I know this sounds a bit impractical at this point, but I've been a fan of Ghostbusters for a while; playing the video game has only made me more obsessed with it. I would KILL for Universal to make a Ghostbusters ride. It's screaming for ride potential. Even though GB3 is in production limbo (and is probably not going to happen), at least Harold Ramis' passing has given the franchise more attention. Again, I know this would be impractical as it would seem "dated", but I feel like it still holds up today. If I were in charge, this is how I'd do it:
First off, location. Where would the ride go? One plausible suggestion would be to relocate a couple of soundstages on the lower lot to somewhere else on the backlot to make room for it. I would rather it go in the upper lot since it would feel more in-place with the New York theming already there. The more obvious choice would be to put it where WaterWorld is. Only problem with this location: capacity. The head honchos may not be too thrilled with getting rid of the park's major crowd-eater to make way for a ride that may be just close to the capacity that WW had. They can use a new attraction on the studio tour or have a redo on Jurassic Park to lure people onto the lower lot and backlot tour to help with that a bit. Maybe even have a new higher-capacity show replace Shrek. But if WaterWorld does get replaced, the area could be a New York "miniland" in the vein of DM/SSFL. Blues Brothers would be moved to this area and the Ghostbusters ride would be here as well (With the firehouse as the facade and the alley way next to it as the overflow). There would be a small stand selling "Green Slime" as the themed drink of the area.
A better suggestion for the location of the ride would be Shrek. "C'mon Freak, there isn't enough space for that". In the building itself, you're right on that. To allow for more space, they could knock out Cartooniversal and spill over a little bit into the WW backstage area. They could reallocate some of their facilities and make a two-story bungalow or something before construction stats to accommodate it. It would also stick out into whatever space is left between Shrek and Potter. Do that and you should have enough space for a descent dark ride. Cartooniversal would be eliminated for NY building facades to enhance the area. The replacement gift shop would go in the back of the Shrek building where the ride will exit. Somewhere in there could fit the ECTO-1 with GB meet and greet and then the Slimer's drink stand.
About the ride's system: Preferably, the RIFD system used in Empire of the Penguin. People can choose a "mild" or "wild" setting for the ride vehicles which would be great for the ride. Of the budget won't allow for it, then mystic mover would be a good compromise. Just MIB but with no track. If that's not possible, then...well, screw it. It'll just be similar tech to MIB. But to keep it realistic and for the purpose of creating a pipe dream, we'll use mystic mover tech.
But onto the ride itself, after you will have entered the firehouse, the queue will have a first floor and then a basement floor in the vein of Transformers. The ride would be set in the early 90's after the events of both movies and after the video game. In the background of the queue, you'll hear the score from the movies. First floor, you'll explore the garage/lobby area of where the ECTO-1 is parked. Guests will also be able to walk past tables and containers containing the equipment. There will also be blueprints for the new vehicle that the Ghostbusters have developed for the new interns (The ride vehicle). On the desk where Jenine would take calls for the Ghostbusters, there would be a note saying that she is out to lunch. As an interactive element, the phones on the desk will be ringing for the guests to answer; guests will be listening to comedic phone calls. Guests will also pass the container where Slimer is held. We will also see a couple of TV sets giving out a news story of all of the destruction going on in NY city.
Once we pass Jenine's desk, we queue through the lounge room behind her desk. We'll see projected images of the Ghostbusters talking to each other and welcoming the new trainees (ala Harry Potter's queue).Even though the actors have aged considerably since the release of the movies, some make-up could help as well as some digital effects (Look how they did Flynn's father from TRON: Legacy). They could have a sound-alike Egon digitally put in there or something. They did that for Rod Serling in Tower of Terror. Anyway, after we pass through, we'll descend into the basement where we'll see the container holding all of the ghosts and Ray giving a demonstration of how to fire the
Once guests reach the basement, you'll board your smaller ECHO vehicles. The ride will start off in a small dark room where the vehicles have come to a stop as we noticed Slimer has escaped. Slimer will be a glow-in-the-dark animatronic under black lite, attached to a KUKA arm. Guests will shoot at slimer for target practice and then a projected image of Dr. Vekman will such him into a trap. From there guests will go out into the streets of NY and bust up the ghosts. There will be a mix of ghosts used from the movies and the video game along with a couple of new ones tossed in there. After the street, vehicles will split into either the library or the museum from the video game. From there. In either room, guests will have an encounter with Gozer and her pet dogs. After the encounter, the vehicles will "reunite" and come upon Times Square, where guests will encounter a giant Stay Puft animatronic powered by the KUKA arms. Once Stay Puft heats up with red all over him, the vehicles will descent into an alley where the vehicles will spin out of control, fog will blast onto the riders (Ala the ending for the Mummy) and the smell of marshmallows will permeate the air. At the end, the vehicles will stop to see what the riders' score is and a holographic Ray will critique the riders. From there, the riders will exit into a mirrored room of the basement of the Firehouse with some gooey marshmallow in some placed. As we're exiting with the Ghostbusters theme playing in the background, we can see Peck being interviewed with marshmallow all over him defaming the Ghostbusters. We'll descent into the gift shop.
That's my really long post of how I'd do the Ghostbusters ride and how much I want USH to do it. I have another idea, but I'll make a new post to not make this post look so long.
If the GB ride does get built, I have another idea for a ride to help increase capacity and to add ambiance to the NY area towards the entrance of the park. I won't go into this ride too much in depth since 1) You've read enough from the last post lol 2) I had a Ghostbusters ride all planned out in my head and I wanted to share it.
House of Horrors would be replaced with a ride version of House of Horrors. The name would be the same, but the show building would combine the Globe theater, House of Horrors, and extend into where the entrance patio is and where Blues Brothers is. The facade would be an old movie theater that would read "Universal's House of Horrors: Ride into Terror, Thrills, Chills, and Suspense!" The queue will go through the lobby and show displays of previous horror films. From there, guests will board onto omnimover vehicles like the Haunted Mansion, and ride their way into the silver screen.
Again, I won't go into too much detail, but I'll talk about the first couple of rooms. First one will involve a clip from the movie Frankenstein where the gentleman give his famous waring about the film. After we go beneath the screen, we'll ride through Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory. This will basically be the same as we've seen in HoH but with minor adjustments. From there, we'll go through scenes of Dracula, the Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, and Chucky.
What will make this ride nice is that it will already reuse a lot of the same structure of the two buildings, shaving permit coasts. Also, it will reuse the Frankenstein's lab scene from HoH since it's already built. That saves some $$$ as well. Everything else can be new. The ride would be multi-stored at some levels to save on space. With this ride and Ghostbusters done, the entrance area would be converted into New York Street. What do you all think of my ideas?
Oh, and a disclaimer: If anyone from Uni CREATIVE is reading this and is hesitant to utilize these ideas due to me "suggesting" it, PLEASE TAKE MY IDEAS. By posting this, I have fully forfeited my "rights" to these ideas and they're yours to use. I just want to see these rides (Especially GB) become reality.