Things To Do In SW Florida

Minion Land will open officially to the public at Universal Studios theme park on Aug. 11, Universal Orlando announced Monday.

Portions of the area have been open or in technical rehearsals for a few weeks.  Visitors have had some availability to Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast attraction, the centerpiece of the land, which is near the entrance of the theme park and across the street from the existing Despicable Me Minion Mayhem attraction.

Minion Land also includes Minion Cafe, which stands on the basic footprint of the former Universal Classic Monsters Cafe. Other new aspects include Bake My Day, which features sweets; Pop-A-Nana, which sells banana-flavored popcorn; Freeze-Ray Pops with frozen treats; Evil Stuff retail store, built into the exit of Minion Blast; and Illumination Theater, a facade that serves as a backdrop for a meet-and-greet for characters from “Despicable Me” and “Sing.”

Universal: All Halloween Horror Nights houses, scare zones announced

Minion Blast, which takes over the space formerly held by the Shrek 4-D attraction, puts participants on a moving sidewalk with a handheld blaster to aim at on-screen targets as they glide by. It’s themed to the “Vicious 6” villains seen in “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” a 2022 animated film. read more

Two lawsuits entangling Florida and the Walt Disney Co. are still on track after a judge denied a motion to dismiss one of them from state court.

The judge’s decision on Friday kept alive a lawsuit brought by the state against Disney’s efforts to neutralize Gov. Ron DeSantis’ takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, Disney World’s governing body.

It’s one of two lawsuits stemming from the takeover, which came after the company’s public opposition to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law championed by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers. The other in federal court has Disney accusing DeSantis of violating the company’s First Amendment free speech rights.

The governor has touted his yearlong feud with Disney in his run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, often accusing the entertainment giant of being too “woke.”

Attorneys for Disney had argued that any decision in state court would be moot since the Republican-controlled Legislature already has passed a law voiding agreements that the company made with a prior governing board made up of Disney supporters that gave design and construction powers to the company. read more