The Making of Men in Black: Alien Attack at Universal Studios Florida

Ride the Movies

“Ride the movies”: That was the spirit of Universal Studios Florida when it opened in 1990, but its star-studded premiere was more of a blunder than a blockbuster.

On its first day, many of the park’s headlining rides experienced downtime due to technical difficulties—attractions like Earthquake: The Big One, Kongfrontation, and JAWS. In fact, JAWS closed for a complete overhaul after just two troublesome months. The highly anticipated Back to the Future: The Ride missed the park’s opening, being delayed until its sophomore year.

In time, Universal Studios Florida bounced back. The park sorted out a good deal of its technical holdups, also reopening the upgraded JAWS attraction in 1993.

At this point, Universal Orlando had moved on from its opening-day obstacles and was preparing to usher in its next generation of attractions. In 1996, Universal Orlando opened a heart-pounding stage show, T2-3D, but more was on the horizon. Behind the scenes, work had already begun on the park’s first new ride since opening.

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Jurassic Thing

As early as 1992, rumblings suggested Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park could be adapted into an attraction at Universal Studios Florida. The Orlando Sentinel reported that the movie theme park had plans to unleash its Jurassic Park attraction by 1996.

The dinosaur-themed ride would take over the plot of land in the back of the park between The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show and Back to the Future: The Ride. A section of this site was the former set of Swamp Thing, a 1990 TV series, but it was now earmarked for the Jurassic Park ride.

Meanwhile, Universal Orlando was also developing a second theme park next door to the existing Universal Studios Florida. The second gate was far along into the design process until a major licensor withdrew from the project. Without this partner, Universal Orlando’s second park had to be almost entirely reimagined. Universal went back to the drawing board to find replacement ideas and intellectual properties for its unbuilt park. However, the ideas couldn’t be ordinary—they had to be popular IPs that would draw in large crowds.

Thankfully, Universal already had a chartbusting franchise lined up: Jurassic Park. The 1993 masterpiece was a smash success as the highest-grossing film of Spielberg’s illustrious career, making it the perfect IP to top the bill of Universal Orlando’s newest park.

Universal Orlando uprooted its plans for a Jurassic Park ride—and ultimately an entire land—to its second gate, Islands of Adventure.

Reimagining a USF Expansion

By relocating the Jurassic Park ride next door, the expansion plans for the unused Swamp Thing set at Universal Studios Florida were back to square one.

The purpose for the ride was to keep the existing Universal Studios Florida park relevant once the brand-new Islands of Adventure opened. Universal Orlando was undergoing a major transformation from a standalone theme park into a multi-day destination with hotels, an entertainment district, and a second gate. Executives wanted to keep Universal Studios Florida fresh by rolling out an exciting ride shortly after the debut of Islands of Adventure. The expansion could balance interest and attendance between the two parks.

Around 1995, MCA Planning and Development—now known as Universal Creative—brainstormed new ride concepts for the expansion plot in Universal Studios Florida.