I have a love/hate relationship with this ride as well, and have experienced some absolutely SPINE-CRUSHING rides on this piece of junk. Then again, I've had some wonderfully smooth rides and really enjoyed it as well.
As for success or failure? It's both. In terms of a people-eating, crowd-drawing attraction for the resort, it's a resounding success. Every time I've gone (the last time being during Grinchmas a few months ago), it's had a hefty line of 45-90 minutes. But as a ride, personally I think it's a dismal failure. The "theming" is horrid, the pre-show and associated characters are bland and annoying, the trains are inconsistent in the ride they give (jackhammering and painful, or silky and smooth), the ride suffers from a real sense of gimmicks...in the elements it features, as well as the now-forgotten kitsch names of those elements (the "Treble-Clef," the "Jump Cut," the "Double-Take," etc), and Universal hasn't backed up the ride in the way they said that they would. In other words, there's no CityWalk access after closing, they didn't continuously update the song tracks like they originally advertised they would, etc. And then there's the most frustrating aspect of the ride for me (besides the brutality of the rides it offers depending on which car/train you get): the ride design suffers from WAY too many brake-blocks, which kills any sense of pacing. The whole ride is "WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!.....brake block....WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!.....brake block" repeated several more times. I understand why this was done, but it's a poor design that kills what could have been a REALLY COOL RIDE.
All in all, it does what it should at its most basic level: it packs in the peeps and acts as a beacon to resort-goers everywhere. However, it is a failure in my eyes because it was rushed/negatively changed in the design process which led to a flawed design that in turn led to an EXTREMELY rocky start for the ride and unnecessary growing pains. Universal could have done SO much more with this ride. I always ride it when I'm at USF, but not if the line is long...it's not worth the wait. :down:
To those who love it, I am happy for you! I'd just much rather ride Mummy or Hulk myself.