Day 9 - Universal Studios Hollywood
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Universal is another one of those parks that you simply have to do! Everyone's heard of it, and it's become legendary. However, it disappointed me in several ways. It's a lot smaller than I expected. It's built onto a hillside (just round the corner from the Hollywood sign!) and is on two levels separated by four long covered escalators down the hillside. But you can walk around each area in less than 5 minutes and the park left me with the same impression as Legoland Germany - just a piece of land with the attractions built around the perimeter. There were a couple of great attractions, but overall they were not the huge spectacle that I'd imagined they would be.
I think part of the problem is that the park has an identity crisis. It isn't really a theme park but is intended as a behind-the-scenes look at the motion picture industry. Atrtactions such as the Backstage Tour, Special Effects, Backdraft etc are at the park's roots, but others such as Mummy, Jurassic Park, and Terminator are pure theme park attractions that have been added to compete with other theme parks, as that is how the public will perceive the park. But unfortunately I feel it's half and half and doesn't really fulfil either side to be completely convincing. There is not enough Hollywood to be a history and a background of the motion picture industry, and the theme park attractions do not stand out from other theme parks.
Mind you, the crowds today proved that the public love it regardless...
The Coasters
Well, there is only one coaster here, and that's the brand new Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride (why bother sticking "The Ride" on the end of the name?). It's an indoor Premier LIM-launched reversing and variable speed coaster/dark ride combo - that's even more of a mouthful than its name! Obviously, it's themed around the film of the same name and it's very well done. The first surprise to me was that the trains weren't trains at all, they were large single cars (or shuttles in Oblivion terms) with seating arranged in 4x4. It starts off as a dark ride with the vehicle moving slowly through a few scenes with very good and quite scary animatronics. Then, in total darkness, the LIM launch kicks in and sends the shuttle to 40mph. The coaster section is a sequence of corners and sharp drops and changes of direction, with some nice airtime moments. It then comes to a sudden halt and after a few seconds is propelled backwards for another, shorter section of coaster track. It comes to a halt in a room where it slowly rotates forward again amongst a sea of fog, then moves into the unloading platform.
Hmmm... It's a fun and exciting coaster, although I wouldn't call it white knuckle and it's fairly family-friendly. However it feels far too short. I was expecting something really big and spectacular from Universal but the total length is only around 2 minutes, and that includes the slow-moving initial dark ride section, the LIM launch and forward coaster section, the stop and reverse section, and the final room rotation. Like the park itself, it tries to be both a dark ride and a coaster and doesn't do either well enough to satisfy. I did hear that the Universal Florida version of the ride is far better.
Other attractions
The Backstage Tour is the original tram ride around the actual sound stages and outdoor sets use for Hollywood films, including a scene from the forthcoming War of the Worlds, and the motel and house from Psycho. However, you have to wonder whether these were constructed just for the tourists and weren't really the original sets! There were a couple of famous demonstrations such as the rotating tunnel (seen in an episode of Six Million Dollar Man I seem to remember!) and the Jaws lake. Also the stunning Earthquake demonstration, set in a subway station.
Backdraft is a demonstration of how fire and explosion effects are generated. I found this a bit lacklustre, especially when compared to the one at Port Aventura. There were a few explosions of fire at close quarters, although smaller and less impressive than I expected, and a collapsing girder above the spectators. But I was waiting for the dramatic climax, which never happened!
Special Effects is a demonstration of how film, audio and make-up effects are produced. Van Helsing is a new walk-through haunted house attraction with live actors. I thought this was awful. I think I saw 2 actors in the whole thing and it otherwise consisted of long dark corridors and wasn't scary at all or even remotely interesting. Go to Alton Towers or Thorpe Park for a proper one!
Back to the Future is a legendary ride as it started the trend for large-scale simulator rides. Since it is probably around 20 years old, I thought it would not quite compare to modern ones I've experienced, but I'm pleased to say it still holds its own. It's also an amazing engineering feat with there being dozens of those De Loreans in the building, each holding 8 people, but all made to look as though you're the only one! Tip - when you've risen out of your 'garage', stretch your neck over the side of the car and look around you and you'll see a cinema full of lurching De Loreans! I found the queue line very frustrating though, featuring several pre-batching areas after the main queueline comes to an end (you think). It's probably just to divide the queue line into smaller and smaller chunks, eventually ending in 8 people per vehicle, but each area makes you think that you're just about to board whereas there's a further 5 minute wait in each area before going onto the next one.
Jurassic Park: The Ride is an attraction that I had been wanting to try for a long time, as it had been given huge build-ups in TV documentaries, telling of how Steven Spielberg assisted in the creation of the ride etc. But I was very disappointed - it's only a themed log flume or splash ride, and a very short one at that. Disney's Splash Mountain was much more impressive. The first "river cruise" section was far shorter that I was expecting, only consisting of a few corners and small dinosaurs. You drift around past a couple of dinosaur scenes then you're made to think that the boat has taken a wrong turning as it heads off into the laboratories instead of taking an obvious continuation of the river cruise. There are a couple of nice effects here, such as an abandoned ride vehicle being devoured by a dinosaur, and a full size motor car falling over the wall and into a river, and a small dark drop inside the laboratories. But the major effect seems to be the spraying of the passengers with water. The final drop is huge and starts off inside the building with the bottom ending in a pool outside. Thankfully, it wasn't overly wet.
Terminator 2 3D. This is a theatre-based attraction with live actors and a 3D movie. The plot is that you are about to watch a PR presentation by Cyberdyne, but it is interrupted by the rebels who want to stop the Skynet project. This has the most amazing 4D elements I've yet experienced and was by far the best attraction at Universal. There were live actors interacting with the film. I'd heard about this before and wondered how it could work, but it does work very well and is very convincing. It looks very real and not phony at all, the 3D effect is just so real. There are couple of 'impossible' moments too, such as how does the full-size motorbike on the stage disappear into the film?? Large terminator robots appear at the sides of the auditorium and shoot into the theatre. And the end is really spectacular. Two panels on the sides of the theatre slide down to reveal two more film screens, so the 3D image surrounds you on all sides and is the most immersive effect I've ever seen. It eventually ends with the whole theatre being blown up with smoke everywhere and a sudden jolt from the seats. Quite stunning.
The ride did suffer from the most annoying queue-line assistants though. One who couldn't go 5 words without saying "Ladies and Gentlemen". For example, "Once again ladies and gentlemen if you wish to attend the 1pm showing ladies and gentlemen then may I remind you ladies and gentlemen that we do have 2 lines. Ladies and gentlemen you may use either side. Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen..." Over and over again for 45 minutes while waiting in the queue. Grrrr!!! And another who kept announcing "Are you ready to ride?", "We're going to be opening the doors shortly". When in fact they were at least 20 minutes from opening the ride.
And another thing...on the escalators that take people between the two levels of the park, there are constant warnings being played over the PA system. "Please hold the hand rails at all times. Ensure that children stand in the middle of the step and hold onto the hand rail. Do not sit on the steps. Step carefully off the escalator at the end...." Again, over and over again, as though no-one in America knows how to use an escalator. These sort of things are very condescending and really annoy you over the course of the day.
Another practice I didn't like is shown in the last picture here. At the exit from the park, there are several people milling around accosting people offering them a "free Universal Studios backpack". As I sat down and watched, I realised that it was not free at all, but when they'd got someone to agree to taking it, they are then led into the building opposite where they have to sign up for a credit card in order to get the "free backpack". Appalling sales tactics.
Further reading:
- The official Universal Studios web site.