General Chat / Revenge of the Mummy

Man, I just got back from Universal Studios Florida and I have to say that the Revenge of the Mummy is one of the greatest rides I have ever ridden. It's a little short, but that is it's only major flaw.

The queue starts off kind of dull. You enter a theater building that contains several rooms with various pictures from the Mummy movies plastered all over the walls. Once you exit the "cinema" building, you enter the Museum of Antiquities and this is where the queue starts to get interesting.

The story is that you are on the set of the next Mummy movie. The cast and crew are on a series of television screens and help set up the story. Some props from the "movie" are seen in various nooks and crannies of the queue, such as a wardrobe closet and Arnold V. molds. The next part is where the fun begins. You enter an ancient chamber with paintings of Anubis and other Egyptian gods on the columns that line the queue. In the center of the room is a large gold chest. I don't recognize it from either of the Mummy movies so it must be part of the new "set". The next room is the best and last. A very large statue of Anubis hangs from the ceiling and is supported by a series of ropes. The scene here is an archeological dig site. Various items such as maps, desks, oil lamps and crates are scattered about the room. The best part is when a ride attentdant came up to my sister and began quizzing her on the Mummy. He was definately in character and I must say I liked the little "effect" he added.

After a series of stairs to the top of the room and circling the statue of Anubis, we finally made it to the loading platform. The coaster trains were definately not what I expected. They were themed to mine carts or something and were very detailed. We boarded our train and set off. I was so nervous because I have been waiting for this ride to open since last summer.

The first section of the ride is the dark ride part. You enter a tomb full of inanimate mummy corpses and alot of cobwebs. The next room is where the action starts. You see a guy from the videos in the queue mummified (you can tell it's him by his hat) telling you the mummy is real. Then out of the coffin (I can't spell the Egyptian name) next to him comes the most lifelike audio-animatronic I have ever seen. It's Imhotep (the Mummy) and he tells us that he has come to claim our souls. I don't know how to describe Imhotep.... Universal definately did an AWESOME job on that animatronic. It's movements were fluid and not jerky at all. I like the part when he made the mummified guy shut up by putting his hand in his face. The next room is where the warrior mummies jump at you. They startled me by coming out of nowhere, but they didn't move other than the jump.

The next scene suprised me. We go through a few tight turns and come to a dead end. The car stops and out come thousands of scarab beetles. They quickly cover the walls and keep on coming. Suddenly the vehicle begins to move backwards and into a small bunny hop hill into the next room. This is my favorite part of the entire ride. I knew what was coming when I saw the lift hill. Ahead you hear Imhotep telling you that death is only the beginning. The walls are covered in jellyfish-looking things and at the top of the hill is Imhotep's face. It's moving and talking to us still as the car suddenly accelerates up the hill and right into his mouth! The roller coaster section is in full force here as we go through several helixes and bunny hops, all the while being bombarded by illuminated mists and Imhotep's face under blacklights.

Next you enter a room that makes it look like the ride is over. You can see a silouette of a woman in the control booth telling you that everything is ok now. Suddenly, Imhotep appears behind her and the glass shatters. The ceiling catches fire and we rocket into the next roller coaster section. You never go through an inversion on this ride, but you really don't need to. It is just as fun as an inverting coaster.

I'll leave the ending as a suprise, but I do want to say that this is the best ride to come to Orlando since Islands of Adventure opened in 1999. I personally think that it is on par with Spider-Man. So if you get a chance to come to Orlando, GO RIDE THE MUMMY. It will be one of the best experience you will ever have.

Wow, that sounds so cool, the ONLY thing I reckon that would be better that THAT, would be to sit outside and stare blankly at my garage door for 48 hours straight. C'mon, when are they gonna make GOOD rides?

Wow, that sounds so cool, the ONLY thing I reckon that would be better that THAT, would be to sit outside and stare blankly at my garage door for 48 hours straight. C'mon, when are they gonna make GOOD rides?

maybe instead of spewing worthless shit you should think before you post.

anyways, i see the preview for this ride every time i go to see a movie at regal cinema's (everyweek), and it looks awsome.
i wish i could ride it.

did they build in both california and florida?

did they build in both california and florida?

I believe so, check rcdb.

Yeah, it is in California as well. But the USH version is considerably different than the USF version. The USF version is supposed to be better, but the USH version has yet to open.

I have rode it too and loved it. It is an excellent showcase of the perfect dark ride.

I can't wait for the Hollywood version to open up. It'll be a little different from Florida's version, and I'm not sure which is better, but I know we're not getting openly jipped.

This is going to be an awesome year for Southern California theme parks.

the Universals Studios California one opens the 23rd of june.
i'll see if i can make it down there and tell you guys about it.

If the Hollywood version is anything like the Florida version... it will amaze you. I still can't get over it. I hope Disney stands up and takes notice of this. I think we may be entering a new age of theme park wars.

You guys are like...soooo two months ago. I rode this during easter and twas an excellent ride, the que was better though!

*stargazer*

This ride does sound amazing. It sounds like it has great effects, great animitroics and some good themeing. However, I am completely turned off by companies that do things like this, Universal in this case. Not because they created an amazing ride, but because they stole the idea from Disney. Disney was the first theme park to theme their rides to perfection. Disney is (was) the king of themeing roller coasters and other rides that are both inside and outside buildings. What really bothers me is Universal has such a lack of creativity, inginuity and originality, that they have to steal ideas from Disney to make money. Animitronics are done by Disney, Fire was done by Disney, Insects/Rodents crawling on walls was done by Disney, the flying through themeing (Rolling Ball) was done by Disney and the uphill launch was also, done by Disney. Universal stole all of Disney's ideas to create something of their own. It is disgusting and completely turns me off going there.

As for Mad Dawg's comment, "I hope Disney stands up and takes notice of this. I think we may be entering a new age of theme park wars", I hate to tell you this, but Disney was there many, many years ago. Where to start? "Indiana Jones", "Tower Of Terror", "Test Track" and "Mission Space" have all been around for atleast a year, and all of them are completely original, entertaining, well themed rides. Not to mention "Space Mountain - De la terre à la lune", "Matterhorn Mountain", "Big Thunder Mountain", "Indiana Jones et le temple du péril : à l'envers", heck, even "Space Mountain" are all themed roller coasters that all came way before "The Mummy". Not to forget "Expedition Everest" slated for 2006 and the $68,000,000 "Raging Spirits" for Tokyo Disney Sea, set to open next year. You hope Disney takes notice? They've been leading the industry before there even was a mega theme park industry. The reason you probably haven't noticed is because you think Disney's rides are for families, while Universal caters to the older crowd.

I will admit one thing though, Universal has created one original ride, "The Amazing Adventures of Spider Man". My personal opinion on the ride is it isn't very good. The queue is very, very boring. The vehicle is very dumb and the way Universal Creative tried to tie it into the ride was just horrible. The ride was very jerky and the 3D was not to hot. Plus there was no atmosphere in the ride.

I am with Nate. I read an article on The Mummy and how so much of it is taken directly from Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland. I also think the whole moving backwards idea was added much later as Expedition Everest is supposed to have backwards as a key feature. The article also said that the story for The Mummy is very open ended and never actually resolved. Universal's problem for me is they seem to make one part amazing while neglecting another. Take the B&Ms at IOA. They are nothing more than normal roller coasters. They are not themed at all during the ride. If I ever end up near and in a Universalpark I'll check this out but I am not really that excited.

This ride does sound amazing. It sounds like it has great effects, great animitroics and some good themeing. However, I am completely turned off by companies that do things like this, Universal in this case. Not because they created an amazing ride, but because they stole the idea from Disney. Disney was the first theme park to theme their rides to perfection. Disney is (was) the king of themeing roller coasters and other rides that are both inside and outside buildings. What really bothers me is Universal has such a lack of creativity, inginuity and originality, that they have to steal ideas from Disney to make money. Animitronics are done by Disney, Fire was done by Disney, Insects/Rodents crawling on walls was done by Disney, the flying through themeing (Rolling Ball) was done by Disney and the uphill launch was also, done by Disney. Universal stole all of Disney's ideas to create something of their own. It is disgusting and completely turns me off going there.

As for Mad Dawg's comment, "I hope Disney stands up and takes notice of this. I think we may be entering a new age of theme park wars", I hate to tell you this, but Disney was there many, many years ago. Where to start? "Indiana Jones", "Tower Of Terror", "Test Track" and  "Mission Space" have all been around for atleast a year, and all of them are completely original, entertaining, well themed rides. Not to mention "Space Mountain - De la terre à la lune", "Matterhorn Mountain", "Big Thunder Mountain", "Indiana Jones et le temple du péril : à l'envers", heck, even "Space Mountain" are all themed roller coasters that all came way before "The Mummy". Not to forget "Expedition Everest" slated for 2006 and the $68,000,000 "Raging Spirits" for Tokyo Disney Sea, set to open next year. You hope Disney takes notice? They've been leading the industry before there even was a mega theme park industry. The reason you probably haven't noticed is because you think Disney's rides are for families, while Universal caters to the older crowd.

I will admit one thing though, Universal has created one original ride, "The Amazing Adventures of Spider Man". My personal opinion on the ride is it isn't very good. The queue is very, very boring. The vehicle is very dumb and the way Universal Creative tried to tie it into the ride was just horrible. The ride was very jerky and the 3D was not to hot. Plus there was no atmosphere in the ride.

Whoa, whoa. Hold the phone here.

First of all, I've researched Disney to the core, dude. So don't treat me like I'm some ignorant little kid who doesn't know what he is talking about. Disney theme parks have been an obsession for me since I was a child, so I know far more about them than you think I do.

Secondly, I didn't mean Disney doesn't or hasn't produced quality attractions, just that since the end of the Disney Decade they have been slacking, mostly do to budget cuts from upper management. For some good (or bad depending on how you look at it) examples of this loss of quality, look at the Walt Disney Studios Paris, Disney's Animal Kingdom, that lame ass Dinorama addition, and Disney's California Adventure. The only reason that rides like Expedition: Everest and The Tower of Terror (CA) were created was to save DCA and DAK from their impending fate. Hell, even with these additions, both parks will still need a lot more work to get them out of the gutter. I do agree that recent attractions such as Mission: Space and Mickey's Philharmagic are very welcome additions to the parks, but they simply can't make up for the excuses of the countless clones popping up in the parks.

Another thing: Yes, Disney pioneered the "theme" park industry, but that does not mean that when a rival theme park company opens up a new attraction with an animatronic that they ripped off Disney. A themed indoor roller coaster? Anyone could have come up with that idea, but just because Disney did it first doesn't mean that anyone who builds one after them is ripping them off. I do agree that Universal has ripped off some ideas from Disney, but that happens in the theme park wars.

One final thought: Have you ridden the Mummy yet? If not, then I say reserve your judgement of it until then.

I'm just saying that I think the idea sucks anus. We had something like that here in Australia, and I thought it was a complete waste of time and money.

A themed indoor roller coaster? Anyone could have come up with that idea, but just because Disney did it first doesn't mean that anyone who builds one after them is ripping them off. I do agree that Universal has ripped off some ideas from Disney, but that happens in the theme park wars.

You say that, but it isn't true. If Disney never made a indoor themed roller coaster, you can be sure that Universal never would have, and it probably would have been atleat ten to fifteen or maybe twenty years later that some other company came up with some sort of similar idea. Look at RCT for an example. Nevis created a working Huss Frisbee. Of course any of us could have done that, but we didn't. Creativity is a very hard thing to come by. If CoasterEd never made "Sandstorm Rally", would we have ever thought of trackless rides like that? If Aero never created stairs, would we ever even thought about it? I challange you to be creative, it is not easy at all. And once you do create something original, everyone will copy it because they can do it. And about your other comment, "Universal has ripped off some ideas from Disney, but that happens in the theme park wars", is absurd. Disney has yet to copy Universal in any aspect. If Disney wasn't built in Orlando, would Universal have built their park there?

I challange you to be creative, it is not easy at all.

I'll take you up on that offer.

Look, I don't want to argue with you who stole what from who, but the fact is there are very creative people working for both companies. People are going to steal ideas from one another. That's how the business world works. There's sabotage, backstabbing and anything else you can imagine happening right now in some company. I'm not saying it's right, but it happens.

What I honestly believe is that Universal is taking some Disney ideas and taking them to the next level. They are expanding what has been done before and creating attractions that blow your socks off. Do you honestly believe that anyone who builds a ride with a minor similarity (a talking robot, fire effects, etc.) to a Disney attraction is ripping them off? Then how can you enjoy any theme or amusement park?

Anyone ever hear of how some of the IOA designers were former Imagineers who brought the Dueling Dragons idea with them from plans for Animal Kingdom?

Theme parks are a cutthroat business!