Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
On Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey – the marquee attraction of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – guests will journey through iconic locations straight from the films, such as the Room of Requirement. This amazingly detailed scene is where guests board the groundbreaking ride and are drawn into the excitement and chaos of Harry’s life. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – the only place in the world where the stories of Harry Potter will come to life – grand opening on June 18.

It seems like Universal can’t keep anything a secret anymore.  Even if the announcement is only a day away.  First the “tent pole” ride for the Harry Potter area had most of the information for it uncovered through patents filings, Kuka robotics contracts, or just actors talking about filming their 3D scenes for the ride.  Then a few days before the Super Bowl, their commercial somehow leaked to the internet a few days early.  Maybe this is Universal’s new advertising style?  Make a big deal about the announcement, and then leak the information early so everyone gets excited?  hmmm  That is the “grand opening date”, I’ m sure we can expect to see a soft opening start to happen in early June.

The official announcement will be made on Thursday, March 25th at 12:00pm eastern time.  Expect to see the original leaked page back online at www.UniversalOrlando.com/HarryPotter

I think they could have done a better job for a commercial that is going to cost them $2.5 billion to show during the Super Bowl.  At this point I’m sure they’re going for just more of an “oh I’m excited to see a commercial for it” factor than trying to compete with the usual creative commercials seen during the game.  I did however like the split second view of the coaster train on the dragon’s fire.

This video focuses more on the inverted, Cylon track.

This one focuses more on the sit-down, Human track.

Universal Studios Singapore is still on schedule to open summer 2010.

In front of the entrance of Universal is the box office of the “Universal Palace Theater.”

You can see movie posters to both sides of the box office.

The first house we went to was Silver Screams

The only scene I was able to get a decent picture of was probably my favorite.  The movie theater screen with bodies hanging in front of it…

at the Apocalypse scare zone…

Chucky house…

They had a wall of the “Good Boy” Chucky dolls

It didn’t seem quite right having life size Chuckys

I’m not sure what this is, but when it came around the corner it scared the hell out of me.  Almost looks like a Yeti…

This is from the War of the Living Dead scare zone.

“The Spawning” house is themed to a sewer system with creatures in it.

Here is one of the creatures, or “Sculders”.

Something trying to come out of the sewage drain…

At the entrance of “Containment” they were warning us not to breathe in the dangerous gas that had leaked out.

Of course the whole street was filled with the dangerous gas.

The “Dracula: Legacy in Blood” house had an excellent entrance.

The scare zone “Lights, Camera, Hacktown” was one of my favorites.

A few bloody PA’s on the movie set.

It wouldn’t be Horror Nights without chain saws…

Inside the house “Frankenstein: Creation of the Damned”

and another one of my favorite scare zone of Horror Nights, “Horrorwood Drive-In”

Some people get distracted by watching the drive-in movie screen and don’t notice one of the characters that might be sneaking up on them.

A few characters from the “The Strangers”

from “Saw 3″

I think this was suppose to be a zombie version of Scarface.

and Frankenstein

Mel still hasn’t fixed the sign at his Drive-In.  Someone could really get the wrong idea.

And one more look at this year’s logo

and here is the map of the event

I’ll be back this Friday and Saturday night to get more photos.

If you have facebook, add Mr. Yeti – he’ll have some pics from HHN up this weekend also.

In the mean time, you can view all of the theme park posts on this site by clicking here.

Assuming that the deal is approved by Marvel shareholders, Disney will now own popular characters such as Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, and the Fantastic Four, amongst many, many others.

It is not immediately clear how this move would affect the various film franchises Marvel has in the works (such as the Iron Man films and the upcoming Thor and Captain America movies) or the licenses to Marvel-based movies owned by other studios (such as Spider-Man and the X-Men).

It is also unclear how this would affect the theme park license Universal owns on the Marvel characters.

SAW – For years you have come to celebrate Halloween and to witness the weakness of others. The only way to gain redemption for this voyeuristic obsession is to truly know what it means to bleed, to feel weak; to experience pain. Jigsaw will give you this experience. Happy Halloween. Let the games begin.
The Wolfman – Pure. Animalistic. Rage. Take a journey through England’s countryside and come face to fangs with one of the most terrifying creatures to ever explode from the silver screen. Forget everything you thought you knew, and prepare yourself for the sights and sounds of the newest addition to Universal Pictures’ legacy of horror.
Chucky: Friends to the End – Ever wonder what happens when good toys go bad? Chucky has been hard at work, tinkering with your favorite childhood playthings. Nothing is what it seems as you step inside and experience what its like to live in Chucky’s world. This is no Child’s Play.
Dracula: Legacy of Blood – Welcome to Castle Dracula on the night of “The Calling.” Vlad Dracul bids you welcome – be you one of the chosen women who has been called or merely a mortal man. Those who have been chosen must decide whether to join the Dark Prince in everlasting life as his brides, or reject his offer and suffer for all eternity. The blood must be renewed. The fate of the legacy hangs in the balance – Dracula’s legacy of blood.
Frankenstein: Creation of the Damned – It has been a fortnight since his creation caused the castle to be engulfed in flames. Doctor Frankenstein now continues his work to perfect the art of resurrection and regeneration, surrounded by his creations. The Creature has also returned, to make the Doctor pay for the pain and suffering he has had to endure. The Creature will destroy everything in his path to gain redemption, and you are now caught in the middle of this epic battle.
The Spawning – Something “different” has moved in among the sewers of Wyandot County, Ohio. The locals claim that these creatures, these “Sculders,” are two feet tall, with the body of a snake. As a volunteer member of the local water district, it is your civic duty to venture into these pipes and restore the flow. But beware, the locals are wrong about the “Sculders” and the only thing that will be flowing is your blood as it leaves your lifeless body.
Leave it to Cleaver – Samuel Meetz works for the people of Carey, Ohio as a butcher, bringing them the freshest meat possible. With a steady livestock of transients and town lawbreakers with which to serve, and a staff of volunteers who will preserve their towns deadly secret by any means necessary, there is truly no end in sight for Samuel or his family business. As Sam always says: Meet Me at Meetz…The Z stands for cannibal.
Silver Screams – Julian Browning has been the usher in the Universal Palace since it opened in 1922, of course, he’s been dead since 1940, but he still commands respect for his most beloved films from every patron. Buy a ticket to the Universal Palace, and let Julian usher you into a realm where the horror on the screen is ripped away to reveal a world that is truly terrifying. Features “Shaun of the Dead,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “My Bloody Valentine 3D” and other popular horror films.

In addition to the two hit shows, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure and The Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Tribute there will be six awesome Scare Zones this year:

Lights, Camera, Hacktion!!! – Hollywood Boulevard is being used as a location for the filming of the next big horror movie to be released in October 2010: The CHAINSAW DRILL TEAM MASSACRE in 3-D. Lights, Camera, Hacktion! Our director, Mas Imair, noted horror film aficionado, is bringing the massacre to life in blood-red terrorcolor. But the actors seem to be taking their direction literally and are “hacking” through the cast and crew. It’s a close encounter of the worst kind as the backlot becomes a hacklot and the streets run red with blood. Are you ready for your close-up?
Cirque Du Freak – Inspired by Universal Pictures’ upcoming film “Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant,” which tells the fantasy-adventure tale of a boy who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares.
Horrorwood Die-In – The Hollywood Drive-in has been closed for years, and some say the abandoned grounds are haunted, where late at night the dim flickering images of carnage and chaos, monsters and madmen leave the screen and enter the real world looking for fresh victims to star in their latest horrors.
Apocalypse: City of Cannibals – A whole civilization of war-like carnivorous humanoids emerges from the sewers and underground tunnels of New York, looking for fresh food. Half-humanoid, half-beast and ravenous, these tribal cannibals invade the streets of Manhattan. No one is safe!
Containment – When an experimental bio-nerve gas is accidentally released into the atmosphere, the streets are filled with a toxic green mist that turns anyone that comes in contact with it into an infected, melting glob of flesh and blood.
War of the Living Dead – On a remote island in the Pacific during the last days of World War II, German military attempted to create the unthinkable – a new breed of super-soldier made from the reanimated corpses of the dead. American forces quickly seized the island compound, but not before the reanimate agent was released. The island was quarantined and has remained a secret until now. Fifty years later, the two opposing dead forces are still locked in immortal combat with you caught in the crosshairs.

I’m a little disappointed that this year’s event will have one less scare zone than last, but at least the amount of Haunts is the same.  As previously rumored, they dropped the Brian Brushwood magic (or “illusions”) show, leaving just Rocky Horror and Bill and Ted’s.

Judging from the picture on the Event Info page (shown below), and the video in the Movie Theater section of the website, this year’s event icon/host will be a creepy movie theater usher.

The Silver Screams haunt is probably the one I’m most interested in.  It sounds like it will be themed to being in movie theater, and as someone who spent over seven years working in theaters, I see a lot of potential in that idea.

Select dates Sept 25 – Oct 31      Halloween Horror Nights 2009 website

The $45 million dollar, 17 story coaster was scheduled for a Spring opening, but still has not been given an opening date.  All of the track, except for the 90 degree lift was in place by mid March.  It then took over a month before the track for the vertical lift was finally installed.  Coaster fans following the construction progress were thrilled when finally on April 30th the track was complete.  A few weeks later people spotted a train finally in the station, and by May 18th reports were coming in of test runs being conducted at night.  By the end of May day time tests were running with several videos uploaded to YouTube.  The train was taking almost a minute to ascend the 165 foot, 90 degree vertical lift.  No where near as fast as the 11 feet per second that the technical details claimed (it should make the climb right at 15 seconds)

Then a week into June the entire lift hill section was taken out.  Universal never commented on the construction details, but insders claimed that the problem was with the coaster’s “anti-rollback” mechanism, which prevents the train from rolling backward if the lift system fails – which again, on Rockit is a straight up 90 degree lift.  Rockit was initially outfitted with a newly designed anti-rollback system that would provide a near silent and smoother trip than standard systems, which often have that infamous clicking sound.  They said the new system did not work with Rockit’s “X-Car” ride vehicles, each of which includes six onboard video cameras and 165-watt stereo speakers.

It is always possible that the valley that happened this weeekend was somehow intentional.  It could have been just an experiment with the weight  of the vehicle.  There have been coasters operating for years without incident that randomly had a train valley – but those have been rare.  Whatever the cause, hopefully we won’t see it happen again.

Rockit's train valleys after the non-inverting loop (photo from IOA Central)

Extreme Technology Powers Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is a high-speed rush of first-ever maneuvers, hit music, and specially created take-home videos starring each rider. These experiences have never been brought together on a coaster before – and rely on extreme technologies being used in entirely new ways.
“This is where high-speed coaster meets outdoor mega-concert meets user-generated content – all shot on production-quality video,” says Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Creative. “No one has ever created such a sophisticated ride experience. And no one has ever used technology the way we have to pull it all together.”
The ride vehicle is a high-performance hot rod that features a revolutionary new restraint system designed to put riders closer to the experience than ever. They pick their own music using industrialgrade touchpads that operate with the sophistication of an iPod. Songs from five genres of music will be pumped through individual sound systems that rely on all-weather speakers typically reserved for high-performance sports boats. And the network of cameras that will create the guest videos are used on high-speed trains and engineered to work in the toughest conditions.

Here’s how it all comes together:

Ride Vehicle
Guests begin their adventure when they slide into the bucket seat of the specially designed X-CAR. The X-CAR’s wheelbase is short enough to allow for the tight, intricate maneuvers that only Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit will deliver. The vehicle features stadium-style seating so that everyone has an unobstructed view. And there is no over-head/pull-down restraint system. Instead, a revolutionary lap bar allows for unprecedented freedom of movement.

Guest Interface Panel
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is the country’s only coaster where guests can choose the soundtrack to their ride from songs representing five different genres of music. They will use a personal touchpad – or guest interface panel – mounted on the lap bar to make their selection. The panel is designed for ease of use and visibility. It is military-grade durable and waterproof. And it uses wireless servers to upload each rider’s music pick.

Audio
Each seat is outfitted with Polk Audio marinegrade stereo speakers that can push out 165 watts. Guests will rock to 90 decibels of music – and yet never hear the songs playing for other riders. This sound system – typically installed on wakeboard boats – gives riders an entirely new way to experience music.

Cameras and Video
There are 14 cameras that will capture the guest experience: six on-board each ride vehicle and eight along the track, designed to provide production-quality footage under intense conditions. The cameras will perform at ultra-high data capture rates for up to 14 hours a day – all at variable Gs and highspeeds. A series of lasers will trigger timing devices and computers to ensure that the rider’s music and video are in sync. After the ride, each guest video is downloaded wirelessly from the ride vehicle to a viewing kiosk in 25 seconds. Guests will be able to purchase a  specially edited take-home version of their experience and share it with their family and friends.

Lighting
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is the only coaster in the world with daytime LED color-changing lights. Each ride vehicle has 36 different lights that will be programmed to change color and to either be steady, strobe, twinkle, race, or pulse. That means the coaster will be an everchanging light show for those on the ground.

Ride System
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit features the country’s only operating moving roller coaster load platform – meaning it uses a peoplemover-style conveyer belt to get people to their vehicles so that riders and vehicles never come to a complete stop. This allows vehicles to leave the station every 23 seconds. Power gets to each vehicle’s cameras and computers via on-board capacitors that get freshly charged each time the vehicle passes through the load station – similar to how an electric subway train is powered. Finally, the brains of the system is a network of self-checking computers called Programmable Logic Controllers which constantly check the entire system and synchronize wirelessly.

With that much technology working together, I can understand while it might take some time to get everything running smoothly.

They also released this photo of the train: