We’re getting closer to having free rein in Minion Land, the new, very, very yellow area of Universal Studios theme park. Several storefronts have entered a “soft opening” phase, including the banana-happy Minion Cafe.

Not ready yet is Villain-Con Minion Blast, the centerpiece attraction that Universal Orlando says will open sometime this summer.

All of this spins off the little overall-wearing, goggle-equipped, big-eyed beings first seen in the 2010 film “Despicable Me.” The park opened Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, a simulator attraction in 2012.

Mellow yellow

To no one’s surprise, Minion Cafe’s signature color is yellow. It’s not quite a blinding yellow, but a little goes a long way. Imagine how far a lot goes.

This is especially true in the first room inside, which has yellow walls, tables, chairs, floor trim, pipes, team-member shirts, centerpiece sculpture / contraption and an assortment of appliances (microwave, coffeemaker, mixer, many more).

It could have been even more yellow. A running visual gag indicates the paint job isn’t complete.

Other rooms of the dining area are toned down but still themed. There’s a break room for the minions that work in Minion Cafe, and art pieces in other rooms. You don’t have to look far with humor. An inspirational poster parody in the break room says “COLLABORATION: Share the credit not the work.”

Big pipes run between rooms (and to the patio) and sometimes you can see the contents, including bananas and bills.

Order up

At least during this soft-opening period, folks line up at the door for seating. The food is brought to your table after it’s ordered through Universal Orlando’s mobile app. Payment is made there too. (A team member said going to the register is the last resort but available.)

Food prep doesn’t begin until your table number is assigned to the order. On my first visit the wait to get in Minion Cafe was about 12 minutes and the wait for the food at the table was about 12 minutes. It’s good use of time to browse the menu and make decisions in the app whilst in the queue.

Be careful to order from Minion Cafe and not the walk-up “to go” window, which is a different line.

A sanity-saving tip: Set up mobile order accounts at home. No one likes to punch in credit card info when they’re hangry.

Going beyond bananas

Banana is a recurring theme but doesn’t overwhelm the menu. The items revolve around the film characters and puns.

There’s a selection of “Despica-Bowls,” including Kevin’s chopa chopa salad (there are green banana chips involved) and Lucy’s top secret salmon. I had the steak and cheese ray sandwich with a side of minion tots, which are shaped like minions in a waffle sort of way. (Total tot count: 5).

For dessert I bought into the banana bit with a Minion Swiss roll (sweet and solid), which has a chocolate-shelled “banana” with a passion-fruit filling.

Also splashy was the PX-41 punch, a watermelon-strawberry-kiwi mixture topped with Pop Rocks. Another special drink, dubbed the Antidote, is said to taste like banana-cream pie.

Also open

Folks are lining up for banana popcorn from Pop-a-nana, a kiosk in the corner of the block that basically stands where the old rotating monster statues were. (There’s a minion car popcorn container for sale now too). Visitors are buying Freeze Ray Pops – flavors ranging from cotton candy to Nutella to blue banana – from another counter and browsing inside Bake My Day, which has cupcakes and other sweets and a lot of merchandise too, much of it unicorn-themed.

All of those stops are within the block that used to be Monsters Cafe. Evil Stuff, stocked with villainous merchandise, has also been open in conjunction with Minion Blast, which will be in the former Shrek 4-D building.

Meet and greet me

Between those two blocks, the street has been reopened, and that’s the home of Illumination Theater, a new setting for character meet and greets.

Minions and “Sing” characters make grand entrances from behind doors and onto a red carpet below a marquee. A velvet rope keeps passers-by separated from folks who are queued up for photo ops.

There are Minion movie soundtracks playing (Minions singing “Y.M.C.A.” and “I Swear”), and there’s lots of dancing in the street which adds to merriment. The new location is fairly close to the photo spot for Transformers, which is odd. But we’ll call it dramatic contrast and move along.

Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.