Last month, Orlando Park Stop’s Alicia Stella posted an in-depth article about a possible Legend of Zelda ride concept which could possibly replace Lost Continent in Universal’s Islands of Adventure.
In the article, Stella discusses a variety of topics including: Super Nintendo World, patents, and the Zelda ride concept itself. Interesting excepts from Stella’s article can be found below, you can read her article in full here.
Universal’s initial plan for Nintendo-based theme park land (aka Super Nintendo World) potentially could have included a number of the video game company’s properties:
“…Designed to fit into the KidZone (Woody Woodpecker Kidzone) area of Universal Studios Florida, the original concept presented to Nintendo before they had even secured the theme park rights featured a large indoor Mario Kart attraction, an outdoor coaster based on Donkey Kong, play areas and kiddie rides based on properties like Kirby, a Pokemon Training Academy, and a Legend of Zelda area with a Hyrule Castle show.”
Alicia Stella, Orlando Park Stop
At First, Super Nintendo World would be a land in Universal Orlando’s new theme park, Universal’s Epic Universe. However, according to Stella, plans were started for additional Nintendo-based theme park lands in Universal Orlando’s two existing theme parks – Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure:
“In an effort to create Nintendo worlds in ALL of their theme parks, plans were started for additional lands in the two existing Orlando theme parks. Universal had seen success in opening additional Wizarding World lands and they wanted to be ready to expand their Nintendo offerings if the first land proved to be a success as well. Pokémon was considered to replace KidZone in Universal Studios Florida.
Alicia Stella, Orlando Park Stop
That being said, one of the concepts that was being discussed was a Legend of Zelda-based theme park land that would replace Lost Continent in Islands of Adventure:
“This re-do of the rest of Lost Continent would likely retain some existing structures, like bathrooms and back of house support. Most notably though, the Mythos restaurant would remain, although rethemed. The new land may even have repurposed some elements from Sindbad’s Market as well.”
Alicia Stella, Orlando Park Stop
Stella suggests that both of the attractions would be removed to create an “all new boat ride” based upon the Legend of Zelda video game series:
“This would include the now unused theater that previously held the Eighth Voyage of Sindbad stunt show, and the Poseidon’s Fury walk-through attraction, (which is currently temporarily closed due to the pandemic).
Alicia Stella, Orlando Park Stop
Even though concept art for this possible Zelda ride has yet to emerge online, a patent for the ride technology that this attraction would use has emerged. The technology that this attraction would use has been dubbed, “Hybrid Ride Vehicle Systems and Methods.” You can find out more about the ride system below:
“a ride vehicle configured to move along a path, an aquatic portion of the path defined by a water flow path, and an aerial portion of the path defined by a track configured to support a bogie. The ride vehicle is configured to freely float and move along the water flow path in response to currents of the water flow path. The ride vehicle is configured to be carried along the track by the bogie.”
A brief overview of the Zelda ride concept, produced by Stella, can be read below:
“This unique attraction would start out as a regular boat ride, with our boat free-floating down the ride path, similar to the many boat rides found at Walt Disney World, like Pirates of the Caribbean or It’s a Small World. But then, about halfway through, our boat would be picked up by a track system above our heads, offering us a flying adventure over Hyrule Kingdom for the second half of the ride.”
Alicia Stella, Orlando Park Stop
From this point on, we’re going to direct you to Stella’s article to find out more.
Stay tuned to Orlando Theme Park Zone for more Orlando theme park-related news and information.
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