With so many theme parks here in central Florida they are always updating their offerings to complete with each other. Some guests who have been coming for many years are always the first to complain when one of their favorite attractions is replaced. Disney still has quite a few classic attractions in their parks, but Universal is one that doesn’t seem to hesitate when removing some of their most loved attractions. I remember visiting when I was young and riding taking a trip back in time with Back to the Future, or a nice leisurely boat tour on Jaws, but one of my all time favorites was Kongfrontation. Some people say this is for the best and we now have much more advanced attractions to enjoy but there is 1still that nostalgia that I do miss when thinking about those rides.

One thing Universal does do very well is have call backs to those long gone attractions either as an easter egg in their seasonal tribute store, or in the queue for the new attraction. But more than anything else they will inundate us with merchandise and most of it can be found right at the entrance to the park in the Universal Studios Store.

We have gone through this store numerous times in the past documenting new merchandise for more recent movies and attractions, to those classic oldies we loved so much.

I found this fancy button up shirt that had most of my favorites all together in quite the mashup. All it was missing was Kongfrontation and I probably would have picked it up.

Along this pathway down the middle of the store used to be the location of a couple old 3-design penny machines. These machines had designs available for some of these classic attractions. They had also been the last remaining machines to only cost $0.50 and allowed you to use your own penny. However on this recent trip as you can see in the above picture those machines are now erased from existence.

Thankfully all is not lost and Universal did replace it with a new 8-design digital touchscreen machine. I really like the wood cabinet of this machine, that fits in nicely with the nearby store fixtures and the fun little details along the bottom that remind me of an old movie theater marquee.

The penny designs available at this new machine are a mixture of old and new attractions within the Universal parks. Included is Jaws, the famous Back to the Future Delorean license plate to represent the historical park attractions, then we have E.T., MIB, Spider-man and Velocicoaster as currently available attractions. Does this mean we are getting a new Iron Man attraction soon? If Disney has anything to do with things, I highly doubt it and does seem like a strange design to include with this set. Too bad we couldn’t have a Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure design instead. Oh well maybe some day.

Thanks for tagging along as we took a quick visit into the ever changing Universal Studios Store. Like the merchandise you just never know what you may find inside. Stay tuned for some other upcoming Universal posts, there is plenty more new stuff still on the way. Have a fantastic week and as always Keep on Pressing!

---