Rode this for the first time last week.
The queue, which has become standard Universal theming is darn good. The problem is, there was no queue - infact we walked straight in.
The two pre shows, were harmless, but added absolutely nothing, no engagement.
However, the mood, the scene, and feel of the initial moments were pretty good. When the Rock talks on the screen as you are in the bus, it's darn effective, and very nicely done.
The party scene was okay, bit of interactivity with the stars.
But then the major portion of the ride begins and it's absolutely ghastly. It's an horrendous image, no feeling, no emotion, nothing, nothing there to enjoy.
My friend who sat in the middle could barely see anything.
My questions are : 1) Why do they put two busses through the motion simulator? There are barely any queues, surely it may help with the 'sight issues' if they kept one bus going through - so you can at least see what's going upfront. 2) Why are their so many restrictions to what you can see? Why the need to put a roof on the bus, and bars around the bus? All it does is restrict the views. 3) Where are the bangs, sounds, emotions, and bumps? There is nothing there.
This may sound strange, but immediately after the Rock scene, if they had just gone straight to the old 'Disaster' scene in the subway it would have been better !
This obsession with screens is disheartening. I'm not against screens, they can accentuate an attraction, with complimenting physical aspects. But when the attraction is just a lazy screen ride it's infuriating.