Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast (Grand Opening Aug 11) and Cafe

[DoryGirl1963]

I think I'll probably pass on the phone thing than. I usually don't take one with me into the park, nice to be unplugged and not have to carry anything around. Just thought a phone would be smaller and lighter to hold than a blaster. Someone above mentioned tired arms.

We stay onsite & leave our phones in the safe in our room when we go to the parks, too

 

[saskdw]

We stay onsite & leave our phones in the safe in our room when we go to the parks, too

I used to do that, but it's becoming more difficult to do this.

 

[Skywalker3]

Definitely need to ride this multiple times to get a real feel for it, and figure out where in the world I"m supposed to be shooting. We had quite a long time in line to figure it out, about 60 mins ,but once I started shooting, I had no idea what I was doing .It was still fun, but I would need much more practice. We went on a pretty busy Sunday on Columbus Day weekend, really just to do this ride, as this was going to be my husband's only day at Universal, and he wanted to try it. I would maybe wait 20-30 mins, or only ride w/ express. I do love the Despicable Me franchise, and the last part of the queue is cute. but neither my son nor I chose to try and ride again later in the week. My husband and son managed to sync their blasters, but mine never did. App wouldn't load/save the info. I had qutie a few app issues the whole trip though....was very frustrating, but personally I like the idea of doing more on the app/phone, mobile order, etc (WHEN it works!!) I LOVE mobile order at Disney, and use it as often as possible, I did make sure to get physical tickets for HHN and express, just to not have to deal w the phone/app issues.
Hopefully can try it again on a future trip, as long as the wait is not too bad.

 

[tony67]

Definitely need to ride this multiple times to get a real feel for it, and figure out where in the world I"m supposed to be shooting. We had quite a long time in line to figure it out, about 60 mins ,but once I started shooting, I had no idea what I was doing .It was still fun, but I would need much more practice. We went on a pretty busy Sunday on Columbus Day weekend, really just to do this ride, as this was going to be my husband's only day at Universal, and he wanted to try it. I would maybe wait 20-30 mins, or only ride w/ express. I do love the Despicable Me franchise, and the last part of the queue is cute. but neither my son nor I chose to try and ride again later in the week. My husband and son managed to sync their blasters, but mine never did. App wouldn't load/save the info. I had qutie a few app issues the whole trip though....was very frustrating, but personally I like the idea of doing more on the app/phone, mobile order, etc (WHEN it works!!) I LOVE mobile order at Disney, and use it as often as possible, I did make sure to get physical tickets for HHN and express, just to not have to deal w the phone/app issues.
Hopefully can try it again on a future trip, as long as the wait is not too bad.

So just as an FYI - you can add multiple people to the app so 3 or 4 can have profiles on the same phone and all sync the blasters so a family needs only one phone. Even an old phone with just wifi might be enough in the parks if you want to be somewhat off grid - just need NFC and wifi really.

I would not wait more than 30 minutes for it - well I was there it was 10 - 20 minutes many times I went by so I would pop in and do it since it was quick.

Agree its very chaotic the first time you do it even after reading all the stuff in the queue.

 

[kbelle8995]

If Disney and Universal want you to use your phone and apps more they better get a good IT group and make sure the APP is easy to use. It has it's issues right now.

 

[tony67]

If Disney and Universal want you to use your phone and apps more they better get a good IT group and make sure the APP is easy to use. It has it's issues right now.

Agreed.

Personally I had no issues at all with the Universal App over the 12 days I was there other than being able to scan the HHN Express pass - and that was the adaptive brightness on my phone.
I used it to order food and to get into the parks multiple times each day and did not have any issues.
The one issue is how do you deal with lockers if you cant bring your phone on the ride and you dont have a paper ticket

No doubt there are a lot of issues with the Disney app from what I have read and the few times I have used it.

I did not use the wifi at Universal so I am not sure how well that works but since they are Comcast id assume they can handle that - but wifi at Disney was not great the last time I was there.

 

[kbelle8995]

Agreed.

Personally I had no issues at all with the Universal App over the 12 days I was there other than being able to scan the HHN Express pass - and that was the adaptive brightness on my phone.
I used it to order food and to get into the parks multiple times each day and did not have any issues.
The one issue is how do you deal with lockers if you cant bring your phone on the ride and you dont have a paper ticket

No doubt there are a lot of issues with the Disney app from what I have read and the few times I have used it.

I did not use the wifi at Universal so I am not sure how well that works but since they are Comcast id assume they can handle that - but wifi at Disney was not great the last time I was there.

I didn't have issue with it either. My sister did. During pandemic I was told to use the app in the leaky cauldron but the staff there was wonderful and made sure that I was able to order by checking on me.

I also have to say that their Social Media team is on point. I've had two experiences with both facebook and twitter (x) and both have been positive experiences. I felt listened too and that my issues were taken seriously and dealt with immediately. Can't ask for more

 

[MIChessGuy]

Yeah - unfortunately that is getting to be less and less of an option - for example you can only eat at minions cafe using mobile order and pay. There was a very annoyed person in front of my that was not happy with this and they were told this is they way they will be doing things going forward - especially with Epic. Not sure if they could keep complaining and they would work with them but they walked off in a huff.

I did find it good for entering the park as your ticket is on your phone - but you cant bring your phone on some rides so you still need a way to get a locker and have a ticket. I did not see any options around this although I know you can ask for a paper locker ticket - I did not see anyone to ask.

Also for express at HHN the phones were still a problem - can take a long time to scan, people have issues with the app and then have to turn up the brightness of there phones. Paper ticket was way easier for that so I stopped using the phone.

Anyway much like Disney the phone seems to be something Universal will rely on more and more going forward.

I am surprised to hear about mobile-only at Minions Cafe, as I understood that they were offering a walk-up ordering window as an alternative. It sounds like this has been abandoned.

 

[tony67]

I am surprised to hear about mobile-only at Minions Cafe, as I understood that they were offering a walk-up ordering window as an alternative. It sounds like this has been abandoned.

Yeah does seem odd, but so does Sea World being cashless.

Its possible I am wrong or they have it randomly IDK, but watching the women in from of my argue about it makes it seem mobile order is the only option.

 

[shh]

Yeah does seem odd, but so does Sea World being cash only.

Did you mean - "cashLESS"? I thought SW no longer accepted cash in the park

 

[BobHarlem]

I am surprised to hear about mobile-only at Minions Cafe, as I understood that they were offering a walk-up ordering window as an alternative. It sounds like this has been abandoned.

They do have a single register inside. They do push the mobile order, you can just say you have a gift card (mobile ordering won't allow it) and it'll bypass all the mess.

 

[tony67]

Did you mean - "cashLESS"? I thought SW no longer accepted cash in the park

Yeah sorry - SeaWorld is Cashless - ill go back and fix it.

The cashless thing was a problem for a lot of folks - many of the non us tourists bring cash for whatever reason - I saw several folks from the UK complaining about this at SeaWorld.

 

[tony67]

They do have a single register inside. They do push the mobile order, you can just say you have a gift card (mobile ordering won't allow it) and it'll bypass all the mess.

interesting - not sure why they would argue with someone over it but it seems to make sense they would have an option for folks that don't have the app.

one other issue with the mobile app - it does not seem to know you have an AP - it asks you to scan your Ap for the discount - but if you are using the one in the wallet in the app you really cant scan it.
Maybe it was because my AP may not have food discounts (power pass) - IDK

 

[wdwrule]

Here is a detailed blog about game play, etc for this attraction. From the great bioreconstruct:
https://x.com/bioreconstruct/status/1722267897647833421?s=46&t=hEDZr2U424YogFJeDK0-Nw

https://touringplans.com/blog/saturday-six-presents-tips-for-playing-universals-minion-blast/

 

[JenniferFolsomCa]

Do a lot of people go straight to this ride at park opening since it is close to the entrance? I definitely want to try it once and wondering when I should try it out.

 

[CoasterGT24]

It usually has a brief morning rush before tapering off.

 

[kbelle8995]

Just recently rerode the ride. Much improved. A five minute wait. A team member assisted me with linking to the game. I could see where I was aiming much more clearily

 

[saskdw]

We did this attraction 4 times on our December trip.

We enjoyed it. Not a park changing attraction by any means, but a good addition.

It took about 3/4 through the first time for me to figure out what I was aiming at and what was going on.

I got a better score each time with my last time through at 919,000 which I think was one of the top scores that day. My gun was flashing and going crazy at the end so I think that happens when your score is in the top so many?

I never did take the time to read and figure out the scoring strategy I just blasted everything and became good at hitting things. You also have to hit them before someone else does, so there is a strategy to that. I think with a little research and a little more practice I could be in the elite players on this one.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I’m really confused. Neither the Minions Cafe nor Minions Cafe Pick Up in the app has the mobile order option. Have they taken it away?

 

[mamapenguin]

I’m really confused. Neither the Minions Cafe nor Minions Cafe Pick Up in the app has the mobile order option. Have they taken it away?

That would be strange because that’s how they expect you to order. I will be there in 2 weeks and I guess I will find out. Has anyone had the salmon there?