Minions Set to Take Over Universal Studios Japan With New Theme Area

The yellow figures were first introduced in 2010's Despicable Me

By Samantha Schnurr Oct 24, 2016 1:54 PMTags
Minions Japan Theme ParkUniversal Studios Japan

Universal Studios Japan is about to become the minions' brand new home. 

Minion Park, the world's largest minion area, will soon make its way to Osaka in early 2017, Universal Studios Japan announced in a press release. The theme park will include a hotel, sweets factory and theater-based attraction called Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, which will replace the since-closed Back to the Future attraction. 

In the future ride, park visitors will be able to join the film's signature characters, including Gru and his three young daughters as they are "recruited for his latest scheme," as Entertainment Weekly described. The cherry on the animated pie? Riders will be able to turn into minions, too. 

As the magazine reported, the ride will "include a run through Gru's laboratory and a quick flight through the air before a crash landing brings riders back to Earth." The design includes visuals that will be laser-projected in front of riders onto a dome surrounding the vehicles. 

Michael Owen Baker/La Daily News/Los Angeles Daily News/ZUMAPRESS.com

It's not the only fresh attraction to grace the Universal Studios family next year. The Tonight Show's Jimmy Fallon will be the face of his very own ride at Universal Studios Orlando come 2017. 

As he announced in October 2015, the attraction will be called Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon. "It's fun and it looks just like the studio. Everyone in the studio, [announcer] Steve Higgins and The Roots, is going to be talking about it and they're in it," he said of the 3D attraction during his show last year. 

"I wish I could give all the details. I don't know what I'm allowed to say. I can't say anything," he teased. "They're working on it now. 2017 is when it comes out."

(E!, NBC and Universal Studios are all members of the NBCUniversal family.)