and watch a film projected onto a large, dome-shaped IMAX screen. During the development of the ride, the designers traveled with foam models of the DeLorean to the Expo Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where an OMNIMAX theatre was the setting for trial runs of the ride's film. Intamin was eventually contracted to develop the ride system for the attraction. The ride was first publicly announced in February 1989 as one of the many ones being added as part of the new Universal Studios Florida theme park, scheduled for opening in mid-1990; it was also later confirmed in July that it will be a 1991 addition to Universal Studios Hollywood. Construction problems caused the attractions at both parks to have delayed openings. The one at Universal Studios Florida officially opened on May 2, 1991, costing $40 million. Foundation issues for the Universal Studios Hollywood attraction delayed its opening to June 12, 1993, resulting in the total cost of it being put at $60 million. On March 31, 2001, a third installation of the ride opened at the new Universal Studios Japan theme park in Osaka, Japan. In 2015, The Back to the Future gift shop in Universal Studios Japan was replaced by Minion Mart, a Despicable Me 2-themed store. Closure By the early 2000s, the popularity of Back to the Future: The Ride was in decline. Universal was also in the process of replacing other older attractions with modern intellectual properties. In mid-2006, industry insiders speculated that the Florida installation would be closing. Several reports indicated it would be replaced by an attraction based on either The Simpsons TV series or The Fast and the Furious film franchise. On September 7, 2006, Universal Studios Florida officially confirmed the ride's closure. According to a Universal spokesman, the park had not formalized any plans for a replacement but decided to close one half of it immediately to "explore possibilities for future rides". The full ride's closure was initially suggested by media to be as early as October, but the closure was delayed to 2007. Two of the simulators were closed in early 2007 and on March 30, the attraction would give its final rides. The Hollywood location publicly closed on Labor Day, September 3, 2007. In commemoration of its final month of operation, a special event was held with Christopher Lloyd and Bob Gale beginning the countdown to the ride's closure