Universal New York (Stylised as uNYversal) s a theme park located in Queensbury, New York at Lake George and it first opened in May 14th, 2018 and replaced The Great Escape.
History[]
Universal New York was opened in 1954 as Storytown USA, a Mother Goose themed amusement park by businessman Charles Wood who bought the land with his wife for $75,000. In 1957, realizing that the park was geared only toward small children, the park opened its Ghosttown area, the first of many themed areas opened in the park's history.
For publicity, the park placed bumper stickers on every car in the parking lot. This practice stopped a few years later due to complaints, and employees switched to attaching cardboard versions with wire. This was back in the day when a car bumper was separate from the body and you could get all the way around it with wire. In 1983, the park officially changed its name from Storytown USA to The Great Escape.
In 1984, The Great Escape opened the Steamin' Demom, the first of its eventual seven roller coasters The showpiece attraction at The Great Escape is the Comet. Re-opened at The Great Escape in 1994, this roller coaster already had a 41-year history as The Comet at Crystal Beach (an amusement park near Niagara, Falls. It was saved shortly after the park closed down forever after the 1988 season. Charley Wood, the owner of Great Escape Fun Park and Fantasy Island in Grand Island, New York successfully bid for The Comet and it sat in storage for a few years in Fantasy Island before making its way to the park in Queensbury, NY and reopening in 1994. Roller coaster enthusiasts recognize it as one of the best wooden roller coasters in North America.
In February 2006, The Six Flags Great Escape Indoor Waterpark (Will be now known as The Universal Lodge) opened up with positive reviews and sold out weekends throughout the first month. This major addition includes a 38,000 square feet (3,500 m2) waterpark exclusively for lodge guests. This is New York State's first indoor waterpark.
The park debuted several new features for the 2006 season. These included character greetings from the likes of the whole Justice League.
For the 2007 season, The Great Escape re-themed their dive show to a pirate themed show, branded their pizza restaurant a Papa John's, and brought back the Superstars and Legends: Elvis! Show (Which featured throughout the summer not only Elvis, but also Buddy Holly, and Billy Joel) to JollyTree Theatre.
In addition to typical amusement park rides, the Great Escape offers a variety of unique shows, most notable of which is a high dive show featuring a team of divers scaling an 80 feet (24 m) tower and plunging into a 10 feet (3.0 m) deep pool.
On January 8th, 2016 Six Flags announced that they sold the park to Comcast and will be renamed to Universal New York but they said that The Great Escape will have it's two final seasons and construction will immededly occur after Fright Fest 2017 it will be closed alongside the Lodge for new and exciting rides just in time for the 2018 season.
On December 7th, 2016 Universal licensed 5 IPs for attarctions all of them include ROBLOX (From ROBLOX International), Peanuts Comic Strips (From Peanuts Worldwide or DHX Media), Many Broadway musicals (Such as Once Upon A Mattress, Once On This Island, Singing in The Rain and Little Shop of Horrors) (From Theatre Companies), PBS Kids Shows (From PBS) and the Super Mario franchise (From Nintendo of America)
On August 19th, 2017 Universal licensed 3 more franchises all of them include Elf (From New Line Cinema), Plants Vs Zombies (From PopCap) and Nickelodeon shows (From Viacom).
On January 5th, 2017 Universal will premiere commercials featuring Tight Pants Guy (From The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon) Singing "I Got My Tight Pants In New York" (silimar to the Universal Studios Orlando's commercial of The Race Through New York).
On May 14th, 2018 Universal New York officially opened.
Rides, Shows, Restaurant and shops. []
Production Lot[]
Attractions[]
- Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (Formerly The Comet)
- Despicable ME: Minion Mayhem
- Shrek 4D
- Studio Tram (Formerly the Storytown Express)
- Super Silly Funland