In March 2011, Universal Studios Florida announced that Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast would be closing to make way for a new attraction.

[4][5] On April 14, 2011, Universal Orlando Resort began a teaser campaign on their Facebook page where weekly hints were released leading up to the announcement of their upcoming attraction.

[8][9] Construction for the Despicable Me attraction at Universal Studios Florida began in mid-August 2011, with the closure and removal of the former Jimmy Neutron ride.

The most recent version of the ride opened in Universal Studios Japan on April 21, 2017 in the then-new Minion Park area.

In May 2019, Universal Parks announced that they have discontinued 3D at the Hollywood location, removing the need for 3D glasses and converting the ride film to 2D.

A few months later on July 18, 2019, Universal Parks announced that the Orlando version would follow suit and convert from 3-D to 2-D.

[22] The attraction at Universal Studios Florida is located in Soundstage 42 in the Minion Land on Illumination Ave area.

The soundstage previously housed The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera from 1990 until 2002 and Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast from 2003 until 2011 in the Production Central area.

[2] The attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood is located on the former site of T2-3D: Battle Across Time on the Upper Lot, which was become part of a new area, Minion Land.

Then the pre-show starts with Gru, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, who welcome the guests to their house through a remote camera, and explain to them that they will be trained as minions.

Agnes and Margo start to explain to the audience that they should not be scared of Gru by calling him “just a big, bald teddy bear”.

He leaves the room and wishes the guests luck in their training, and at exactly the same time Agnes attempts to catch up with him to give him her anniversary gift of the girls’ adoption.

In Japan, the guests wait in their rows until they are directed to their individual safety briefing rooms by a lab assistant.

Once the riders are ushered into their holding rooms, the girls greet them and are amazed at how many people volunteered for “Minion Training”.

Then he explains that because there was a high level of losses with previous recruits, he is being forced to show them a safety video.

He hands it over to the girls who explain the safety rules, including not to eat or drink, secure all loose articles, etc.

After the video ends, Margo pleads for the audience to abide by the given rules & Agnes tells the guests to enjoy their new life as Minions.

With a loud bang, the ride vehicle springs to life, shooting forward before rising up a huge tunnel.

As the vehicle slows down and returns to the upright position, Margo instructs the guests, stating that: “This is where we test your strength, speed and ability to not die”.

This is where the girls put the recruits' problem solving and teamwork skills to the test; the latter are forced to create a huge, human hand-like Minion-chain to get across the other side.

They erratically reach for the banana, jumping into the vehicle to grab it which causes the Minion-chain to break apart and the riders to unintentionally plummet down a long hole to the bomb transportation sector, which is a restricted area; Gru appears on a screen, questioning what the riders are doing in the restricted area.

However, the vehicle lunges down into the conveyor belt below and causes multiple missiles to launch, with Kevin the Minion riding one into the sky.

Gru arrives, attempting to catch the riders but a crowd of Minions send him rolling backwards on a missile.

He falls into a vat of radioactive acid only to be nearly saved by grabbing onto the hovering vehicle that Margo, Edith and Agnes are riding.

Agnes grabs her gift as everything around them starts floating, making Margo realize that they are in the anti-gravity recycling room.

To make matters worse, a huge robot arm rises from under and pushes the girls up towards a set of crushers.

Despite it being “a little squashed and burnt”, Gru finds it “absolutely perfect”, and gives his daughters a hug, also gifting the trio with “a little something”: an amusement park-like anniversary party, asking if they really thought he would forget the most important day of his life, the day he adopted his girls.

In May 2012, the ride's gift shop Super Silly Stuff opened at Universal Studios Florida,[12] replacing the Nickstuff store.

In 2015, The Back to the Future gift shop in Universal Studios Japan was replaced by Minion Mart, a Despicable Me-themed store.