- May 26, 2010
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EDIT: No idea what happened here, but looks like the original post got swallowed when merging some other posts.
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It's pretty interesting why! I believe the original concept was that you were going to get swarmed by a bunch of dementors, but it was deemed too scary and now there's only one that comes at you. They kept all the extra figures there anyways though.
- Forbidden Journey. Ride was looking good, especially the dragon, which had more motion than its Hollywood counterpart as of late 2019. I do think Hollywood ultimately got the better Dementor finale, but it was interesting to see some apparent lighting adjustments in Orlando's space - I noticed you could see far more of the "extra dementors" lurking motionless in the immediate background. Has anyone else noticed this?
I'll admit I rarely ride this attraction, but I have sort of realized, especially with what people are saying about F9, is that this attraction is sort of a close reflection of the lunacy the franchise itself has turned into more than anything. The animation is crap which is really amazing it could be so bad and it's just sort of like riding a ride only to get punk'd in the end. But like I said, it's sad that the attraction reflects the product you get from the actual movies now in many ways.Fast & Furious. Still hilariously awful, and what a pity given the obvious effort put into the queue and facade. Could only bring myself to ride this once, and even that felt like I was trolling myself. As painful as it is, this is right there with Shrek in being one of the priority attractions Universal needs to substantially address or replace entirely. Also, if they're committing to the changed dialogue for the Roman arrest scene, they need to do some CGI patchwork on the FBI agent's mouth - it's still embarrassingly obvious it's a hasty ADR job.
I agree wholeheartedly about Bourne. It's not bad, it's just okay. I've been saying this since I saw the TM preview last year months before the show officially debuted. Like you said, the show feels like it's more about playing with it's high-tech toys, which are obviously impressive, but the stunts are very lackluster imo and the finale is extremely weak when you compare it to it's direct predecessor.Bourne. Okay, I was looking forward to this... And I realize this may be controversial, but... It was just okay. We watched the trilogy (which I'm a fan of) prior to the trip to get hyped, and I do think they did a good job with capturing some of the energy and spirit of the franchise... but it's just not really a property that translates super well to the theme park format. The stunts themselves were fine, but the show seemed more interested in messing with its (admittedly neat high tech) toys than delivering a compelling or propulsive theme park show. The best part about Waterworld, IMO, is its pacing - things are constantly moving forward, and you never have to wait long for the next big stunt. Here, there's so much setup between each "wow" moment that it loses momentum. It doesn't help that the show can't exactly decide what it is - is it a straight forward stunt show taking inspiration from the Bourne franchise that breaks the fourth wall? Or are we in the Treadstone universe and are participating in this experimental surveillance tech? The preshow says one thing, but the stunt coordinator introducing the show says another, so I'm not sure who to believe. Terminator was definitely a more cohesive overall experience, whereas Bourne feels like more of an excuse to play with the latest shiny gadgets. They're cool gadgets, to be sure, but they work better when they're in service of something that's more than the sum of its parts.
... Rockit. The ride isn't as rough as it's been in the past for me, though I have noticed there's more of a lag as the train crests the vertical lift hill into the first drop. Is this an intentional change? I don't dislike it, just caught me off guard the first few times! They absolutely need to update the official song catalogue and maybe even ditch the flash animations... They've always been grating but feel more dated and out of touch by the day. (It's also a bit weird to me that the subtitles claim the characters are ending the safety briefing with "Awesome!" when they're clearly saying... something else?) Also, requisite "the ride is ugly and I know the general public likes it but I think it detracts from the park's overall visual identity and could've built something far more aesthetically pleasing," etc...
I noticed this at the beginning of May!but it was interesting to see some apparent lighting adjustments in Orlando's space - I noticed you could see far more of the "extra dementors" lurking motionless in the immediate background. Has anyone else noticed this?
Agreed. Getting stuck in the queue when the ride goes down isn't a fun experience, and after having it happen to me again last month, I'm probably done with it for the summer now that VelociCoaster is open and operates significantly faster. You can probably ride VC twice in the time it takes to experience Hagrid once.I saw a lot of upset families when passing the attraction, and the whole "get a virtual queue slot for a chance to wait 75 minutes for the actual attraction" is a rough look. I don't know what the solution is, but it feels like the attraction is hanging on by a thread - employees look stressed, riders are only relieved they got on at all, and the whole thing is more stressful and time-consuming than it should be.
I'll admit I rarely ride this attraction, but I have sort of realized, especially with what people are saying about F9, is that this attraction is sort of a close reflection of the lunacy the franchise itself has turned into more than anything. The animation is crap which is really amazing it could be so bad and it's just sort of like riding a ride only to get punk'd in the end. But like I said, it's sad that the attraction reflects the product you get from the actual movies now in many ways.
I agree wholeheartedly about Bourne. It's not bad, it's just okay. I've been saying this since I saw the TM preview last year months before the show officially debuted. Like you said, the show feels like it's more about playing with it's high-tech toys, which are obviously impressive, but the stunts are very lackluster imo and the finale is extremely weak when you compare it to it's direct predecessor.
I believe I said in my original review of the show last March that I think Indy is still the best pure STUNT show in Orlando, however Bourne is the better overall show.
That part always cracks me up. "Hasta!"
I noticed this at the beginning of May!
Agreed. Getting stuck in the queue when the ride goes down isn't a fun experience, and after having it happen to me again last month, I'm probably done with it for the summer now that VelociCoaster is open and operates significantly faster. You can probably ride VC twice in the time it takes to experience Hagrid once.
Isn't Vin Diesel an EP on the films and has enormous amounts of sway? He couldn't pull that same sway if he was upset at the attraction script?It's telling that the film talent were apparently so frustrated with the quality of the script.
Isn't Vin Diesel an EP on the films and has enormous amounts of sway? He couldn't pull that same sway if he was upset at the attraction script?