robbalvey

Sooo... The Jurassic World re-do replaced the old JP "big reveal" door opening scene with TV screens & water sprays? I mean, that was a pretty iconic, "grand" moment of the previous ride. Did we really need to replace some decent animatronics & physical sets with more screens? I just don't understand. That "reveal" was probably one of the most iconic movie > attraction moments of any ride Universal had ever created. Why did they think that replacing it with an indoor section full of TV screens was a good idea? Seriously, how did we go from this... to this... That's just embarrassing.

Any more info? Like where WAS this Whip at?

Well, now this is a pretty horrifying video! How TF does stuff like this even happen?!?! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7195093/Terror-amusement-park-360-degree-daredevil-ride-breaks-apart-killing-teenage-girl.html

A garbage truck falling off the Empire State Building... in slow motion...

An interesting email I just got from Schlitterbahn...

What the FUCK is your problem??? Here's a review for you: I can't stand you. There. Now maybe everyone else on the site will hate you, too...

The irony of the idea of Universal making fun of Disney for the Yeti is that Universal themselves just made some of the exact same thematic mistakes on Hagrid's as Disney did on Everest!

Top 5 Disneyland Fantasyland dark rides! All shot with a "low light" 4K Camera!

I sort of wished they would have done a small update to the Orlando version with what they did in Singapore. Which basically took the Orlando version and stripped out all that silly "movie set" stuff. It is by far the best version of the ride!

She didn't even show up for the opening of the new coaster... I mean, George Lucas was there for the opening of Star Wars land and he probably had very little to do with it!

Nothing. Trust me... we all know "that guy." We've all heard the same stories. We've all been told them by various people "who were involved..." I stand by what I said in my previous post... 1. Lying. 2. Poor maintenance. 3. Kool-Aid. B&M just doesn't make rides that need replacing in 16 years.

Yeah, I don't get all the praise either. Again, I'm not really being negative here because I do think it's a VERY GOOD RIDE, but I don't understand the people who are going on and on about the theming. To me, it has very good "landscaping" if that's what you want to call it. The area where you meander through the trees and the castle ruins (?) is nicely done, but then again, so is this.... Which I would probably put most of the "theming" or "landscaping" on Hagrid's somewhere in between (or on par with) Cheetah Hunt and most certainly below Taron. It's good... some of it looks great... but it didn't blow me away to the tune of flying across the country and standing in a ten hour line. Yeah, this one really baffled me. And probably why I was so underwhelmed with the "theming." They kept using all these new terms like "Story Coaster" so I honestly assumed we were going to get some legit "show scenes" like something out of Mummy which is way... WAAAAAAY more of a "story coaster" than Hagrid's. Like, did Universal FORGET that they have another coaster not far away with actual REAL dark ride show scenes even in the middle of the coaster that all help move somewhat of a story along? Yep. 100% agreed. I mean, this is by FAR the best thing the park has installed since probably Mummy, and I actually still prefer Mummy. It has a real STORY with really cool dark ride scenes, a great launch, some AWESOME airtime, and a room that, to this day, still CATCHES ON FIRE! I honestly do applaud Universal for their effort on this new coaster. It's a fun ride. And absolutely a "do not miss" attraction at the park. But I do NOT think it deserves the insane hype it's been getting. It will be interesting to see, after this initial hype dies down, and the real truths come out a few years later, if people REALLY prefer this new coaster to Mummy... or are they just being distracted by the new shiny object that FINALLY isn't screen-based!

No one is arguing against any of what you just said. In fact, the park NEEDED a ride like Hagrid. The question really is: "Did Dragons really NEED to go for that ride to be built?" There is an entire huge section adjacent to Hogsmede with a whole bunch of either closed or dying attractions: Sinbad, Poseiden's Fury, and that whole left over Lost Continent marketplace area. Why couldn't the two rides have co-existed similar to what Magic Kingdom is doing with Space Mountain and Tron? Allowing something for both a family audience and thrill-seekers? What I find interesting about this whole decision though is in the SAME YEAR that Universal removed Dueling Dragons they ran these ads basically saying "Come to Universal... we have 'bigger kids' rides..." focusing more on thrills and basically "making fun" of more kiddie rides like what they have a Disney. So which is it? Are you focusing on families attractions like Disney or are you trying to be the "next level" like they show in these 2017 ads? I've just always felt that Universal keeps changing who they are targeting and have never been quite sure what they want to be. And that's been an issue with the park since day one. How many of you remember when the completely rebranded themselves as "Universal Escape?" EDIT: I would actually argue that Forbidden Journey makes just as many people sick as Dragons did. Maybe more.

EDIT: Never mind. I forgot for a second that I don't actually care.

Oh, it absoultely 100% did. I can tell you that one of my close friends worked on that opening and they ran all four theaters on Flight of Passage and full capacity on boats for River Journey. They were also cycling vehicles SIX MONTHS before the ride opened and had lots of cast member and passholder previews. But 100% those rides and that land was running full capacity the day it opened. Star Wars land here in Orlando has been cycling ride vehicles on their attractions since January. When was the first time we saw Hagrid's test?

Not to mention a ride that had it's date moved forward when Disney announced that Star Wars would be opening early. From what I've heard the ride was supposed to open much later, but Universal changed that date, and some people working on the project only found out from what they read on Twitter. I personally would have rather they spent a bit more time testing the ride and opening it later when it was working better, but there's shareholders, right? Didn't this same thing happen with Gringotts... Volcano Bay... there is a pattern here...

Universal just posted this...

If I had to guess, Volcano probably falls into the category of "A prototype that never *quite* worked the way anyone wanted it to." Think about all that trouble the ride had in its opening year. It seems like it was plagued with issues ever since. I don't know if those were Intamin issues, Kings Dominion issues, or even if it really matters. I'm sure there is finger pointing in both directions. Regardless, as much as I did *LOVE* Volcano, the real "feature" of the ride really was the first 15 seconds of the coaster. After those two awesome launches it did just sort of "meander" around the structure and then finally drop right into the brakes when you were expecting more. I'm bummed about it gone, and I worry that whatever replaces it still won't be as good, but I'm also not surprised by this decision. This is probably a perfect example of what Joey was taking about... "but they will “expire” on their own at some point where the cost of repair isn’t worth it to a park"

Agreed. Every time I heard someone say "Oh, Dueling Dragons is at the end of its service life" I wanted to punch them because they were either: 1. Lying. 2. Took such bad care of Dueling Dragons, to the tune of the WORST maintenance of any B&M in existence. Or even.... 3. Had been lied to so many times that they now believe the lies they were told as fact. There is simply *NO WAY* that Dueling Dragons was the end of its service life unless #2 was actually the case, and even still, a park IF THEY WANTED TO KEEP the ride, could give it a nice rehab. But the park couldn't publicly say "Oh, yeah, we simply just want to get rid of it because this British woman now controls our decisions, so... yeah... BRING IN THE BULLDOZERS!!!" So "end of service life" was the bullshit terminology that was used.

I did not notice any smells in the few rides I took.

It also depends on how well that ride has been taken care of and how much a park feels it's worth. Obviously a ride like "Matterhorn" is worth the extensive re-habs and re-builds it has gone through to Disneyland... but then again, so was a ride like Goudurix to Parc Asterix. I mean, when you think about it, those are kinds of both ends of the spectrum when it comes to how a park perceives the value of a ride. Goudurix opened in 1989. Dueling Dragons opened in 1999. Who would have EVER THOUGHT that Dueling Dragons would meet its demise while Goudurix received a new lease on life? Like Joey said...there are just so may variables.

Does anyone else see the irony of this park opening a coaster called "Dueling Dragons" two days after Universal opened the coaster that replaced Dueling Dragons?

Yep. That was exactly my rides as well. Seriously, even though they weren't dueling, as individual rides they were running JUST AS GOOD in 2017 as my first rides on them in 1999. And it was seriously just upsetting. Because like, when I had ridden other rides that I knew were closing, like Gwazi, Texas Giant or Mean Streak, you were all "Ok, this NEEDS to go." But Dragons? That was still a potential top caliber ride. And it just seemed so pointless and wasteful that it was going away. And it just makes you questions the decisions of the park... "Who gets rid of a top caliber ride like that??? That people, after 18 years of operation, are STILL running around to ride again as soon as they get off the ride. Who does that???" It just shows how much the direction of the park had changed. When the decision to get rid of a top caliber, totally unique in the world, large-scale B&M that was the feature of many TV Shows, and was one of the top three featured attractions when the park opened, that still ran perfectly fine, all of a sudden becomes expendable like it's yesterday's trash... that really says something about where things are heading...

Ok... okay... Thanks for your input, if that's what you call it. I'm going to move on to other discussions now that aren't completely stupid. Thanks.

None.