When you think Universal Studios Hollywood what do you think? Forbidden Journey? The Backlot Tour? Jurassic World the Ride? All possibilities. Do you know what you don’t think about? Attractions made for kids. And that was the case for a long time. Universal has slowly started to change that with recent additions. From 2014 to now, Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, The Dreamworks Theatre, and soon, The Secret Life of Pets: Pets Unleashed will open. Three different styles of attractions all designed for kids, a theatre show, a simulator ride, and an omnimover attraction. One more ride is needed to round out that kid's attraction lineup: a true dark ride.
Animaniacs Studio Spin brings that final attraction needed. And much like the Secret Life of Pets attraction, this attraction will be hosted on two floors to take up even less space in an already tight park.
This all new will feature a heavy use of screens blended with trackless vehicles and simple practical effects/sets to bring the zany world of Animaniacs to life in a truly fantastic, chaotic, and modern D-Ticket dark ride!
Location Within the Park
The Animaniacs show building will be put where the Animal Actors Stage Show is now. While it has been a great show for Universal Studios Hollywood for many years, it is arguably the least popular of the three shows among crowds.
By using the area of the stage and theatre (as well as slightly expanding backstage and closer towards the walkway), the total area we have here is about 0.60 acres; plenty of space for a dark ride.
Ride System
Universal Studios Hollywood has been delighting guests with a unique and robust set of ride systems for many of their attractions (i.e., tracked Kuka arm for
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, themed motion simulator vehicle for
The Simpsons Ride, etc.). For the
Animaniacs Studio Spin, a versatile ride system fit for a D-ticket attraction must be used to convey the zaniness of the adventure that awaits guests in the ride. A
trackless ride system has never been used within the park so it is fitting that this ride will debut such a ride system.
Ride Vehicles
In keeping with the overarching theme of the studio tour, the ride vehicles will be designed to look like typical golf carts. Painted in the signature Warner Bros. blue with white accents, the studio tour's golf carts will be the de-facto director of the show, as they will be moving guests from act to act and shift their gazes from one part of the show scene to another. In addition, the ride vehicles will be enhanced with a small motion simulator built inside the body of the vehicle (similar to those used in the
Ratatouille ride). This will allow guests to experience an enhanced sensation of movement in-ride by tilting the ride vehicles forward, backward, or sideways (depending on the show scene, of course).
The golf carts will be outfitted with customized items for the safety of our guests and team members while providing the optimum viewing experience of the
Animaniacs ride:
Ride Queue
Entering from a cinema on the Upper Lot, guests will find themselves playing the part of a test audience for Warner Bros. newest animated film, "Baloney the Musical Dinosaur"
Upon entering the cinema's lobby, guests with large items (backpacks and the like) will be directed to the coatroom (locker room) where they will be able to store it for the duration of their tour. As they enter the queue, the guests find various historical cinema paraphernalia related to the Warner Bros.: old filmmaking equipment (various old cameras and reels), props from famous films (
Superman,
Batman,
Harry Potter, etc.), old animation cells from cartoons (
Looney Tunes, Animaniacs, etc.), and the like. Each prop will be displayed in a display box where it will be accompanied by a small card explaining the importance of each prop to the studio. On the walls of the cinema are posters for classic Warner Bros. movies and cartoons that occasionally come to life, either by having the subjects perform the action they're portraying still or having our Animaniacs crew crash the scene, Stitch-style.
After exiting the queue, the guests will find themselves near the cinema's doors where the preview will take place. They will be split into two smaller groups of 12. As they approach the doors, they will hear the sounds of chaos emanating from within the cinema: panicked and yelling voices, crying, crashing sounds, etc. A harassed looking cinema attendant will exit the cinema doors (where guests can slightly peek into the chaos happening inside) and explain that something went wrong with the preview reels "and Mr. Tueger isn't having it!". No matter, they then explain that they will divert the tour group to the studio lot itself and get a behind-the-scenes tour of the Baloney movie set instead with director Mr. Tueger as their guide.
The groups are then directed to enter the elevators, where the pre-show begins.
Starting with the elevator Pre-Show and then quickly boarding the ride after, from here on out the experience is always in motion. So, what better way to capture the kinetic energy of an Animaniacs Dark Ride than with a presentation that is always in motion!
For those who prefer to take their time, a written version of the Pre-Show/Ride Through can be found here.
Thank you for reading and we wish you nothing but fun, joy, and mayhem.
