+ The queue was been refreshed, we’re told, but it’s essentially the same. One executive called it “original condition,” which is OK by me. There’s going to be a (paid) photo opportunity in previously locked rooms just after the Daily Bugle newsroom. There’s still that weird shade of greenish-blue paint overing many of the newsroom items (even croissants), but I think the trophies have switched tints to a lighter blue.
+ The 3-D glasses (“Spider Vision”) are updated. They feel more formidable on your face, but they play a key part in the improvements. Thierry Coup, senior vice president of the Creative Studio for Universal, explained the difference in a scientific way to me, but it boils down to this: With the old glasses, if you tilted your head — and you couldn’t help but move on the ride — it threw off the alignment of the images and created a “ghosting” of the characters. The new glasses are designed to prevent that.
+ Remember the first time you saw a high-definition TV? Particularly a football game or a golf match? Remember marveling at the blades of grass you could see crystal clearly? That’s what the new Spider-Man reminded me of. A great example is in the first scene that we see Spidey, and you can see the woven texture of his unitard, especially when he points at you and your vehicle and says “AND YOURS!” Check out the finger. (Side note: Coup says that scene when we meet our hero is his favorite. ”He’s so close to us. It’s so clear. It’s as close as you can get,” he says. “It was always my favorite, but now it’s much better.”
+ The scenes are rich with details, but even though I’ve ridden this hundreds of times, there were moments where I thought “was that there before?” For instance, the tank was always there with the Scream villain, but now it pops off the screen. Yeah, I wanted to duck. Coup confirms it was there all along but didn’t “work” in the old 3-D. Ditto with the fireworks behind the Statue of Liberty near the end. Reprogramming of the ride vehicles’ movements also helped. In the scene with dramatic drop, we can now see Spider-Man’s web fly into position BEFORE we are caught in it. (Subtle changes were made to make the Electro scene more effective as well.)
+ Biggest surprise for me was how much the new sound system and soundtrack made a difference. There’s more clarity, making the story easier to follow. And the music seems more choreographed, and I thought it was especially good in the steamy tunnel of transition, with the remade “Spider-Man” theme blaring.
+ As promised, Stan Lee has cameo appearances, three of them, I’m told. I missed him the first time because I was sorta looking for current Stan, age 89. He’s more youthful in the ride (although pretty dang spry in real life). Here’s a hint, but not a spoiler: Computer-generated Stan is holding hands with a woman one time and near a policeman another.
+ It’s going to take multiple viewings to catch all the new stuff, but I enjoyed seeing insider nods in the street scene. There are theaters named Coup (as in Thierry), Woodbury (as in Mark, president of Universal Creative) and Excelsior, which is Stan Lee’s traditional sign-off.