We explored the brand new, first-ever summertime Tribute Store at Universal Studios Florida, all themed to one larger than life intellectual property: Jurassic World! Just in time for VelociCoaster’s June 10th grand opening, Universal surprised us with this highly immersive walk-through shopping experience; complete with loads of movie props and Easter eggs from the films, Jurassic gear and tasty dino-bites. There are four incredible rooms to explore… hold onto your butts!
While this Tribute Store is celebrating Islands of Adventure’s newest roller coaster, it’s located at Universal Studios within the New York area:
After passing through the iconic Jurassic arch, you enter an inGen facility storage area.
Some inGen employee equipment, lockers, maintenance and break room doors are seen here. While this area is on the small and less-detailed side, it still sets the tone for the journey ahead.
Passing through the foyer to the first themed room: the Control Room for Jurassic World VelociCoaster
Here, the backstory for VelociCoaster is solidified and celebrated. As the attraction’s preshow explains, VelociCoaster is an actual roller coaster in the [fictional] Jurassic World theme park. Here, display monitors cycle through coaster stats, raptor footage, and a few Easter eggs.
As for merchandise in this room, one of the display monitors doubles as a U-Design phone case kiosk.
In this room, you’ll find Jurassic World themed apparel in shades of blues, grays, and greens.
Additionally, Magic Candle Company has a few scents available here. You can bring home the scent of an authentic dinosaur park… they smell much better than that sounds!
Who doesn’t love Mold-A-Rama machines?! The first of two is found here, offering a plum-hued T-Rex. An easy souvenir!
Onto the next room… the Raptor Paddock brought us back to the iconic scene from 1993’s Jurassic Park. We immediately recognized that fencing and lush greenery surrounding us. Three life-size velociraptors are positioned atop a display and containment vessel, letting out some occasional snarls.
You’ll find a mixture of Jurassic Park and World goods here, including the smaller souvenirs.
The recently released Tropical collection is here, too:
Moving into the transitional hallway, we’re directed to the Visitor Center. The walls are looking a bit grimy… something tells me we’re headed for an abandoned piece of Jurassic Park!
Posters line the walls with some beloved imagery…
We approach the next room: the Laboratory.
While the lab is where InGen originally created the dinos, this is where the Tribute Store boasts some amazing authentic props used in the original Jurassic Park films. Sprinkled around the room in display cases you’ll see rare items such as movie-used raptor eggs, the Barbasol cryo can, legal documents, cast-worn costume pieces, and even Hammond’s amber-topped cane! This is a Jurassic/Spielberg fan’s dream come true.
Between geeking out over these amazing pieces of film history, you’ll find more JP-specific merch here, along with some dinosaur toys. The entire room has flickering lights and overgrown foliage, further immersing you into the world of Hammond’s [failed] dinosaur park.
Before exiting for the last room, I spotted the second Mold-A-Rama machine, adorned with everyone’s favorite attraction narrator… Mr. DNA! A green Brontosaurus (which is factually known as an Apatosaurus) can be yours for the low, low price of $6!
For the last room, we’re back in Jurassic World, approaching the Gentle Giants section. Any guesses for what’s ahead?
This last room has quickly become the favorite among many guests. Not only do you greet a massive Triceratops in her pen, but you’ll find the delicious on-brand food offerings, exclusively created for this limited-time experience.
Shelves of dino food and care supplies line the walls:
Deliciously-good-looking monster-sized sweets await at the Treat Outpost:
We ended up sampling the Pistachio Puff with Chocolate Medallion.
While the chocolate medallion was snappy and tasty, the pistachio and orange-flavored custard inside the choux bun tasted just like fruity pebbles. The pistachio crackling on top didn’t have much flavor. I say, if you really like fruity pebbles cereal, go for it. Otherwise, try something else! You can’t go wrong with chocolate…
Following suit from the Halloween Tribute Store’s beating heart gummies, gummied “Fossilized Amber” shine with a warm glow.
There’s no real mosquito here, it’s all candy! Pineapple and mango flavors, to be exact.
Finally, the Egg Nursey is serving up the most unique treat. Pick your own dino egg to devour!
The entire oversized egg is made of chocolate! Once you pick from Brachiosaurus, T-Rex, or Triceratops, a [purple] chocolate dinosaur is just as yummy as the shell.
Before approaching the check-out counter to pay for all the goodies you’ve rounded up, some Camp Cretaceuous kids apparel can be found here. (Any fellow CC fans out there? We need some adult apparel from this show, too!)
As well as some niche plushies… dinosaurs dressed as the fab four from Jurassic Park:
Even more Jurassic licensed apparel and toys are available before check-out:
And how about some more sugar?
This Dilophosaurus light-up candy dispenser is genius!
Exiting through another inGen facility hallway, film and park-accurate attraction posters for Jurassic World are displayed:
Including one “Coming Soon” for the Indominus Rex! Hmmm…
Before running off to VelociCoaster, be sure to thank Jurassic Park’s founder, John Hammond, who’s been memorialized near the Tribute Store’s exit. They really spared no expense!
Now that we’ve explored the last year of Universal’s Tribute Stores – Halloween Horror Nights, Christmas, Mardi Gras, and now, Jurassic World – we’re still figuring out where each one ranks… it’s so hard to choose (which did you like best?)! But this one is definitely worth adventuring through this summer!
The Jurassic World Tribute Store is now open daily at Universal Studios Florida, through the first week of August (then it’s time for the Universal Creative teams to start prepping for Halloweeeeen!).
New Updates to Universal’s Mask Policy
Today, May 28, Universal Orlando amended its face covering policy aligning it with CDC Guidelines which state that face coverings do not need to be worn by vaccinated guests anywhere, indoors or outdoors. Although Universal will not be checking for proof of vaccination (it is illegal to do so in the State of Florida), they do expect guests who haven’t been fully vaccinated to continue wearing masks indoors.
Universal’s timing couldn’t be better, as they need the staffing for other roles in the parks as quickly as possible, as this Memorial Day Weekend is projected to be one of the highest attended, even returning to numbers from 2019. This bodes well for a busy summer in the tourism industry. Universal has had a staffing shortage, like many businesses in the hospitality industry, and has announced it is raising its starting wages to $15 an hour in the coming weeks, perhaps in order to attract more qualified candidates.
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What do you think of the Jurassic World Tribute Store? Are you planning a Universal Orlando visit to check out VelociCoaster? (I promise, it’s worth every penny!)
