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Jurassic World Opens at Universal Studios Hollywood!

Ethan

Strata Poster
That was one of the cringiest things ever...the reactions I mean.
Agreed, that was actually painful to watch.

A night POV with no cringe reactions, if anyone's interested.
Looks... Ok I guess? The aquarium scene at the start is pretty fab, but the rest of it is rather underwhelming if you ask me. Hopefully they don't touch the Orlando one, at least for a while.
 
The old don't fix it if it isn't broken ?

I've always loved this ride, and I'm not sure if it was really improved by this, except for the end which looks pretty cool. Not saying it was ruined, just not improved especially with the screens which I am somewhat tired of. Also where are the gates at the beginning?! They were iconic!
 

peep

CF Legend
Also where are the gates at the beginning?! They were iconic!

I think this is my only problem with it, but I suppose the new story is that now you're already in the park before you get on the ride?

I like quite a few of the changes, the new interior scene after the main lift hill seems like a big upgrade, sure it'll look better in person. I think the new screen based sequence is done extremely well, the vfx team clearly did an incredible job here and I think it works well enough.
 
I think this is my only problem with it, but I suppose the new story is that now you're already in the park before you get on the ride?

I like quite a few of the changes, the new interior scene after the main lift hill seems like a big upgrade, sure it'll look better in person. I think the new screen based sequence is done extremely well, the vfx team clearly did an incredible job here and I think it works well enough.

The interior scene looks like the best part and great fun for sure. The screens don't look bad by any means, in fact they look great, I'm just somewhat tired of screens!
 

Edward M

Strata Poster
I think the changes here are mixed mostly. On the one hand, I’m sad that Hollywood’s Jurassic Park is gone. It was such an iconic ride, and I think the overall package of that ride was probably better. The buildup works much better there without the aquarium scene, which does look quite nice to be fair. The scene before the lift looks a bit off to me, perhaps I just miss the old set, but I think a few predators before the lift was quite nice in the OG.

However, the final scene is an improvement. That last raptor animatronic looked fantastic, and I like how they changed it to include more trees and animatronics. My problem comes about with the buildup aspect. The T-Rex doesn’t seem as epic here. I always thought the “T-Minus 5. 4...” worked insanely effectively. Perhaps I’m wrong though, and the whole experience rides much better. I am judging off a POV after all. Some really solid changes, but I really miss how timeless that original felt. I have a feeling that this will look a bit aged in a decade, if only because Jurassic World lacks the longevity of the OG Jurassic Park. [/rant]
 

gavin

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
Nothing that hasn't been said really, but it's weird to feel so completely indifferent to it. I don't dislike what they've done with it - parts of it look fantastic - but I'm not desperate to ride it either.

The Jurassic Park gates, followed by the huge brachiosaurus, was such an epic start to the ride, so while the aquarium looks amazing, it doesn't have that same wow factor as an opening piece.

Orlando will clearly do this, but I've got a feeling that Japan won't. I hope not anyway; it'll be nice to keep one as the original, and Japan's has always seemed slightly better to me; the animatronics have always seemed a bit more impressive.
 

oriolat2

Giga Poster
Nothing that hasn't been said really, but it's weird to feel so completely indifferent to it. I don't dislike what they've done with it - parts of it look fantastic - but I'm not desperate to ride it either.

The Jurassic Park gates, followed by the huge brachiosaurus, was such an epic start to the ride, so while the aquarium looks amazing, it doesn't have that same wow factor as an opening piece.

Orlando will clearly do this, but I've got a feeling that Japan won't. I hope not anyway; it'll be nice to keep one as the original, and Japan's has always seemed slightly better to me; the animatronics have always seemed a bit more impressive.

I have ridde both the Orlando and the Japan version and the Japanese one seemed to have all the FX running and the animatronics looked better taken care of.
I am not really impressed by the opening sequence inside the aquarium. As others have said, the gate reveal along with the classic JP music climax was everything! This just doesn't cut it however good the media is (which it really is!).

I hope reviews make Universal creative team fix some aspects and hopefully update (aka: improve) the Orlando iteration. As gavin has said, I really hope Osaka's remains true to the original.
 

rideguy70

Mega Poster
I’m noticed that people who have only watched the video don’t care much for the ride. But those who have actually been on it like it much more. Another message board that shall remain nameless seems to hate it, but it’s notable that no one on that board seems to have actually been on it.

I’ve been on it, and did like it much more than I thought I would. I’m definitely in the “I’m sick of screens” camp, but these screens were impressive even to me. Videos don’t capture the scale and quality of the images, and the water splashing over the sides does add (albeit a small) physical element to it.

As many online have noted, my biggest problem is the middle section, where there’s no effects at all for a long time. It just kills the pace. But aside from that, I really enjoyed it and was impressed by the effects.

And those who miss the old opening, it’s clear you haven’t ridden this at USH in the last decade. It was in terrible shape. Not only could you see the parking garage in the distance, but the dino’s necks always looked broken, the gates often didn’t open at all (just stayed open to have no reveal at all), and if they did, the sound was out of sync. It may have been great at one time, but it was nearly literally falling apart for years.
 

spicy

Giga Poster
This just didn't need to happen, looks great but the original was already amazing.

The Jurassic Park gates, followed by the huge brachiosaurus, was such an epic start to the ride, so while the aquarium looks amazing, it doesn't have that same wow factor as an opening piece.

Agreed. This was an epic start with the JP score playing in the background really felt like you was entering the park. Shame that has now completely been lost.

Also in the original you see the damaged boats and then take a diversion, only then do things start to go wrong. In the re theme things just randomly go wrong with escaped dinos whilst you are still following the correct route?

My biggest gripe is they have completely ruined the T-Rex at the end. The way he appeared through the smoke waterfalls and lights then followed your boat down the drop was just epic and the highlight of the whole ride. Now he just appears with no smoke or water and most will be distracted by the other animatronic on the left. I suppose at least he is still there..
 

Ethan

Strata Poster
My biggest gripe is they have completely ruined the T-Rex at the end. The way he appeared through the smoke waterfalls and lights then followed your boat down the drop was just epic and the highlight of the whole ride. Now he just appears with no smoke or water and most will be distracted by the other animatronic on the left. I suppose at least he is still there..
So I've heard that the new animatronic to the left isn't actually finished yet. Right now it's just a head and very far from the T-Rex, but apparently once the entire body is working and gets installed, it'll look better and will be closer to the T-Rex. But even if that's true, I have to agree with everything you said in your post above.

The T-Rex doesn't feel intimidating anymore, and it doesn't make sense either. She's meant to be fighting the Indominus Rex in the final scene, but the T-Rex still snaps and roars at the boat? Even if the scene was actually complete, and the two dinos are fighting and just as you drop, she snaps at you, it still wouldn't feel right. It's as if you're simply a spectator in the scene, and you just happen to be there. Whereas in the original ride, the riders were part of it and the T-Rex was after you, it felt inclusive. Whereas now it's like "Oh look, two dinosaurs..."

I do like the water tank scene, I think the screens look pretty good. But the cracking glass at the end? Why? I don't remember Jurassic World being built to poor standards in the films, why is the glass randomly breaking now? Why not before? I don't know, it just doesn't fit to me. Things haven't started going wrong yet, so why is the tank malfunctioning?

Also in the original you see the damaged boats and then take a diversion, only then do things start to go wrong. In the re theme things just randomly go wrong with escaped dinos whilst you are still following the correct route?

This. This this this this this. The middle scene is just so random, but also manages to feel cheap and lacking as well. Actually, the whole ride feels lacking now tbh. And I know people are saying it needed a refurb because it was looking old and tired, and I agree, it was looking drab. But they could have just refreshed it and marketed it as simply that. I know the marketing higher-ups and the execs wouldn't like that, because money, but I just wish they did that and maintained the charm of the original. This whole new thing feels equally as soulless and on the nose as the Jurassic World films did.

TLDR, I'm not a fan.
 

astead04

Roller Poster
It's also notable that the board you're referring to likes to fanboy over Disney and hate on Universal (especially their leader)!
Ah, you've got to love those Disney shills, both regarding their movies and now their theme parks! (I really don't in case you're wondering)
 

JSM

Mega Poster
Jurassic World is currently undergoing a big refurbishment, but instead of a normal refurb it seems like they're actually finishing the ride, meaning the ride they opened in July wasn't the final version. It sounds like the animatronic at the end is being completely replaced, and the one that is currently there might be moved to predator cove, the section which I and many others felt was the worst part of the ride. This video is pretty interesting and goes over or gives hints to most of the changes.
Skip to 10:20
 
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