Universal Studios: Hard Rock Demolition Complete (1)

Universal Studios Florida is receiving a lot of attention at this moment. A new nighttime show is rumored to be coming to the park, the new Despicable Me ride is currently under construction, the old Hard Rock Cafe' has been completely demolished, and another brand-new ride could be built in its place.

Phew! That's a lot of things happening all at once, right? Well, let's not waste any more time, and let's start this new Universal Studios update, taking a look at the recently refurbished Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit:

The track itself has not been touched in this refurbishment, but it looks good:

A close look at the emergency staircase:

Work continues at the location of the new Despicable Me ride:

All the new LCD televisions have been removed:

Also, the entrance is being completely rebuilt:

The side of the building:

The minions were meeting guests right next to the Universal Studios Store:

Soundstage 4-D is still without the big, themed billboards with Shrek, Fiona and Dragon. We were wondering if it would return or not. If not, it's not a big deal. They weren't classified as true theming, in my opinion:

A look at the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit's queue line:

The Street Breakz were drawing a huge crowd in their new location. When they were near M.I.B., they were popular too, but not as much:

In the New York City area, the bus booth is still missing:

The central lagoon is now barge-less, but not for long...

Indeed, the former barges of Universal's not-so-brilliant nighttime show, Universal 360, are now being re-purposed into much larger barges. What will be their function? That's still unknown, for now:

A small area near Richter's Burgers is walled-off:

It looks like a sign is missing in this tower:

Stage 44, as empty as it can be:

The old queue line was removed some months ago, but no other work seem to have been done, which is very sad, since the building has sat empty for many years:




You can clearly see that they've removed the railings of the queue line:

A lot of new benches were placed:

Also, the old photo-spot is not back yet:

And this is all for part. 1. Please, proceed to PART 2 for many more photos! Thank you.