Universal's BIG Announcement!

[jcb]

DIS news story: http://www.wdwinfo.com/news/universal/Transformers_ride_to_open_at_Universal_Orlando.htm

 

[WebmasterMike]

In that tight timeframe. Any details?

They actually started on the ride building back in June.

 

[ADP]

They actually started on the ride building back in June.

Correct...They've been working on it just like they are working on the Potter expansion at the current Amityville sight.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

~The guy on the left looks like he's been crying for days, and the guy on the right looks like he's holding back tears. But, I love their matching attire, very sharp!

~Okay, this may sound extremely far fetched but I think Universal held back after being blindsided by Disney -- they didn't play their full hand as intended. I just can't imagine Universal making all of this hoopla for a single 3D ride. This "HUGE" announcement is a "HUGE" yawn, but don't get me wrong, the Transformer's ride looks super sweet, but most people were expecting details to be divulged on Harry Potter Phase II! Goodness, I want to know about this supposed train, already! Okay, since Universal has made a wise decision not to share, all Disney has to do is sit back and wait for Universal to finally play their hand, not a good position for Universal, blindsides are ideal & much more effective!

~Look at the grin on Iger's face, it's priceless. Poor George looks like he already has seller's remorse. I like their cute little Mr. Roger's sweaters, although it sort of looks like Iger gave Lucas a loaner to throw over his log cabin shirt. Iger's desk is remarkably spotless, this must be the first time he's seen paper since the AVATAR deal. Jay Leno even did a funny spoof Wednesday night on Disney's Lucasfilm acquisition!

~As an aside, the AVATAR ride will definitely give TRANSFORMERS some competition. The leaked plans reveal four theaters, and the ride vehicle is supposed to transport riders through each of the four theaters and it's 3D! I'm guessing Soarin' on steroids, sounds spectacular!

~So, this is how the battlefield is looking -->AVATARLAND vs TRANSFORMERS & rumored JURASSIC PARK ride. While we anxiously await the brewing war between STAR WARS LAND and THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER. This one is going to be epic.

~Anyway, Disney I will never doubt you again.

 

[lugnut33]

Is it just me, or does that one Transformer look like it has a .... ummmmm *****?

 

[DeltaDiamond001]

Is it just me, or does that one Transformer look like it has a .... ummmmm *****?

I was thinking the same thing...

 

[MrsDuck]

Is it just me, or does that one Transformer look like it has a .... ummmmm *****?

I saw it too!!

Overall, not super impressed with the announcement. I'm holding out for Potter.

 

[DCTooTall]

In that tight timeframe. Any details?

As someone else mentioned, Work has been going on for this project since early summer. That being said, It's still a pretty tight timeframe. In fact, Even before the rumors started to solidify around the Transformers idea, People were commenting that whatever was going into the space was happening extremely quick.

To give you a general quick timeline.

Spring: Halloween Horror Nights house permit filed for the old Murder She Wrote/Xena show soundstage at the Studios park.

June: The Back To the Future Train and Deloreon disappear one night without warning. 2 days later, Construction walls start going up around the soundstage building. Within a week, Demolition work starts. There are reports of Universal actually driving trucks to/from the site during the day while the park was open to move the debris out.

By late July/August, A huge construction crane is installed onsite as they started the vertical work on the new structure.


The demo of the original structure and this attraction going up literally took everyone by surprise. There are reports that the Halloween Horror Night house sets were already starting to go up in the original building when the Demo paperwork was filed. There was only about a 2-3 day heads up between the Demo permit hitting and the actual demolision work starting. I even heard some reports that the HHN construction crews only had about a day's notice to remove all the stuff they'd done from the structure.

Rumor has it that after the HHN work started they discovered structural or other issues with the building (It's been vacant and mostly unused/unoccupied since the Herc/Xena show closed almost 10yrs ago) that prompted the sudden demolition and since everything for the Transformers attraction was already designed and ready to go from it's 2 other locations, It was decided that it would be pretty easy (relatively) to quickly slot it into the spot in the park being vacated.

~The guy on the left looks like he's been crying for days, and the guy on the right looks like he's holding back tears. But, I love their matching attire, very sharp!

~Okay, this may sound extremely far fetched but I think Universal held back after being blindsided by Disney -- they didn't play their full hand as intended. I just can't imagine Universal making all of this hoopla for a single 3D ride. This "HUGE" announcement is a "HUGE" yawn, but don't get me wrong, the Transformer's ride looks super sweet, but most people were expecting details to be divulged on Harry Potter Phase II! Goodness, I want to know about this supposed train, already! Okay, since Universal has made a wise decision not to share, all Disney has to do is sit back and wait for Universal to finally play their hand, not a good position for Universal, blindsides are ideal & much more effective!

~Look at the grin on Iger's face, it's priceless. Poor George looks like he already has seller's remorse. I like their cute little Mr. Roger's sweaters, although it sort of looks like Iger gave Lucas a loaner to throw over his log cabin shirt. Iger's desk is remarkably spotless, this must be the first time he's seen paper since the AVATAR deal. Jay Leno even did a funny spoof Wednesday night on Disney's Lucasfilm acquisition!

~As an aside, the AVATAR ride will definitely give TRANSFORMERS some competition. The leaked plans reveal four theaters, and the ride vehicle is supposed to transport riders through each of the four theaters and it's 3D! I'm guessing Soarin' on steroids, sounds spectacular!

~So, this is how the battlefield is looking -->AVATARLAND vs TRANSFORMERS & rumored JURASSIC PARK ride. While we anxiously await the brewing war between STAR WARS LAND and THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER. This one is going to be epic.

~Anyway, Disney I will never doubt you again.

I'm not sure Universal held back. True, many people may have been hoping for some information on the old amity section of the park (aka... Where Harry Potter phase 2 is most likely going according to rumors), But it really would make sense for Universal to officially announce everything all at once.

Based off the coding from the original facebook announcement announcement, we already knew they were revealing the transformers project. Why also mentioned Potter when you know it'd not only potentially drown out the transformers announcement, but also lessen the amount of press you could get if you did 2 different announcements?

Based off the speed of construction, It's also apparent that Transformers is much closer to completion than the entire Amity reconstruction. My guess? They are slating Transformers for 2013, and are going to announce Potter Part Deux in 2013 for a 2014 opening.

And for the HUGE announcement being a YAWN.... That's nothing new. Universal has done it before, and Disney has been guilty of hyping an upcoming announcement as groundbreaking/huge/exciting multiple times over the past couple years, only to have their big announcement event end up being extremely anticlimactic. Disney will also hype up a special event to attend for said announcements. Universal? They hyped it via their online marketting (email and Facebook), but the reveal itself was mostly just a tag at the beginning of their existing evening lagoon show. It's the different between holding a big special D23 exclusive event to announce that Fastpass+ is coming and will allow you to pre-schedule attractions at the WDW resort..... Or just putting a quick tag to announce it before Wishes! or as part of the Magic, Memories, and You replacement.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

I'm not sure Universal held back. True, many people may have been hoping for some information on the old amity section of the park (aka... Where Harry Potter phase 2 is most likely going according to rumors), But it really would make sense for Universal to officially announce everything all at once.

Based off the coding from the original facebook announcement announcement, we already knew they were revealing the transformers project. Why also mentioned Potter when you know it'd not only potentially drown out the transformers announcement, but also lessen the amount of press you could get if you did 2 different announcements?

Based off the speed of construction, It's also apparent that Transformers is much closer to completion than the entire Amity reconstruction. My guess? They are slating Transformers for 2013, and are going to announce Potter Part Deux in 2013 for a 2014 opening.

~The reason I felt Universal held back on announcing Harry Potter Phase II, is because it would pale in comparison to Disney's Star Wars announcement, IMO. If they did hold back, I think it was a very wise decision. Also, Disney's timing is no "coincidence", I'm under the impression, they were expecting HP Phase II to be announced as well. Nonetheless, the decision not to announce HP Phase II was a good one.

And for the HUGE announcement being a YAWN.... That's nothing new. Universal has done it before, and Disney has been guilty of hyping an upcoming announcement as groundbreaking/huge/exciting multiple times over the past couple years, only to have their big announcement event end up being extremely anticlimactic. Disney will also hype up a special event to attend for said announcements. Universal? They hyped it via their online marketting (email and Facebook), but the reveal itself was mostly just a tag at the beginning of their existing evening lagoon show. It's the different between holding a big special D23 exclusive event to announce that Fastpass+ is coming and will allow you to pre-schedule attractions at the WDW resort..... Or just putting a quick tag to announce it before Wishes! or as part of the Magic, Memories, and You replacement.

~I really can't argue with that. I don't think anyone can top Disney's New Years Eve announcement (biggest yawn ever), I can't even remember what it was. But like I said before, I think the Transformers ride looks amazing and I'm blown away that it will be open this summer! I don't know if it is the norm to have a full press conference just to reveal one attraction and I can't seem to recall if this has ever been down before, but if it has, then maybe this wouldn't seem so unorthodox to me.

~On an unrelated note, if you haven't already, go check out Wreck It Ralph. We took the kids after school and everyone loved it. At first, I was a little disappointed because our theater gave their biggest and best screens to "Flight". So, we opted for the D-Box seats instead of 3D (you don't need 3D to enjoy this film), the movie has a nice amount action so the chairs moved a lot, it felt like we were right in the movie! Afterwards, DH asked, "So, how did everyone enjoy the "game", we all cracked up. That's how real it felt, like you're actually in the video game. It's a really fun movie!