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Feb 23, 2012
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Anyone else disappointed in the Spider-Man upgrade?

I was really excited when they first announced it but after seeing it, I have to say overall it's a step back. I mean, the all digital 4k projection and the new sound system are a plus and the new 3D glasses are a plus but the new animation and soundtrack are...NOT.

Just watch it on YouTube. The new animation is trying to replicate live action, not comic book, and it just makes the whole experience weird. The ride was obviously meant to have a comic appearance, which is why the queue looks cartoony, the pre-show is 2D animation, and the in-ride characters are goofy with cartoony dialogue. As a matter of fact, the whole area of that park replicates the comics, not the live action movies, so now the ride film just clashes with everything up to that point. Doc Oc goes from his traditional comic book appearance in the pre-show videos to the movie version with the trench coat during the ride. I understand that they felt the old ride looked outdated but they need to understand that it was a deliberate choice to make it look like you were in a comic book, not the live action movies.

They also changed all the music from the rock soundtrack to this weird syth scoring that just doesn't fit Spider-Man. The pause in the soundtrack right before you hit the ground, that builds the tension, is gone. I just don't understand what they we're thinking. IMO, the new soundtrack just isn't energetic enough for this kind of ride.

What does everyone else think? Do you think it makes sense having live action-looking characters speaking the goofy comic book dialogue? Do you like the new score? I think since this ride is all digital now, that riders should beable to choose what version they want when the get in the vehicle and the whole thing would sync up (now that would be innovative).
 
The upgrades are amazing and will ensure the ride stay up to date for quite some time. The score is great.

And Doc-Ock has his traditional outfit on underneath the trenchcoat...
 
^Wait, did you get to ride it? Does the score sound better in person? Details please.

See, when they first announced this ride was getting the outdated animation updated, I though GREAT! I assumed they would flesh out the models and then render the whole thing with a new shader similar to the one used in Marvel vs Capcom 3 to give it an inky / painted look. Instead, they make them look live action, which is just weird. It's like you're in a comic book in the queue and then one of the live action Marvel movies during the ride. To me, the voices and actions just don't match the realistic looking characters. I'd be more willing to accept goofy puns from a cartoony Doc Ock wearing tights then a realistic one wearing a trench coat.

Whatever, I'll be down there in a couple of months to give it a good going over. This is my all-time favorite ride, so hopefully it's better in person but I'm not so sure it will be *sigh*
 
Skippy said:
It's like you're in a comic book in the queue and then one of the live action Marvel movies during the ride.

That was the point. The queue serves as a transition from "Comic-Book" into real life. The queue is sposed to be comic-book, then its sposed to be like you're actually there in real life.

I'd be more willing to accept goofy puns from a cartoony Doc Ock wearing tights then a realistic one wearing a trench coat.

Again, He's wearing the outfit under the trench-coat. I think they did an excellent job with the new animations. They all still look cartoony... just real.
 
pandorazboxx said:
all time favorite? after I got off Forbidden Journey I switched from spiderman haha.

I haven't ridden it yet, still a couple of months away. Just curious, were you a fan of Potter entering the ride?

Youhow2 said:
That was the point. The queue serves as a transition from "Comic-Book" into real life. The queue is sposed to be comic-book, then its sposed to be like you're actually there in real life.

It's supposed to be a continuation of the line. The area, the queue and the ride are all supposed to be the comic book world. I don't remember there being a story point where the characters escape the books and enter reality. That's why they purposely rendered them in a comic book style originally, with an extremely bright color pallet. I watched a special on it where they discussed the troubles of bringing the comic to life and making the architecture during the ride look seamless with the comic book stylings of the projected imagery. They specifically said their goal was to bring you into the comic. I'd feel much better if Scott Trowbridge were still involved, instead of some random people messing with his work.

Youhow2 said:
They all still look cartoony... just real.

They look real but sound and act cartoony. It's disconcerting.
 
I grew up reading the books, so I guess you could say I was a fan, but I hadn't seen all the movies when I visited. But the queue, the moving paintings, the ride and ride machine are above and beyond Spiderman.
 
Skippy said:
I haven't ridden it yet, still a couple of months away. Just curious, were you a fan of Potter entering the ride?

I rode with someone who had no idea what even the basic story or idea behind the books or movies was and he came off absolutely stunned. Seriously, that ride is amazing.
 
Swiftman said:
I rode with someone who had no idea what even the basic story or idea behind the books or movies was and he came off absolutely stunned. Seriously, that ride is amazing.

Now I'm really interested. Early June and I'll be able to judge the Spider-Man enhancements and Potter ride in-person. Here's hoping neither disappoint me like Mummy.
 
Potter is just a completely different experience. You ride on a robotic arm! I suggest the second time you ride it, you do everything you can to look at the ride mechanisms. To me that's just as interesting as the show. The technology in that could be used to build "thrilling" dark rides in ways not possible with the (relatively) simple cars used in Spiderman and Darkastle (family rides). You can argue about stories and execution, but there is no contest from a tech standpoint particularly when you talk about the potential.
 
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I've ridden a robo-arm before, it was a side-show in Epcot's Innoventions but it made me sick. I've also seen video of the ride in action with the lights on, so I'm aware of how it works but the video did make me curious about one thing, Is the Harry Potter ride 3D like Spider-Man?

Also, has anyone ridden the new Spider-Man yet? I'm curious about the glasses. I know they're supposed to be better but they don't seem to be friendly to those already wearing prescription glasses. The new Star Tours glasses didn't work to well for me - actually, the now all-digital Muppets 3D worked WAY better - and I'm hearing that these glasses are even smaller then the Star Tours ones. Just curious if anyone who already wears glasses can weigh in on your experience.
 
I don't think FJ is 3D. but the scenes you go through are amazing. Also the queue is the best thing ever. take your time and let people pass you if the line is moving fast.
 
pandorazboxx said:
I don't think FJ is 3D. but the scenes you go through are amazing. Also the queue is the best thing ever. take your time and let people pass you if the line is moving fast.

THIS! Let people pass and listen to the dialog and watch the characters. The queue is absolutely stunning.
 
I've seen a walkthrough of the entire queue. IMHO it's the greatest queue line ever produced. I used to think Dueling Dragons, E.T. and Men in Black had amazing queues but WOW. It makes what they did to Dueling Dragons all the more painful.
 
Well, I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and apparently forgot to post it lol

Anyways, this will kind of come off as a trip report but it also is kind of a reply to some of the concerns I brought up earlier in this thread. So to start with, the Harry Potter ride is in no way better then Spider-Man. Matter of fact, it even disappointed some of the Potter fans I had with me (although, we all were pretty impressed with the queue). First of all, it’s not 3D and it never seemed seamless with the physical sets (the final scenes with everyone cheering for you, looked terribly flat). Second of all, the projectors either need adjusted or just don’t work well with the curved screens because they were blurry. I felt like I was watching something filmed on 16mm. Third, the animatronics need some work. The dragon seemed almost broke at first and then finally blew his fire at us. A couple of the dementors weren’t even moving and even the ones that were looked like cheap old haunted house props. I think the technology they used was promising but that they didn’t use it to it’s fullest. Overall, I don’t think the ride was worth ruining Jurassic Park’s atmosphere by plopping that giant white box and ride queue in the middle of it (seriously, you can see the Potter ride building from almost anywhere in Jurassic Park, with only a temporary looking wood fence separating the Potter queue from the Jurassic Park section, where you can clearly hear the Potter music).

As for Spider-Man, my opinion of the enhancements remains largely unchanged. The realistic art direction doesn’t match the cartoony art direction found in the queue and it bothers me. My biggest complaints have to do with the changes made to the music and the final free fall. The music is garbage. Parts of it sound like the Metal Gear Solid sneaking music and other parts sound like garbage techno / dubstep. When exiting the ride, you no longer hear the Spider-Man theme cover (Ramones?) but some generic nightclub music. As for the free fall, it’s less effective in this version. Instead of the music holding right before you hit the ground, like you holding your breath, it now plays all the way through. The worst part, though, is seeing the web float down next to you and then catch you. It looks terrible and ruins the suspense of not knowing if you’re going to be caught in time.

What really surprised me is that I didn’t even notice the difference with the 4k picture and new audio system. Actually, it looked blurry the first time I rode. The end effect with JJ floating also wasn’t working. Then I went to seen Prometheus and Men in Black 3 at the local Cinemark in 4k and they showed a preview for the Spider-Man enhancements and they looked incredibly sharp. So I went back and rode it again. It no longer looked blurry but it still didn’t look as sharp as what I saw in theaters. I blame the crappy new 3D glasses that they keep hyping up and the closeness to the screens. Terminator seemed to display more detail and depth then Spider-Man and it used the old glasses. I noticed this at MGM too. Star Wars lacked detail but Muppets (with it’s brand new digital projection) looked sharper and displayed more depth. I blame the glasses, screen size and closeness to the screen.

Universal as a whole was disappointing. Whether it was the giant hole left by Jaws, the god-awful re-theming of Dueling Dragons, the Rockit coaster at USF ruining the forced perspective atmosphere of New York Street or the sheer amount of animatronics and effects that need fixed (many dinos on Jurassic Park, a whole scene on Ripsaw Falls, a couple of dementors on Potter’s magical journey, the motorcycle in the Terminator show - seriously, he ran around on stage while motorcycle noises were happening [think the South Park episode, "The F Word"], the figures in Circus McGurkus, the Earthquake ride breaking down while we were riding it, broken worm AA in the queue of Men in Black, etc.). Hell, I think USF is a waste of money at this point and I can only recommend IOA. All my favorite rides have been removed from USF, they haven’t added anything worthwhile since Men in Black, and everything was walk on (seriously, how are they still open?). I usually wait 45 mins for Men in Black, filling both outside and inside queue, but I literally walked on all three days. The only ride I had to wait for was Despicable Me but that was because it was soft opening and despite the sign always reading 60min, I only waited about 45mins. Oh yeah, their night time show was also poorly done.

One last complaint, I also expect all the escalators and moving platforms to work in the parking structure, which they weren’t. Seriously, parking was $15 a day ($45 total spent to park my car for the 3 days I spent there).

Wait, I thought of something else to complain about. I hate their no carryon policy policy. Seriously, since when has it been mandatory that you use their lockers for all the rides? They used to have bag holders to put your stuff in on the ride but now they force you to use their lockers, which eats up a ton of time when everyone else is using them too. I collectively had to have spent nearly 30 minutes a day dealing with lockers, something I never had to do before. Believe me, they're strict with their no carryon policy. For example, I carried around a small bag that held our ponchos and since it was raining, I emptied our bag and we were all wearing our ponchos. Since the bag was completely flat now that it was empty, I simply wore it under my poncho and decided against using a locker. My mistake. This was the MiB ride and we were sitting in the cars when they told us that we all have to sit on our ponchos. So I took of my poncho and they immediately saw the shoulder straps and told me that we have to exit the ride. I told him it a flat bag, flatter then our ponchos and that I could just sit on it. He said we have to exit and get a locker. I'm sorry but that's BS and I hate the policy. It's even worst at the Harry Potter ride. They put a small amount of lockers right between the entrance and exit gift shop of the ride - possible the highest traffic section of the park - and left narrow entrance and exits to the locker. So it took us about 10 minutes to get a locker and then about 20 minutes to get our crap back out, since everyone was jammed in there like sardines. No one could move. I checked my phone and saw that I only had 10 minutes until I would be charged for locker use, so I regrettably just had to shove people out of the way and barely made it. Poor design.

Wait, I just thought of something else I wanted to talk about but this isn't a complaint (go figure?). The first day I was at USF, I was complaining about how they tear out perfectly fine rides but at the same time don't do anything with the dead space in the park (I was saying this while standing in-front of the old Murder She Wrote building). Two days later I returned to the park, and the Back to the Future DeLorean had been moved from in-front of the building (the train is still there) and a construction wall has been put up. I honestly thought that maybe they were just painting it or something parade related. Didn't think much of it. Imagine my surprise when I get home to find out that they're tearing the building down. Crazy coincidence lol

Oh yeah, one last thing. The park meal deals are totally worth it ;)
 
Btw,How was the despicable me ride? I didnt notice anything wrong with ripsaw falls, i agree that ioa is much better than usf(except for revenge of the mummy) i loved forbiddon journy and does every simulator ride need to be 3d! I thought the robotic arm was amazing! Last thought, what was wrong with dueling dragons retheme? The ride is the same
 
smitty915 said:
Btw,How was the despicable me ride?

It was alright, I guess. I personally prefer the pervious films for the simple fact that I enjoy the source material more. That said, it's simply par for the course.

Pros: It's in 3D (finally, I always thought the Jimmy Neutron show should've been 3D), 2 pre-show rooms that are nicely themed (if your remember, there was only one previously with minimal theming), nice animation

Cons: The source material (the TV's in the line are basically dedicated to explaining who the characters are and any essential information you may need to know, since they assume most people who ride this haven't seen the movie) and overly saccharine ending that just repeats the movie, the removal of the play area after the ride for a dance floor

smitty915 said:
I didnt notice anything wrong with ripsaw falls,

There were a couple of scenes where I was hearing the audio but all the animatronics and props weren't moving at all. Having ridden this many times before, I know that isn't right

smitty915 said:
i agree that ioa is much better than usf(except for revenge of the mummy)

Sadly the park just isn't what it used to be. We spent 2 hours over there, rode everything and then just went back to IOA. It was never a half-day park before. The only ride worth re-riding was MiB. The giant hole left by Jaws just depressed me to the point where I didn't even want to be in that park. They didn't just remove a ride but an entire area.

smitty915 said:
Last thought, what was wrong with dueling dragons retheme? The ride is the same

As someone who always found the queue more entertaining then the coaster, the removal of the theming basically removed my interest in the ride. Why would I want to deal with those stupid lockers and walk all that distance if there's nothing to look at? Hulk, on the other hand, is a more enjoyable coaster.

Oh yeah, and to relate back to Spider-Man. Did they just add the Stan Lee spiel to the end of the ride? In all of the on-ride videos online, it's the scientist guy who gives the exit spiel, so I was surprised to hear Stan Lee. Anyone know when they changed it?


Theon Greyjoy said:
Can I get a TL;DR?

Cool bro, awesome contribution
 
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