The Awful Universal Rides That Nobody Talks About
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ม.ค. 2023
- We all know Fast and Furious: Supercharged is probably one of the worst rides to ever exist. However, as much as I've sung the praises of Universal attraction design recently, the company does have some truly awful rides out there. Since nobody talks about them, I thought it would make for an interesting topic.
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The saddest part is that most of these franchises have AMAZING potential for attractions, imagine a story coaster where Po attempts to stop the "clash of two dragons" obviously a dueling dragons style coaster but only in the later portion, perhaps even offering a more forgiving ride experience in one of the queues and one for more seasoned coaster enthusiasts in the other queue, that way they achieve a dual purpose of creating a new headline attraction that appeals to families, but also an intense thrill ride for older guests
cool.
Not gonna lie, youd probably make bank off this idea
That sounds great, It reminds me a lot of the two single rail coasters Walibi Holland is slated to get
I think you just want Dueling Dragons back, like all of us
I would like a version of this, like the cars rollercoaster/ride, where instead of just going fast in a straight line like test track, you are one a actually moving roller coaster, racing another "dragon" with voiceover from Po. (Forgive the commas) One side could be fast, another slower.
I think one key thats missing from Kung fu pandas dark ride is height, and multiple levels of action. Both life of pets and pirates of the Caribbean have multiple levels with action and figures, which causes the rider to have to shift their eyes up and down searching for detail.
When all of the detail is right next to each other it’s easier to see all of it in a shorter period of time, thus making it seem like less.
You make a really good point that I didn't even think to consider. I'll definitely keep that element in mind in the future.
I wish I met the man who designed that ride, my brother met him through students at a school he was attending in LA - that man designed Pirates and Haunted Mansion, his grown child tragically died and he in his 80s was raising the little girl.
@@PoseidonEntertainment I think the Kung Fu Panda ride has a really nice idea and a pretty atmosphere but it's not going all the way and it's executed poorly :(
@@PoseidonEntertainment this is obviously a very different ride, but this comment made me compare the Kung Fu Panda ride to the Jungle Cruise in Disneyland. Jungle Cruise is mostly statues and moving parts with not very many complete animatronics, but because they’re spread around and surrounded by foliage it still manages to be interesting enough. Of course the skipper’s jokes are a big part of that ride too, but they could easily replicate that with voiceover from the characters. Replicating that style wouldn’t make Kung Fu Panda an A list ride, but it would certainly help.
Yup even small world had different levels tho not as obviously
We live in a time line where the Secret Life of Pets ride is better than the Kung Fu Panda ride.
What a time to be alive.
You know it’s bad when an awesome movie gets a boring ride but a boring movie gets an awesome ride.
@@amyvasquez4268
LMFAO that is sad as hell
I never understood why they never made a How To Train Your Dragon Ride similar to the Simpsons. I feel like its a missed opportunity not getting to ride TOOTHLESS
Epic Universe will have a HTTYD coaster apparently. Hoping for something like Taron in Phantasialand personally
If shamelessly stealing other theme parks ride systems was allowed, I'd love a version of Pandora's Flight of Passage but with a How to Train your Dragon skin over it.
@@orklethThat would be amazing! Flight of Passage was fun, but I couldn’t care less about the IP and the world I was supposed to be flying around. That dragged it down for me.
It seems that most of universal’s lesser quality attractions are from their oversea parks rather then their main ones in Hollywood and Orlando. Compared to Disney’s oversea parks, I think universal in the future should put more investment into these other markets. There still is quality there, but these parks could definitely use the extra care to really be incredible parks. With inclusions of stuff such as Super Nintendo World and minions to Singapore, I trust that this park will soon stand out as it’s own and be a better experience then it currently is.
they are licensed out so its not really universal putting money into it. (From what I heard)
@@F.r.e.a.k.e.n.s.t.e.i.n fair point but when you look at Tokyo Disneyland (which is also licensed out) in comparison there is a big difference in quality. So if they are licensed or not the owners should still put in more investment because if they don’t that is a lot of wasted potential.
I think universal Hollywood kung fu panda 3D takes the cake for the absolute worst! 😂
The worst ride at universal Orlando is not a ride, but a show. Poseidons fury, is really outdated and a waste of space for such a large show building.
Disney has alot of ips so they can bring those overseas. Universal borrows major ip's like Harry Potter and Mario whose contracts are USA only.
Another banger!
It's probably a licensing issue, but the boat system coupled with slower-moving animatronics and highly detailed scenes, seems like a great opportunity for an interactive Pokemon snap dark Ride.
Someone on TV Tropes suggested it should be a Men in Black style shooter ride. As long as it’s good I’m good.
@@amyvasquez4268 I mean, I said a while ago to put it where Men in Black currently is, but that's only because I figured that the fear Factor stadium would make for a great battle arena AR kinda show. And seeing as to how Simpsons has to go soon, I just figured this would be an awesome footprint for a Pokemon area.
But yeah, I'm with you! As long as it's good, I'm good!
Dude absolutely, I don't even like Pokemon but if a ride is going to move that slow, making it interactive is a no brainer. I remember when I went to Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom as a kid I rode Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin like 4 times due to both the non-existent queue time and the fact it was a shooter ride, so it was much more engaging than other rides with the same queue time
Ooh good idea
I feel that Universal Hollywood in particular suffers from Motion-Simulator-Syndrome in the main area of it's park even with all of the advantages it has. The Upper Lot is rife with these rides, and given that the park in general isn't very huge since it's an actual movie studio, things can feel limited at times. The park is still well-supplemented with things like the Wizarding World and the Lower Lot, and with Super Nintendo World coming there very soon, I feel that there's a lot of good opportunities for the park to shine in the future.
It has two motion sims lol
I agree, I think Universal Hollywood needs to remove most of the unnecessary virtual rides and replace them with fun thrill rides like Velocicoaster and Hagrids Magical Creatures.
Some of universals motion sim rides are literally copy/pastes of the Spider-Man layout. It’s pretty funny
Went recently and most of the rides made me motion sick. I hated it.
@@truefacts4723 It has way more than that. Simpsons, Transformers, Despicable Me, Fast and Furious, King Kong. Even Forbidden Journey is half motion sim/half thrill ride with animatronics. They start to all feel like the same experience.
"Boats are one of my favorite attractions." We know, Poseidon. 😭
To me the worst rides would definitely be Fast and Furious, the Kung Fu Panda ride in Beijing and Hollywood (the franchise deserves so much better 😭), the Madagascar one, which just looks like an earlier version of Kung Fu Panda, and Kong Skull Island to an extent imo. Even if it is one of my favorite dark rides, The Cat in The Hat has seen better days. Now it’s just a shell of its former self 😢
I'd add the Jimmy Fallon ride as well.
@@mupty I don’t think Jimmy is that bad but that’s just my opinion. If I could give rides a rating I’d give it a 6/10. I will agree it’s pretty lazy and dull to an extent tho.
Men in Black and E.T. has seen better days too. I hope after Epic Universe opens that they can refurbish them like what they did with the Mummy.
I can't say that I really feel one way or the other about USH's Dreamworks Theater. It's clearly a step up from Shrek 4-D, but it's also a different change of pace from everything else at the park. I like variety and while it's not great, I think it has its place in rounding out the park's offerings.
I know that it’s a very unpopular opinion but I prefer kong to spider man. But I see why others feel a different way.
Something I’ve noticed ever since i first saw povs of madagascar/puss in boots in singapore a few years ago that applies even to secret life of pets is that the animatronics of universal’s animated characters always manage to look off model. Disney has found a way to make their animated characters translate perfectly into animatronic form (beauty and the beast in tokyo, for instance) but with universal, something about the fur or the limited motion tends to look consistently off. Even cat in the hat back in 1999 had this issue to some degree.
I can't say that SLOP animatronics seem like anything you would find in Singapore. They have limited movement, but the manufacturer must be different.
@@PoseidonEntertainment This is true, but the way the fur blends with the figures, as well as the eyes and mouth motion, still look uncanny to me and do not resemble the films as well as disney's figures do. This quality was offputting for me the first time I saw a pov of secret life of pets. That being said, I haven't been able to ride it yet, so maybe my opinion will change whenever I do.
@@PoseidonEntertainment idk what manufacturer does the animatronics in Singapore, but I believe that for all their other parks their animatronics are outsourced to Creature Technologies in Australia. Ik at least for a fact they're responsible for the recent animatronics on JW the Ride, SLOP, and Hollywood's SNW and MK Ride.
What's interesting is that the Kung Fu Panda land and ride were originally supposed to be based on SpongeBob Squarepants, but plans for that were canceled for some unknown reason. Maybe because they didn't have the rights to use the SpongeBob franchise in China or that they found it isn't that popular in China. Either way, they were in the middle of building the SpongeBob land when they decided to cancel it, so it was too late to tear down and rebuild from the ground up, they had to put in a different franchise for an area that was built for SpongeBob, including the boat ride. When Comcast bought DreamWorks, Kung Fu Panda was the answer to take over this area, but honestly if Universal chose to build a Kung Fu Panda land from the ground up, I doubt they would have gone with the choice of the boat ride.
And there's the fact that Paramount only wants Spongebob to be used for gift shops and meet-and-greets when licensing it to Universal
@@KaminoKatie This is because they have two Nickelodeon parks in the United States: one in American Dream in New Jersey and one at the Mall of America in Minnesota.
I would love to hear you touch upon the Sinbad attraction found at Tokyo Disney Sea, as I believe it to be a perfect example of what modern-day imagineering can achieve with the same formula that produced classic attractions like Pirates. It’s a slow moving boat ride with tons of dynamic figures to look at, and a wonderful soundtrack to tie it all together. For Universal, I too hope they continue to listen to feedback and create future attractions more like Secret Life of Pets rather than screen-heavy.
Yeah, Sinbad is great! Unfortunately it’s not very popular within Japan.
I totally agree with where you're coming from; another issue I see with these pretty lackluster boat rides is how there's no sense of discovery in any of them. Even with pretty minor movements, rides like it's a small world are so fun to go on because you get to see representation of every culture, and go "oh, is that Singapore? And that one might be Thailand!". The population of the ride, and the knowledge that every animatronic was put there with representational intention makes it so fun to go on again and again. For those universal rides you showed, they feel so dull because there's no further interaction with the scene - you're not going to find anything new, so what you see is just what you get. This problem has aso effected some of Disney's newer rides, like the Frozen one in EPCOT. It's not very fun because it's just made up of barren scenes with one single animatronic. It might just be that maximalist design choices could be seen as kitschy or out of date by ride makers, but honestly they're the designs that work best. Excessive, over the top theming is one of the biggest draws to theme parks, so being too conservative with ride design just backfires and makes it boring.
I think that your analysis is pretty spot on. What made so many Disney rides classics was that they were designed with the "cocktail party" idea in mind. Even for attractions such as the Carousel of Progress though with far fewer animatronics, there's still a lot of elements going on in each scene.
New Poseidon video = great day
I think Universal is finally learning their lesson about what works and what doesnt, it took alot of trial and error but if they keep the theming like with nintendo for all their future stuff, they may take Disney' spot.
I was at the Singapore Park in December. The JP ride is still fun, but in serious need of upkeep. Hopefully they'll revamp it when Super Nintendo World (taking up the entire left side of the park) starts construction. Puss in Boots Giant Journey is actually a pretty violent experience for a kids ride and the queue is surprisingly well themed. You get tossed around a far bit. Also I could not find any toys of Evac at the gift shop for the Transformers ride.
Aw man, how do you botch a ride based on Kung Fu Panda? It's such an awesome franchise, deserving of an equally awesome ride!
Even as someone who has no intrest in the F&F movies, the queue and the way the line works in Orlando is pretty cool and intresting. There's just no reason to stay for the ride.
Plus most of the reviews mentioning how the cast members generally understand the reception to the ride so they have some more freedom to be expressive. Haven't been on the ride myself but heard many good stories of cast members having a lot of energy which I was told improved the experience for guests.
@@zoso279 100%, I was there in september 2022 and the actors in the pre show were absolutely hilarious, u could tell how they just knew how terrible the ride is and we're almost definitely completely off script. I was in a group of 7 and we were dying of laughter. They made the ride 10x better
I lived in Singapore for 10 years. Shrek 4D was my second or third favourite ride. Why? It's well-airconditioned, the line is nicely themed, and 3D is much less widely available so it's more unique. I live an hour from LA now (for college), and even in this small town I can go see any new movie in 3D if I want; In Singapore however, 3D is limited to very select theatres. Avatar: The Way of Water seems to be changing this, but you still have to go to a further theatre to watch it. I do, however, wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of the Madagascar boat ride. It was so lukewarm that the circular park has a distinct direction more people walk in bc Madagascar is the first ride you go on if you go clockwise.
I miss the old studio tour. I don't need that Kong/F&F "action" on my tour. I remember I was at the old studio tour the week before it got burned down, so I'm thankful I got to see that version one last time before all this new stuff. I remember one version of the tour, before they put in the F&F/Kong, they had the F&F cars fighting in some giant water tank
If I recall, they had cars on KUKA arms with explosions?
@@PoseidonEntertainment i distinctly remember the exploding/dancing cars from the tour, as well as the parting water and the Mummy tunnel too.
Also a good example is the jurassic flyers at Beijing: a mack suspended powered coaster with no dark ride scenes to be found while mack advertises the ride system as more of a dark ride system which is capable of smaller coaster elements
The Mack Inverted Powered coaster is such a wasted use of the technology. Yes, after riding it, it does offer some family friendly thrill, and yes it’s pretty cool to see the entire park from a bird’s eye view, but something as little as an animatronic, or even static dinosaur would do to animate the entire ride.
@@TheThemeParkAmateur I think Arthur the Ride at Europa Park does a far better job on demonstrating what kind of ride the coaster system can be built around.
@@NocturneFexy Agreed!
@@TheThemeParkAmateur I just watched the POV you posted on your channel and I agree. I'm not one to disparage scenic rides like the Seuss Skytrolley or Yoshi's Adventure, but I'm not sure if Jurassic Flyers even works in that sense.
@@PoseidonEntertainment Thanks for the support! Every time I got off that ride I always overhear people saying "That's it?" And I always find it unironically hilarious.
I just found this channel, being a huge theme park nerd I really love it. the voice being a little mono tone is a little draggy, however the content within I find myself noding along the whole time as it is all so relatable. Keep it up! I love it!
Mr. Poseidon? You make very interesting videos, and you keep me engaged very effectively. I'm not in any position to make requests, obviously, but I wonder about an idea that just struck me: a video about what makes a good, balanced park framed as a "how-to" for making your own theme park! That is, the framing device would be presented as instructions or advice as to how one might go about designing and planning a theme park (assuming funds and labor), while expressing what excellent parks do and where parks have failed in those ways.
It sounds like you want me to make a Rollercoaster Tycoon video.
All joking aside though, I have thought about "park balance" as a topic. I kind of touched on it with my "Does Universal Have Too Many Thrill Rides?" video, but I think it would eventually be something interesting to make. However, it will likely be a later project because I want to travel more and experience more parks to gain some perspective.
@@PoseidonEntertainment That's probably why your videos end up so good: you make the effort to experience many different parks and understand them in their diversity. Me, my perspective has been pretty limited; I grew up in Florida, so I know a little about Florida parks, but apart from that, I'm not well-traveled. I guess your videos are a vicarious vacation for me!
I LOVE the Cat In The Hat ride 🤣 I force everyone to ride it with me every time I visit no matter what, and I turn 30 this year lol it's one of my favorites.
Even with the degradation of it, it is still also one of my favorite dark rides 👍
I like small scale dark rides and I think it's incredibly underrated. Definitely a great attraction in its own right, but also because it's always a walk-on.
I liked Cat in the Hat until they toned down the spinning even more because some idiot kid somehow got underneath the lap bar and spun out of the ride. Like, it's already tame, but *more tame*? Really? Why?
Great video on Universal Studios Singapore a park that I did not know existed. Unfortunately the rides seem for me quite boring and attractions are really a "ride once don't bother again" kind of experience. Sadly there seems to be a lot of unused space on the Kung Fu Panda ride ride. Granted this is a an improvement over a video I have seen of the Hotel Transylvania trackless ride at Motiongate Theme Park in Dubai.
It's an interesting well themed park. Definitely a "one and done" kind of place, but I like how themed their different lands are.
When I worked at Epcot, they were doing test and adjust for Frozen Ever After, which replaced Maelstrom. They asked us if we had any feedback, and we told them that it was incredibly empty inside, and there was almost nothing going on. Whereas Maelstrom had tons of stuff going on in its scenes.
Great video @Poseidon Entertainment! The most important fact about Universal Studios Singapore is what you called it: it is owned and managed by Genting Group. Their primary business in Singapore is gaming, and this is just an added on piece of family entertainment that was necessary to be added to their development package that they won from the competition to develop Sentosa from the Singapore Government. Genting is pretty cheap... this is not their primary business, and when they put in an attraction they get very cheap about it. Universal Studios Singapore was originally designed and built not by the core Universal Creative team, but by a fantastic and brilliant Theme Park designer, Kevin Barbee and his team (Kevin also led creative at Universal Studios Japan, and is one of the most super-talented theme park designers of our time-- look him up!!). They did what they could with the limited budgets that were offered by Genting leadership (including getting direction from the Chairman of Genting out of Genting HQ in Malaysia). Universal Creative leadership of course had some licensing oversight and some quality assurance check-off here... but Genting was really in charge when these attractions were implemented. Overall, I believe they are the best they could do with the budgets they had to deal with-- and clearly, it affects the USS international reputation-- everyone knows... its not a destination park like Universal Studios Japan, Hollywood, Orlando or Beijing. This is a Genting park with Universal licensing. I hope Universal starts noticing this... and starts to push on their relationship with Genting... but overall--I would be surprised if that happened. Genting has so much control here. Genting is a Gaming company-- that also has theme parks as add-ons to their core business.
With all your praise of The Secret Life of Pets ride makes me wish they'd bring it to Universal Florida or something similar to it.
As a big KFP fan it’s an absolute shame that both rides/attractions with that IP attached to it suck (or are just really underwhelming at best). You’d think they’d go all out on the Chinese ride considering how big and somewhat important the franchise is in that country, but no, it had to be the worst Universal ride since F&F Supercharged. 🤦🏻♀️
Y’know… if there’s one kind of ride Universal desperately needs, it’s one that’s accessible and appropriate for everyone and anyone, but is of great quality. Not too saccharine or boring for adults and theme park enthusiasts, not too inappropriate for kids, and probably no height requirement. That’s one of two things I preferred about Disney over Universal.
Also, I think the Cat in the Hat ride needs a refurb badly. I went on the ride alone on my last visit and let me tell you, I was absolutely horrified. The animatronics were in such poor condition that I thought they would eat me and the ride was just super run down. It was sad and scary to me. They need to update it ASAP.
Anyway a ride I would want at Universal is a Pirates of the Caribbean-style boat ride adaptation of a Fire Emblem game with lots of high quality animatronics and good pacing and atmosphere. I doubt it’ll come to America, but in the Japanese park yes. I would also like to see a good Demon Slayer ride from them too considering the amount of advertising it has in the CityWalk, and maybe they could make Tokyo into a future area at USF once Simpsons retires and they could set it there.
These seem to be just flukes if anything and they probably weren't made by the same Creative team that was responsible for Hagrid's, SNW, etc. But I hope Epic Universe doesn't have rides that are as bad as those. I don't want them to give up on slow-moving dark rides however because Secret Life of Pets looks amazing!
What I REALLY yearn to see from Universal (and it's something that I always commend Disney for) is updating their old rides!! Aside from the Jurassic World retheme (which makes me kind of hopeful), they act like once the attractions are built, they cannot be touched until they stop being popular and then just throw it away for something new. Cat in the Hat is literally the perfect dark ride for Seuss Landing and has SO much going for it at it's core... literally just a technical upgrade would do them SO MUCH GOOD. The idea and execution ain't broke, the ride itself is. So refresh the ride!
(I know it's not a simple thing because it requires a lot of time and redesigning, etc. but it's so much easier than making a whole new ride and I just know people will adore it once again in the characters didn't look so terrifying and the vehicle's motion was tweaked. Something, anything)
IoA's River Adventure definitely need the Jurassic World retheme. I think that if you replace or retheme an attraction, you should strive to create something that was better than its predecessor. Jurassic World definitely improves on the original.
@Poseidon Entertainment Yea, of course! There isn't any ride that can't be replaced as long as there are newer ideas and tech out there! Jurassic World Ruver Adventure was the perfect way to use what people loved about the old ride and add in new things that make it strong and modern!
I just used Cat as an example because it seems to still be enjoyed by enough people to warrant staying around, and the story is one that everybody knows and enjoys, not to mention Seuss Landing doesn't exactly have many other currently relevant stories to replace it with, so I've always felt that a tech and animation update and fresh coat of paint would breathe some much needed life into it without being too big of an undertaking or impacting Seuss Landing as a whole
Your videos are top quality man!
would love to hear your take on Runaway Railway at Disneyland. People are saying it's better just because of the queue. Not sure that automatically makes the ride better, but it does look charming.
It's pretty impressive but it breaks down a lot. Was waiting in line and got kicked out because of a breakdown....came back later only for it to breakdown while we were on the ride still, stuck on it for about 20 ish minutes. Was terrible.
OTHERWISE, what they have done is impressive
@@bryan81584 Just because it broke down when you were there doesn’t mean it breaks down ‘a lot’. I’ve been on it three times and it’s never broken down while we were in queue or while I was on it.
I absolutely loved it and not because of the queue at all. I do like the queue and find it interesting, but it’s the least enjoyable part of the experience to me (as it should be). The effect of the screen exploding and walking through it is really well done and cool, the way the scenes transition drastically while you’re in them is extremely impressive, and the screen towards the end combined with the motion of the vehicle really does feel like you’re about to go over a huge waterfall. Plus a ride with even a snippet of Daisy Duck representation is automatically a bit higher in my book because she’s so ignored and she’s my favorite of the main cast 😂
ET is the biggest trip ever, like the ADDED a whole planet and species to ET's backstory at the end.
I went to universal studio Singapore expecting it to be like Hong Kong Disneyland but universal and I was so let down 😭 I kept wanting to leave lol
I can only say that from video, I really like what the park seems to offer, even if it's small. What didn't you like about it?
Tbf i enjoyed this more
@@PoseidonEntertainment I expected it to be small but I didn’t expect it to be THIS small, especially when Madagascar is closed so it’s even one third smaller! There are like no rides to go on lol.
And the Battlestar Galactica coaster only opens one track at at time, and for the entire 60 mins wait, they don’t let you use your phone while waiting cos you need to store it in the locker. Fucking crazy. And the gift shop that’s not in use was just emptied out, and you can see into it through the glass doors which weren’t even aligned. It just looks like the park is poorly ran. I expect doors to be at least installed properly.
Overall the park was waaaaaay too tiny, offered nth new, and is poorly run. Hong Kong Disneyland is the tiniest Disney park but for the things they do offer it’s still world class and theming is still very well done. It just doesn’t have as many rides as the other parks. Singapore park just feels like something you’d find in Dubai which I agree :(
*wakes up and sees new Poseidon entertainment video first thing and sees the title* 🍿 Hell yeah baby this gone be a good one!
F&F Supercharged is the last time business execs designed an attraction for universal and now they let creative do their thing.
If Disney can get some chefs out of the kitchen, they can get back to greatness too.
My brother in Christ, that intro alone was enough for me.
The video is exceptional.
Got a new subscriber
I hate Minion Mayhem with a burning passion, and it disappoints me that it'll probably be around for the long run. It's so boring, not immersive AT ALL, no 3D and the vehicle movement adds nothing. Seriously, why is there no 3D?????? That would've helped a bit and I could've gotten a small amount of enjoyment from it, but they really just had to dumb it down. A traditional dark ride would've worked wonders but naaaaaah, LET'S MAKE IT A BORING SIMULATOR WITH NO 3D!!!!!!!!!
Minion Mayhem for sure is a one-and-done thing. Too bad it's one of the more popular rides of these parks, why else could they have cloned this one so many times?
I do think The Minions for as much as people don't like them (myself included), do deserve better given their still incredible popularity.
Minion Mayhem continues to get cloned again and again. It's definitely popular with kids which is why I think it's so successful.
@@PoseidonEntertainment Yeah there's no denying it's a hit with kids, hence why it's cloned all over the place. I just wish it wasn't so lazy and boring.
Your videos are always spot on. Very fair in your judgements. Always enjoy it!
I can’t really talk about the other rides mentioned here, but Kung Fu Panda Journey of the Dragon Warrior has to be one of the worst and strangest rides to come out of Universal lately. The screen based sections aren’t implemented well and compensate for rider perspective. The animatronics are stiff and sometimes hilariously odd looking. The story is somewhat convoluted and has extreme pacing issues. It honestly feels as if the ride, and the whole Kung Fu Panda land that surrounds it was designed by someone who looked at “it’s a small world” and said: “Let’s make it Kung Fu Panda! (But with an extremely tight budget and restrictive conceptual planning.)” From older plans of this indoor land being based on the Spongebob IP, it would have worked much better, so it feels like the plans for the land were just altered in the theming and characters to compensate, instead of creating a brand new idea that actually fit the theme.
And it’s quite sad cause Kung Fu Panda is arguably the best Dreamworks property (either that, HTTYD, or Shrek) and they couldn’t even do the ride justice 😢
@@NinthShinigami So true! This and the rest of the park seem like such an afterthought compared to Jurassic World Adventure. Although it is still nice to see something original in the park, since everything else in the park is a copy from somewhere else, no love and thought has been put into the original inclusion too. (Although I’m a sucker for the theming, the Lantern of Legendary Legends has such a cool kinetic effect to the land.) Journey of the Dragon Warrior having a footprint almost the size of Forbidden Journey leaves so much to be desired, and something like a dark ride or a compact family friendly coaster would definitely fit the Kung Fu Panda theme much better.
And I find the immense amount of switchbacks absolutely hilarious. Like they really expected a long wait for a ride like this? Please. The longest wait I've seen this ride at is 20 minutes.
I had also heard that the land was changed last minute and that's my assumption for why the ride seems so poorly planned out. The components are there for something great.
@@PoseidonEntertainment The park definitely feels incomplete, like it hasn't been fully thought through. I honestly had some concerns for Epic Universe and the Texas kids park, because I'm worried they might turn out the same way: hyped up, but disappointing in the end with not enough to do in the park to absorb crowds. But I trust Universal will give their domestic parks the amount of attention it deserves.
universal studios singapore is my home park. i have never been more offended by something i absolutely agree with
I mean, I'm still highly interested in visiting. I like how well themed the lands are and despite my criticism, the rides still look quite fun.
@@PoseidonEntertainment come around halloween time if you do visit, the halloween horror nights is legitimately the best in the world. deijiki is a good local news site that does stuff every year on it if you want to know more
Great video,loved the intro!
I'm sorry but showing us that Jimmy Fallon monstrosity and not including it on the list is UNACCEPTABLE. Honestly, that ride just feels so cheap and unimaginative. At least they tried on the Fast & Furious thing. Many also don't like the Jurassic World additions but that was also something they put actual effort into. I can at least respect that. (It's also why I don't like ET. First half: effort. Second half: let's drop acid and build his home planet!)
Do NOT expect anything more than rethemes to KidZone. Shrek, Trolls, Kung Fu Panda. Who knows what's going in Barney. It will probably remain as is. In the future, I wouldn't doubt something more extensive, but money is tight with EU on the way.
Sadly, USF needs something major RIGHT NOW. The biggest thing they've gotten in a decade is the Bourne thing! KidZone won't change that. Villain Con won't change that. F&F was big but failed. (I think that's a big reason why the F&F coaster in Hollywood seems to have become more family-oriented. If it's a hit, it's a cheap EXCITING replacement for Supercharged.)
I gotta admit, I was NOT happy with Universal on the day I went there in 2019, but that day was also just cursed (when I got back to Disney for an after-hours party, it poured rain at 11pm to cancel the fireworks and then my shorts ripped). The more I watch from you the more I want to give them a second chance and get on some of the rides I missed.
Still wish I could keep my belongings with me in line, though.
What didn't you like about it?
@@PoseidonEntertainment I think for the most part I was just having a bad day. I brought my full backpack, not knowing that the free lockers around the park were too small to fit it. I was trying to minimize my walking, so parking my backpack in a locker and having to backtrack after riding several rides would have exhausted me. So, I skipped a lot of rides I would otherwise have gone on because I didn't want to pay the dollar every time to store my bag.
When I was in a ride line that was outdoors, not having my water bottle and sunscreen was really not good for me. Nevermind my entertainment - I was by myself and in Disney, I used my tablet to play games and watch movies in lines to save phone battery. In Universal I only had my phone.
I went on the Minions ride and somehow sat so that the lap bar crushed my phone. I was able to go back to guest services but all they could do for me was help me get some tape to stop it from cracking any farther. (It was still functional, but the back was in danger of coming apart.) I think because I'm a fat person, I had to angle my hips to fit in the seat and so my pocket was right against the bar.
And speaking of... I waited two hours for Hagrid's only to discover that I didn't fit in the seats. There was a test vehicle out front but somehow the way I came up to the ride, maybe because of the crowd milling about, I didn't see it. They pulled me out of line just as I got to the last room to get me on a test ride, and I was too big. (I was actually smaller than I am now.) I know the motorbike shape has limitations but why wasn't the sidecar seat big enough to fit someone....Hagrid-sized?
Then I got back to the locker to find that my brand-new Slytherin pin had come off my backpack and wasn't anywhere in the locker area, so someone must have picked it up. Thankfully they did allow me to get a second one since I had my receipt. But that was just the last straw that had me abandon the park without trying anything else. I only rode Minions, Mummy, and Gringotts in the end.
I still feel anxious that I won't be able to ride many of the rides, knowing that Hagrid's is on the list. There's no real way to find out except going and trying the seat. I worry about being trapped in a line without my water. I just didn't feel as welcome as I do in Disney, where I've never been too fat for a seat and I always have my stuff handy.
(Phew, long post, sorry. It was a bad day I still have emotions about.)
I really like this channel cause it always feels so real. He doesn’t feel biased in any way and most of all I love how the criticism he gives comes from a good place because he knows how amazing theses parks can be and wants them to be better.
saying he isn't biased is a stretch 😭
I would definitely consider myself biased and highly opinionated. That being said, I'm interested in engaging with theme parks like works of art, being critical when necessary and like you said, working towards the goal of encouraging them to be better.
I guess saying you’re unbiased wasn’t the right way to put it. Maybe honest is better? Cause you never go “Oh I love [[product]]!!” Just cause it was produced by a company that you enjoy
singaporean here! i grew up on the madagascar ride and so did a lot of locals my age, and being a kid in southeast asia where there wasnt a lot of chances to go to bigger, better theme parks overseas, most of us were just content seeing characters we liked as animatronics. i used to go on the ride every couple of years with different relatives/friends as i grew up and admittedly once i was around 15 i noticed how poorly designed it actually was 😂 as for shrek 4d, as a kid who got nauseous easily and with the rise of 3d movies in the early 2010s it was more of a substitute for the cyclone or mummy rides for me 🤣🤣 yeah they kinda suck, but theyre also kind of nostalgic growing up with them lol
Just saw this channel looks like I’m buckling up for this ride if a lifetime!
I should’ve expected Fast and Furious Supercharged as a roller coaster!
That's apparently what they're building in Universal Hollywood
I don't know man, I kind of liked Shrek 4-D. I think it's because you have the pre-show, and then the extra sensory stuff. I experienced it as the 4-D attraction first before the standalone 3-D version that was released in a combo pack with Shrek 2. Sure, the seats can be a bit violent, but half the success of the attraction is gone when it's just the 3-D version. You get no jokes with the Magic Mirror, Three Little Pigs, or Pinnochio, the spiders don't tingle your legs, you aren't spritzed with water, I want to say there even used to be a scent component, too, at the very least there was also wind, and you don't get to see Tinkerbell crash into a speaker at the very end. In my opinion, while it is ultimately just a screen with violent chairs, it definitely made the most of the 4-D aspect in the space it was put. Do I need all the bouncing around? Well, I will say sound of the pneumatics were a bit distracting, had they been able to do something more like the D-Box seats we have in theaters now (not that I ever use them, but I did sample one out when it was first introduced) it would have been better, but I think it helped with the immersion to have motion beyond a single drop at the end like Terminator or Twister back in the day, effective as they were.
The biggest pitfall of Shrek 4-D is that it's cemented at a very specific period in time, Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon, and it became totally outdated after a year or two with the release of Shrek 2 and also it being available for purchase. Like, just have a story that can take place whenever, maybe you'd even be able to update it as the years went on or even just have different movies throughout the years as the cast grew and changed. It didn't exactly have legs despite running for almost 20 years, we had already moved on from that point in the story, and not that all these spinoffs in Shrek or strictly canon, but I think that's kind of what Dreamworks was going for with them. Now I want to say Minions also takes place only just a year after the first movie, but the girls are just trying to give Gru an adoption anniversary gift, that could be whenever if the characters never aged in the sequels, which I don't recall them doing, it's effectively timeless. It's also likely not really part of the canon. Perhaps I could argue the same things for other screen rides, but Shrek 4-D always felt a bit weird after Shrek 2, and certainly after the other movies, too.
Like, Terminator never exactly felt wrong despite other movies coming out, and perhaps that's just a testament to how great that show was, but also time travel and [Insert "Who cares because all the sequels after T2 suck so choose whatever 3rd movie you want" Argument]. The most outdated thing was the very 90s pre-show (in which some of the things they mentioned would happen in the future actually became a reality), which kind of dominated half the experience, but it was all just so genuine and everyone committed, it was really cool. Back to the Future was just more time travel, it's literally how the franchise worked, but also it probably wasn't canon to begin with. Harry Potter rides are no problem if you've seen the movies, and again aren't really canon. Transformers is literally just what all the movies are, which is just utter chaos, and again, clearly not canon with the characters that show up, your homework at most is to have just seen the first three movies so you can say, "Hey it's that guy." I haven't seen a single Fast and Furious movie, but I bet the ride works the same way as Harry Potter and Transformers; see the movies, point and cheer when your favorite thing pops up. Same kind of goes for the Bourne Stuntacular. Even things like the Jurassic Park River Adventure and Revenge of the Mummy don't actually take place in the canon of their franchises, so Shrek 4-D really is a weird outlier in that regard. The show was fun, I wouldn't call it bad, it just never made sense to still be around for as long as it did in the incarnation it was, and why it's still in operation at Japan and Singapore's parks is bizarre.
I wasn't expecting the love letter to Shrek 4-D. I never thought it was bad on its own. It's just that Singapore built this huge, exciting façade, hiding what could have been a large scale dark ride.
@@PoseidonEntertainment interestingly enough, when I had my orientation at USH as a new employee, they said that the castle in Singapore (they talked about all the parks to us lol) was actually built by the casino company first before there was any theme park there. At first they showed Disney the castle and asked to license a park of theirs, but they declined. Universal agreed however and they dressed it up as the Far Far Away castle and put Shrek 4D inside.
I remember watching shrek 4d as a child in movie park germany. I thought it was a short movie for a year and next year we get something else. Apperently shrek 4d is still a thing and they dedicated a huge building for it like it was the main attraction of the parc.
I remember the ad on TV for it. They advertized it like it was this huge, game changing attraction. But lets be honest... movie park is pretty trashy anyways.
When I was a kid, all we had was that stupid falling tree that reset. And that falling bridge that reset. And those rocks that reset. And that ice tunnel. :D Thanks for the videos!
Sounds like you have a cold. Hope your feeling better. Also top notch video
Been on F&F 3 times in Florida (and twice in CA). Everyone always laughs when he jumps on that drone. It is just so bad.
I'm so glad you made this video. I thought Universal had too many screen base rides.
You’re channel is so niche I love it
I remember my first visit to the Universal Orlando park was in 2017, when it seems the park was in rock bottom condition (I live overseas)
I couldn't believe it was supposed to compete with Disney...save for the Harry Potter (franchise I don't like but the area is well themed) and Jurassic Park sections (got on twice in that ride, really enjoyed it). Simpsons land felt like it was in limbo, same with the Marvel themed rides and actors in costumes going around.
Good to see they are turning the park around, they have amazing franchises... it was just jarring seeing the Shreck atttaction still using 2001 graphics and storyline 😂
I just wanted to say, recently you had folks going after you on Twitter over the EPCOT signs, and that should never be a thing. Fandom gets way too tribal and toxic over mere park opinions. We are all fans here, and while we as fans may not agree on everything, at it's core we share a common interest/love. Poseidon, keep doing what you doing, thanks for all the wonderful content, much love brother.
i remember me and parents always riding the madagascar ride a lot bcoz it was just a really chill dark boat ride which you rarely ever get to experience in singapore. i rode it so much i still rmber even the little details like the stack of crates threatening to fall over you at the beginning. later on though it was clear how much the ride had deteriorated and all those little details i liked just stopped working which kinda ruined it for me.
I’m hoping you will read my comment. I was really sad to see you took down your initial splash mountain video. It was a comfort video for me when I was going through a rough patch in life. Sad to see it go
Hey, I just wanted to let you know that this is a great video. It’s very informative and enjoyable to watch as a theme-park enthusiast. However, I just recommend that you stop pausing for so long in between sentences. It makes each line feel disconnected and alienates the viewer from what you’re trying to say. That’s all. Thank you so much, Poseidon!
BEST WAY TO START THE DAY IS A POSEIDON UPLOAD
The Jimmy Fallon ride just conceptually confuses me. Who is it for? Who’s absolutely gunning to ride it? Are there Jimmy Fallon super fans out there? I’m almost certain people just ride it because it’s there.
What's weird about that ride is that for a ride themed off of something that most kids don't even know of, it's more juvenile and less intense than Minion Mayhem which is supposedly one of the kids ride of the park. They had so many kid-friendly properties (SpongeBob, Dreamworks, etc.) that would work with that ride too.
And yeah, I do think it is a little baffling that there is a ride based on a property that doesn't constitute itself to a ride at all.
I agree that it doesn't have a target audience, though I am impressed they were even able to make an attraction out of it. Definitely unique at least. I don't think it's a great ride, but I don't think it's terrible either. It just kind of exists.
@@PoseidonEntertainment exactly. It’s just kinda there. I’m sure they did a good job with it, but it’s just such an odd IP choice.
IMO the only good thing about it is the Rockefeller Center lobby theme before the ride. That's it
I would love a video about recent overreliance on screen based attractions, touching on both universal and Disney!
Madagascar was weak but the Kung Fu Panda ride is on a whole new level.
I think the question to ask is why? How can a brand new multi billion dollar theme park open an attraction targeted squarely at the host nation that is such poor quality.
You are correct about the ludicrously long queuing area the video clip was only small fraction of it, they where obviously expecting huge capacity and it always seems to be a walk on. This isn’t helped by ride entrance not being very obvious, I completely missed it the first time I was in the land and didn’t realise there was a Kung Fu Panda ride there until I was looking at map later on.
I think the hyper fluid kong in the new King Kong attration adds a huge wow factor to it. I also think if they added some practical scenery around the screens in madacascar would have helped the flowso much as seen in spider man Islands of Adventure.
39 seconds ago damn. looking forward to it! i always appreciate critical looks at themed design, when you truly love something you need to be critical to really appreciate it, its not just hating!
I moved to Orlando in the summer of 1998, and had an annual pass for nearly the next 18 years. I loved not far from their parks, and it was especially exciting in the earliest years when Islands of Adventure, CityWalk, and their landscape and water going through their 3 new premier hotels of the Portofino Bay, Hard Rock, and Royal Pacific were all brand new. The parks during this time, even the new IOA, were not nearly at capacity and you could walk right on many rides. That was even true of IOA, as I feel like in the days before social media or the ubiquitousness of TH-cam, most people didn’t even know the park existed. So for a resident like me with a pass, it was amazing! Like having brand new areas and a brand new park to myself. But back then, Universal’s “classic” rides still existed, that I grew up visiting while on vacation from up north. Rides like Kongfrontation, the Jaws ride, Earthquake, the E.T. Adventure, Hanna-Barbera ride, the Ghostbusters and Alfred Hitchcock shows, and even though they weren’t opening day rides, Back to the Future and T2: Battle Across Time. I LOVED these attractions. I understand that parks need to evolve, and that things I liked as a young kid and teen in the 90’s are probably a little different from the same age demographic today, but I feel like Universal has really had a fire sale with it’s attractions over the years. They barely hold on to a thing. I’m glad that the E.T. ride is still around here in Orlando, and the Harry Potter areas are impressive, but I’ve been pretty underwhelmed with most of their other newer rides. Fast and Furious is horrendous, replacing a real classic ride in Earthquake. Transformers is okay, but just feels like a cookie cutter clone of the Spider-man ride at IOA, right down to the ride track. The Simpsons ride is awful, and replaced maybe my very favorite ride in Back to the Future. And although both the Ghostbusters and Twister show after it were admittedly just so-so, do we really need a Jimmy Fallon ride? I worked for NBC Universal in Orlando as a television producer/editor for 18 years, and during that time the company got more and more and MORE corporate, with agendas it pushed. Eventually pushing out its long time employees who help make the company successful and build it, purely for the sake of “cleaning house” or “bringing in new blood”. Which amounted mostly to firing people who were finally making decent money, to in turn hire new people right out of college who would work for peanuts, or hire temporary interns who would do the same, and they could cut loose after just a few months. It really soured me with Universal in general. I don’t completely hate Universal. I still watch their movies and shows occasionally, and have been back to their parks a few times since dropping my annual pass. But I miss their being more of the ways they were in the 90’s and maybe very early 2000’s.
I can't speak for their corporate culture, but at the very least the last few years have made me incredibly optimistic about the future of their parks. I don't know if you've seen it, but you might be interested in my extensive deep dive into the early years of the park: th-cam.com/video/Kt6ISj8CJJ0/w-d-xo.html
@@PoseidonEntertainment Oh, I definitely watched that deep dive video of yours. Kudos on that. One of the very best I've ever seen as far as detail goes. I'm never one to be put off by length with videos. In fact I prefer it over a quick 15 second TikTok video or even a 2-3 minute video on TH-cam. Frankly, I guess I'm not one to talk about Universal right now, as I haven't been back to either of their parks here in Orlando in probably 5 years now. I suppose I should give them a second chance. But even wit the Disney Parks or Sea World, I miss the sort of easy, open feel that they used to have. No making reservations even if you have an annual pass, no virtual queues for certain rides and you could just wait if you wanted, no heavy security, and with Universal I can just remember how it there was so much less congestion. You could drive your car right up to the entrance by the large Universal globe, or underneath the neck of the former Hard Rock Cafe that was back behind the E.T. ride and kids play area. It was just more relaxing back then, and not nearly as overbuilt.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to universal compared to Disney world because of the motion-simulator and screen problem. Last time I was there Kong was brand new, and it’s so fascinating to me as the queue is dense and filled with detail and stuff to look at. Same with some of the physical sets of the attraction… they do all this detail work for queues and set dressing only for there to be big screens right behind it! It’s like they prove what their capable of will the queue space and sets but then diminish themselves with a over reliance on sceens and shaking seats.
I’d love to see Universal Studios Beijing fix and improve their Kung Fu Panda ride to make it more interesting and exciting!
Several of Walt Disney's strengths was storytelling. He could "edit" through the BS that did NOT advance it. Another was he could see the "hidden" talents of his staff and knew how to get them to work harder on a project, thus "pleasing" not only the boss, but the general public. An Imagineer wanted a pirate to gesture with his hook and there was movement in the other hand as well. Walt said NO, have him rest his hand on the rail that way we won't have to animate so much. WOW! Walt could really cut through the BS & fluff.
The title of this video should be “I went to Singapore”
I remember going to Universal for the first time right before Reign of Kong opened. I'm a big ol' King Kong fan and I was drooling over the look of the ride building. It was so elaborate and mysterious and I was so disappointed that I wouldn't get to know what the actual ride was like.
Fast forward a few years. I had the crazy good fortune of going to Universal _again,_ this time with my girlfriend and some pals. I saw that Reign of Kong was finally open and I was hyped. I dragged my friends through the dark and atmospheric queue. I dragged them onto the ride. I was fucking giddy.
Screens. It was all just screens.
What the actual hell.
What _really_ bums me out about that stupid, stupid ride is the fact that the giant Kong animatronic at the end? Phenomenal. One of my favorite animations of all time, easily a top 5 for me. But was it worth enduring an absolute nothing of a ride to see it? _Absolutely_ not.
I have no clue why Universal is so good at theming in their parks but almost religiously averse to building good rides.
"The Awful Universal Rides Nobody Talks About...Because They're On The Other Side Of The Planet"
77% of my audience is American 🤷♂
Secret life of Pets needs to be the way of the future for dark rides! It is sooo good.
Awesome video! Though I hate to be “that guy…” but what’s the name of the track you used at 3:12? I know it’s Epidemic Sound royalty free music but it sounds so good!
I can forgive kung-fu panda at Universal Beijing, as it was apparently originally meant to be themed to spongebob and the entire land as quickly rethemed, so they would have had wayy less time than needed to make the story for the ride (and also why they use so many screens) and why the layout doesn't seem to fit the ride
I had heard that as well, but I didn't mention it because I didn't know how true it was. Hopefully the ride is a one-off.
Hmm idk man, hard pass on that Shrek opinion, it was funny as hell as a kid and my siblings and I always looked forward to it. The pre-show was hilarious and they decorated that chamber really well (scary and silly enough for kids to admire). It was overall a funny thing to attend. I miss it sometimes
The fast and furious ride is the most amazing ride ever made! Like how many people signed off on it, is truly amazing.
I didn't know that it was one of if not the biggest franchise of Universals. Honestly they probably thought they could get away with how bad it was because so many people love the series regardless.
We've got a Shrek 4D at Movie world, Australia (it's a mashup between WB and DreamWorks) and I distinctly remember the part where a whole bunch of spiders crawl across the screen whilst air jets under the seats blast your legs. It was by far the best part of the experience purely because of the chaos it caused
My family went just before the pandemic (no hagrids or velocicoaster yet). Must admit, I’m 38 and have very fond memories of 90’s Universal, and I LOVE that E.T. is still there. I kinda wish they had just mostly updated/upgraded their OG lineup at the Florida flagship park. Same feelings I have towards epcot.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that Epcot is becoming similar to Universal's flagship Orlando park in that they're replacing everything into screens.
@@NocturneFexy trust me you’re not alone I’m on that same boat lol, to quote Godfather, “Look how they massacred my boy.”
@@NinthShinigami Cosmic Rewind seems pretty good but for everything else that they've replaced in Epcot... 🤮
@@NocturneFexy I enjoy Cosmic Rewind and Ratatouille and think they’re good rides, but not part of what used to be EPCOT 😂
Fast and furious is trash compared to earth quake but velocicoaster didn’t replace anything, the duelling dragons will return at epic universe. Simpsons ride is also trash compared to the btf ride too. I wish they would revert it. Jaws was great but took up so much space
I can't see them doing those bad rides in florida or cali. Like you said they dont know that oark over there. Its crazy because i always wanted to visit but didnt know that it wasnt a real universal park
F&F Supercharged still has one of the best queues in the park. I hope Universal execs are keeping an eye on Busch Gardens Williamsburg. They are converting the Curse of DarKastle dark motion ride building into a indoor multi-launch straddle coaster, basically an indoor Hagrid’s. I’d love to see them convert Supercharged into an indoor coaster and keep the queue.
I really think Universal should make a Madagascar Log flume ride with 3 drops in the ride like Splash Mountai/Tiana's Bayou Adventure at Disneyland just saying it is just my opinion Madagascar A Crate Adventure was just a ok ride it is not the best Universal Studios attraction but at least there is a Madagascar ride there
I think that makes sense. A long time ago, somebody in my comments mentioned that they wanted to see a Phantom of the Opera themed flume, taking place in a flooded opera house. I think that would be a cool idea too, especially for the new park.
@@PoseidonEntertainment I want to see a Men In Black Alien Attack to be Rethemed to FNAF (Five Nights at Freddy's) the attraction will take place in a Freddy's Pizzeria like in FNAF Security Breach instead of weapons like laser gun you will use the lasertag gun from the game at the end instead of going face to face with a alien bug it will be the Dj Music Man animatronic seen in Security Breach. The reason why I say that FNAF should take over MIB: Alien Attack is because Men in Black is a franchise that is dead when Men in Black International Bombed at the box office in 2019 and the attraction is to outdated
I rode Shrek 4d 3 days before it closed and honestley, I loved it.
The only other amusement park I've been to is Valley Fair in Minnesota which I go to on a yearly basis so my frame of reference is limited, but honestley I loved being jolted around with the action on screen.
It might not have helped that it was the first thing I did when I visited, but honestley I thought it was pretty cool.
The ONLY reason I annually visit a Universal theme park is the Harry Potter-related restaurants/attractions/shopping. Oh, some of the restaurants in CityWalk are decent too. The rest is utterly uninteresting.
You're missing out then.
@@PoseidonEntertainment 🤷♂️
I went to Universal in Orlando recently.
The Fast and The Furious ride is just...god awful. I've been on it before, I remember it being bad. We went over there because the area around the ride
was completely empty. There was no queue. The two preshow elements were funny ONLY because of the EMPLOYEES interacting with the audio.
The ride itself is pretty ridiculous. Depending on where you sit, it's hard to see the first screen on the right side of the party bus. When there are
screens surrounding the bus, the footage is blurry, choppy, and the premise is stupid. The audio is terrible in that part as well, one of the sound effects
is really jarring...I guess it's supposed to be metal scraping against metal? In any case, they need to scrap it.
The Kong ride, which involves a similar ride vehicle, is better...but not by much. At least in this one, there are elements that aren't screens.
The Kong animatronic is pretty cool. Though I will say, the ride broke down while we were on it. When we got off, everyone was given
the option to basically jump the line to get the full ride experience. I swear to you, no one took them up on that offer.
Both rides are traps. I'm sure there's a more technical term. But they load a large amount of people, and can probably run
a few cars at a time. Kong is okay if you need something to do. F&F should not be enjoyable to anyone
The Hulk is probably the only other ride I have an issue with. It knocks my head around quite a bit.
The other coasters there are quite smooth!
I had heard the Madgascar ride had a tumultuous construction period and originally was to feature several lift hills/drops that were axed due to technical problems ..I wonder where they were and if they could've improved it?
Just last week I went on the Fast and Furious ride. It was the worst thing ever. Everyone on the ride was laughing hysterically at how terrible and cheesey it was. Ironically everyone was having a great time because of it. Idk what they were thinking. I would never ride it again.
Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls falls into this category for me. The only thing the ride has for it is fun drops, but the set pieces are just too bare and far apart. I was just staring at concrete walls for most of it where Splash Mountain expertly hid the negative spaces with interesting scenery or darkness that contributed to the anticaption and thrills.
Also, one ironic thing is universal has been known and complained at for its screen rides. So, they have cut down on them. Secret life of pets, hagrids, Jurassic Park coaster, yoshi with more animatronics. Disney known for its animatronic rides added--web slingers (screen), rat ride (screen), mickey runaway (screen), gotg coaster (screen), star wars smuggler (screen), rotr (screens but does have real stuff as well but still screens), avengers coaster overseas (screen). How did disney and universal swap here? Wonder if upcoming avengers disneyland ride is screens also? At least tron is not screens right.
I'm afraid to say it, but unless if Magic Kingdom's TRON does things differently, it's basically a worse version of Cosmic Rewind.
I wouldn't say that Universal has entirely moved away from screens, but they're using them in more effective ways. The Bourne Stuntacular is a great example of this. I think that the way the screens are integrated into the AR and physical sets of Mario Kart is probably the best example of how to use them effectively.
Ik it’s not really a ride but Poseidon’s Fury in Orlando has a special place in my heart for how cheesy and embarrassing it is
The Kung Fu Panda 3D show at universal Hollywood is atrocious! It makes Shrek 3D look like it’s a Christopher Nolan film in comparison
I will never forgive universal Hollywood for RUINING the Hollywood tram tour.
Fast and furious may be ironically funny in Florida, but in California it's hell on earth. A complete waste of time
In defense of the KungFu Panda ride, and if we're to believe the early rumours of what the space was originally to be used for; we would have received a land themed to Spongebob Squarepants. If the license owners of SBSP had granted universal the tp right to the property, it could have been an amazing area, however what we received appears to have been a hastily thrown together area with an IP slapped on top.
"Say the line, Poseidon entertainment!"
Poseidon entertainment: "Secret life of pets is the only good ride in the planet"
CHEER
favorite channel ever!
Here in Australia at dreamworld we have a kung fu panda ride called pandamonium. It's a ride with 6 carts connected to one central mechanism that causes the carts to swing like pendulums, and eventually swing 360 degrees, with every 2 rides being half swings for younger kids or less thrill seeking riders. Even though it doesn't really have anything to do with the movie, it's still one of the best rides in the park and way more enjoyable than just a dark ride. Honestly I'd prefer more themed rides that are just normal rides with an ip slapped on than a glorified 4d movie
I wonder if you're gonna talk about Knoebels in the future since that park has a very interesting history behind it
For panda don't forget it was spongebob first. That's why it's indoors. It was going to be "underwater". They then said, "Oops panda series is loved there" and had to replace a land and spongebob lost the coin toss. In fact, some of rides are just reskinned from spongebob to panda! Would not be shocked the boat ride was a fast reskin also.
I knew something like that had happened (I hadn't remembered that it was Spongebob though), but that certainly explains why the ride feels rushed.