Universal Studios Singapore Discussion Thread

[themeparkman25]

Deleted by author

Edited January 20, 2011 by themeparkman25

[Jew]

All we have right now are rumors. It's not really fair to ANY party involved to place blame at this point.

[larrygator]

About the subcontractors. A Vekoma employee toward me the lack of smoothness on SLCs is caused by the wheels, which are not made by Vekoma. The wheels are the only reason Vekomas are not smooth.

 

I told him that Vekoma should buy round wheels from another vendor instead of square wheels from the current supplier.

[andyuk200523]

I was always under the impression that the roughness associated with Vekoma coasters (in particular SLC's) was down to the face that there is a gap between the track and the upstop wheels so that there is some room for banging during inversions etc...

 

From what I have heard they have sorted this on the newer coasters they have built, I am not sure why they have not done this sooner, look at B&M's, one of the reasons they are so smooth is the fact that the train is clamped to the track!

 

On another note, I have just seen a POV of Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure and I personally think it is one of the best themed rapids rides I have ever seen in my life, nice work Universal!

[themeparkman25]

Deleted by author

Edited January 20, 2011 by themeparkman25

[Nosferatu]

 

Please bear in mind that Vekoma Design the ride, chances are the major components of the train were subcontracted out to another company, For Example the company my partner works at built the brakes for Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe Park.

 

This could be that there are hairline fractures in the metal of part of the train which is causing bolts/nuts to become loose, the seat might not have fallen off, it may have just become loose (which is equally bad!)

 

So in all, it could be a manufacturing defect rather than a design issue, therefore more than likely not being Vekoma's fault.

But as the main manufacturer and the ones in charge of the project, you have the responsibility that the subcontractors you choose deliver a product within the product specifications that is safe. It's like when there is found to be something wrong with a car. People then go to the car manufacturer and complain. And they can't say: " A subcontractor designed that part, so you can't blame us". As the main manufacturer they have the final responsibility of making sure that the product is safe. And choosing the right subcontractors is one important part of that.

 

 

Another piece that should be taken into consideration is maintenance. Clearly maintenance is in charge of keeping the trains and ride safe, but it is probably pretty easy to overlook one (or a couple) of the bolts in relation to the thousands that keep the ride going. If that should prove to be true, it should be quiet alarming to the park and should be dealt with appropriately.

 

When doing maintenance like this they have checklist and procedures to to through so they don't "miss" some bolts.

[themeparkman25]

Deleted by author

Edited January 20, 2011 by themeparkman25

[andyuk200523]

But as the main manufacturer and the ones in charge of the project, you have the responsibility that the subcontractors you choose deliver a product within the product specifications that is safe. It's like when there is found to be something wrong with a car. People then go to the car manufacturer and complain. And they can't say: " A subcontractor designed that part, so you can't blame us". As the main manufacturer they have the final responsibility of making sure that the product is safe. And choosing the right subcontractors is one important part of that.

 

I fully understand this comment, however another analogy would be A Headmaster a school can say his kids are great however I can almost 100% guarantee that a fight may break out one day, You just cannot keep an eye on everyone/everything!

 

The part could have been built to standards but the mixture of metals used in the compound may have not been 100% correct thus reducing the life of the part, especially a part of the train which will be under extreme stresses, even though the part may have been perfect when installed and originally tested, if the "cocktail" of metals which make up the finished product may have faulted due to not being cast at the correct temperatures etc.... (like I said, my wife works in a company which builds metals for other companies, you wouldn't believe the amount of returns she gets through even though every part gets quality controlled before leaving!)

 

But anyway, nothing is certain that the seats are the problem, it could be anything, until we get an official statement from Universal, everything is just speculation, and we all know what speculation can do!!

[Bestcom]

It seems there are some construction work going on. I saw an excavator inside battlestar. The excavator is digging somewhere near the Accelerator. It seems that the problem appear to be very serious.

[digimax]

It seems there are some construction work going on. I saw an excavator inside battlestar. The excavator is digging somewhere near the Accelerator. It seems that the problem appear to be very serious.

 

Something seems to be going on at the other side too (near Ancient Egypt zone). The fence is covered up now.

 

Does anyone know what is actually going on with Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure? I was at the park today and while waiting to ride... The crew started sending off empty rafts, a lot of people started gathering at the controls station and viola~~ "Due to technical problems, this attraction will stop ..."

[superadrianme]

Check out the photos in my blog about Universal Studios Singapore

 

LINKS REMOVED

 

ADMIN EDIT: Check your inbox for information as to why the links have been removed.

Edited April 21, 2010 by jedimaster1227

[DBru]

In addition to the "wheel gap" theory, I've also heard that SLC's seats are not set up in a fixed relative position to the wheels. There is (apparently) some leeway within the chassis' that allows the seats to have a bit of side-to-side movement...which assists in the roughness/headbanging.

[themeparkman25]

Deleted by author

Edited January 20, 2011 by themeparkman25

[universalstudiossing]

Was stuck during the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure ride. The problem seems to be the return loading of the ride raft. The raft in front was not loaded up properly and at least 2 rafts were stuck in the water. They had to drain out and reduce the water to a lower level before riders were allowed to leave the raft.

 

 

I found this on Youtube.. Could this be the "technical problem" that happens to Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure sometimes?

 

[digimax]

Was stuck during the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure ride. The problem seems to be the return loading of the ride raft. The raft in front was not loaded up properly and at least 2 rafts were stuck in the water. They had to drain out and reduce the water to a lower level before riders were allowed to leave the raft.

 

I must've been very lucky because my three rides on JPRA didn't have any unload problems..

 

Anyway when I was visiting on 27/04, I was one of the first few people who visited the park. I went straight to JPRA and saw 3-4 JPRA crew girls "guarding" the entrance to the ride. They said the ride will not be open at the moment but "may open" later. I walked towards the splashdown to see if anything is happening.. here's what I saw:

 

 

I managed to peek into the loading/unloading area and all I saw were the crew sweeping up the queue area, nothing seems to be done at the unloading ramp/conveyor belt though.

[SharkTums]

^I don't think that's quite such a big deal. There are several times that the rapids will empty out, especially if you went there first thing in the morning they probably just didn't fill the trough yet. Did you get to watch them fill up? That's an awesome site to see, it fills VERY quickly!

 

In other news, I've heard that BSG may be testing again, can any of our Singapore locals confirm?

[digimax]

^I don't think that's quite such a big deal. There are several times that the rapids will empty out, especially if you went there first thing in the morning they probably just didn't fill the trough yet. Did you get to watch them fill up? That's an awesome site to see, it fills VERY quickly!

 

In other news, I've heard that BSG may be testing again, can any of our Singapore locals confirm?

 

I didn't get to watch (I was hoping just see it wet!) because it was left dry the entire day. I asked the crew again in the afternoon and they just said "they are fixing something that's in the water" instead of the usual "The dinosaurs ran away so we're trying to catch them".

 

Yes, Resorts World announced that BSG is doing test runs when the park closes, although they didn't give any other details. According to Bigbear's previous update, the Human vehicle is back in one piece and had weight dummies on it. The Cylon is still in pieces.

[nitrofan]

^I don't think that's quite such a big deal. There are several times that the rapids will empty out, especially if you went there first thing in the morning they probably just didn't fill the trough yet. Did you get to watch them fill up? That's an awesome site to see, it fills VERY quickly!

 

In other news, I've heard that BSG may be testing again, can any of our Singapore locals confirm?

 

I've seen rapids without water in the morning at parks, but I didn't know it was something that happened quickly. I assumed it would take several hours. You wouldn't happen to have a video of a rapids ride filling, would you?

[SFA Regular]

I just saw the new Mummy video. I knew it was going to be a clone of the Orlando version. But doesn't anyone else think that Universal could have made the story and ride course different from the Orlando version. The only difference in the ride was (THE BOOK OF LIFE). The Mummy animatronic was different as well. But altogether it copied to Orlando version.

 

I always thought that they would have done a completely different theme and theme it off of (THE DRAGON EMPEROR).

 

Any thoughts?

[digimax]

I just saw the new Mummy video. I knew it was going to be a clone of the Orlando version. But doesn't anyone else think that Universal could have made the story and ride course different from the Orlando version. The only difference in the ride was (THE BOOK OF LIFE). The Mummy animatronic was different as well. But altogether it copied to Orlando version.

 

I always thought that they would have done a completely different theme and theme it off of (THE DRAGON EMPEROR).

 

Any thoughts?

 

Well, some of the scenes are identical, the physical track is identical, but the overall story is different. There's no Rick O'Connell or Medjai at all. Riders face Imhotep alone, with The Book of The Living as the only weapon.

 

If they wanted it to be based off The Dragon Emperor, they would need to have an Ancient China zone instead of Ancient Egypt, right?

[SFA Regular]

Your correct. It was just wishful thinking of mine. The part of the ride I really like is when you first see the Mummy and he says " YOU WILL NEVER FIND THE BOOK". It sounds so cool when he says that. Now here is something interesting I had in mind. When they were getting (ARNOLD VOSLOO) to do the voice acting for The Mummy back in 2004, did they have him record numerous dialog just incase they were going to build more versions of The Mummy. Because the Mummy character in the ride is voiced by him. So I wonder if they have numerous spooky dialogs of him as The Mummy just incase the built another Mummy in Tokyo.

 

Again, another random thought I had in mind.

 

Any thoughts?

[digimax]

Your correct. It was just wishful thinking of mine. The part of the ride I really like is when you first see the Mummy and he says " YOU WILL NEVER FIND THE BOOK". It sounds so cool when he says that. Now here is something interesting I had in mind. When they were getting (ARNOLD VOSLOO) to do the voice acting for The Mummy back in 2004, did they have him record numerous dialog just incase they were going to build more versions of The Mummy. Because the Mummy character in the ride is voiced by him. So I wonder if they have numerous spooky dialogs of him as The Mummy just incase the built another Mummy in Tokyo.

 

Again, another random thought I had in mind.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Yeah, that part is cool! He also says "WITHOUT THIS BOOK YOU WILL NEVER STOP ME!" before appearing at the "false-unload" scene. His appearance is so sudden, it's quite funny to see all those first-time riders getting the shock.

 

There's some dialogue at the end of the ride (replacing Rick's video) that actually rotates from a set of lines. So far, after taking the ride 30-odd times, I've heard 4 variations.

 

I have an almost complete script and list of changes (from the orlando version) for the RoTM in Singapore. Since linking to my webpage is not allowed, drop me a PM if you wish to know more.

[SFA Regular]

Now that I come to think of it, the ride is pretty cool. But I do enjoy the script of the ride. I wish I had enough money so that I could design a true scary version of this ride that completely blows people's minds away. They did a good job on this project. Hope to see another Mummy if another Universal Park gets built.

[lowenguan]

hi everyone, i finally joined tpr after reading through the forum posts and trip reports countlessly.

 

A lot of people have asked which is better, bsg human or cyclon? I have sat both for a number of times and I have to say, HUMAN TRIUMPHS. The speed is amazing and the g-force (is it g-force?) is just AMAZING. As for cyclon, when the first time i took it, i was really terrified and was scolding vulgarities through out. But as i took cyclon more and more times, i realised cyclon is not really that amazing (Maybe amazing to asians as there are rarely upside down coasters in the region) as it mysteriously slowers down at the upside down part. But the fog pit of the rollercoaster is quite cool though.

 

And yea that's about it.

Edited May 22, 2010 by lowenguan

[gisco]

^awesome, Welcome aboard. Keep us updated on the unopened attractions.