Portland, OR — Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition, a hands-on museum show on how Universal builds its rides and lands, opens Nov. 21 at OMSI in Portland, Oregon, its first stop after The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, and runs through April 18, 2027. It’s included with museum admission, $26.50 for adults.
What’s Inside
Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition walks guests through how a theme park attraction gets made, from the first sketch to the finished land. It spans 18,000 square feet, with eight galleries, 20 interactive experiences and more than 100 original artifacts, including costumes, props and early concept models, and it opens with a tram-style intro of archival footage and photos.
Each of the eight galleries takes one part of the craft:
- An Unconventional Spirit: Universal’s history of pushing immersive entertainment
- Storytelling & Wonder: world-building, from early concepts and sketches to finished lands
- Technology & Innovation: the creative and technical work behind the rides
- Thrills & The Rush of Adrenaline: how a ride balances safety and adrenaline
- Scares & Horror: how Universal designs close-up horror encounters
- Big, Bold & Entertaining: live shows
- Authentic & Immersive: the food, merchandise and play around the attractions
- The Creative in You: the next generation of creators
At the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), guests can:
- Plan a new ride
- Animate a character
- Design a monster mask
- Cue a live show
- Experiment with animation and projection mapping
The exhibition covers Jaws, Illumination’s Minions, The Secret Life of Pets and Sing, Jurassic World, DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon, the Universal Monsters and Super Nintendo World. Its photo ops put guests in a ride vehicle, beside a walk-around character, inside a classic Jaws storyboard and under Super Mario’s ? Block, and short videos feature the storyboard artists, lighting designers and prop masters behind the parks.
The exhibition shows ride vehicles and props from Universal Monsters attractions, and guests design a monster mask at a station framed by skull props. In 2026, Universal ran Halloween-season horror events at five parks, four branded Halloween Horror Nights plus Beijing’s Scares at Universal, all in my Halloween Horror Nights guide.
After Philadelphia
The Franklin Institute, a science museum in Philadelphia, created the exhibition with the creative design firm MDSX and Universal’s theme park division, Universal Destinations & Experiences, and showed it from Feb. 14 to Sept. 7, 2026, with Comcast NBCUniversal as presenting sponsor. The Franklin Institute says the show was built for national touring, and OMSI is the only stop it lists so far.
“We are excited to partner with The Franklin Institute on this new exhibition offering a behind-the-scenes look at how our teams bring awe-inspiring, immersive experiences to life for our guests,” said Page Thompson, president of new ventures at Universal Destinations & Experiences.
Universal’s parks span Orlando, Hollywood, Frisco, Osaka, Beijing and Singapore, with a resort in England set to open in 2031, and each one is in my Universal parks guide.
Dates, Hours and Tickets at OMSI
- Dates: Nov. 21, 2026, to April 18, 2027
- Where: Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, 1945 SE Water Ave., Portland
- Tickets: included with museum admission, $26.50 for adults 14 and up, $24.50 for seniors, $17.50 for kids 3 to 13 and $4 for OMSI members
- Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and Sunday, and 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, with special hours on holidays and school breaks
OMSI’s adult admission was $21.50 before the exhibition opened. Tickets and the latest hours are on OMSI’s exhibition page.
