Navigating Through New York at Universal

A guide through New York at Universal Studios Florida.

## Background

The New York area is located in Universal Studios Florida, not to be confused with New York the state or city. This area is modeled after New York City and a lot of buildings and locations in this area all resemble parts of the real New York. The entire area is home to 2 attractions, 1 show, 5 shops, and 5 food locations. This part of the park has a lot of hidden gems and photo opportunities.

## Location and Description

When walking into the park, you walk straight into Production Central, which is an another area of

   the park. You have to keep walking on the main road and walk through Production Central. When you walk past the Music Plaza in Production Central, you start to see the buildings of New York. This area has some facade buildings and landmarks that exist in the real New York City such as the NBC Studios building, Battery Park, Gramercy Park, and the New York Public Library. The streets range from brickstone to pavement with cracks so tripping can happen when you least expect it. The San

    Francisco area is located next to New York. Since there are streets and facade buildings there are a lot of things to see, during Halloween Horror Nights this area is usually used as a scare zone so a lot of scare actors have the opportunity to scare you in a larger area.

## Attraction

* **Revenge of the Mummy -** located in front of Finnegan’s Bar & Grill. The entrance to this ride looks like a fancy movie theater entrance. The name of the ride is on a museum facade with big

     columns. In order to ride you need all your loose articles and belongings to go in a free locker that’s located across from the entrance. This roller coaster is definitely not for the squeemish. You can’t see it from the outside, but this is a big roller coaster that goes fast and can be very dark. If you’re afraid of heights this might not be bad because you can never see how high up you are, but if you are prone to motion sickness or don’t like being in the dark at all it’s not suggested. Since the ride is indoors it isn’t affected by bad weather. It is a very popular ride and can have high wait times during the busy seasons.
* **Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon** - located next to the Music Plaza and neighboring Revenge of the Mummy. This attraction is where Twister: Ride it Out used to be.

     This ride is the first to be built with “Virtual Line” built into the queue. You first have to reserve a time to enter the attraction either through the Univeral mobile app or through the kiosks that are located at the ride. When your reservation time comes are able to enter the queue. There is no physical queue, just rooms you are able to freely walk through. This is a simulated 3D motion ride, not a roller coaster. If you’re prone to motion sickness it might affect you.

## Shows

* **The Blue’s Brothers Show** - located on the corner of the street, across from Palace Theater Arcade and next to Auntie Anne’s. Jake and Elwood, the Blue’s Brothers, perform some of their favorite jazz songs. This show is located outside without cover, if there is bad weather it might be postponed. There is no seats since it is performed on the street.
* **Marilyn & the Diamond Bellas** - located in front of Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon and Revenge of the Mummy. During this show, Marilyn Monroe makes an appearance and performs a few songs with her Diamond Bellas. There is some audience participation during the show. This show is located outside without cover, if there is bad weather it might be postponed. There is no seats since it is performed on the street.
* **Sing it!** - located where Marilyn & the Diamond Bellas usually performs. This show is very unique because you don’t even realize it’s a show. A few people dressed in regular clothes start making singing acapella and then they group together to start the show. This show is located outside without cover, if there is bad weather it might be postponed. There is no seats since it is performed on the street.

You can find show times for these shows here: https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/plan-your-visit/hours-information/show-times/index.html#show-times-usf

## Shops

* **Sahara Traders** - located at the exit of Revenge of the Mummy and across the street from Auntie Anne’s. This store is very unique and has a lot of Egyptian themed merchandise. The store also has unique treats with bugs in it and clothes that can only be found here.
* **The Tonight Shop -** located at the exit of Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon. This store offers a lot of Tonight Show and NBC merchandise that can typically only be found in New York City. They also have soda on sale and clothes for small children and adults. If you have a child who might need a change of clothes you can definitely stop by here. On the side of the shop facing the Music Plaza to the right, is the bathrooms for men, women and a family room.
* **Park Plaza Holiday Shop** - located on the corner of the street, across from The Film Vault.

    This store sells christmas ornaments all year round. It includes various ornaments from characters that can be seen throughout the park and customizable ornaments with the year you’re visiting.
* **The Film Vault** - located in the corner of the street, across from the entrance to Transformers: The Ride 3D. This store sells all sorts of memorabilia and collectables from classic Universal movies. You can find merchandise from movies like Back to the Future, Jaws, Classic monster movies, and
* **Rosie's Irish Shop -** located next to Palace Theater Arcade and across from Louie’s Italian Restaurant. This location has a lot of Irish clothing and merchandise. If you or your family is of Irish decent they even have family crests.

## Food

* **Auntie Anne’s** - located at the corner of the building, next to the Blue’s Brothers stage and the entrance to Revenge of the Mummy. Here you can buy pretzels and beverages. The pretzels can also come cinnamon flavored. There are no seats nearby this location so you would have to walk up to the cashier to ask for your order and they would give it to you.
* **Starbucks** - located on the corner of the building, across from Louie’s Italian Restaurant and next to

    Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. Here you can buy coffee, and small meals that go well with coffee like croissants and small sandwiches. This location is indoors and air conditioned. It has some seats inside where you can drink your coffee or eat your meal.
* **Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream** - located in front of The Palace Theater Arcade and next to Auntie Anne’s. Here you can buy ice cream from the Ben & Jerry’s company. They even have the exclusive ice cream from the Tonight Show, “Tonight Dough”. The location is indoors and has seats. It is very cold in here, especially with all the ice cream so prepare to feel it when you enter.
* **Finnegan’s Bar & Grill** - located across the street from Revenge of the Mummy. This location is a good place to get a meal or stop for an alcoholic beverage. There is one entrance and it can take you to the bar or the sit down restaurant area. There are a few exclusive drinks that you can get here.
* **Louie’s Italian Restaurant** - located across the street from Starbucks. This location serves pizza and Italian food. This location also has places to sit and is air conditioned. You can also eat outside in the patio areas.

## Other things to keep in mind

* **Palace Theater Arcade** - located next to Sahara Traders with another entrance across from Louie’s Italian Restaurant. Here you can play arcade games and win prizes. This whole location is air conditioned but doesn’t have seats to wait for those playing games. In order to play you’d have to convert some American dollars into change so it can be accepted at the machines.
* **Rock climbing -**  in between Palace Theater Arcade and Rosie’s Irish Shop is an opening to a rock climbing game children can play. You get to scale the side of the building, safety harness and other equipment is provided. You’d have to pay a small fee to participate.
* **SuperStar Parade** - throughout the New York area, the SuperStar Parade passes through a majority of the area. This parade usually happens daily and you can view it in the New York area. When the parade passes, all the roads it has to pass through close down to make way for the parade floats. So you can’t cross the street, you’d have to find an alternative route. Once they pass through the street returns to normal. The parade usually doesn’t last that long so waiting for it to pass is sometimes the best option.