Trolls-Themed Samba Tower 8 Ride Vehicles Installed at Universal Kids Resort

We recently spotted progress on the Zamperla Samba Tower 8 during a recent visit to Universal Kids Resort. The Trolls-themed ride went vertical in late spring, but little has changed since then. Still, I take photos every time I walk the park’s perimeter, and I was finally rewarded with some movement last week. The gondola baskets are now in place.

Update: Since originally writing this article, the balloons have also arrived. And we also now know the ride’s name: Hair in the Clouds.

Each of the eight baskets, currently wrapped in white plastic, will seat four riders. The baskets will be raised and lowered as a group while they rotate clockwise around the 40-foot center tower. They can also spin independently. You can see existing rides in action here:

Attraction theming

Until recently, we knew very little about the Samba Tower 8’s theming. Universal has kept the ride vehicles mostly under wraps since they were delivered in the spring. Initially, they were covered in a blue tarp (with their colorful center posts visible) before being rewrapped and moved to the center of the staging yard.

Other than those colorful poles, the only other piece that’s been unwrapped is one of the vehicle’s balloon tops.

That ride part led Aahs to suspect the gondolas would be themed to Sheila Balloon, Queen Poppy’s flower-covered hot air balloon. The character, also known as Sheila B or Flowerface Balloon, is used by Poppy to travel across Troll Kingdom in two of the Trolls movies.

We caught a break last Friday, when I was able to take my clearest photo of the Zamperla ride. While the ride parts are still under wraps, we could see hints of theming through the white plastic. After moving some sliders around in Photoshop, we discovered a face. That’s when we realized the face matched Sheila Balloon’s.

We’re confident Sheila Balloon inspired the attraction, but it’s unclear whether her name will appear on the marquee. Universal’s original concept art features a variety of balloon colors. Each gondola could represent Sheila, or the ride might introduce several new characters. Whatever the case, those faces will be a huge hit with Trolls fans.

For the first time since spring, the Samba Tower 8 is showing progress. We’ll likely see more Trolls-inspired details soon, especially when those wraps come off the gondolas. We’ll update this article when that happens.

Read more: Zamperla Jumping Towers Installed in Universal Kids Resort’s Jurassic World