Universal Orlando has revealed two more attractions are “temporarily unavailable” or being presented in modified form. In addition to this, there are several upcoming ride refurbishments, closures and changes at Epic Universe, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios Florida. Here are the latest developments, along with our commentary.
In what’s becoming a frustrating trend, the latest closures and modifications to Skull Island: Reign of Kong and Celestial Goodnight are not on the ride refurbishment and attraction closure calendar that can be found on the Universal Orlando website or app. Instead, these “announcements” are coming via social media, in response to guests inquiring and getting #AskUniversal answers.
You might think it’s unreasonable to expect Universal to add things that are “temporarily unavailable” as a result of unscheduled downtime or unplanned maintenance to the closure calendar. Under a lot of circumstances, I would be inclined to agree.
Even when we’re talking about a ride breakdown that lasts a few days, it is at least arguably acceptable to leave it off the closure calendar so long as there is at least a reasonable expectation of the attraction coming back online ASAP. We’ve seen this with Stardust Racers in the past, along with countless other attractions at both Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World. The most recent example of this was Slinky Dog Dash, which endured a closure spanning several days.
Reasonable minds may vary on this, but the “line” for me is when there is no realistic internal belief that an attraction can come back online within one operating day. At that point, it should be added to the closure calendar as “Temporarily Unavailable (Reopening TBD).”
Meaning if Disney didn’t have the parts on hand to fix Slinky Dog Dash, and knew as of August 31st that the ride wouldn’t reopen until September 3rd at the earliest, it should’ve been added to the calendar. At minimum, it gives guests guidance for planning and doesn’t create unrealistic hope that the ride might be back online during their visit.
Skull Island: Reign of Kong Closure
Even before Slinky Dog Dash broke down late last month, Skull Island: Reign of Kong had been quietly closed at Islands of Adventure. In fact, the attraction has been offline for weeks, and has not operated since August 26, 2026.
For the last couple of weeks, there had been rumblings that the marquee King Kong Audio Animatronics figure that serves as the attraction’s finale set piece was damaged during overnight maintenance. As it turns out, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Possibly literally. Here’s the statement released by Universal Orlando:
During routine maintenance, the King Kong animatronic sustained damage and is undergoing repairs. We look forward to welcoming guests back once the work is complete.
The rumor, specifically, is that the King Kong figure sustained fire damage.
This would be history repeating itself (or at least rhyming), as his primate predecessor at King Kong Encounter was destroyed during a massive fire in June 2008 at Universal Studios Hollywood. And assuming King Kongs are related to dinosaurs (who share bloodlines with birds), I guess it would also have parallels to his distant relatives over at the Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management.
Universal stops short of confirming a King Kong conflagration, but that is what the rumors suggested even before Universal released its statement. We’ve heard nothing credible that corroborates the claims, but we’re nevertheless going to refer to the incident as the Kongflagration. Not because it’s necessarily accurate, but due to it being an irresistible pun. Either way, the attraction has been “temporarily” closed for nearly three weeks without any official guest-facing statement on the Universal Orlando website.
Obviously, only Universal knows what really happened with King Kong and how soon the figure could conceivably be repaired, but my personal view is that they long ago crossed the line from day-to-day “temporarily unavailable” into something that should be on the published closure calendar. To each their own on that, though.
Celestial Goodnight Fire-Free Finale
Celestial Goodnight is the new night spectacular at Epic Universe, debuting on July 7th. The show runs nightly at Epic Universe, and envelops Celestial Park into a captivating display of dancing fountains, breathtaking lighting effects, and more.
Celestial Goodnight features nearly 600 synchronized light fixtures, over 350 larger-than-life fountains, seven million LED lights and a high-energy musical score inspired by the various portals and intellectual properties of the park. It all culminates with a fireworks display that provides the perfect ending to an action-packed day at the park.
To the best of my knowledge, Celestial Goodnight has been presented pyro-less since early August. There’s been a lot of chatter about it on social media, and zero reports of anyone seeing the fireworks since around then.
Honestly, my assumption was just that it was a cost-cutting measure, as the removal of fireworks roughly coincided with Universal cutting back off-season hours. Not so, according to Universal. Here’s their statement:
The fireworks portion of Universal Celestial Goodnight is temporarily unavailable as we work to resolve a technical issue. We apologize for any inconvenience. #AskUniversal
When asked by guests on social media when they could expect fireworks to return to Celestial Goodnight, Universal just repeated the same response. I’m still not convinced that the ‘technical issue’ is not just “crowds are too low to justify the expense, and our quarter results are already underperforming.”
Either way, Celestial Goodnight has now been presented for longer without fireworks than with fireworks since the show first debuted. Despite that, the official website and app both list it as featuring fireworks, as also reflected in the header image for the nighttime spectacular.
Greater Guest Transparency & Notice is Needed
These are just the latest examples of Universal Orlando making an “announcement” via social media or releasing a statement to the press when asked, but lacking transparency in guest-facing communications.
Other instances that quickly come to mind are with the end of Express Pass at Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, extinction events around Lost Continent and Jurassic Park, and other stage show closures.
In fairness, this is not unique to closures and refurbishments. With pretty much anything that isn’t Halloween Horror Nights, Universal is fairly quiet. This can be a positive or negative depending upon the circumstances and your personal perspective, but I’d comfortably contend it’s very bad when it comes to the guest experience as a whole.
Universal is famous for its “less talking, more action” approach to construction, announcing details after work is already well underway. This contrasts with Disney, which makes announcements and generates hype long before anything is actually happening.
My view has long been that this is a grass is greener thing. Disney fans praise Universal’s tight-lipped approach, but I suspect that if Disney did likewise, fans would find it endlessly frustrating. The real reason why readers of sites like this one claim to prefer the Universal approach is probably that they do not care as much about Universal.
It just feels like a fun surprise when something is announced as a surprise, and it’s on the immediate horizon. If we all were spending as much time at Universal, contending with multiple closures, demolition, etc. without any announced project plans, it would be more than a little frustrating.
It’s a similar story with the lack of communications about “temporary” unavailability. We’re less inclined to notice or care because we’re less invested in Reign of Kong or Celestial Goodnight or Animal Actors or whatever in the first place.
This is not to single out Universal Orlando. We’ve drawn (much more) attention to similar issues at Walt Disney World, particularly when Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance were plagued by problems, along with a lack of notice in scheduling certain refurbishments, such as the Skyliner two years ago, Carousel of Progress and MuppetVision reimaginings, and more.
Disney still is far from perfect, but they’ve gotten better. This is especially true on the resort side, where many 2027 projects were announced early this year or late last. We already have 2028 Skyliner closure dates, and pool projects should be next on deck. Still plenty of room for improvement with attraction closures, which are routinely calendared only a few months out. For an international tourist destination, that’s simply insufficient.
We’ve long advocated for greater transparency when it comes to closures so that guests can make informed vacation planning decisions. Our view is that early and clear communications always beats radio silence, and we view Tokyo Disney Resort as the gold standard in this regard. TDR publishes refurbishment dates in batches with ~6 months advance notice.
That gives plenty of time for guests to plan trips around closures of attractions that are important to them, which is even more guest-friendly at tourist-centric destinations like Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando than it is at locals-heavy Tokyo Disney. Obviously, this isn’t foolproof. Last-minute projects still come up as does unscheduled downtime, but with the right mix of pre-planning and preventive maintenance, closures are not nearly as negative to the guest experience.
Beyond all of that, there’s clearly a double standard. Disney would be excoriated by fans if they presented Happily Ever After with projections only for over a month (without advertising the change), closed all of their parks at or before 8 pm, had several weeks of unannounced downtime for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (a rough equivalent to Kong’s status), etc. Universal gets a pass for a lot of dubious decisions that would draw scrutiny to Disney.
That’s my soapbox about temporary closure transparency and giving guests as much advance notice as possible. Beyond the aforementioned downtime, let’s take a quick look at other upcoming refurbishments and closures at Universal Orlando…
The big one that’s currently happening (and on the calendar!) is the Untrainable Dragon, which is closed for refurbishment through September 20, 2026. The Untrainable Dragon stage show is scheduled to reopen on September 21, 2026. As always, dates are subject to change, extension, cancellation, etc.
Universal Orlando has not announced the reasoning for the closure, but the brief closure of only one week suggests it’s relatively minor. Further reinforcing the routine maintenance angle is that Le Cirque Arcanus in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic just closed last month for its own weeklong refurbishment. That show has since reopened without any material, guest-facing changes being reported.
In our Epic Universe Ride Reviews & Ratings, we gave the Untrainable Dragon a 9/10. If I were to revisit that review again, I might be inclined to increase Untrainable Dragon’s score to 9.5/10. Maybe even 10/10. The wow-factor and the majestic quality of the puppetry really are the heart of the show and lifts this above any shortcomings it might otherwise have.
Between reduced hours and having an indoor attraction offline during storm season, Epic Universe might be a tougher sell right now. However, we’d note that wait times have fallen precipitously since school went back into session, and you will probably be fine most days.
If you want more advice on avoiding crowds, see our Epic Universe Crowd Calendar: Best Dates to Visit in 2026. The worst and least busy dates are actually pretty predictable, albeit slightly counter-intuitive and unlike the other Universal Orlando theme parks.
Here’s a current look at the full refurbishment calendar for 2026 at Universal Orlando:
Universal Epic Universe
- The Untrainable Dragon: September 15, 2026 – September 20, 2026
- Fyre Drill: January 25, 2027 – February 4, 2027
Universal Islands of Adventure
- Jurassic Park River Adventure: January 5, 2026 – November 19, 2026
- Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges: January 4, 2027 – February 2, 2027
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey: February 8, 2027 – February 19, 2027
Universal Studios Florida
- Finnegan’s Bar & Grill: January 12, 2026 – Winter 2026
- Universal Orlando’s Horror Make-Up Show: May 12, 2026 – Winter 2026
- Animal Actors On Location!: November 3, 2026 (Permanently Closed)
Universal Volcano Bay
UPDATE: Universal Volcano Bay, which is currently scheduled to begin a maintenance closure on October 26, 2026, now has an updated planned reopening on or before April 1, 2027. (Previously was on or before March 24, 2027.) This should underscore the above note that dates are subject to change.
In addition to the above temporary refurbishments, Lost Continent is being demolished. The former Poseidon’s Fury and the Eighth Voyage of Sindbad theater have been reduced to rubble.
Earlier this summer, Universal Orlando quietly announced that more of Lost Continent would permanently close in phases to make way for a new themed area. No announcement as to what this will be has been made by Universal, but Pokemon is what’s widely expected. I’m still holding my breath for a last-minute change and the Legend of Zelda being the featured IP.
Once demolition progresses further, the replacement of Lost Continent will necessitate the permanent closure of fan-favorite Mythos Restaurant in 2027. Our expectation is that this restaurant venue will be rethemed as opposed to replaced, but it could be a dramatic transformation that basically just retains the kitchen and back-of-house facilities while completely gutting and retheming the dining room.
As an indirect result of that lost table service dining capacity, Thunder Falls Terrace restaurant in Jurassic Park quietly closed in late July for reimagining. Thunder Falls is right next to Jurassic Park River Adventure, which is likewise down for a lengthy routine refurbishment.
Universal Orlando previously announced that Thunder Falls Terrace would be transformed into an all-new dining concept that will become the new signature full-service restaurant in Islands of Adventure. The rethemed dining location will debut in 2027, presumably around when Mythos closes.
Not much else is known about the Thunder Falls Terrace reimagining, except that it won’t bear that name when it reopens. Permits suggest it’ll open in early 2027, which makes sense. We’d expect Mythos to close around then.
Beyond that, there are closures in Winter 2027 for Fyre Drill and Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges, both of which are water rides that often close for routine maintenance in the colder months. This is on top of the year-long closure of Jurassic Park River Adventure, which will wrap up before Thanksgiving 2026.
Finally, a brief closure to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey has been added for February 8-19, 2027. This is terrible timing, as it encompasses the wildly popular Presidents’ Day/Mid-Winter Break/Ski Week and Mardi Gras. It’s as if someone at Universal asked, “what would be the worst possible time to take a marquee attraction offline for about a week in the winter?” and landed on this window.
It’d be one thing if this were last-minute, urgently-needed maintenance. But the advance notice indicates it’s not, and the timing suggests the planners at Universal Orlando may not have access to calendars. I would not be surprised to see this closure moved 1-2 weeks earlier or later, because this is (quite literally) the worst conceivable timing in the months of January or February.
Need trip planning tips and comprehensive advice for your visit to Central Florida? Make sure to read our Universal Orlando Planning Guide for everything about Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Also check out our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide for everything about those parks, resorts, restaurants, and so much more.
Your Thoughts
What do you think about Skull Island: Reign of Kong and Celestial Goodnight being closed or changed since August without proper guest-facing communications from Universal Orlando? Agree or disagree with our take on transparency and adequate notice when it comes to closures? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
