Shrek

[scauzilloc]

I just got a postcard in the mail inviting to the AP event for Sunday June 8. We are on our way now.

 

[JessicaR]

My family went to the AP event on Friday evening. It started at 8 and ended at 1A. It POURED! We waited in a line that snaked past the entrance gates and back again! After 2 1/2 hours we were in! I would have waited longer...loved it! We did it again Saturday and Sunday. They had an offer for a grand opening pin and also gave out shrek ears. One time we were the first ones into the dungeon and were told to locate a squire inside for seats that remain stationary. We didnt sit in them but I could see they remained still during the show. I felt Jimmy Neutron jostled you much more. Shrek seating was comfortable and the cushioned seats helped a lot. Try if you can to get a center row seat for the full effects. We sat up front in the middle and in the back and the viewing was great from all. After the show let out they had photo ops with Farquaad and Shrek (Saturday). There was a wizard that I thought looked just like Dumbledore from Harry Potter so I asked and was told he was Merlin borrowed from IOA. 2 thumbs up!

 

[DocBosch]

I went the preview Friday night. We got to Universal around 7:00, and I think they started the first show before 8:00. We waited for maybe half and hour or so.

Not much was done to the outside, which was understandable, but the preshow room was cool. The use of the semi-animatronics and the flat screen was clever, and the room was really interesting to look at. (Did anybody else see the "Duloc Express" sign? I need to take a better look at it.)

Now, honestly, by first impressions, I didn't think the attraction was that great for a few reasons, all of which I'm sure will evaporate by the second time I ride it.

My main qualm is with the lack of story continuity involving us. I'm used to going to Universal and being put in the middle of the action. I'm always somehow involved with the attractions story. Even over at IOA, with the Hulk Coaster, where your supposed to be Bruce Banner/Hulk, or Dueling Dragons, where you're supposed to experience the Dragons fighting, there is always some understandable sense of involvement, even if it's vague.

One of my problems with T2:3D used to be that half way through the ride, your just sitting there watching a movie. This is excusable though, considering that when you first enter the auditorium, your there for a reason, story wise. The transition from first hand experience to movie, and back, is almost seamless. With Shrek, we're put under the impression that we're prisoners in Lord Farquaad's dungeon, and that when we're moved into the theater, we're doing so for a reason (because Farquaad's going to torture us of something like that). But once we're in, the movie starts, and the entire concept of us being prisoners, and being there for a reason, goes nowhere.

We are involved in the action in the sense that we literally feel what's going on in the movie, thanks to the seats, the air jets and, presumably, the smells, but that still doesn't make complete sense cause we, as the audience, are not really in the movie. Say what you say, but Honey I Shrunk the Audience, T2:3D and even MuppetVision actually involve the audience into the story.

In terms of 3D, non of the effects where really that effective, especially compared to T2:3D. Sure, every so often we see things fall towards the camera, or things poke out at us, but that’s the oldest trick in the 3-D book. T2:3D, in many parts, doesn't give the impression at all that there’s a screen, but that things are actually come out to get us. And even the parts where it really is just a movie, T2:3D used the 3-D is a very cinematic way, not just as tricks.

In short, Shrek 4-D is a presentation of a 15-minute Shrek short movie, utilizing 3D and other immersion techniques. It's not really a ride, or even a show, as much as it is just a movie. If only they had given us an explanation of why we were sitting in that theater, and why we were watching the action on the screen (and experiencing it), or connected it to use being Farquaad's prisoners. Maybe the 3D glasses could have had Shrek or Donkey ears, and preshow characters would have referred to us as if we were Shrek and Donkey. Or maybe the Mirror could have shown us what was going to happen to Shrek and Donkey and Fiona, and that’s why we're in the middle of the action all of the sudden. If they had just made the audience involvement, story wise, a little more present, then it would have been a more enjoyable ride, for me at least.

But, despite everything I just said, I still think it's a really cool attraction, and will make it a point to ride it every chance I get. I also had problems with MIB when it first opened, with T2 still, and even Spider-Man and BTTF. The only thing I hold against Shrek 4D is the involvement quality and I assume that the special effects still need tweaking and only wished that there had been more jabs at the Disney parks within the actual movie (which was what I was expecting) but everything else was above an beyond any 3-D show out there.

-Kevin

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

Thanks for everyone's stories! I'm really excited to see Shrek!

Can anyone let me know how much the seats move? My family is taking my grandmother to Universal for her 75th birthday. We think she'll be able to handle MIB but definately not Jimmy Neutron or BTTF. Will she be able to handle Shrek, or should she be in stationary seating?

 

[rangebob]

Stationary seat. There is some pretty good bucking on the seats.

 

[MsDisney]

Originally posted by Flyfly_Eclipse
Thanks for everyone's stories! I'm really excited to see Shrek!

Can anyone let me know how much the seats move? My family is taking my grandmother to Universal for her 75th birthday. We think she'll be able to handle MIB but definately not Jimmy Neutron or BTTF. Will she be able to handle Shrek, or should she be in stationary seating?

There aren't any restraints on the seats...no seatbelts, no lap-bar...they are cushioned theater style seats. They do move around quite a bit (up and down), but it's nothing like BTTF or even Earthquake would be more intense. I think she'd be fine. She's 75, she's not made of glass

Karen

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

Originally posted by MsDisney
She's 75, she's not made of glass

lol. I know that, but my mom was just trying to figure out what would be alright for her. As I said my mom doesn't think she can take BTTF or Jimmy Neutron, however she did think MIB and Earthquake should be ok.

Well, I guess we can always try it first just to make sure but you say it isn't too bad.

Thanks.

 

[FOV]

Originally posted by MsDisney
She's 75, she's not made of glass

Karen

We don't all age alike. My grandmother, age 82, could probably see that attraction 3x in a row but my m-i-l, age 73, has a terrible back and would never be able to do it. Stationary seating is really very important for some seniors.

 

[JessicaR]

Flyfly_Eclipse, your grandma can also ride Jimmy Neutron in the front stationary seats.

 

[MsDisney]

Originally posted by FOV
We don't all age alike. My grandmother, age 82, could probably see that attraction 3x in a row but my m-i-l, age 73, has a terrible back and would never be able to do it. Stationary seating is really very important for some seniors.

Right, well...they give warnings about what type of people should avoid that attraction though. I know people who are 30 who can't go on an attraction that says "those with back problems should not ride", so obviously, if this senior has specific ailments which would prevent her from safely experiencing an attraction, then she should re-think it. The OP didn't say anything about what might ail her mom, other than she's 75. That gave me the impression she's in good health. Stationary seating is real important to some seniors and some tots and some generation X'ers I was just answering based on the info I had about the OP's mom.

I don't find it to be all that intense and if she's ok to do earthquake, then I'm sure this is fine for her!
Just MHO though

Karen

 

[Luvinit]

Got a sneak peek on Sun 6/7...pure luck...they opened it up after 2pm to the entire park....(even though we are pass holders). The wait was not that bad...the video keeps your mind off the wait.

We Loved it!!! But then again we love Shrek...my kids want to know when we are going to be able to "buy" the DVD (to this part of the movie)....lol

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Srek 2 is supposed to come out next year...

 

[Brianhog]

Just my two cents worth. My son and I rode it last Saturday and Sunday as annual passholders and thought it was great. We did it four times and will do it again when we go back. FYI- he is 16 and I am 49.

 

[Figment22]

We just got back from 10 days in Orlando. We're AP holders and we must have seen Shrek 4-D 6 or 7 times. We just loved it.
We got our first look at the Annual Pass Preview on Sunday, June 8th which was from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We got to the park at about 7:40 a.m. and got right into the attraction with no wait at all. It was so great because it was like having early entry for much of the rest of the park as well. We walked right on Jimmy
Neutron and then headed back for a bunch of rides on MIB.
Anyway, back to Shrek. We all got our AP ogre ears which were just a great gift; we wore them all around the parks all day.
I just loved all the little digs at Disney, from the posters in the queue to the total disrespect given to the little Tinker Bell like fairy. Just hysterical. I like the way the seats gallop. I love the mirror in the preshow with the Star Wars joke. The gingerbread man cracks me up both in the preshow and in the movie itself, but I didn't get all of what he said until about the 4th time we saw the show. And the blind mice made me laugh again and again. We actually went back 3 evenings and caught the show
just before closing time (which is still way too early at 8:00 p.m. by the way). Even when the wait was posted at 75 minutes, we got into the theatre within about 40-45 mins. Once you're in the covered queue area, you can watch the video monitors so the wait doesn't seem too long. The line moves up substantially every 10 minutes or so.

All in all, just a great addition to USF!