A “new” store has opened up at the Universal Orlando Resort. Located at Universal Citywalk, the former Universal Studios Store has transformed into the Universal Legacy Store.
Right now, construction continues on the new location for the Universal Studios Store in the former location of Fossil, Piq, and others, including the back half of Quiet Flight (eliminating a popular shortcut to the parks for many an Annual Passholder). While work continues, the former location of the shop has become the Universal Legacy Store.
Right now the store has a mixed blend of park merchandise as well as goods related to the studios’ most popular brands and films over time, like Jaws, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park. This is also now the go-to place to get all the retro apparel featuring the original park neon logo and attractions.
What makes the store unique and already a hit among park fans is not what’s on the shelves to purchase, but rather what’s above and around them on display. The store, while also a store, is a veritable museum of artifacts from over 30 years of the park’s history, ranging from wardrobe that park team members would wear, to props from shows and attractions.
Digital displays show crates (a la the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark) that slide to reveal old photos of the park and digital renderings of props that are actually on display in the store, with one notable example being a hoverboard that was featured in the queue for Back To The Future: The Ride.
Flanking the entrance to the store are two winged gargoyles that once reportedly adorned the studio entrance of the park, but some fans may remember them from their repeated appearances at various Halloween Horror Nights events. Photos are also scattered throughout the store that show off the park’s and resort’s evolution over the years, with some showing the resort when there was no citywalk or waterway connecting the hotels to the parks, with Eagle-eyed fans noticing the dirt mounds in the background that would eventually become Universal’s Islands of Adventure.
One prop that will be sure to have people gushing isn’t a prop at all, but rather a scale model of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that was used in the design of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, marking the location and layout of the land, complete with neighboring Jurassic Park archway.
The Universal Legacy Store is now open to everyone at Universal Citywalk at the Universal Orlando Resort.