Race Through NY Starring Jimmy Fallon

[Nick]

Just hit me that there's going to be two flying simulators opening in 2017 (and an update to an existing one in 2016). Two very different flying rides though, so the comparison's between Fallon and Avatar should seemingly be relatively unique experiences though (comparatively to each other), which is at least nice if that holds true.

 

[Scott W.]

Not with the parks only Starbucks in the NYC.

This just looks....wrong.

 

[sober1]

The problem I see is that a large number of visitors (often at least one in any given family or group of visitors) will be--rightly or wrongly--unwilling or unable to partake in the experience, leading to frustration and disappointment for them and the rest of their group:

I live locally and take different visitors to the parks every month. In my experience at least one out of every 5-6 people have visual issues with 3D rides or motion sensitivity that causes them to either not ride ANY simulator/3D rides, or, at best, to just do one or two before they say they can't do anymore due to either a headache or queasiness.

Even the Simpsons (which is not 3D and feels like a very different experience to me) ends up falling into the same category as Transformers--I'm guessing it's because both rides require them to focus on an image at a fixed focal length for an extended period. A significant number of people are clearly far more sensitive to it than others but, as I said above, I rarely see a group of 5-6 people that doesn't have one person with this issue.

They'll usually sit out Simpsons and all of the 3D rides or, at best, try to do a couple of them--but by the time you get to the third one, the person with the issue will absolutely refuse to ride anything else with a screen.

These attractions are great--I love them--but there is less and less that a family or group of people can do together in the park if one of them has this issue--and that is most groups, in my experience.

 

[IzzyB]

So, what are you guys saying? They could make USF better simply by bulldozing Transformers into the ground?

Challenge accepted.

Guests meander a landscaped courtyard filled with scattered markings of residents' empty resting places. They then enter a subterranean passageway where a throaty voice of unknown origin welcomes them. Guests board a slow-moving vehicle which proceeds through several scenes where the previously mentioned creatures are aware yet aloof toward guests' presence. Despite a warning, the vehicles proceed to rotate around in a scene where menacing assailants float through the air. Further down the way, creatures are at play juxtaposed against a foreboding setting. The vehicles enter a musky, tight space where guests see warning signs, yet proceed onward only to pass the very one who the warnings were about. The vehicles plunge into unkempt foliage and see the very same creatures as before singing in gleeful song. Before departure, the tiniest of these beckons guests to return.

Splash Mountain and Haunted Mansion are the same ride.

Ok. I just rode splash twice yesterday and half of what you said doesn't happen. There is no voice welcoming you. What graves? It is carrots and lettuce. In HM you don't plunge into anything. Not to mention the ride systems are nothing alike. You need SL and ride system to match.

Also, I am not saying a couple repeating concepts between different parks same resort is awful. But when you have two screen based 3D theatres. Two screen based theatre where the seats move, and 1 Transformer type ride in a square block area there is a problem. Then to tack on TF and Spider tech and SL duplication is just a bit much for many guests.

I like Uni, I will continue to go. I like Disney and will continue to go. I like Sea World and will continue to go. But when I talk to various guests and hear certain patterns about stuff like too many screens and then you see Uni creating MORE rides like this you start to wonder if they are going down the right path. I see the faults in all 3 resorts.

 

[grizzlybarely]

Ok. I just rode splash twice yesterday and half of what you said doesn't happen. There is no voice welcoming you. What graves? It is carrots and lettuce. In HM you don't plunge into anything. Not to mention the ride systems are nothing alike. You need SL and ride system to match.

I guess it wasn't obvious enough that I was joking

To your points, 1) Br'er Frog speaks to guests on the ramp down to the logs. You can see his silhouette in the queue. 2) No graves. This was a play-on-words. By "resting places", I meant homes. You can see Br'er Bird's house as well as signs for other creatures' houses. 3) You do "plunge" in a sense, out of the attic and into the graveyard.

 

[Frank Drackman]

One thing, while I still think this is super dumb from an attraction standpoint, it's going to be great from a business standpoint. Fallon's audience on twitter was flipping out last night. This will bring people to the park, good attraction or not.

Just wanted to mention something on the business aspect. We did the control room tour one of the days of our last visit. I forget the number, but I was blown away at what they told us each show Twister cost to put on. The girl who took us on the tour mentioned that she had seen the first show of the day run for just three guest.

I imagine UNI is going to save a bundle by replacing Twister not to mention the guest spend they will get from an NBC store where I imagine most of the margin goes back to them when they can sell merchandise from their own IP's.

 

[blue180]

I mean I think this attraction will be great for its spot. But I'd just hope in the future we see a push for a variety of ride types - like someone said, a test track type ride would have been perfect for F&F. It'd be nice to have some water type ride in USF. Just diversity...

 

[captainmoch]

Reading this thread... I feel like Nintendo has become a beacon of hope in ride diversity.

I mean, if Nintendo gets 3-4 rides and none of them are screen based, it would tip the world back into balance a bit. Right now it's 6 screen rides, 4 set ones, so if Nintendo could tip that to 6 screen ones and 8 non-screen ones, it'd be a huge help to the park's balance. And there's still got to be some expansions planned for after that, and maybe those could be at least mostly set based too.

IOA already has good balance, thankfully, with mostly non-screen rides minus Spider-Man, Forbidden Journey, and soon Kong, which are all some of the best of their class. I do hope if Avengers is screen based, it's on the same tier as those 3.

 

[Disneyhead]

No one is saying that two similar concept rides can't exist within the same resort. What i'm saying at least is that 6 simulators in one park (once Fallon and F&F open), the current ones all sharing fairly similar qualities already, is a bit much.

And how many painfully slow drags through wax museums vignettes are at WDW?

 

[UNIrd]

I mean I think this attraction will be great for its spot. But I'd just hope in the future we see a push for a variety of ride types - like someone said, a test track type ride would have been perfect for F&F. It'd be nice to have some water type ride in USF. Just diversity...

Agreed. There seems to be little importance on diversifying this park's portfolio. I wonder if they take the proximity of IOA into account too much when considering the types of new attractions they build. It's strange to think that, being what I consider the flagship Universal Studios park, we might not be the one doing it the most successfully with the most well-rounded array of attractions.

 

[captainmoch]

I hope Uni Creative takes some of these criticisms into account. I know it's probably too late to turn F&F into a Test Track-type thing (which would be a great help in diversifying the ride portfolio and IMO is almost more disappointing than Fallon because it didn't), but hopefully they take these concerns into account with Nintendo, Marvel, MoM, etc.

 

[Scott W.]

Reading this thread... I feel like Nintendo has become a beacon of hope in ride diversity.

I mean, if Nintendo gets 3-4 rides and none of them are screen based, it would tip the world back into balance a bit. Right now it's 6 screen rides, 4 set ones, so if Nintendo could tip that to 6 screen ones and 8 non-screen ones, it'd be a huge help to the park's balance. And there's still got to be some expansions planned for after that, and maybe those could be at least mostly set based too.

IOA already has good balance, thankfully, with mostly non-screen rides minus Spider-Man, Forbidden Journey, and soon Kong, which are all some of the best of their class. I do hope if Avengers is screen based, it's on the same tier as those 3.

This would require some incredible thinking as Nintendo has the major disadvantage of being computer games and will most probably require a screen. A Mario Kart ride could do it though I'm sure.

 

[sjago13]

They told me $1800 per show and they run 10 an hour.

 

[Mad Dog]

One point. Now that 75% of all tickets sold have park hopper, people, especially tourists, are essentially treating IOA & Studios as one giant park. So that really diversifies the attraction option since IOA isn't very screen based. In reality, the two parks are now one combined experience with more total attraction differentiation.

 

[IzzyB]

I guess it wasn't obvious enough that I was joking

To your points, 1) Br'er Frog speaks to guests on the ramp down to the logs. You can see his silhouette in the queue. 2) No graves. This was a play-on-words. By "resting places", I meant homes. You can see Br'er Bird's house as well as signs for other creatures' houses. 3) You do "plunge" in a sense, out of the attic and into the graveyard.

If you haven't noticed I am acting like a blonde today for some odd reason. I still blame it on vacation brain. I hope at least because being this much of an idiot is not cool

 

[Blue]

I have more hope for this than F&F, which I think will be very disappointing.

 

[DK745]

One point. Now that 75% of all tickets sold have park hopper, people, especially tourists, are essentially treating IOA & Studios as one giant park. So that really diversifies the attraction option since IOA isn't very screen based. In reality, the two parks are now one combined experience with more total attraction differentiation.

With a screen-based attraction taking you between the two parks :whistle:

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Perhaps you're right. I really love Gringotts. But I think in terms of boundary pushing, it was the logical conclusion of what Universal do best, a format they've been nailing since the opening of IOA. Just as Disney built omnimovers for decades, Universal are now in a little of a groove in regards to screen simulation. I don't think these rides are bad in any way, I just think they lack the leap in technology that Spiderman or Forbidden Journey, or even MiB represented. I think Mario Kart will buck this trend, however.

This is like when people always complained about Apple not 'innovating' after a press event. "They debuted the iPad FOUR YEARS AGO," forgetting it was six years between the iPod and iPhone (both originally panned, just like the iPad).

Spider-Man/MiB and FJ were a decade apart. Kong will be having one of those ride systems that really redefines things as will Nintendo. And those are two things within the next three years. It's easier to compress time frames down for development in retrospect, I myself am guilty of this.

A lot of people were complaining that Universal was just nothing but rollercoasters after IoA opened followed by Unicorn, Mummy, and HRRR. Now it's screens. And I agree there are a lot of screen based attractions opening and they should course correct and adjust to different attraction designs.

Anyway, I think a reason people associate Spider-man and Transformers more than HM/Mermaid is Universal made the attraction vehicles have personality and a purpose with the guests. It's why Star Tours and Body Wars are similar.

 

[darkridelover]

At a Disney park where there isn't a lot of these kinds of rides, maybe this could fly as a family attraction. As it is, this is more of the same for UOR. I'm not talking about the screens, I'm talking about differentiation in experience. This is right next door to Minion Mayhem and Shrek. Three similar experiences in a line.

Have you been to Epcot? Lol!!!!

 

[belloq87]

So, what are you guys saying? They could make USF better simply by bulldozing Transformers into the ground?

I'm sure you're just being hyperbolic, because of course that's not what people want. I think those who are wringing their hands about 3D and screens would simply like to see more of a balance of experiences in USF. As such, going forward, it would be nice to see Universal Creative not simply jump to the 3D solution/concept for every new attraction that's coming.

It's all about balance. They can keep throwing as many cool, thrilling screen-based rides in there as they want, just toss us a few all-ages, AA-intensive dark rides or inventive coasters at the same time. I'd like to see the Studios have the same kind of variety of experiences as Islands of Adventure does.

And how many painfully slow drags through wax museums vignettes are at WDW?

Why don't you tell us exactly how many you think there are? Because there aren't many to which I would apply that particular dreary description. And why must debates such as these always boil down to a "Universal vs. Disney" paradigm?