Shut Down Universal Attraction Was Reportedly Haunted by Alfred Hitchcock - Inside the Magic

Shrek 4-D is one of the first attractions that Guests are able to visit when they enter Universal Orlando Resort and was created in 2003 after the success of Shrek in 2001. Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Universal Studios Japan would all open the attraction in 2003, and later in 2010, Universal Studios Singapore joined in.

On January 10, 2022, we said goodbye to Donkey and Shrek as the ride shut down, with only remnants of the attraction left for Guests to purchase, such as the iconic magic mirror, or podium Team Members spoke from. In 2017, we saw Universal Studios Hollywood close down the attraction, and replace it with Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest attraction is located in the theater.

Right now, Guests speculate that there will be a minions attraction taking over which will guide Guests through the building on a moving walkway. However, that is not yet confirmed by Universal, although their clues are the reason Guests and fans alike have speculated this change. But it seems that the building may be haunted.

It looks like Lord Farquad was not the only ghost living in the show building as there have been multiple reports that the ride was haunted by horror film expert Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, The Birds). When Universal Orlando opened in 1990 it featured the Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies, which found in a home in the same building as Shrek 4-D. The attraction had a 3-D feature where Guests saw Hitchcock’s greatest scares come to life, had real sets recreated for Guests to explore, and had a pre-show which featured Anthony Perkins (Psycho) who walked the Guests through the famous shower scene in the movie.

HHN Official spoke with fans to find out why they thought the attraction was haunted, and here is what they reported. Below are four separate testimonials on the haunting caused by Hitchcock.

“I’ve worked there in 06. Two coworkers of mine had run ins with Mr. Hitchcock in the first theater. Doors have shut on them on their own accord, lights went off…”

“Yes, the place is literally haunted by Alfred. His spirit walks that soundstage and he is not happy the ogre replaced his beloved attraction… The weirdest experience I had was one evening we were waving the last group out the door and as I walked back the Pinocchio animatronic started to rapidly kick his legs and then it stopped. The room was deathly silent and then that, it was very strange.”

“Just wanted to say if any if yall want an Alfred Hitchcock house just work at Shrek. Believe me he haunts the heck out of that place! Also the second theatre of Shrek has officially closed for the year and team members aren’t allowed in so the house construction in there has began! (It also didn’t make Alfred too happy.. he broke our first theatre in revenge the first day it went down). We have to say hi to Alfred every morning or he gets angry and stuff will go wrong. In the ride throughs in the morning there’s quite often a seat in the back row that will go down and when the show finishes it’ll go back. All the team members there know it aha.”

“Lights going out, doors opening unexpectedly, weird bangs and that spooky backrow. Shrek aint got nothing on Sir Hitchcock!”

Psycho 4 was also filming at Universal Orlando Resort in 1990, with the famous Bates home and motel being rebuilt. Although this was not a Hitchcock-directed film, it did derive from the original film, and may have given Hitchcock a reason to call Universal home after he passed 10 years earlier in 1980.

Now, it will be interesting to see if more haunting are reported with the new attraction coming into place.

Check out the extinct attraction here!

At the moment, Revenge of the Mummy is also under a massive refurbishment at Universal Studios Florida. That being said, Guests can still enjoy attractions such as Rip Ride Rockit, MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack, Transformers: The Ride, and more. Visit Diagon Alley in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where you can venture into Gringotts!  Islands of Adventure has some fantastic attractions like the new Jurassic World VelociCoaster, Jurassic Park River Adventure, The Incredible Hulk Coaster, Doctor Doom’s Fearfall, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, and more! Volcano Bay is also open for those who want to get their splash on, and at the moment, Epic Universe is under construction with a potential 2025 opening date.

What do you think of this theory? Let us know in the comments below!

If you want to visit Universal Orlando Resort, you can today! Click here to get your vacation started! You can go to Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, then eat some dinner and grab a drink at CityWalk. Want to take a splash? Volcano Bay is ready for you. With so many fun events like Mardi Gras, Halloween Horror Nights, and more, Universal will give you an action-packed adventure like you are in the movies!