Meh. I'll let you know after I ride it in March, but the ride portion looks seriously underwhelming.
Best Executed Theme Park Rides
- Thread starter TylerDurden
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Meh. I'll let you know after I ride it in March, but the ride portion looks seriously underwhelming.
Tower of Terror is by far my favourite attraction in all of Orlando. The whole ride is executed so perfectly from the moment you enter the queue, to leaving the hotel. Love it.
Notable mentions:
Spider-Man
Forbidden Journey
JAWS
Back to the Future
Star Tours
MIB
Notable mentions:
Spider-Man
Forbidden Journey
JAWS
Back to the Future
Star Tours
MIB
- Oct 14, 2012
- 1,466
- 75
There are a lot of things that are very forced in order to make it a ride though--nobody is saying its not a great attraction; but its story and coherence is off in some ways.
First off, why are we allowed at Hogwarts in the first place? Its picky, I know, but Kong, MIB, and Indy explain why you are where you are.
Second, its harder to suspend disbelief in FJ because the transition from screen portion to live sets are so jarring...SpiderMan's sets blend in perfectly with the screens, but in FJ the lines between live action and screen action is very clear.
The biggest issue for me is the liberties they take with the plot; why are dementors chasing us? How do we find ourselves in that cave thing at the end? And most importantly what is Hermione doing in the middle of the freakin Forbidden Forest when shes warning us about the spiders??
I also agree about Spider-Man having some flaws in execution--I think the levitation ray is great...us being last minute reporters? Not so much. And the SCOOP? How is that good for getting the news?
Im not saying these arent great rides, its just that some rides are easier for theme park nerds to pick apart than others
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- May 26, 2010
- 5,814
- 16,171
There are a lot of things that are very forced in order to make it a ride thougj--nobody is saying its not a great attraction; but its story and coherence is off in some ways.
First off, why are we allowed at Hogwarts in the first place? Its picky, I know, but Kong, MIB, and Indy explain why you are where you are.
Second, its harder to suspend disbelief in FJ because the transition from screen portion to live sets are so jarring...SpiderMan's sets blend in perfectly with the screens, but in FJ the lines between live action and screen action is very clear.
The biggest issue for me is the liverties they take with the plot; why are dementors chasing us? How do we find ourselves in that cave thing at the end? And most importantly what is Hermione doing in the middle of the freakin Forbidden Forest when shes warning us about the spiders??
I also agree about Spider-Man having some flaws in execution--I think the levitation ray is great...us being last minute reporters? Not so much. And the SCOOP? How is that good for getting the news?
Im not saying these arent great rides, its just that some rides are easier for theme park nerds to pick apart than others
Yep - this. Here's some other quirks in FJ's plotting...
-First and foremost we're Muggles. Allowing us into the Wizarding World, much less Hogwartz, makes next to no sense within the context of the universe, creative liberties taken or not. Just say we're new wizards or something!
-A nitpick, but an important one. How the hell did we get from the bridge to the Forbidden Forest in half a second, and why is it suddenly storming when we get there? There's a big logical jump there.
-Why the hell is Hermione in the Forbidden Forest with us? How did she get there?
-Why did Harry and Ron abandon us? Did they really just leave us on our own with that dragon so they could start their Quidditch match?
-Why.... are there dementors everywhere? Seems awfully random for them to attack.
-Even bigger issue... the films and books make it a HUGE point that muggles CANNOT SEE DEMENTORS. That's the premise for the opening scene of the third book/film - Dudley can't see the dementor that's trying to kill him. It's hammered again and again that we're muggles... How can we see them?
-I don't mind us visiting the Chamber of Secrets at all, but why is the Dark Mark there? Who summoned it?
-The ride pretty much forgets about the conflict of the dragon on the loose... yeah, I mean, we see it land on the roof of Hogwartz in the final dome sequence, but that's hardly a conclusion... that's an enormous dangerous dragon on the loose!
As for the ride experience itself, the musion effects don't really work. Both Hermonies (especially the Forbidden Forest) look pretty obviously fake and awkward. The dome scenes were too dim and plagued by motion blur (intentional or otherwise), and now they're over saturated and still unclear. As Tyler pointed out, there's an obvious distinction between the film segments and the practical ride elements. The dragon looks neat but it has next to no motion - it's practically a statue that spits fog, it hardly looks "alive." All of the spiders are stupidly stationary, especially the big Aragog himself. Whomping Willow scene is crazily dark and fairly unexciting visually. Chamber of Secrets fares better, but the Dementors look odd without their hands (which we just saw in the dome sections) and the final encounter lacks punch due to the cutting of the "horde" of Dementors. The Great Hall scenes are awkward since it's pretty obviously a flat screen - I imagine had the ride actually been in 3D, this wouldn't be an issue.
Some of the concerns I listed above are nitpicky, others are major problems that affect the experience. An attraction can have a handful and still be considered incredibly executed (for example, Indiana Jones Adventure's "rat" scene is fairly unimpressive), but Forbidden Journey has many obvious show cuts and makes no sense thematically (or from a storytelling perspective) as soon as you begin to think about it for more than 5 seconds. It sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the land, which is thought out and extremely committed to the rules of the Wizarding universe.
- Jul 3, 2013
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I don't see the hate for the scoop vehicles. The plot of the Spider-Man ride is that reporters are too scared to cover the story so out of desperation, J. Jonah Jameson sends you to get the scoop in their news vehicles lol. I don't think it detracts from the execution of the ride at all. It is one of the better executed rides at Universal, IMO.
- Oct 14, 2012
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Hate...? Ummm. It's not hate...but to me it doesn't make a ton of sense. I mean sending us out as reporters seems odd...why would we be up for that? And why, after the whole Doc Ock mess takes place, are we sticking around The Daily Bugle? The thing about the SCOOP is that its a great piece of technology but its usage was shoe-horned into the plot IMO. I LOVE how in Transformers we ride on EVAC...that's exciting. But the SCOOP is a news gathering vehicle...why? What about it is believable, how exactly does it help reporters? I love the thing, but within the story it is a bit hard to believe I think.
Here's the FJ article Fallow mentioned:
http://sparkthedark.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/theme-park-thoughts-harry-potter.html?m=1
But yeah. Tower of Terror. Although, if we're going to criticize Spiderman, what are we doing sitting down in an elevator?
http://sparkthedark.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/theme-park-thoughts-harry-potter.html?m=1
But yeah. Tower of Terror. Although, if we're going to criticize Spiderman, what are we doing sitting down in an elevator?
- Jul 3, 2013
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The news media is a HUGE part of the Spider-Man lore. It makes a ton of sense, Peter Parker spends his time taking pictures for the Daily Bugle when he isn't fighting baddies and his relationship with news reporting is important. I'm a huge Marvel nerd and I'm biased towards Spidey, but as a fan I think it makes sense.
- May 26, 2010
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Here's the FJ article Fallow mentioned:
http://sparkthedark.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/theme-park-thoughts-harry-potter.html?m=1
But yeah. Tower of Terror. Although, if we're going to criticize Spiderman, what are we doing sitting down in an elevator?
Everyone who thinks Forbidden Journey is supremely executed from a storytelling perspective, read that article. It's written for humor, but it makes some amazing points (and also does a great job of comparing it to Spider-Man, which succeeds very well in its storytelling).
That's really the one chink in Tower of Terror's armor... but I'm willing to suspend disbelief because it's a freight elevator, not a guest elevator.
I totally get that, I have several volumes of Spider-Man comics that I've read front to back. I don't disagree at all with them framing the build-up/queue/plot from the lens of The Daily Bugle - in fact, I wouldn't have it any other way. What could've been slightly more believable (while still being in character) is the police trying to force JJJ to use his new prototype vehicles to evacuate the guests visiting his building... JJJ "agrees," only to turn around and tell us to get some juicy pictures should we run into any. (And then the ride goes completely off the rails from its "escape route" once we encounter the Spider Signal.
One ride that deserves a mention is the old Kilimanjaro Safari. It was what it was: a safari. The queue videos did an excellent job of foreshadowing the looming poacher threat and the ride itself was very lucky to have such a long ride length, which allowed guests to really be immersed in the world around them and become involved in the hunt for Little Red.
It really used to be an A+ attraction. In my eyes, at least.
It really used to be an A+ attraction. In my eyes, at least.
- Jul 3, 2013
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I think Despicable Me does a solid job of execution for what it is. I like the whole entering Gru's house and lab to be turned into minions and join his army kind of thing. It's problem is that the attraction itself isn't that great and the lines are terrible. I would like to see more theming of Gru's house, which supposedly is happening in the Hollywood version. Makes me kind of jealous.
I also agree with whoever brought up Kilimanjaro Safari, it does a pretty good job executing it's theme. It isn't the most amazing thing you'll ever do, but they do as good of a job as you could expect.
I also agree with whoever brought up Kilimanjaro Safari, it does a pretty good job executing it's theme. It isn't the most amazing thing you'll ever do, but they do as good of a job as you could expect.
- May 26, 2010
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Absolutely agree - the original version was excellent. The new incarnation is nice for the animals, but it lacks an exciting punch or a sense of purpose... feels like a fancy zoo attraction more than a Disney experience.
Despicable Me is another great execution, IMO. A huge improvement over its predecessor, justifies the need for employees, the vehicles make sense, it's entertaining, etc.
- Oct 14, 2012
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I know Im just saying...they needed a roving simulator as the vehicle, and I feel like the SCOOP is a weird excuse to have one. Its supposed to be a news-gathering device, but why? What about the vehicle makes it good for gathering news? THATS what I was saying.
And like Fallow said, I wouldve rather had a police evacuation or something rather than the photography storyline. But the queue and pre-show videos are fantastic, I have to say!
- Feb 7, 2013
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Tower of Terror's pre-show in the library is what gives it the edge. Old, creepy room. The TV turns on on it's own (very Twilight Zone-ish) then BAM. Serling breaks the fourth wall. The first time I experienced that I got chills. That with the given environment is the best set up for an attraction like that ever.
I also have to go with Spider-Man though for all of the reasons already mentioned in this thread.
I also have to go with Spider-Man though for all of the reasons already mentioned in this thread.
- Jul 3, 2013
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It is hard to take in the theming and execution of Mummy because there is almost never any line for it. You just kind of walk past all of it. But yeah, it is very well done.
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