I recently finished my model of Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem at Universal Studios Hollywood. The ride opened on April 12, 2014. This simulator opened in 2012 at Universal Studios Florida, and was a remodel of the former Jimmy Neutron and Hanna Barbara simulators. They used the same ride vehicles from 1990. The Hollywood version replaced the fantastic Terminator 2:3D show, this means our version didn’t have an existing ride system. It closed on December 31, 2012. The show building was gutted down to the steel frame and new rooms and walls were constructed to house the attraction. The adjacent Coke Soak water play area was also closed. This became a staging area during the construction phase. Around summer of 2013, progress on Super Silly Fun Land began. This area contains a spinner ride, playground, a water play area, and carnival games. There are many statues of the lovable minions around the mini-land. The ride also has a new restaurant called Gru’s Lab Cafe. It replaced the rarely opened Cyber Grill. The ride is a motion simulator attraction. There are two independent operating sides. Each theater has 12 cars, 3 in the front, 4 in the middle, and 5 in the back. The cars have two rows of four guest. The ride system was custom built by Intamin. The spinner is called Silly Swirly and was built by Zamperla. The Creative Director was Universal’s Mike West and the Project Director was Jon Corfino.

My model began construction on March 29. This model features hand drawn facades. That allowed me to work on my model for a few minutes at a time inside my house. I also built the playground and ride vehicles out of foam blocks. A thick card stock was used to build the removable roof panels. The roof come off in four sections. Universal Creative is still adding in more elements to the water playground and Super Silly Fun Land, which I’ll add in once that area opens to the public.

This is my most detailed model so far and was built in record time. I’m currently planning a model of the Mystery Island Banana Train from the long gone Pacific Ocean Park. You can follow my progress of this and all my models on Facebook and Twitter.