Universal Orlando: Minion ride built with repeatability

Universal Orlando wants visitors to ride its new Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast over and over and over again. And then again. The interactive attraction, based on characters from the “Despicable Me” films, was designed that way from the start, its creators say.

“We knew that this was going to be popular, specifically among a certain subset of people that come to the park — annual passholders, fans, people who like to play video games,” said Carson Luter, associate project manager with Universal Creative.

After weeks of previews and technical rehearsals, Minion Blast officially opens to the public at Universal Studios on Friday. It’s part of the new Minion Land on Illumination Avenue area near the entrance of the park. The area also includes Minion Cafe, Bake My Day bakery, a new meet-and-greet stop and food stands that sell items such banana-flavored popcorn and themed popsicles.

They’re all adjacent to Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, the simulator attraction that opened in 2012.

In Minion Blast’s storyline, park-goers vie to become part of the Vicious 6, animated supervillains seen in last year’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” animated film. Visitors show off chaos-causing skills by firing handheld E-liminator blasters toward big-screen target while standing on a winding moving sidewalk.

Scores can be seen on a small display on the blaster, but the real data dump is available through Universal Orlando’s official app. There reside all-time tallies, the leveling-up progress of players, firing options, assorted challenges and rewards.

“The mobile app section was essentially solely driven by repeatability,” Luter said.

“From the very beginning, in terms of gameplay, we’re looking at repeatability. … And that’s why in one run-through, even if you have everything unlocked in the app, you still have to go through 15, 20 times to try everything out,” he said.

“Every single time you play the attraction, you’ll get more points. And you’ll look at your app,” said Victor Lugo, director of immersive experiences for Universal Creative. ”And you’ll notice that things have unlocked a new mission, perhaps. … perhaps a new perk slot. So it allows you to customize and get more powerful every time.”

The more Minion Blast rounds a person makes, the more expansive — perhaps explosive — the options become. There’s a setting called Holy Guacamole that “launches a giant exploding avocado into the sea and causes lots and lots of damage,” Lugo said.

And there’s flexibility built into the attraction, allowing for seasonal or monthly changes.

“During February, I can add Mardi Gras beads,” Lugo said. “During October, you can launch exploding pumpkins.”

If it all sounds like a lot, know that it doesn’t have to be that way on Minion Blast, Lugo said.

“We like to add layers of depth, but keep the overall objective simple. … You go in there and you just cause as much destruction as possible,” Lugo said. “Those [options] are for people who want to take a deep dive into the experience or want to add an advantage.”

Email me at [email protected]. My Threads account is @dbevil. You can subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

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