Hype can be generated by many sources -- even something as little as a calendar date that's been announced by the right people. Taking a break from announcing everything new at Universal Parks (trolling competitors and other brands), Universal Orlando’s social media feed has stoked that very sort of hype in its fans. With that, fans seems to think they know what this cryptic date tease is all about, and their answers seem to be the same.
What Fans Think This Universal Orlando Tease Is All About
The following story is a bit of an exercise in leapfrog, which involves speculation that the Universal Islands of Adventure official album is about to be released digitally. This line of thought was kicked off by a post from the park’s official Threads account, suggesting that 50,000 likes on that post would trigger that very release. While that metric wasn’t exactly met, it didn’t stop Universal Orlando from dropping this tease more recently:
8-17-23 pic.twitter.com/Yjt7ncoVmdAugust 14, 2023
While there’s nothing explicitly confirming the aforementioned possibility, the clues seem to be in plain sight. This post, like the original Thread that seems to be connected, uses the art from the original release of this 1999 album. So naturally, theme park fans are going to stay calm and cool about this, right? No, they absolutely aren’t as you can see in the following list of responses, some of which are pure all-caps excitement:
- “DROP THE SOUNDTRACK IK THAT COVER ART” - Munsonator14
- “WE ARE SO BACK THEMED ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC FANS” - TheHorizoneer
- “PHYSICAL RELEASE PLEASE” - DreamfinderGuy
- “A Billboard 200 #1 guaranteed.” - el_frisi
- “Driving to the parks bumping Ocean Trader Market” - RonsModernLife
- “Too soon.” - SDCAttractions
That last reaction is a bit of a troll itself, as it came from the account of theme park competitor Silver Dollar City. As the park recently announced its new Fire in the Hole refresh, which comes mere months after it was revealed that the original coaster would be closing after 50 years, one could see why the rival is claiming the timing isn’t exactly ideal. But why are fans so excited about a theme park soundtrack? Well, as it turns out, this one has some history behind it.
Why Islands Of Adventure’s Official Soundtrack Is Such A Big Deal
Originally released around the park’s grand opening, the Universal Islands of Adventure soundtrack album appeared as a CD in 1999 (via Discogs). So not only is this album out of physical print but, it’s also not available for streaming on major providers. Which means that if you wanted to rock out to “Ocean Trader Market” yourself, you’d have to rely on YouTube or the secondary market.
Releasing the IoA soundtrack to streaming also presents an interesting opportunity. Since the first release of that very album, the park's offerings have drastically changed, with some attractions having been removed since. Which means that there’s a potential opportunity to update the track list with some fresh offerings. So while (theoretically) streaming all the music from The Lost Continent could bring up memories of fans saying goodbye to Poseideon’s Fury, perhaps we’ll also get some tunes from the new Harry Potter experiences to soften that lingering thought.
There’s a chance that this new Universal Islands of Adventure announcement could be something entirely different. For all we know, maybe the replacement for Poseidon’s Fury could be revealed? Or could the Minions be launching a takeover connected to the recent opening of Minions Land in Universal Orlando? Maybe another Churro stand will be built, years after the jokes stemming from the Jurassic World VelociCoaster died down? We’ll have to wait fa couple of days to see what the answer is but, more than likely, it will somehow have something to do with a sonic souvenir of Islands of Adventure and its accessibility to the masses.
