Weird Things That Used to Be at Universal Orlando

Universal Orlando has given us many great rides, attractions, and experiences over the years. However, that doesn’t mean that a few oddities haven’t been put out over the years. Some can still be found in the park today!

Quite a few changes have been made since the park’s opening day. Many things that may have seemed completely normal back in the day may be very odd and even shocking to us now. We’re going to dive into Universal Orlando’s past and dig up some weird things that used to be at the park.

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Visible Movie & TV Sets

When Universal Studios Florida first opened, it was a common location for filming. There were even visible, functioning television and movie sets right on property.

One of these sets was a wooded area full of unkempt trees and bushes. This location was used for the filming of Swamp Thing: The Series. The TV show first aired in 1990 and ran for three seasons. MEN IN BLACK: Alien Attack now sits where the Swamp Things set used to be.

Other sets that could be seen at Universal Studios Florida were the Bates Motel and the Bates house. These sets were used for the filming of Psycho IV: The Beginning. After filming, these sets were demolished to make way for multiple kiddie areas. Today, this is the location for DreamWorks Land.

Universal Studios Florida opened with a Production Studio Tour, which was similar to the Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood. Guests who went on the tour were able to get great views of these sets, learn fun facts, and get behind-the-scenes information about different movies and television shows.

Before Mario, There Was Crash Bandicoot

In the early days of Universal Studios Florida, there were quite a few rare character meet and greets that may seem odd to us now. While most of the characters came from Universal produced movies and TV shows, one came from a video game – Crash Bandicoot.

Even though Crash was a video game character, he did still fall under the Universal umbrella. The Crash Bandicoot games were originally produced by Universal Interactive, which was later known as Vivendi Games. The first game was released in 1996 and was extremely popular. The following year, a Crash Bandicoot TV series was also released by Sony Pictures Imageworks and Universal Animation Studios.

When looking back, it may seem like Crash was a random and strange meet and greet choice. However, he was actually a perfect addition to Universal Studios in the late 90’s!

The Boneyard

In the world of filmmaking, there are pieces of land known as boneyards. Boneyards are open-aired areas where props are kept. Generally, these props are ones that aren’t going to be used in the near future, are too large for a regular storage facility, or may someday be salvaged for a future film or television series.

From June 7th, 1990 to September 8th, 2008, there was a boneyard in the middle of Universal Studios Florida. For some perspective, it was located in the area where Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit and the Universal Music Plaza Stage are now located.

The Boneyard included items such as a shark from Jaws IV, character sculptures from The Land Before Time, the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, and a Jeep from Jurassic Park. A sign stood by each prop to let Guests know what it was used in. However, if Guests wanted to learn more about the items in The Boneyard, they could do so on the Production Studio Tour.

The Boneyard was also used as the site for a haunted house during the fourth Halloween Horror Nights. The house, which was also called The Boneyard, was themed to an insane asylum that had recently been evacuated. However, a few of the inmates still remained. This was the only year that the area was used for a haunted house.

In 2002, the props were removed and the area was used for various holiday necessities. It was often used as Halloween Horror Nights queue areas, concert venues, and a place where parade floats were put on display, before officially closing in 2008.

Barney & Friends

In 1995, Barney the purple dinosaur made his way into Universal Studios Florida. Since Universal actively tried to include popular IPs in the park, it’s not necessarily weird that Barney was added. It was a great way to try to appeal to the younger crowd. Nevertheless, it may be a surprising, lesser-known fact that Barney used to be a part of Universal Studios Florida. As a 90’s baby who was obsessed with the Barney & Friends show, I would have personally loved to have visited this area when I was younger.

There were two different experiences that were available – A Day in the Park with Barney and Barney’s Backyard. A Day in the Park with Barney was a live, musical show that featured Barney, Baby Bop, and BJ. When the show was finished, everyone gathered in Barney’s Backyard, which was a play area as well as where Barney would come out for meet and greets.

Barney remained in Universal Studios Florida until 2020, when the attraction shut down due to Covid-19. Afterwards, it never reopened and was officially announced permanently closed in 2021. Today, the area is home to DreamWorks Destination.

Nickelodeon Studio

The 90’s were a great time for Nickelodeon. With shows like Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, Doug, The Amanda Show, Kenan & Kel, CatDog, and more, it was easily one of the lead runners in the children’s entertainment industry.

On June 7th, 1990, the opening day of Universal Studios Florida, Nickelodeon Studios opened on property as well. While this was considered an attraction, it was an actual production studio where television shows were taped. Guests of Universal Studios were able to go, watch, and even take part in the shows. Some notable shows that were filmed at the studio were Double Dare, Nickelodeon Guts, Figure It Out, and Slime Time Live.

While visiting a production studio and taking part in the shows may seem like a fun part of a theme park day, it’s not something that any of us would expect to see at the parks today.

Fear Factor Live

Do you remember the show Fear Factor? The show that had contestants go up against each other and take part in insane competitions that were both physically and mentally challenging? Fear Factor first aired on television in 2001. Just four years later, it came to Universal Studios Florida as an attraction.

Similarly to the TV show, Fear Factor Live took a number of volunteer audience members and had them do a series of stunts and challenges. Some of these stunts included climbing on a suspended car, doing an endurance hang from an elevated bar, reaching into a tank full of eels, and drinking a mixture of meat, sour milk, sea food, and insects.

It’s crazy to think that an attraction like this used to exist at the park. While the attraction didn’t last long at Universal Studios Florida’s sister park, Universal Studios Hollywood, where it was only open for 3 years, it remained open in Orlando until 2020, when it shut down due to Covid-19.

Beetlejuice Rock and Roll Graveyard Musical Revue

In May of 1992, a live show debuted at Universal Studios Florida, called Beetlejuice’s Rock and Roll Graveyard Revue. The show featured Beetlejuice as well as other classic monsters such as Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, Wolf Man, the Bride of Frankenstein, and the Phantom of the Opera. Over the years, the show had a number of different versions, acquired a variety of different monsters, and went through multiple musical changes. The Graveyard Revue combined Beetlejuice’s comical twist with hit tunes, dancing, and fun-filled entertainment.

This show may not be something that we find odd for Beetlejuice. Plus, classic monsters at Universal Studios is very common. The weirdness comes when you combine the two, give the monsters rock and roll makeovers, and hand Frankenstein’s monster a guitar. While the show may be a weird concept, it remained at the park until January of 2016. The show closed along with Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride Starring… YOU to make way for Fast & Furious Supercharged.

E.T. Adventure

E.T. Adventure is the only opening day attraction that’s left at Universal Studios Florida. This reason alone is why so many Universal Guests treasure it so dearly.

Even as an undeniable classic, it seems like an odd attraction to have at the park today. While it is very nostalgic, it doesn’t seem to fit in with the current Universal Orlando.

The ride itself is very outdated and is themed to a movie that isn’t well known among the younger generations. For anyone who doesn’t know the movie, it can seem like a crazy and weird fever dream of an attraction.

Toon Lagoon

Similarly to E.T. Adventure, Toon Lagoon is an area of Universal Orlando that’s simply outdated and doesn’t fit in well with the current parks’ theming. It seems like the cartoons that are featured at Toon Lagoon would have been nostalgic for Guests who were visiting the park back when it first opened. Now, in 2025, we have to wonder why it’s still around.

Toon Lagoon features rides, stores, meet and greets, and dining locations that are all themed around classic comic strip characters. You know.. comic strips.. Which are in newspapers. Today, most people get their news delivered to them right in their hand through their mobile device. Comic strips aren’t something that most people keep up with these days.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The land is very cute and themed incredibly well. It just seems odd that Universal has chosen to stick with this specific theming for so long. Especially when they don’t usually hesitate to update the park with the most current and popular IPs.