Took a spin on it this evening,
I got to the park at about 7:45 to find Despicable Me open!!!! Yeah we all knew it was but given my luck (get to that in a minute) I wasn't holding my breath. The ride was posted at a 60 Min wait and surprisingly I thought the line for the most part moved quickly. The entry facade as we have all scene is very well done as is the interior of it. The interior and its huge roof were quite a surprise to me. The queue video was blah to me but not bad. I was just expecting a little bit more "original" content not movie cut aways inserted here and there. By about 8:15 I was turning the corner on the last switchback heading along the wall towards the attraction interior. This is where it went from good to GREAT really quick.
Once inside Gru's house you get a clear understanding on how not only the interior space was utilized but how detailed Universal Creative was on this project. The first pre show room will really make your mouth drop. It was so much more than I was expecting and dare I say its
one of the best "single" queue rooms in all the resort, yeah its that good. I also want to point out it wasn't just me saying wow, numerous guests were commenting on how awesome the room is. Anyways the minute you walk into Gru's house your
handed a pair of the new 3-D glasses just like whats being used at Spiderman in IOA. After receiving your glasses your separated into 6 rows of moving seats and 1 row of stationary seats. For those that are curious stationary is all the way to the right and moving rows proceed from front row to back row from right to left. If your in row 1, your up front. If your in row six like me, all the way in the back. Got it, good, moving on. After about a five minute spiel as to why your there from Gru and the girls your then taken into pre show room two, Gru's Lab. Now for those who are familiar with the Funtastic World of Hanna & Barbera as well as Jimmy Neutron you will easily recognize this room. This is the one where the three screens are placed together before you enter the ride. Now while they used the same three screen concept scene in the previous two versions this one is totally different. The location in the room has changed as well as the overall layout. The screens themselves are in crystal clear high def and the room itself is again elaborately themed. Here again you have about a 5 minute presentation and then your let into the ride.
Well unless your me that is. I was stuck in this room for about 25 minutes due to a technical difficulty. The pre show video then played again and boom another delay. At this point its 9PM. Remember I entered the interior at around 8:15. At a little past 9 the doors opened and we were in the main theater. The theater itself has been totally cleaned up and everything looks and smells new. The ride vehicles looked completely renovated which was a nice sight and just to add to it the movement of the vehicles was fluid and SMOOTH. Once seated the ride crew began moving people all around the theater to accommodate kids sitting in the middle where there parents should of put them in the first place. So after some musical chairs I ended up in the middle car of the last row. Funny thing was so did 3 other big guys. I was the smallest guy at 6'1" 180lbs crammed into this vehicle. So once we were finally all seated the lap bars came down, our lab goggles were put on, and away we went.
I won't give away to much but if you want to be totally surprised about the ride STOP HERE! The whole point of the attraction is turn us into Minions and join Gru in his evil schemes. So the very first scene involves us getting shrunk down (transformed) into Minions. Once were transformed all hell breaks loose in typical Minion style and were dodging numerous flying objects, crashing into stuff, and avoiding being crushed to death in and around Gru's lab. There are several other factors including helping the girls as well as trying to save a package Agnes wants to give to Gru since its the one year anniversary of them being adopted. There are numerous hiccups along the way as well. Towards the end of the ride when you get the package back, help save Agnes, and restore order to Gru's lab he congratulates you on a job well done and reveals to the girls a surprise party due to the adoption anniversary. Then he accidentally turns you back into humans to which he says, Ohhhh mannnn there human again..... Ahh well BRING IN THE NEXT GROUP! The End.
The ride features several in house effects that I was told were not all working today. The ones I experienced including smell effects (banana), fog, water, lasers, and strobe effects. The ride also utilizes the very same Infitec system as seen in the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman next door at IOA. The 3-D which again is broadcasted in 4K resolution is jaw dropping and really made the overall experience 10 times better than the previous two attractions alone. Pair that with the renovated ride system that is extremely fluid and smooth and its easy to see why there have been so many positive reviews. Last but not least upon exit is the Dance Party. Personally I don't see why everyone is hating on it as numerous kids seemed to love it while I was stuck there for another half hour waiting on the storm of the year to pass. I just walked through and checked out the gift shop. Oh and quick note they were taking the glasses out of your hand upon exit.
Overall the ride is going to be a real winner for Universal and is a much needed family attraction for the park. It provides loads of humor, which by the way is that wacky humor not the hidden adult humor like in Shrek. It has a great message and provides its riders an overall great time. I felt like the pre show was over the top impressive given what they had to work with. The ride was just great and is now my third favorite attraction in the Studios. One last thing I want to point out to everyone is the overall detail scene in the attraction. Yeah its an overlay in many ways but once you ride it you will understand me when I say, they took it to the next level. Universal Creative is gaining momentum again and is showing us there not limited to producing Amazing attractions just for thrill seekers. If Despicable Me Minion Mayhem is an example of where this park is headed then we are in for some amazing additions.
Onto the photos, now these were taken with my iPhone and not the DSLR so don't bash it.