Philadelphia, Monday, 17 November 2025.
Comcast NBCUniversal and The Franklin Institute will premiere a touring exhibition that pulls back the curtain on Universal Destinations & Experiences, opening Friday, 14 February 2026 in Philadelphia. Spanning roughly 1,672 m² across eight galleries with 25 interactives and more than 100 original artifacts, the exhibit showcases design development, ride engineering, show control and IP‑to‑attraction translation—making the most intriguing claim that Universal is packaging its creative pipeline as a deliberate B2B and recruitment channel. For retail and location‑based entertainment professionals this is a rare, public benchmark: a curated view of guest flow design, operational staging and narrative integration that can inform partnerships, merchandising strategies, licensing decisions and talent scouting. Expect tangible takeaways for planning and competitive positioning—replica show scenes and multimedia cases that reveal how technical craft is communicated to consumers and potential partners, and which aspects of Universal’s process most directly drive guest engagement and commercial opportunity.
Premiere and scale
Comcast NBCUniversal and The Franklin Institute will present the world premiere of “Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition” with an opening in Philadelphia on Friday, 14 February 2026; the exhibition is described by hosts as an 18,000-square-foot, eight-gallery presentation that runs through 7 September 2026 [1].
What visitors—and industry visitors—will see
Organizers outline a wide-ranging, museum-style presentation featuring 25 interactive experiences and more than 100 original artifacts drawn from Universal’s attractions — including elements from Jurassic World, How to Train Your Dragon and Universal Monsters — alongside replica show scenes, concept art and multimedia installations intended to reveal design development, ride systems, show control and IP integration [1].
A deliberate B2B and talent strategy
Universal frames the exhibition not only as public-facing storytelling but as a window into the technical and creative pipeline of Universal Destinations & Experiences; company leadership positions the exhibit as an in-depth celebration of the teams who design and build attractions, an emphasis that converts visible production craft into a recruitment and partnership signal for potential licensors, suppliers and hires [1].
Why the exhibition matters to planners and operators
For themed‑entertainment planners, designers and operators, the exhibit offers tangible benchmarks: displays that trace guest-flow design and operational staging, interactive modules that simulate coaster design and animatronic programming, and artifacts that document IP-to-attraction translation—materials useful for evaluating competitive positioning, licensing potential and retail or merchandise tie‑ins [1].
Comcast NBCUniversal serves as the local presenting sponsor for the exhibition, with PECO named as an associate sponsor; The Franklin Institute’s leadership frames hosting the world premiere in Philadelphia as a notable institutional collaboration that amplifies the exhibition’s public reach and civic profile in a year the museum called ‘monumental’ for the nation [1].
Operational signals and downstream implications
Making behind‑the‑scenes processes visible functions as a marketing and recruitment channel while also signalling potential touring strategies or longer‑term museum partnerships for location‑based entertainment — a strategic move that may influence how operators and licensors assess Universal’s creative pipeline and partnership opportunities [1].
Notes on area and conversions
The announcement specifies the exhibition’s area as 18,000 square feet; a corresponding figure in square metres (1,672 m²) is used in some summaries but the primary announcement lists the area in square feet, so the metric figure below is provided with an uncertainty flag because it is a unit conversion rather than an original data point from the host announcement [1][alert! ‘square-metre figure derived from a unit conversion of the press-release square-foot value; original source lists 18,000 square feet’].
Bronnen