Universal Studios Florida - History

Timeline

1986: Land clearing takes place on the swamp land purchased by MCA/Universal which will hold the Florida park.
1987: Universal Studios Florida is announced at a press conference on the Hollywood property, with a planned opening date of December 1989.
1988: Universal Studios Florida's opening date is delayed from December, 1989 to May 1, 1990. Shortly following, MCA/Universal releases a video detailing the future park, which stars Christopher Lloyd as the Universal character Doc Brown interacting with the various attractions at the Florida park.
Mid 1988: Universal Studios allows guests to witness the production of television shows and motion pictures in the Florida park's soundstages, while the rest of the studio/park is still under construction.
1989: MCA/Universal Studios claims that The Walt Disney Company and it's CEO, Michael Eisner copied several concepts of the Universal Studios Florida park, and integrated them into Disney's recently opened Disney/MGM Studios park.
January 31, 1990: Universal Studios Florida's opening date is again delayed from May 1, 1990 to June 7, 1990.
Late May 1990: Universal Studios Florida begins soft openings for the general public. Many of the park's attractions are not yet open at the time, and still under testing.
June 7, 1990: Universal Studios Florida is officially opened with a grand opening style ceremony. The park opens with five themed areas: The Front Lot (entrance area), Production Central, New York, San Francisco/Amity, Expo Center, Hollywood as well as a Lagoon located in the center of the park. The Front Lot and Production Central areas are referred to as "In Production", the New York section is referred to as "Now Shooting", the San Francisco and Amity sections are referredto as "On Location" and the Expo Center area is referred to as "The World of CineMagic Center". Nickelodeon Studios also opened on this day where there was a grand opening ceremony hosted by Marc Summers.
Summer 1990: Due to massive technical problems with the original Kongfrontation, Earthquake: The Big One and Jaws rides, Universal begins a temporary voucher service to allow guests to re-visit the studio/park when the attractions are operating.
September 30, 1990: Jaws is temporarily closed by Universal due to persistent major technical problems. During the shut-down, Universal sues the original designer of the Jaws ride, Ride & Show Engineering, and hires Totally Fun Company to create a re-designed version of most of the ride.
Spring 1991: Universal adds four new attractions to the park: The Blues Brothers Show, StreetBusters, The Screen Test Home Video Adventure and How to Make a Mega Movie Deal.
May 2, 1991: Back to the Future: The Ride officially opens in the World Expo Center area of the park, in a grand opening ceremony. The ride is considered to be a success, and receives positive reception from theme park critics.
October 1991: Fright Nights debuts at the park. In 1992, it is renamed to Halloween Horror Nights.
Summer 1993: Jaws is re-opened, with many scenes altered.
1993, September 16: MCA/Universal announces plans to expand Universal Studios Florida into the Universal City, Florida resort complex, including a second theme park and multiple hotels.
July 10, 1995: A Day in the Park with Barney opens in the World Expo area.
Fall 1995: The Production Studio Tour is closed due to a dwindle in the studios' recent Film/TV production.
April 27, 1996: Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time opens in the Hollywood area.
February 1997: Universal announces that Ghostbusters Spooktacular will be replaced by Twister...Ride it Out, with a planned opening date of Spring 1998
Spring 1997: Universal Studios announces that the sole Studio park will be expanded into the Universal Studios Escape, including the Islands of Adventure park, Universal CityWalk Orlando and multiple hotels.
May 1997: The Islands of Adventure Preview Center opens in the New York area, replacing The Screen Test Home Video Adventure. It is meant to give guests a preview of the up-coming Islands of Adventure park, as well as expansion of the Studio park into the Universal Studios Escape resort.
1998: The expansion begins as the original open parking lot for Universal Studios Florida is demolished and replaced by CityWalk and a parking garage complex.
February 1998: Universal delays the opening of Twister...Ride it Out from March, 1998 to May 4, 1998 out of respect for the 42 deaths caused by a recent El Nino outbreak of tornadoes in the central Florida area.
May 4, 1998: Twister...Ride it Out opens in the New York area, replacing Ghostbusters Spooktacular.
Summer 1998: A new area of the park, Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone, is officially opened, holding the attractions Curious George Goes to Town, StarToons and the previously opened Fievel's Playland, E.T. Adventure, Animal Actors Stage and A Day in the Park with Barney; CityWalk opens outside of the park.
Spring 1999: Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster opens in the Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone area.
May 28, 1999: Islands of Adventure opens next door to Universal Studios Florida.
April 4, 2000: Men in Black: Alien Attack opens in the World Expo area, on the former site of The Swamp Thing Set.
Summer 2001: Animal Planet Live opens, replacing Animal Actors Stage.
Spring 2002: Universal Studios Escape is renamed Universal Orlando Resort.
September 8, 2002: Kongfrontation closes in a closing ceremony. The loss of the attraction causes much controversy among fans of the park.
October 2002: Halloween Horror Nights is moved to Islands of Adventure.
December 2002: Macy's Holiday Parade debuts at the park.
April 11, 2003: Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast opens, replacing The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.
June 12, 2003: Shrek 4-D opens with Donkey's Photo Finish, replacing Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies and Stage 54 respectively.
May 25, 2004: Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride opens, replacing Kongfrontation.
October 2004: Halloween Horror Nights takes place in both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.
Spring 2005: Universal Express Plus is introduced, replacing Universal Express.
May 2005: Fear Factor Live opens, replacing The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show.
Spring 2006: Delancey Street Preview Center opens in the New York area.
July 4, 2006: Universal 360: A Cinesphere Spectacular opens, replacing Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular.
Fall 2006: Animal Planet Live is closed, and replaced by Animal Actors on Location.
October 2006: Halloween Horror Nights returns to Universal Studios Florida for its "Sweet 16".
March 30, 2007: Back to the Future: The Ride closes. The closure of the attraction becomes the second most notable retirement in the park's history after Kongfrontation.
June 6, 2007: Blue Man Group Sharp Aquos Theatre opens in CityWalk, replacing Nickelodeon Studios.
January 17, 2008: Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You! opens, replacing Earthquake: The Big One.
Spring 2008: Universal announces Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, with a planned opening of Spring 2009.
May 15, 2008: The Simpsons Ride opens, replacing Back to the Future: The Ride.
February 21, 2009: The Universal Music Plaza Stage opens, replacing The Boneyard.
August 19, 2009: Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit opens.
October 2010: The 20th anniversary of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida.
December 2011: The 10th anniversary of Macy's Holiday Parade at the park.
January 2, 2012: Jaws and the surrounding Amity themed area closes, as announced on December 2, 2011. The closure of the attraction becomes the third notable retirement in the park's history after Kongfrontation and Back to the Future: The Ride.
January 25, 2012: Universal announces the additions of Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories and Universal's Superstar Parade to the park, with openings on May 8, 2012.
May 28, 2012: The new SpongeBob store, SpongeBob StorePants opens in Woody Woodpecker's KidZone replacing the Universal Cartoon Store.
July 2, 2012: Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, opens replacing Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast; as announced on March 14, 2011 as "...one of many exciting things planned for the next couple of years".
November 1, 2012: Universal Orlando Resort announced Transformers: The Ride will officially open in the summer of 2013, replacing Soundstages 44 and 54, which were demolished on June 24, 2012.