A few thoughts about my Universal Visit...

[David in Manassas]

Not really a trip report but some things I thought I would like to mention

<ul>
<li>We stayed at the Royal Pacific for one night just to get the front of the line access....Very nice hotel for the $119.00 we paid. I would not want to pay over $200.00 for it though...
<li>The Universal cast members were all so wonderful. Everyone was just friendly and helpful...well...with one exception....There was this one woman at the Guest Services location where we went to have our photos taken for our AP that was just...no other way to say it...downright rude....funny..they place you think they would be the best was the worst!</li>
<li>The Mummy....it was fun..but I have to say overhyped...I'm sorry...it's just too short. Here is what my 19 yo son said who joined me on this trip.....Dad...I don't understand the story...now...we did go through the express line so I can understand that..but later when we went through the entire queue..everyone was talking so loud we couldn't hear what was being said on the various monitors...so basically we had absolutely no idea what the "cup of coffee" joke meant..</li>
<li>We went back to the park on Sunday night during the Mummy AP event and after a fairly long wait, the ride E Stopped right after the treasure room and the entire ride had to be evaculated.....we never did wait around to try to ride again as no one had any idea how long it would take for the ride to be restared..

</li></ul>

I do appreciate all the hard work that Universal employees put into their attractions.

Thanks,

David

 

[highlander447]

Thanks for taking the time to give your view and I agree u would expect better service at the AP

 

[Prince Eric1]

I agree with the $119 rate for RPR, I couldn't afford it at $200 but love it at $119. I think that its great that you remember to point out the helpful employees rather than just remembering the negative ones.

 

[kellymonaghan]

Dad...I don't understand the story

You're not alone. Universal really let the ball drop on this one.

Even if you go through the whole queue line for 45 minutes, you won't get the story because there really isn't one.

There's nothing to make it clear whether you're in a "set" of the tomb or the real tomb. And there's nothing to explain what the ride vehicles are all about, why you are getting into them, and where you will be going once you do. Apparently, they are modified mine cars developed by "U.C. & Sons" or London, circa 1930, to make tomb exploration easier. But that's just my surmise based on many rides and much observation.

Most UO rides go to great lengths to set up the "backstory" for the ride vehicles (the tour boats of Jaws, Dr Brown's cars, the Scoopmobile of Spider-Man, etc.). It's hard to understand why they overlooked this important element in the Mummy.

There is a running gag in the pre-show video about Brendan Fraser trying to get a cup of coffee. My guess is that it's the Mummy handing him the cuppa at the end, but some people think it's Reggie, the gofer.

 

[Beanie]

Thanks for the review! I love to read other peoples reviews to get the highs and lows of their trips!! Thanks!

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Thank you for sharing. It's great to hear all perspectives. So are you gonna go back?

 

[phamton]

Originally posted by kellymonaghan

There's nothing to make it clear whether you're in a "set" of the tomb or the real tomb.

Oh but there is a storyline. You are cast as an extra in the new Mummy movie. While going to the set you are told the set is cursed. You are then loaded in the cars which are part of the scene you will be in.

While in the cars you "see dead people." Are they real are is this just part of the movie?


The ride is billed as a psychological thrill ride because it messes with your mind...was everything that happened to you just part of the making of the movie where you were an extra in the filming or were you really chased by the real Imhotep?

The casting director welcomes you back at the end of the ride as if everything that happened to you was normal and all of it was just a part of the movie you were in. Yet, in the back of your mind, you wonder if there really was a curse and you were indeed attacked by Imhotep. Maybe it really wasn't part of the movie and the casting director was just oblivious to that fact that you were attacked.

So which is real? Was the curse (that you barely escaped) real? Or was it all fantasy for the making of the movie? It is a blurring of the line between reality and fantasy.

As far as the mummy handing the coffee to Brendon Fraser: Just when you are convinced that all that happened to you was just part of a movie and not real, you see that a mummy has replaced Reggie to hand a cup of coffee to Brendan. Brenden screams and you are now convinced that the curse was a real.

 

[h20jag]

The punchline of the whole queue is that Egyptian movie-set tombs smell exactly like New York public transportation lines. Well, I had that flashback at least.

 

[BarryHom]

Now someone explain to me the story of Journey to Atlantis.

 

[kellymonaghan]

Originally posted by phamton
Oh but there is a storyline.

Coulda fooled me. Where does the extra casting bit come in? That would make sense but I didn't see or hear that. Nor do I remember any "casting director" at the ride's end. Just ride attendants.

The storyline you suggest makes perfect sense, it's just that you have to guess at it.

Oh well, I'll be back in late June. As if I needed an excuse to reride the Mummy.

 

[phamton]

The greeters at the front with the red baseball caps on are supposed to be casting directors. They are supposed be saying things like: "Come in we need more extras on the set. The scene you will be filming is a minecar scene for the new Mummy movie." (The problem right now is many of the greeters are too busy checking for bags, pointing out lockers, measuring small children and answering questions about the ride to be in character.)

Then you go inside and see the "minions" (ride ops) whispering about curses etc. When you get off, you are welcomed back by the casting director saying "good job, folks" and clapping for you. Sometimes they even have that director's clap-board and they say "that's a wrap."

Many of these things aren't being consistently done as the team members are new at this job also and are learning and fine-tuning the ride experience.

 

[kellymonaghan]

Originally posted by phamton
The greeters at the front with the red baseball caps on are supposed to be casting directors. They are supposed be saying things like: "Come in we need more extras on the set. The scene you will be filming is a minecar scene for the new Mummy movie."

Now that makes sense. Interesting how a small item, overlooked, can make such a difference in the ride experience.

They still don't explain the whole "minecar" thing. Grump. Grump. Grump.

 

[DocBosch]

I think the biggest problem with the storyline for Revenge of the Mummy is that they had to concoct two different versions for each ride. The immersive aspect and plot points of the Hollywood Mummy ride are very different then the Florida one.

In Hollywood, you are actually entering the recently desecrated tomb of Imhotep, whose curse has been activated by tomb robbers. Then you enter an actual pre-show area (missing from USF), where we learn that a current solar eclipse has enabled the Mummy to come back from the land of the dead to punish the tomb robbers (which he thinks is us poor theme park tourists). So we load the mine car type vehicles in order to escape the tomb and out run Imhotep, until the eclipse finally comes to an end, and engulfs Imhotep in flames.

This is my take on the USF RotM storyline:

You are a tourist at the Universal Studios Florida theme park (duh) with an opportunity to take a behind the scenes set tour of the new Mummy sequel that is currently shooting. The tour leads you by screen used props and sets for the film, all the time playing a 'making of' documentary. We learn that many actual artifacts were used for shooting and construction of the sets, causing the cast and crew to worry that the set was cursed. The further we go into the tour, the more the curse takes over our surroundings and us. By the time we reach the full sets for the movie, Imhotep’s curse has transported us to his actual tomb, where he will doll out our punishment for desecrating it.

This is when it gets kinda sketchy. Why do we get in the vehicles? Maybe we’re trying to escape the curse, or it could be part of Imhotep’s plan to deal with us more efficiently (maybe he’s also concerned with the per hour capacity of his curse ). Anyway, we get in the vehicles regardless, and all the crazy stuff happens. Then we arrive at the unloading station, when reality rushes back in and we remember that this was all really just a theme park ride… but it’s not, cause Imhotep still wants to kick our butts! So he throws us into the bowels of hell, when out of nowhere the symbol from the queue video appears and destroys Imhotep and his minions. Then we see a video screen with Brandon Fraser and abruptly arrive to the real unload station.

The thing that hurts the USF Mummy ride most, if anything does at all, is all the tangents it goes off on in terms of ride and story. It’s not that the ride has no story; it’s that it has too many. Is it a behind the scenes tour? Is it an escape from a cursed tomb? Is it really just a thrill ride? Are we really just extras in a movie shoot? It wants and tries to be so many things nobody can keep track.

The way it’s set up, I like that the USF Mummy ride included the idea that we’re participating in either a set tour or the actual production of the movie. That way, it uses the whole theme park as a story telling tool, which is very post-modern and clever – sort of what MIB and Jimmy Neutron do. (The only other option for me would have been to make the ride revolve around the Museum of Antiquities in New York having an exhibit of cursed artifacts, which transports us to the cursed Mummy’s tomb.) Though it would have been nice if they had established it as a set tour of the new Mummy movie, mentioning the ride that is currently under construction. Then we would have been transported to Imhotep’s tomb, and presented with the same pre-show presentation as the USH ride (giving us an actual reason for boarding the vehicles). Then after confronting Imhotep and defeating him (and being transported back to our time) we would have arrived at the unload station to find a very confused ride op saying, “What are you guys doing on this thing? The ride’s not open yet. Non of the effects have even been put in yet!”

-Kevin

 

[phamton]

I like your story ideas, Kevin. But right now it is set up as the guests being extras in a new movie, not guests touring the set. I know that we are not being shown that consistently by the ride ops but that really is the supposed storyline.

They may need to make some changes in the future because the guests just aren't getting it but right now, that is the storyline.

My opinion of why they chose that storyline is because of the placement of the Mummy in the New York area. They chose that building because it was already there and empty. Since it is in New York they had to come up with a storyline that would fit in New York so they chose a movie set and movie shoot. What would have been better would be to have it in IoA in a new land of "ancient Egypt" where the guests would be in a real haunted tomb and a different storyline.

 

[DocBosch]

They could've used the New York set in the way I suggested in the other post:

The New York Museum of Antiquities is hosting an Egyptian exhibit that happens to contain supposedly cursed artifacts from the tomb of Imhotep. We, as patrons, are touring the museum's new exhibit when we are suddenly and mysteriously transported (by the cursed artifacts) to Ihmoteps tomb. From there, we go along with the USH storyline, where we must use the excavation vehicles to escape Imhotep's wrath.

I understand what you're saying phamton, but I also know (from an inside source) that parts of the storyline was devised by the ride operators in order to fill in the continuity of the ride. While I appreciate the effort that the ride operators put into finding explanations for certain lacking parts of the story and attempting to relate that to the guests, I also think that a ride's story should be self contained.

On BTTF, we know we are time travel volunteers because the queue video and Doc Brown himself keeps referring to us as such. On MIB, we know we are MIB trainees because the big booming voice of Agent Z keeps calling us that at the beginning of the queue and even once we’re on the ride. I would even accept it from a ride operator if it were part of scripted spiel, like in T2 (where the crazy “Super” lady tells us we’re there to see a CyberDyne presentation) or Jaws (where the skipper tells us we’re on a tour boat). There is no such similar thing in the RotM queue presentation or ride itself.

From my experience, the RotM queue initially seems like a walk through exhibit. As we walk through, it feels like the Jurassic Park III prop exhibit from a few years back, or even the IOA Preview center that was in the same building. That’s why, based solely on what the ride and queue is giving me, it seems to me like we’re taking a behind the scenes tour of the Mummy sequel set. The way we move from the prop storage area, to what seems like the movie set area, to a supernatural experience, I have to assume that we were somehow transported to a different time and place, probably by the cursed artifacts that the queue video says were used during on the shoot (and which we probably passed by in the prop area).

Again, I respect what the ride operators are trying to do by fleshing out the story, but I think the ride itself (including the queue) needs to tell the story better, if that is the story they want to tell.

Put signs up and around the Museum façade: “HOT SET: Now Shooting ‘Revenge of the Mummy’” Put up a banner and posters outside the Paradise Theater entrance: “Background Character Casting Today – EXTRAS NEEDED!”

Use the queue barricades outside the ride to create a type of holding pen, ala MIB, and only allow in a number of guests into the Paradise Theater at a time. Once inside, use that first room to inform the guests about the production of RotM, and their need for “background actors”, either through a video presentation or a ride op with scripted spiel. Tell them what the scene involves (excavation mine cars, or what not) and that they will have to stand in line for the casting process, but that they will be able to see some screen used props and watch a ‘making of’ featurette. Have the actor in the video or ride op giving the spiel act all jittery, holding on to his amulet, and end the speech with “…and, be careful!”

Next, add some minimal transitional effect between the prop room and the tomb room (fog, or lights or some sort of eerie sounds) just to give the guests an impression that SOMETHING just happened, that they may no longer just be on the movie set. Then, most importantly, find someway to include an altered version of the USH “pre –show” video. From what I understand, it’s not images showed on monitors, but just words projected on the walls with a voice over. Please, give us a reason to get in those vehicles.

Those are just some simple ways to establish, or at least strengthen the attraction’s storyline, and actually give use a narrative purpose on the ride.

-Kevin

 

[Prince Eric1]

Wow, I've been reading a lot about confusion as to whats going on for the ride. Hope they get it straightened out, but it looks great anyway.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

There was discussion as to "Why" the guests are getting into the railcars long before most of the staff you see is in there now. Basically, you're forced to by Imhotep's minions. You're going to be sacrificed to Imhotep, whether you like it or not.

The reason the railcar is there is because it was utilized in the dig to transport artifacts from different parts of the temple. The big mistake that was made was raising the statue of Anubis. This released Imhotep and his curse. When this happened, all the artifacts, inlcuding the few that made it out of the temple, became cursed. All those in the temple became cursed. All the exits from the temple were sealed. Those trying to resist the curse are the ones you see running around all nervous. The others have been possesed by Imhotep and do his bidding, which is to send all souls (guests) deep into the temple where he waits for their sacrifice.

Also, Imhotep's curse is so powerful that it transcends space and time. This is how you're able to go from USF 2004 to 1931 Hamunaptra, Egypt. Apparently Reggie took a wrong turn on the set and got stuck in the temple, only to fall victim of the curse...

 

[kellymonaghan]

If this discussion has proven anything it's that Doc Bosch should be hired by Universal Creative! Nice points, Doc.

About the Paradise Theater entrance: I got the distinct impression that the whole section of the queue that went through the Paradise Theater was something of an afterthought to accommodate unusually long lines. The "themeing" there (if it can be called that) is pretty basic and the acoustics make it impossible to understand the pre-show video.

It seemed pretty clear to me that the "real" entrance to the ride was supposed to be the Museum of Antiquities." That would make a lot more sense.

It will be interesting to see how UO deals with what seems to be pretty obvious confusion on the part of a lot of guests. There will be some people, of course, who just won't care. But if I've learned anything from a decade of covering theme parks, it's that the die-hard fans take ride story lines VERY seriously.

 

[phamton]

Originally posted by kellymonaghan

About the Paradise Theater entrance: I got the distinct impression that the whole section of the queue that went through the Paradise Theater was something of an afterthought to accommodate unusually long lines. The "themeing" there (if it can be called that) is pretty basic and the acoustics make it impossible to understand the pre-show video.

It seemed pretty clear to me that the "real" entrance to the ride was supposed to be the Museum of Antiquities." That would make a lot more sense.

You are correct, Kelly. My doombuggies.com group got a tour of the ride by the manager and that is what we were told. The entrance was supposed to be the Museum but because of the anticipated crowds, they needed a longer queue.