The experience: Getting turned into a Minion

The trick: The latest, greatest Universal motion simulator

To ride Minion Mayhem, you have to become a Minion. No, this doesn’t mean a trip to Party City. Instead, you sit down in what looks like a movie theater. In reality, it’s a series of ride carts similar to the ones used in Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Each Transformation Pod i.e. row of the movie theater is subdivided into several small sections, making each one an individual grouping with four distinct ride seats. They all share the same main movements, though.

The design of Minion Mayhem moves and tilts each section so that the action onscreen matches with the perspective of the rider. This is a difficult task to achieve since the large theater has many different viewpoints. The ride is also “4-D”, with 3-D visuals and the occasional smell released. You even get hit with the Fart Gun ($29.99 MSRP…yes, it’s a real product now) while waiting in the line queue.

The goal here is to make the rider transcend reality and willingly enter into a realm where becoming a Minion feels natural. This world is goofy, with slapstick jokes and extreme violence. Don’t worry! It also has Agnes to balance out the villainy.

The 3-D Minion Goggles help greatly in the suspension of belief. The girls ride some sort of flying transportation vehicle right in front of the screen. They interact with the ride as if the person were standing right in front of them. The 3-D elements make the girls seem like they’re floating above a track, but the new Minion (that’s you!) isn’t so lucky. You’re on a rail, and you have little control of where you’re going. All you know is that you bounce around a lot. As the girls point out, you are zooming through a supervillain’s secret lair. Hazards abound.

Structurally, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem has a lot in common with The Simpsons Ride. The latter attraction puts a small group of people in a tight theater full of few cars. The action on the movie screen seems life-sized, and the cart motions dutifully follow the onscreen character actions. Minion Mayhem is a lot like that, only its theater is huge. Universal knows this and doesn’t want you noticing other people. That’s why the action is so intense. You won’t have anything resembling a break during this simulation. It’s a kinetic ride through the inimitable lair of Gru.

The experience: a thrilling recreation of the world of Despicable Me

The trick: Brilliant ride design involving a series of “Minion tests”

Image: UniversalApparently, the survival rate of Minions isn’t great. Given the beatings that these little dudes absorb, it makes sense. It also raises the question of why Gru is so beloved if he can’t keep his loyal subjects safe from harm. If anything, he seems to encourage their weaponized horror show. But I digress.

Minion Mayhem lives or dies by a single premise. Does the rider feel as if they’ve entered the world of Despicable Me? It’s impossible not to feel this way since the start of the ride launches theme park tourists into the Minion Training Grounds. Your eyes will wander all across the screen, your mind swimming as you appreciate all the gorgeous touches of Gru’s lair. The Minions are working hard at countless inventions and more than a few pranks. The story plausibly has the girls distract them with bananas so that they’ll make room for the new Minion…and that’s you!

What’s amazing about Minion Mayhem’s ride design is how meticulously Universal park planners approached the situation. They created several examples that demonstrate the dangers of being a Minion. Why is the survival rate so poor? When you’re that size and you live in such a destructive work environment, accidents happen! The sign probably doesn’t say “X Days since last accident.” Minions probably measure this number in minutes.

Image: UniversalYou’ll realize how much trouble you face almost instantly. First, you bounce off the head of a minion stuck to a cactus, and then you must navigate your way through a series of fly swatters. Explosions are everywhere, and you must move through a series of laser wires before you even reach the testing grounds! This place is chaos incarnate!

The joy of Minion Mayhem is that it’s five minutes of action that exemplifies all the elements that have caused kids (of all ages) to fall in love with the Minions. You’ll feel like you’ve narrowly survived by the end of the attraction, but you’ll still have one more surprise to experience. It’s an important day in the lives of Gru and his daughters. The big thing he’s been planning is a celebration of that day. Why Gru feels that this celebration needs bigger explosions is a debate for another day.

Like Despicable Me the movie, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem proves that its heart is in the right place…despite all the suffering Minions. And it even gets Agnes right. She has a present that she desperately wants to give her father. That package will become the bane of your existence while you’re a Minion. Its masterpiece of themed storytelling is on a par with the first movie in terms of quality. That’s a stunning achievement in ride design.