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The Official "Use of Screenz" Thread

ill say it again i have zero problems with screens as long as they re used appropriately ie Gringotts, Spiderman, etc...

this is over-debated

The biggest issue people have with screenz at Universal just now is that it's been a long list of screenz based rides. Transformers, Gringotts to a lesser extend, Kong, Fallon and F&F. Add to this that the practical rides like Jaws, Twister and Disaster have been replaced making it more screen heavy.
 
The biggest issue people have with screenz at Universal just now is that it's been a long list of screenz based rides. Transformers, Gringotts to a lesser extend, Kong, Fallon and F&F. Add to this that the practical rides like Jaws, Twister and Disaster have been replaced making it more screen heavy.

This is the heart of the matter, right here.

While Avatar and Star Wars lands both have a screen based simulator ride, they also have another ride with mostly physical sets to counterbalance.

To be fair, those other rides do have/are going to have screens, too, but they also aren't going to be anywhere close to "screen based," either, and that is an important distinction.
 
I know this has been said before but I need to process what's going on. Universal is just duplicating ride systems. It used to bother me how many similar simulated attarctions universal had, but now it severe. Universal is now known as the screen and simulator park. First two rides you walk into are very old, mediocre, and have the same ride system. Your in a moving seat and your looking at a screen. Next ride, walk a little more and your sitting in a theatre with a more modern and smoother ride system. But the same large screen and moving seats with a different film. Next ride is mummy but then you come out to a cross road of either a simulator ride with a moving car and large screens that's exactly like spiderman or a newer moving car ride with screens that's based of F&F. Then it's another theater ride with moving seats and a large screen that's like a show, and then next door to that is a ride that surprisingly has moving seats and a GIGANTIC screen in front of you. Gringotts is super cool but the general public still sees it as a screen ride. Universal has to stop now, or am I wrong?
 
It's getting really hard for me to get anyone to want to go to UNI on my vacation because of the screens, as it makes a few folks motion sick... The bad thing is, they were good with a couple rides (Gringotts is a huge hit with us), but one on top of the other. We skipped UNI completely my last vacation. I really wanted to ride KONG, too, and tried to sell it to everyone, but when they asked if it was another screen ride... I don't like making solo trips to theme parks.
 
It would appear Universal has a bit of Spiderman-itis right now...We shall get back on track soon I hope..Nintendo is my last chance for them, if not, I'm not renewing my pass again
 
I have no issue with screenz, but more with the same gimmicks being overused and also the same simulator-systems being used to simulate an experience that is already there. I'm not really big on Transformers, and mentally I feel it's because the ride feels familiar. I want to like it, but I don't get impressed because somewhere in my brain i'm thinking "I've seen this, I've felt this". I feel like in Fallon's case, even in Minion's case, it's different. Simulator theatres usually provide a different experience, but when it comes to darkride/simulator combos; you really need something other than a freefall gimmick, and the same ride system. It becomes tiresome.

You don't see 2 rapids-type ride, there's only one log-flume, I don't see why we need repeated simulator-systems. I don't care if a ride is taken from the Hollywood tour, it's not an excuse to mimic that ride system because the other was taken from Hollywood aswell with the same 360 tunnel effects. . I mean in the old days, Hollywood had the sideshows on the studio tour first, but when Universal converted them into attractions for Orlando; the whole ride systems were manufactured uniquely to each ride's story. Nowadays if something comes from Hollywood, I feel Universal Orlando feels the need to make the ride a tram of some sort because Hollywood use's that. I mean, sure both Kong and F&F have very similar effects in Hollywood, but maybe that means you have to design a separate attraction that embodies the same plot for Orlando. Jaws literally was transformed into a boat that goes through a variety of scenes and is nothing like it's counterpart in Hollywood. Kongfrontation was a total different experience from the bridge that leaned with the helicopter crash. Earthquake because a show! I mean you can make rides entirely unique, even if the story is borrowed from a sister park. You don't have to make the attraction a carbon copy because the difference between Hollywood and Orlando is that those attractions in Hollywood are short scenes because they're all on one attraction. UO has individual attractions where the expectations are much higher for payoff. You don't want to wait 2 hours for a ride that is just one scene that is built up abruptly; you want an elaborate ride that pays off in the end because you literally had an adventure. Sorry for the run on sentences, I've just got a lot on my mind for this topic, and don't want to forget it.

Anyways. for Transformers, I just feel like the ride was placed in Hollywood because Hollywood doesn't have Spiderman, but I also can't blame Universal for adding it to the lineup because I believe there was demand. That being said though, I don't mind The Simpsons, I don't mind that at all, and that's all screens. It might get me sick from time to time, but I don't mind it It doesn't bore me. I don't mind Terminator which is basically just a movie with actors, but I enjoy it. The reason I'm not engaged in these dark ride/simulators is because even the story for the ride feels like a carbon copy of something else, just with different set pieces and characters and scenery. The practical effects seem placed randomly rather than apart of the scene. To clarify, Spiderman and FJ both have practical effects that add to the ride's story in a way that feels effortless. In Spiderman, the transitions from screen to practical is so effortlessly smooth; you don't stop and think to yourself.,"oh that's screen" or "oh that's practical". Instead you just ride the ride smoothly without noticing. On Kong though, whenever a practical effect happens, you're like "oh yeah that's an animatronic" or "that's a screen", and this is because there isn't a smooth enough transition to merge these elements. Transformers lacks in this care in detail as well, so does Gringotts. Gringotts does try though, it's just the constant braking to watch a screen is a little bit tiresome. I think it's balance that Universal just needs to start working on. I mean we're in 2017 now, can't we just have a ride that can have both screens and AAs in perfect harmony like we have with Spiderman?
 
I just read the past few pages and thought it interesting that no one has really brought up Flight of Passage as a major jump in screen-based ride technology. It far surpasses anything Universal has done IMO, as far as immersion goes.
 
I just read the past few pages and thought it interesting that no one has really brought up Flight of Passage as a major jump in screen-based ride technology. It far surpasses anything Universal has done IMO, as far as immersion goes.
I brought that up in the Kong thread.
 
I just read the past few pages and thought it interesting that no one has really brought up Flight of Passage as a major jump in screen-based ride technology. It far surpasses anything Universal has done IMO, as far as immersion goes.
I agree. I'd argue that it is just as significant as Spider-Man in the history of attractions.
 
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