's KidZone.
Wikipedia's Fievel's Playland article gives 1999 for the move into KidZone; the Woody Woodpecker's KidZone article gives 1998 for the land's debut. Year-level only. -
The show's surroundings were rethemed from the park's Expo Center area into the newly created Woody Woodpecker's KidZone, where the theater remained for the rest of its run.
19983 changes
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Curious George Goes to Town opened as an interactive splash playground in Woody Woodpecker's KidZone at Universal Studios Florida, on ground previously occupied by a Psycho back lot set.
Sources agree on the year 1998; no finer opening date corroborated. Wikipedia's former-attractions list assigns the Bates Mansion Set site to Curious George, while the Curious George article says the Bates Motel Set site. -
The Bates Mansion Set closed and was removed from the back lot after eight years.
The former-attractions list supports the year 1998 but gives no month or day, so the date is held at year-only precision. -
The cleared mansion site was rebuilt the same year as the water play area Curious George Goes to Town.
Sources conflict on which Bates set Curious George replaced: its own article says the former Bates Motel Set site, while the former-attractions list assigns the motel-set ground to A Day in the Park with Barney and the mansion site to Curious George. Curious George Goes to Town itself closed January 15, 2023 and the ground became Po's Kung Fu Training Camp in DreamWorks Land on June 14, 2024.
19954 changes
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A Day in the Park with Barney opened on the former Bates Motel Set site later the same year, seeding the children's area that became Woody Woodpecker's KidZone.
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A Day in the Park with Barney opened at Universal Studios Florida in a purpose-built theater on the former Bates Motel set from Psycho IV: The Beginning.
Sing-along stage show with Barney, Baby Bop and BJ, exiting into the Barney's Backyard indoor play area in the same building. -
The Bates Motel Set was closed and demolished after five years.
The former-attractions list supports the year 1995 but gives no month or day, so the date is held at year-only precision. -
The companion Bates Motel Set closed and its site was cleared for A Day in the Park with Barney, leaving the mansion as the last Psycho set standing at the park.
A Day in the Park with Barney opened July 11, 1995 on the former motel-set site, which the sources date as occupied from 1990 to 1995.
19931 change
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During the 1993 Halloween Horror Nights, the number of haunted houses increased to three, with the third house located at the Bates Motel film set.
The cited source states the third house was at the Bates Motel set but does not identify which of that year's houses it was.
19922 changes
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Fievel's Playland opened in the World Expo area of Universal Studios Florida as a walk-through children's play area themed to An American Tail, with oversized Wild West props, rope-net bridges and a 30-foot spider web.
Wikipedia's Fievel's Playland article gives July 5, 1992. The park itself opened June 7, 1990; the June 1990 date belongs to An American Tail Theatre, not to the playland. Oversized-prop, rope-net and spider-web details are from Orlando Informer. -
The playland included Fievel's Water Slide, a 200-foot water slide that children could ride alone or share on a raft with an adult.
19904 changes
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The Bates Motel Set opened with Universal Studios Florida as a walk-through back lot set recreating the motel from the 1960 film Psycho.
Wikipedia's list of former Universal Studios Florida attractions gives the Bates Motel Set an opening date of June 7, 1990, the park's opening day, and places it in the back lot ground later occupied by Woody Woodpecker's KidZone and today's DreamWorks Land. -
The Bates Mansion Set opened with Universal Studios Florida as a walk-up back lot set recreating the Bates house from Psycho.
Wikipedia's former-attractions list places it in the World Expo area of the back lot, on ground later occupied by Woody Woodpecker's KidZone and today's DreamWorks Land. -
The mansion facade, built alongside the Bates Motel set, was used to film Psycho IV: The Beginning at the park from June 4 to July 1, 1990, with guests able to watch scenes being shot on the back lot.
The film's production section gives the shooting window as June 4 to July 1, 1990 and states that the facades of both the Bates Motel and the Bates mansion were re-created at the theme park. -
The set served as a filming location for Psycho IV: The Beginning, shot at the park from June 4 to July 1, 1990, with tourists able to watch several scenes being filmed at the motel and house on the back lot.
That's every change on the record in Dreamworks Land since 1990.
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