Mummy Soft Openings have begun!

[AndyMagic]

Universal's Revenge of the Mummy was open to all paying guests today in a "technical rehearsal soft-opening" much like Mission: SPACE's opening in June. Several key effects are still not in place and 3 animatronics have yet to be installed. The ride will close again after these TR's are over and will re-open in a more official soft opening mode with all the effects installed before finally having its official grand opening sometime in mid-late May.

 

[TURKEY]

So what's the point of having it open now if the biggest three AAs aren't even there?

Publicity???

 

[AndyMagic]

Originally posted by turkey leg boy
So what's the point of having it open now if the biggest three AAs aren't even there?

Publicity???

It is to test to see how the ride and its systems react when it is subjected to the riggors of everyday theme park guests. Also, the rides reviews are quite glowing despite the AA's not being installed yet so it isn't like the visitors to the park are riding through a warehouse with plastic bags on the walls. Also, I don't think the ride needs any more publicity than it already has. :hammer:

 

[NemoRocks78]

I'm glad to see reviews being great even though the ride isn't even completed yet. Doing TR soft openings for guests is a fabulous idea. Soft-Openings, with everything in place, should happen by late April hopefully. I'm still saving my trip for the AP Previews.

 

[CTXRover]

Here is an Orlando Sentinel article about Mummy doing sneak peeks on Monday. According to the article, the attraction is 95% complete....from what I know, the last 5% are the three animatronics for the ride and some minor adjustments in other items such as audio, lighting, timing of some effects, etc. The article also has a small pic of the indoor queue's Unubis statue....I'm still surprised they opened it to paying guests before it was 100% complete....if anyone gets a chance to ride it though, please let us know what you think! (Note: Like all soft openings...there is NO guarentee it will be open on any given day in the near future)

Note: Just so everyone knows, I have NOT been on it yet...soon hopefully...and these opinions are not necessarily mine

From what I've been told by a good friend and other reviews I've read on the net, if you haven't been following this ride too much you'll probably REALLY enjoy it and probably be quite impressed. However, for those who might have been following the deluge of hype from Universal and the sometimes unsubstantiated rumors on other websites, you may be somewhat disappointed....for some, the ride does not live up to the hype...and its not just the hype from "fans" like some say Mission:Space suffered from....Apparently Universal's own claims overhyped it, including their own claim that its the ride that will set the new precedent for theme park attractions (then again, some of Universal's claims for certain elements/effects never quite materialized either...but then again, we must remember it is still only 95% complete). That said....its still being reported to be one heck of a cool (and in some cases, awesome) ride and should be a sure-fire hit.

 

[mkt]

what's the schedule look like for the week...

I'm dying to head out there tomorrow.. I haven't been using my employee ID as much as I should be

 

[AndyMagic]

Originally posted by mkt
what's the schedule look like for the week...

I'm dying to head out there tomorrow.. I haven't been using my employee ID as much as I should be

It's pretty much opening from 3 pm to closing every day. They are tinkering with the ride in the mornings and opening it in the afternoons. This is of course subject to change.

 

[mkt]

grrrr... I work at 3 every day.

Any word on weekends?

 

[hypercatmatt]

will it still be testing in mid april (15-30)?

 

[NemoRocks78]

At the moment, it is not known, though it most likely won't be on your trip. Technical Rehearsals will stop in the coming weeks, maybe even days, for the installation of three animatronics missing from the ride, along with a few other factors. Grand Opening is May 21st, so your chance of riding is very unlikely.

mkt....it just started opening Monday, so it hasn't encountered a weekend yet. I don't see a reason though why it wouldn't be open on Saturday or Sunday.

 

[imagineer99]

I may sound like a moron for asking this...but what exactly is the ride's story?

I've always had trouble following a lot of the stories on Universal Rides.

Are you supposed to be filming a sequel to the mummy?
Or does it actually take place in ancient Egypt?

Anyways...

It seems to be a great ride. I wouldn't waste my money, but I think its great to see yet another amazing attraction in the Orlando Area.

 

[AndyMagic]

Originally posted by imagineer99
I may sound like a moron for asking this...but what exactly is the ride's story?

I've always had trouble following a lot of the stories on Universal Rides.

Are you supposed to be filming a sequel to the mummy?
Or does it actually take place in ancient Egypt?

Ahh and this is the beauty of the ride. It is being called a "Psychological Thrill Ride" because it really messes with what you believe is real or not real. Universal wants you to question whether you are on the set of the film, or if you are supposed to be in Egypt. The queue starts off as a tour of the production and then suddenly, you enter an egyptian tomb with little transition. It is up to the guest to decide whether they were transported to Egypt by the Mummy's curse (much like happens to Eve in the films) or if it is all just the set of the movie. The end of the ride brings this into question even more.

 

[imagineer99]

Originally posted by AndyMagic
Ahh and this is the beauty of the ride. It is being called a "Psychological Thrill Ride" because it really messes with what you believe is real or not real. Universal wants you to question whether you are on the set of the film, or if you are supposed to be in Egypt. The queue starts off as a tour of the production and then suddenly, you enter an egyptian tomb with little transition. It is up to the guest to decide whether they were transported to Egypt by the Mummy's curse (much like happens to Eve in the films) or if it is all just the set of the movie. The end of the ride brings this into question even more.

Interesting concept...but won't that just confuse the average person instead of entertain them?

 

[CTXRover]

Originally posted by AndyMagic
Ahh and this is the beauty of the ride. It is being called a "Psychological Thrill Ride" because it really messes with what you believe is real or not real. Universal wants you to question whether you are on the set of the film, or if you are supposed to be in Egypt. The queue starts off as a tour of the production and then suddenly, you enter an egyptian tomb with little transition. It is up to the guest to decide whether they were transported to Egypt by the Mummy's curse (much like happens to Eve in the films) or if it is all just the set of the movie. The end of the ride brings this into question even more.

I've heard this before, and to me that is just an "easy" excuse to cover up huge problems in the themeing, story, and overall plot of the ride. This is all just MY opinion, but it seems to me like they couldn't choose a solid theme or solid storyline that worked for everyone involved and so they just mashed them all together with hopes it would all work. If they want to call that concept a "psychological thrill ride", by all means do, but I think they meant that what happens on the ride itself messes with you and plays with basic human fears...not for it to "cover-up" for obvious and blantant poor consistency in overall themeing and storytelling. But perhaps that's what they were really going for.....but personally, I just don't buy that approach...doesn't mean its wrong though

 

[Disney2002]

Originally posted by CTXRover
I've heard this before, and to me that is just an "easy" excuse to cover up huge problems in the themeing, story, and overall plot of the ride. This is all just MY opinion, but it seems to me like they couldn't choose a solid theme or solid storyline that worked for everyone involved and so they just mashed them all together with hopes it would all work. If they want to call that concept a "psychological thrill ride", by all means do, but I think they meant that what happens on the ride itself messes with you and plays with basic human fears...not for it to "cover-up" for obvious and blantant poor consistency in overall themeing and storytelling. But perhaps that's what they were really going for.....but personally, I just don't buy that approach...doesn't mean its wrong though

I totally agree. It seems like an overly easy way to cover the Universal Studios "Ride the Movies" idea while escaping the extremely confining nature of that concept. Look at how cheesy many rides come off because of this.

 

[AndyMagic]

It isn't a way to "cover up" anything. It was a conscious decision from Universal. The USH version will be more straightforward and won't involve this type of story so they could have easily done the same in Orlando. They wanted something different and unique and I think it works beautifully. It is clearly supposed to be messing with you. You are on a set, then transported to authentic Egypt... then it turns out to be just a ride... or does it? Hehe... I love it.

 

[Disney2002]

Originally posted by AndyMagic
It isn't a way to "cover up" anything. It was a conscious decision from Universal. The USH version will be more straightforward and won't involve this type of story so they could have easily done the same in Orlando. They wanted something different and unique and I think it works beautifully. It is clearly supposed to be messing with you. You are on a set, then transported to authentic Egypt... then it turns out to be just a ride... or does it? Hehe... I love it.

I just find the multiple layers of 'where are you?' annoying.

I'm on a movie set... no wait... I'm in egypt... no wait, I'm in the middle of freakin' florida where there is NO movie set and NO egypt.

 

[imagineer99]

Originally posted by Disney2002
I just find the multiple layers of 'where are you?' annoying.

I'm on a movie set... no wait... I'm in egypt... no wait, I'm in the middle of freakin' florida where there is NO movie set and NO egypt.

I tend to agree.

I must give Universal props, though, for comming up with an idea that is very orginal. Obvioulsy a lot of thought and imagination went into its conception. That is quite admirable and shows that Universal has a highly talented staff of theme park engineers.

However, I personally would prefer a solid story that transports you to ONE single place. Otherwise, the artificial nature of the ride is able to show through. You begin to realize that everything is all smoke and mirrors. It ruins the illusion.

Hopefully, mummy won't suffer the same fate as Spiderman. Spidey, while an awesome exhibiton of special effects and technology, lacks a decent story. Sure...there are some random villains thrown in the ride itself, but what the heck is actually going on!? Everytime someone tries to explain the story of Spiderman to me...they respond with. "Well, it's about Spiderman."

"DUH!":hammer:

 

[AndyMagic]

Spider-Man has a story, it's just people are too lazy to actually watch the pre-show videos. It is also hard to pay attention during the ride because there is so much going on. The plot is fairly simple, Villians are trying to take over NYC and Spider-Man tries to stop them. We are getting, "the scoop" in a sense and get tangled in the mess. I'm not sure how much more involved you would want a ride about Spider-Man to be? And mind you, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Space Mountain are Disney classics and have no story at all. Sure the imaginneers have a story in their minds about those rides but it isn't translated through the experience so I'm not sure why those are fine to you all but Spider-Man's simple story isn't. Oh well... people will like what they want to like.

 

[imagineer99]

Originally posted by AndyMagic
Spider-Man has a story, it's just people are too lazy to actually watch the pre-show videos. It is also hard to pay attention during the ride because there is so much going on. The plot is fairly simple, Villians are trying to take over NYC and Spider-Man tries to stop them. We are getting, "the scoop" in a sense and get tangled in the mess. I'm not sure how much more involved you would want a ride about Spider-Man to be?

Seems pretty "tacked" on if you ask me...

I just don't understand why Spiderman is so popular. To me, it never lived up to the hype. This is just my opinion, and I know I am in the profound minority.