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Park News - (5/5/08) For you Mardi Gras fans, Orlando Rocks has posted a series of photos showing off the removal of the temporary Mardi Gras stage since they wont be bringing it back in quite the same way next year with the new Hollywood Rockit coming into the area.
  (4/16/08) Okay… one more update on the whole Soundstage 54 business. We’ve now been informed that the Time Train from Back To The Future 3 and one of the Delorean picture cars have now been placed outside the building. Perhaps the area will become the official Meet & Greet area for Doc Brown. Anyone have photos?
  (4/16/08) From what our sources tell us, the interior of the old Soundstage 54 building (Herc/Xena) had been fairly trashed over the last few years, especially following it's stint as a haunt in 2004. These days however, those with a reason to venture inside are seeing the place being cleaned up with newly added lighting and sheet-rock in place. I’m going to guess that the building is being fixed up as new office space for one of the various departments and we’ll leave it at that.
  (4/15/08) We’ve got an update about the Herc / Xena building (Soundstage 54) situation and it seems something is indeed going on, though the building itself may not be taken down. Apparently there has been quite a bit of work going on inside the old building and our sources tell us management types have been seen going in and out frequently of late. Meanwhile apparently some fairly new speakers (for park music I assume) have been installed to the outside of the building, which is also a good sign that the building will be staying for the time being. For years the building has mainly been used only by crew member for a number of roles after the shortly lived Herc / Xena attraction closed down. I believe that the last time guests were actually invited into the building was for one of the haunts during Halloween Horror Nights 14 (2004).
  (4/14/08) A Screamscape source tells us that they believe the park may be getting ready to demolish the old Herc / Xena building (formerly used for the Murder She Wrote attraction) in the near future. Could this be to make room for the new coaster or perhaps for something else entirely? Anyone know more?
  (2/4/08) IOA Central has posted over 200 new photos taken all over the park showing off everything from Simpsons, Disaster and Mardi Gras.
  (1/30/08) Today we’ve got a little more information about the Jaws rehab taking place. For the most part they are sprucing up the ride… repainting the boats, cleaning the lagoon, fixing up the tracks and sensors and fixing many of the effects that have broken down over the last year such as the “Chum Barrel” that dumps into the boat in the boathouse. Oh yes… it’s time for the sharks to get a little love as well. It’s not easy being shot at and blown up all day long, 365 days a year… so many of them will be fixed up (some motors, some new skins) and put back into fighting shape. As for some of those flame effects that went missing over the last year… those may actually stay out. From what we’ve been told… it’s not that they’re broken, it’s that the effect may just be too costly to run given the rising costs of various fuels lately. Plus Universal has started numerous new “green” initiatives, so some of those fire effects may just stay gone. Seems one of the only times when they do choose to use them are the times when the attraction is open after dark since it helps with the lighting. As for the new ending rumor… no one seems to know anything about it so it may be a bogus lead after all. We did come across one interesting fact however. Anyone who’s ridden the ride in past years may recall a certain “stink” effect at the end of the ride that has apparently gone missing as well in the past year. The effect didn’t break… it seems the company who supplied that particular scent effect apparently went out of businesses, so they’ve been unable to find a suitable replacement. How sad, that stink was so effective… and pungent.
  (1/29/08) Keeping in mind that you can’t just trust just anything you find on Wikipedia, a reader has pointed out an entry on the Universal Studios Florida page under Future Attractions, “Terminator 4-D: The Future Begins, a new version of the park’s original Terminator attraction, with updated themes and new water effects, will open in 2009.” I’m not sure how that got there, but I’m not buying into that at all myself and I think the writer may have gotten confused with the production of the actual Terminator 4 feature film called Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins which is also due in 2009. As for the reliability of Wikipedia edits, on the same page under the T2/3D headline it also claims the attraction is “one of the very few Universal rides that Universal itself has said shall stay to test the test of time and voyage on throughout the years until the park is closed.” Yeah… I don’t think that’s one is going to stick either. While I’m sure we’ll see T2/3D disappear someday, I’m not buying into the T-4D concept as a replacement.
  (1/28/08) While I don’t have anything to back this up yet, I’ve been hearing a strange rumor going around for the past month or so claiming that Terminator 2: 3-D may be the next attraction at Universal Studios to be updated into something new. Of course Universal may have their hands full for the next couple of years, so I don’t think T2 is going anywhere just yet, so consider this just a warning. Personally, I like T2/3D and I’d rather see Twister get the extreme makeover first, but that’s just me.
 

2008 - The Simpsons Ride - (5/13/08) More pictures from The Simpsons Ride has been posted to Theme Park Review. I’ve also been told that the park is looking for park guests to be part of a studio audience early Thursday morning around 5:45am or so to be part of Al Roker’s segment. If your interested you can contact Universal here with your name and the number of people in your group for consideration.
  (5/13/08) Just a reminder that The Simpsons Ride will hold it’s grand opening ceremony this Thursday, May 15th at 10am. While close up access will be reserved for the various media, apparently everyone in the park is invited over to see the ceremony event and the ride will be up and running until around 5:30pm.
  (5/5/08) According to a Screamscape source, The Simpsons Ride apparently has started running both domes over the weekend, doubling the ride’s capacity. You can also view an official preview video for the new ride below that contains a bit of Krusty’s intro video as well as a brief video clip of an early portion of the ride.

  (5/2/08) Even though The Simpsons Ride has been soft opening for days now the official Passholder preview for the ride is said to