I think it will go into KidZone.
I'm guessing that would be likely since Barney just closed and everything else seems like its on the way out
That is about as likely as universal opening a shrek 4d themed burlesque show. When universal eliminates an attraction they very rarely simply move it to another location within the same park. Besides at the moment shrek still brings in a fairly solid amount of traffic thanks to its location. If they wanted to replace it then it would have to be based on a franchise that is particularly important to universal as this is typically one of the first attractions guests will see when they enter the park. That is why hitchcock got such top billing as initially they wanted it so not every attraction was just for the little kids. Shrek replaced it when they wanted to switch priorities as well as encourage a franchise that universal had long term plans for. What ever universal puts in Shrek's place will have to be a franchise so important to universal they are ready to scrap a major franchise in order to help promote another.
I think Shrek stopped being a major franchise a long time ago, and as you said, much of its traffic is due to its location. While Pets doesn't come close to reaching Shrek's peak of cultural relevance, it really wouldn't take that much for a replacement to be considered worthwhile at this point. So long as it isn't something too obscure or niche, people will still filter into the attractions at the front of the park.
If that were the case then merchandise for shrek would be all over the discount racks. The ride would no longer bring in people. The youtube clips would get no hits. Hell even the shrek memes would be completely forgotten. Alas that has not happened which means universal can still milk it even if its bordering on powdered milk. Its still a major franchise and as said before, Universal doesn't dump something unless they are absolutely certain there is no more financial benefits to keeping that attraction. That is what ultimately killed barney. Barney brought in barely anyone. The sales were anemic. Hell you couldn't even find barney on tv much any more where is shrek still gets views on streaming services.
SLoP will never reach the level of popularity that Shrek has. Neither will most of Illuminations/Dreamworks franchises. Shrek is a goldmine. An animation icon (for better or worse). It’s quite baffling that Universal has access to Shrek and Spongebob, the two biggest animation franchises of the 21st century, and refuses to do anything interesting with them.
Yep, the attraction has potentially reached end of life, but the character is still classic, in the same way many Disney characters are still remembered 30+ years after their movie.
