The pandemic has kept many theme parks’ playgrounds closed, but Islands of Adventure’s Camp Jurassic recently reopened after over a year, and the Unofficial Guide has your first look back inside Universal Orlando’s best interactive children’s area.
When Orlando’s theme parks began reopening after the initial COVID-19 lockdowns, interactive playgrounds like Camp Jurassic, Me Ship The Olive, and If I Ran The Zoo (at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure), along with the Fievel and Curious George playgrounds (at Universal Studios Florida), were among the attractions that did not resume operations. These high-touch areas presented practical issues around sanitation and social distancing, so they simply remained off-limits to returning guests.
Although Walt Disney World also closed some of its playgrounds, including the Boneyard at Animal Kingdom and Casey Junior’s splash pad at Magic Kingdom, those parks have plenty of other attractions without height requirements that small children can enjoy. However, the closure of Universal’s playgrounds eliminated many of the resort’s best activities for little ones, leaving them with few other options.
That’s why Camp Jurassic’s reopening is such a good sign for families with young kids visiting Universal Orlando. This elaborately themed environment rivals Disney’s Tom Sawyer Island as the best place for imaginative play inside any theme park, and even adults can enjoy getting lost in its glowing caverns.
One word of warning: For now, the net climbs that provide the highest views over Jurassic Park remain closed.
That still leaves plenty to explore, including twisting slides, water-spitting dinos, and bat-infested caves.
If you can’t wait to get back into Camp Jurassic, take a virtual tour of the reawakened attraction with this POV video:
Finally, in a late-breaking development, the If I Ran The Zoo playground in Seuss Landing has also reopened at Islands of Adventure.
The signage for the playground, which was named after a book that has been withdrawn from publication due to negative cultural depictions, was recently painted over, but there were no other notable modifications to the attraction.
Hopefully, the return of Camp Jurassic and If I Ran The Zoo means the reopening of the remaining Universal Orlando playgrounds is right around the corner, and we’ll bring you the details when it happens!
For all there is to see and do at Universal Orlando, check out The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and sign up for our newsletter here. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
