Jaws closing?

[captainkidd]

There was another ride that didn't take place in a fictional and undiscovered place, yet had enough to merit its own 'land'.

Oh wait...

Jaws was a movie based on a book that actually had a story that provided a purpose to it. What would Transformerland be - A destroyed depiction of downtown Los Angeles?

 

[Bairstow]

Have any details leaked out about the backstory of the California Transformers ride?
Car dealership that turns out to be a government lab?
Robot-human friendship exposition hall?
Or does it take the old-fashioned "this is a movie set but it isn't" route that most of the old Universal attractions took?

When you think about it, most of the good second-generation Universal attractions, like Terminator, Men In Black, and Simpsons ride steered away from this, Mummy being the obvious exception and Disaster not really being a new attraction.

 

[c-one]

Have any details leaked out about the backstory of the California Transformers ride?
Car dealership that turns out to be a government lab?
Robot-human friendship exposition hall?
Or does it take the old-fashioned "this is a movie set but it isn't" route that most of the old Universal attractions took?

When you think about it, most of the good second-generation Universal attractions, like Terminator, Men In Black, and Simpsons ride steered away from this, Mummy being the obvious exception and Disaster not really being a new attraction.

Well the Singapore version is open, and I believe the Hollywood version is a clone. Essentially the riders are new recruits to NEST, and they ride along with a Transformer trying to get the Allspark back from the Decepticons. Or something like that. I'm not sure why NEST needs human recruits, but I'm not much of a Transformers guy...

Apparently the Transformers ride has actual elevators, so it's not the same track layout as Spiderman. That might be one more clue it could come to Universal Studios — no issues with exact same layout, like Indy and Dinosaur do.

I really hope they don't split the Potter sections. Like I said in another thread, it's not the same as having Toy Story rides in 2 different parks. There's a geographic question in play here. These are fully-formed words, not standalone attractions. Plus, that would be one hell of a cash-grab by UO. I can't see them forcing consumers to buy a park combo pass -- I don't think they have the visitor base to do that. Disney would have to be the market leader in forcing combo passes.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Possibly, or you know the whole idea of making Potter over there is just bogus anyways. If they really wanted Potter that big, why wouldn't they just make Phase 2 over the WHOLE LC area... To say that, " They were waiting to see if Potter was well perceived" would be just silly. It's one of the largest Cash Cows for franchises there is! What happened was one person said to another person on the internet that they were going to connect the two lands to make Potter larger, then boom.. Now everyone thinks its the golden idea. I can almost bet that whatever inhabits the old JAWS area will not even have a wizard theme.. It just doesn't make any logistical sense and if any of the fan boys or girls disagree, let the debate begin.

Well it is a rumor just like anything else. Personally, while I think a train would be cool, I don't want that to happen. I think that having Harry in both places is simply overkill. I like when the parks have different atmospheres to them and they give me a reason to visit each one. Hopefully they announce whatever their big plans are soon so we don't have to sit and speculate.

 

[Bairstow]

Observation:
Adding Ellen to the Universe of Energy makes it worse.
Adding Ellen to Jaws makes it better.
[Youtube]pRWdKUREGZg[/youtube]

 

[Bairstow]

Well the Singapore version is open,

Gadzooks, it is?!

*watches Youtube videos*

Well, that's... underwhelming. Preshow and queue are kind of lame by Universal standards, and the ride itself is impossible to enjoy on Youtube being 3D. The people on the ride seem to be enjoying it, though. The lifts and drops must make it considerably more exciting than Spiderman.

Seems like it would make sense to clone it again in Florida, unless they've got something else neat planned.
Best thing about a ride like Transformers is that because there's almost no animatronics and the queue is kind of generic it would be super-easy to re-theme it later on down the road, if need be. All you gotta do is change out a couple .mpeg files on the server and WHAMMO! Instant Star Trek ride.

Edit: Exhaustive, spoilerific Transformers info here: http://dejiki.com/2011/11/transformers-the-ride/
And info on the restaurant here: http://dejiki.com/2011/11/starbot-cafe-human-refueling-center/

 

[maxairmike]

Ok, I realize people over there aren't generally as tall as Americans and such, but, the 190cm height maximum for the queue really surprised me! That's just 6.2 feet tall, and at 6'2" I would be really close. Just how low are some of those ceilings!

 

[c-one]

Gadzooks, it is?!

*watches Youtube videos*

Well, that's... underwhelming. Preshow and queue are kind of lame by Universal standards, and the ride itself is impossible to enjoy on Youtube being 3D. The people on the ride seem to be enjoying it, though. The lifts and drops must make it considerably more exciting than Spiderman.

Seems like it would make sense to clone it again in Florida, unless they've got something else neat planned.
Best thing about a ride like Transformers is that because there's almost no animatronics and the queue is kind of generic it would be super-easy to re-theme it later on down the road, if need be. All you gotta do is change out a couple .mpeg files on the server and WHAMMO! Instant Star Trek ride.

Edit: Exhaustive, spoilerific Transformers info here: http://dejiki.com/2011/11/transformers-the-ride/
And info on the restaurant here: http://dejiki.com/2011/11/starbot-cafe-human-refueling-center/

I agree it seems underwhelming -- I like Spiderman because of the way it mixes 3D screens with real props and sets. Sounds like Transformers is a lot more of the former, with your vehicle just traveling from one screen to the next. Considering this is a franchise that's all about robots, that's disappointing.

Also, I read one review that said the elevator parts are so smooth as to be imperceptible. The elevators aren't there as a ride element, they're there because the ride layout is two floors to conserve space. Not sure if the Hollywood version will be a direct clone of this layout.

Ok, I realize people over there aren't generally as tall as Americans and such, but, the 190cm height maximum for the queue really surprised me! That's just 6.2 feet tall, and at 6'2" I would be really close. Just how low are some of those ceilings!

I wondered about this, as well. Does Spiderman have a max height limit? I don't think it does...

 

[GLaDOS]

People can talk about it till the cows come home.

Transformers isn't going there.

 

[Bairstow]

People can talk about it till the cows come home.

Transformers isn't going there.

And you're basing this on one offhand remark by Thierry Coup to a guy who runs a website?

I'm not convinced Universal knows what they're going to do with the land yet.
They may be closing Jaws because of mounting operational costs and environmental concerns.

 

[GLaDOS]

And you're basing this on one offhand remark by Thierry Coup to a guy who runs a website?

Much more than that. Much more than I can talk about.

But throwing that aside, it makes no sense. Jaws is a huge plot of land. It's the size of a land. One single attraction will not go there. It could fit multiple attractions the size of Transformers. They aren't ripping out a classic to replace it with a ride they have space for in other locations within the park.

If Transformers comes, it'll go between Simpsons and MIB. Not on the really, really big Jaws plot.

 

[GLaDOS]

I'm not convinced Universal knows what they're going to do with the land yet.

If they weren't sure what they were doing with it, Amity would not be closing as well. Closing an entire swath of the park means they know what they're doing.

 

[scoobygirl39541]

urgh I hate Harry Potter -__- I really hope they don't drag it over to US, it would be total overkill.

 

[JT3000]

If Transformers comes, it'll go between Simpsons and MIB. Not on the really, really big Jaws plot.

Err... the space behind Simpsons and MIB is twice the size of Amity. And what's there is hardly worth keeping. The sprung tents are even portable. The fact that iconic rides like Jaws are being closed while that plot stays empty is a travesty.

 

[NemoRocks78]

^ I feel the same way, but some sort of transportation between a certain land in Islands and the Jaws spot would be easier than getting it to the empty Expo plot... :lookaroun

If/when Transformers comes, I fully expect it to be one of the first attractions in that plot - a lot of folks talk about the old Hard Rock spot, but there's no room there without removing the entire KidZone and/or *gasp* E.T. :dazzle:

 

[dejiki]

Ok, I realize people over there aren't generally as tall as Americans and such, but, the 190cm height maximum for the queue really surprised me! That's just 6.2 feet tall, and at 6'2" I would be really close. Just how low are some of those ceilings!

Greetings from Singapore!

There are some of those door props that are quite low. Here's one of them:

There's also some parts of the queue where the ceiling becomes lower, such as this part here:

There's also several video displays hanging from the ceiling.

The height limit also exists for the Battlestar Galactica dueling roller-coasters here. Taller guests may not ride at the seats on the side (except the first row) because their legs might hit the seat in front of them, especially during tight turns.

 

[AswaySuller]

^ I feel the same way, but some sort of transportation between a certain land in Islands and the Jaws spot would be easier than getting it to the empty Expo plot... :lookaroun

If/when Transformers comes, I fully expect it to be one of the first attractions in that plot - a lot of folks talk about the old Hard Rock spot, but there's no room there without removing the entire KidZone and/or *gasp* E.T. :dazzle:

I may be biased but I'd rather mow the kids section down than get rid of Jaws.
I personally have never seen the kids section busy.... surely it'd be easier to build a new kids section elsewhere and use that land.

I also really really hope we're not losing a Spielberg classic for Harry Potter... I love HPATFJ it is a great ride.... if the rumours are true about having it in two parks connect with a train I just kinda think that's overkill.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

I may be biased but I'd rather mow the kids section down than get rid of Jaws.
I personally have never seen the kids section busy.... surely it'd be easier to build a new kids section elsewhere and use that land.

I also really really hope we're not losing a Spielberg classic for Harry Potter... I love HPATFJ it is a great ride.... if the rumours are true about having it in two parks connect with a train I just kinda think that's overkill.

In parks that already get criticism for their lack of family attractions, you cannot get rid of the kid stuff. If anything they really need to expand upon some of that and make their offerings (in both parks) more family friendly. It's been a problem with IOA since day 1 and even Disney has a problem with it at AK. Height requirements for every attraction just doesn't make a good theme park. That's one real downside in losing Jaws too. It might not have been the most kid friendly attraction, but at least an entire family could ride it together.

 

[Thrill Seeker]

In parks that already get criticism for their lack of family attractions, you cannot get rid of the kid stuff. If anything they really need to expand upon some of that and make their offerings (in both parks) more family friendly. It's been a problem with IOA since day 1 and even Disney has a problem with it at AK. Height requirements for every attraction just doesn't make a good theme park. That's one real downside in losing Jaws too. It might not have been the most kid friendly attraction, but at least an entire family could ride it together.

That's true. I would love to see them use the old Hard Rock plot to expand Kids Zone further with at least one new attraction. What? Who knows... My vote goes to Scooby Doo or maybe How to Train Your Dragon?

As for the plot behind MIB, that is always used for at least to houses for Horror Nights. It's such an important event to Universal that I doubt that plot will be used for that reason alone. Heck, I think that even with Jaws closed, the extended queue area will probably still be used as a Haunted House like it is every year...

 

[Pioneer Hall]

That's true. I would love to see them use the old Hard Rock plot to expand Kids Zone further with at least one new attraction. What? Who knows... My vote goes to Scooby Doo or maybe How to Train Your Dragon?

As for the plot behind MIB, that is always used for at least to houses for Horror Nights. It's such an important event to Universal that I doubt that plot will be used for that reason alone. Heck, I think that even with Jaws closed, the extended queue area will probably still be used as a Haunted House like it is every year...

Horror Night houses can really be located anywhere. If the opportunity came to use a spot for a permanent attraction that will regularly bring guests in, then they would probably do it. Then they would just decide where else to locate those displaced houses.