Update on possibilites of Transformers

[damo]

I feel the same way. A question. Prior to Jaws closing if these two were pitted against each other which would you rather have seen close?

If I am honest I would rather Jaws stayed and ET close but now that Jaws is closed I want to hold on to nostalgia.

I'd keep ET. Jaws varied so much depending on your skipper. We rarely rode it anymore. It was a once a vacation ride where ET we always do at least once a day. It is just charming.

Could it be Batman?

I'm not sure if they'd put Batman in the Studios. It seems like it belongs more over in IOA. They may want to retheme the whole Marvel superhero area in the future if Disney makes it worth their while. Although Batman would have the draw that they are looking for. Transformers probably has the biggest draw right now.

This was the Batman Island planned at IOA that got scrapped. The photo is huge, so here is the link...

http://www.comics101.com/guestlecturer//news/Guest Lecturer/91/batmanpark.jpg

 

[macphisto96]

I'm very sure it's not a Batman ride because that would go in IOA.

I do know for a fact that they revisited that concept after Marvel was bought by Disney. They had already negotiated with Warner over Harry Potter and worked with a lot of people in WB over the design at that time.

But Universal at that time was not going to spend the money to build the Wizarding World and shutdown another part of IOA. That said, I could see them considering it for after the Harry Potter expansion opens. That's probably at least two years into the future.

With the Marvel end of things, they are pretty much locked into what they have with modifications possible. That's the extent of the licensing agreement and Marvel will not approve alternate usage. However, as long as the Hulk, Spiderman, FearFall, and Accletron stand, Universal has an option to extend contracts and Disney will not be able to make attractions with those characters.

I think Universal will hold that area the way it is, with mods like the Spidey upgrades, until Disney pays them off. I also think Disney will pay them off, but knows that Universal won't take their money until they're done with Potter construction. Disney also wants to focus on Fantasyland and Avatar at AK.

That's down the line and may be part of the IOA refresh that is being bandied about. It's the one reason why I'm not sure if the new attraction is DC related, though we're seeing with Potter the theming stretching into both parks.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

It's going to be Spawn.

Don't take that seriously at all!

 

[damo]

And the flipflop from Screamscape today...

(7/17/12) With the Tower Crane now on site at the former SS44 site, it got me thinking… because I know I’ve seen Universal use this exact same setup not long ago. Take a look at this satellite image of the Transformer ride building under construction in Hollywood and you’ll notice it has the same style crane setup. While this doesn’t exactly confirm that the attraction is Transformers: The Ride, it does give off good evidence that we are looking at a similar sized building structure and construction style to be used here.
As for me… well, I’m going to weigh in on this one last time and flip-flop back to what my gut was telling me in the first place. This is, indeed, going to be the Orlando home for Transformers: The Ride. This was not a long term plan… this was a very sudden and unexpected decision, but Universal management really wants to strike while Transformers is still hot and between this and the Harry Potter expansion project, will deliver an incredible one-two punch to Disney. There is still a storm of mis-information blowing every which way, so I’m sure we’ll hear about one or two more possible ideas before Transformers is confirmed at last, but in the end… the Autobots and Decepticons will arrive in Orlando to wage war.

 

[JessicaR]

Out of the 2, I say ET. The Forest smell always brings back memories, and it also is one of the few good rides even kids can enjoy.

The one big advantage I don't think anyone can deny that Disney has over Universal is the number of good attractions which kids can enjoy. I would hate to see something as family friendly and classic as ET go away.

I'd keep ET. Jaws varied so much depending on your skipper. We rarely rode it anymore. It was a once a vacation ride where ET we always do at least once a day. It is just charming.

Yeah, ET really is charming and I love the smell of the woods too. I wonder how it fares with park attendance. I never really encounter a line. Hope it stays around for a long time to come.

 

[Eclpz314]

A few days ago I posted a question here about the possibility of Transformers being an interactive attraction. I just found the source where I'd read it. Go to this link and scroll down past the Demolition of HR Cafe picture to see the info. I've also quoted it below.
http://seasonpassforums.com/archive...g-up-and-shaking-up-its-park__o_t__t_672.html

"The Sally Corporation CEO John Wood had hinted that they were working on a major attraction for a blockbuster franchise for one of the major Orlando players. Now before, everybody jumps up and down. They are a lot of new attraction coming in Orlando in the next few years. If you have read Screamscape or kept up with your theme park news feed. You heard that Sea World, Busch Gardens, Disney parks, Fun Spot(yes, I know), Legoland, and Kennedy Space Center have all announced or gear up for new attraction even since Harry Potter has kick up tourism in Orlando in quite sometime. But if you think about it, if a Transformers ride would come to Orlando, but not be a carbon copy of Spider-man the ride. What could make it different enough, then adding interactive conponet in a dark ride setting. Which lead me to believe that the Transformers ride could be a shooting ride by the Sally Corporation. As, you know Sally Corp, has always done top notch shooting up dark ride experiences which could tip this as different enough of a ride for Universal Orlando. NewsParcs did an interview with CEO John Wood of Sally Corporation. When ask what new projects they are working one this was a quote that rise Transformers fans eyebrows.

Quote:JW: We have our biggest project that we can’t talk about unfortunately, but this is really going to be a blockbuster! It’s an interactive dark ride with a major intellectual property involved with it, a major location and a major park. We think it’s going to be the top of the industry, we will know for a year, but we are working to integrate some what you know. It’s actually slated for Christmas 2012.

We also are working on a couple of ride attractions in India, for a new park there. We have a lot to do and as a manufacturer, next year could be a record year for us.
While no mention of Transformers or Universal Studios Orlando in John Woods quote. Many fans are thinking that this could mean that a different type of Transformers ride could come to Universal Orlando a la Toy Story Mania at the Disney parks something that is projected digitally. So could we see something like this? "

 

[CentralFloridian99]

I'd rather have the ride like in USH then a soothing ride.

 

[Eclpz314]

I just did some research on the Sally Corporation and found this link with some interesting info. Could this fit into the Studio 44 area?


http://www.amusementtoday.com/new-sally-corp-ride-set-for-warner-bros-movie-world-australia/

http://thethemeparkplace.com/justice-league-alien-invasion-3d-new-info/

http://www.ifc.com/fix/2012/07/justice-league-ride

And last, but not least.....E.T. was created by this company too.

http://www.sallycorp.com/Darkrides/et_adventure.htm

 

[damo]

I just did some research on the Sally Corporation and found this link with some interesting info. Could this fit into the Studio 44 area?


http://www.amusementtoday.com/new-sally-corp-ride-set-for-warner-bros-movie-world-australia/

http://thethemeparkplace.com/justice-league-alien-invasion-3d-new-info/

http://www.ifc.com/fix/2012/07/justice-league-ride

And last, but not least.....E.T. was created by this company too.

http://www.sallycorp.com/Darkrides/et_adventure.htm

Sounds very cool! Too much like MIB though?

 

[Eclpz314]

Sounds very cool! Too much like MIB though?

I think there'd be room for another interactive shooting ride. I'm wondering how this all ties in with the quote from my first post above? I thought the one in Australia was supposed to open in September, but this info talks about Christmas 2012.

Quote:JW: We have our biggest project that we can’t talk about unfortunately, but this is really going to be a blockbuster! It’s an interactive dark ride with a major intellectual property involved with it, a major location and a major park. We think it’s going to be the top of the industry, we will know for a year, but we are working to integrate some what you know. It’s actually slated for Christmas 2012.

 

[damo]

I think there'd be room for another interactive shooting ride. I'm wondering how this all ties in with the quote from my first post above? I thought the one in Australia was supposed to open in September, but this info talks about Christmas 2012.

Quote:JW: We have our biggest project that we can’t talk about unfortunately, but this is really going to be a blockbuster! It’s an interactive dark ride with a major intellectual property involved with it, a major location and a major park. We think it’s going to be the top of the industry, we will know for a year, but we are working to integrate some what you know. It’s actually slated for Christmas 2012.

Maybe an interactive Transformers ride?

That ride in Australia only cost $9 million. Universal will be putting out way more than $9 million. Transformers cost $100 million.

 

[Planogirl]

Warner Brothers? That's interesting.... I've been hoping for Batman for ages.

Plus maybe another one of my dreams could come true and the Looney Tunes could be revived. I would just quietly lie down in front of the Mummy and die happy.

 

[Mad Hattered]

I think by reading other sites you can tell it is most definitely Transformers being built at that site.

 

[ChrisFL]

I think by reading other sites you can tell it is most definitely Transformers being built at that site.

yep....so the next question is...is it a clone or will it be unique?

 

[Karkor]

Well from what I read the other transformers ride is almost a spider man copy.
My gut tell's me that if they are making transformers in Orlando, that they will make it a different one maybe.
It would seem silly to have 2 rides at UO that are VERY similar. This is not like a coaster so I think it would have to be different.

Also if it was different then it may encourage visitors who have been to the Hollywood one to fly over to Orlando.

 

[Billabongi]

Take it with a grain of salt but i just saw a reasonably legit looking picture referencing Transformers coming to Orlando in Dec 2013.

 

[damo]

Take it with a grain of salt but i just saw a reasonably legit looking picture referencing Transformers coming to Orlando in Dec 2013.

http://micechat.com/8356-transformers-ride-orlando/

A few things about that picture that seem weird.

Universal never announces a month. It would say winter 2013 or something like that.

The font doesn't seem right. They would use the Universal font for the Universal Orlando part. Seems quite photoshopped to me.

 

[JessicaR]

http://micechat.com/8356-transformers-ride-orlando/

A few things about that picture that seem weird.

Universal never announces a month. It would say winter 2013 or something like that.

The font doesn't seem right. They would use the Universal font for the Universal Orlando part. Seems quite photoshopped to me.

It seemed off to me too. Way to cheesy for Universal.

 

[macphisto96]

yep....so the next question is...is it a clone or will it be unique?

If it is Transformers (and that is the real possibility) then my guess is that it will be unique and have elements not found on the other rides and not found on Spidey.

There are a lot of ways to read what I've been told. And one is to not buy into the obvious. The obvious would be that this is just a copy of the other two Transformers rides.

As for the timeframe, I do know it is being targeted for next summer. They've already prefabbed a lot of the parts for the building and whatever it is they are doing was designed behind the scenes awhile ago. Management did not "just" decide to do this like Screamscape has said. They just didn't want to share with many what their plans were. Part of the idea behind doing a quick demolition was to limit the timeframe on speculation AND to drum up discussion about what they were doing. They've gotten a lot of attention because of it. That was planned.

 

[truck1]

As for the timeframe, I do know it is being targeted for next summer. They've already prefabbed a lot of the parts for the building and whatever it is they are doing was designed behind the scenes awhile ago. Management did not "just" decide to do this like Screamscape has said. They just didn't want to share with many what their plans were. Part of the idea behind doing a quick demolition was to limit the timeframe on speculation AND to drum up discussion about what they were doing. They've gotten a lot of attention because of it. That was planned.

I can see US keeping secrets. Even the head PR guy cant tell how long a ride will be down for scheduled maintance.

Just to play devils advocate, why would Universal start to build a haunted house or what ever they were doing in the bldg, if they knew it was coming down? (On the assumption that they were building a house in there and not doing pre demo inside to make things go faster)