Hallo

Just three months shy of its spring opening, Revenge of the Mummy is part construction site, part thrill ride.

Its maze of stage sets is nearly complete, and a roller-coaster track coils like a whip through its building on the back lot at Universal Studios Florida.

But a foam cutout holds the place of a robotic figure in one scene, and no one passing by seems surprised by the demon warriors springing from their hiding spaces as workers check whether the monsters are operating properly.

Universal has a reputation for edgy attractions, but executives say Mummy, which is entering its final weeks of construction, will be unlike anything the company has built.

It will take passengers on a four-minute "psychological thrill ride" that includes a skeletal villain, a roomful of flesh-eating bugs and a chamber where real flames roil overhead.

A ride as elaborate as this one is "a very complicated thing to pull together," said Scott Trowbridge, vice president of Universal Creative, which designs attractions for Vivendi Universal's five parks in the United States, Spain and Japan.

It also is crucial to keeping Universal competitive with its archrival Walt Disney World, theme-park consultant Dennis Speigel said.

Competition between the resorts "continues to be an armaments war, and if you don't come out with a big gun," you're not going to attract tourists, said Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, a Cincinnati consulting firm.

Construction on the Mummy started more than a year ago, even before Universal unwrapped plans to spend $80 million on a pair of Mummy attractions at its theme parks in California and Orlando.

In fact, an army of artists and engineers had been working on the attractions since before the movie that inspired them was released in spring 1999.

That's not unusual.

Ride designers typically start thinking about possible rides several years out because it takes so long to build them, Trowbridge said.

Some of those ride plans are shelved because the story is weak, while others are filed away because they would cost too much to build or there's no room for them, he said.

But building a thrill ride based on The Mummy was "a natural," Trowbridge said.

The movie, like its 2001 sequel, The Mummy Returns, is about a mummy, Imhotep, who returns from the dead and wreaks havoc.

"We thought, 'Here's a story line that's classic Universal,' " Trowbridge said.

Company officials are careful about what they will say about the ride. Universal will talk about the making of the attraction but won't say what happens after the first few scenes, and it won't allow photos of the work in progress.

One of the first decisions the designers made was to have the attraction combine an indoor attraction with a roller coaster -- an idea that had been on the shelf since the early 1990s.

Space Mountain and Rock Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney are indoor coasters, but Mummy will be different because the coaster is simply one more twist in the attraction's plot.

Passengers will ride a 1930s-style open "railcar" and pass slowly through several scary scenes, stopping for some, before the slow-moving ride becomes a fast-moving coaster.

But while the designers settled on the coaster idea early on, "it took a good year to a year and a half to find the beats" -- the twists and turns that make up the ride's story, said Jennifer Sauer, the Orlando ride's creative director.

Sometimes, an idea that works on paper might not play as well in 3-D, Sauer said.

Ride designers routinely build real and computer models of the ride to get a clearer idea how it will look to paying guests, she said.

"It really does evolve over time," Sauer said.

Several of the proposed scenes in the attraction were so elaborate that the designers built full-scale mock-ups off-site to see whether they would really work.

One idea Sauer's storytellers came up with was a room where fire licks the ceiling.

"Your first reaction is, 'Oh, you can't do that!' " said Bob Shreve, a creative producer with Universal.

"Then, the second reaction is, 'Oh, you can't afford to do that,' and once you've worked all that out, you go, 'Oh. How can we pull that off?' "

Shreve joined Sauer's team in 2001 and spent the next several months coming up with a way to create a fire effect that was safe and could be reset every 24 seconds -- the length of time between cars leaving the ride's loading platform.

Workers built a mock-up of the room where the effect was planned. They suspended three pans -- each larger than an SUV -- upside down from the ceiling. The shallow sides trapped natural gas beneath the pans.

When the gas was ignited, the flame rolled beneath the pans in an effect called "brain fire" because the roiling flames resemble a brain.

"We played with different heights, different amounts of gas for a couple days until Jennifer said, 'That's the look I want,' " Shreve said.

But they decided to remove one of the three pans because "we kind of figured out we were truly making a roaster. You could have warmed your sandwich in there," he said.

"We really want people to feel threatened in there," but "it isn't as dangerous as it looks," Shreve said.

"You're using lighter-than-air gas," he said, and "we built the room so it can never catch on fire. In terms of guest safety, they're 100 percent safe."

Passengers will feel the heat, but federal safety guidelines say the temperature on riders' foreheads can't exceed 111 degrees and can last only a few seconds -- about the same as opening the door on a broiler.

Another big decision that the designers had to make early on was where in the park to build it, Trowbridge said.

"Real estate is obviously a huge concern," he said.

The only soundstage big enough was on the park's New York back lot, but it was home to one of Universal's signature rides, Kongfrontation, based on the 1976 remake of King Kong.

Despite its aging technology -- the 30-foot gorilla could move its arms, slowly, but that was about all -- the attraction had a loyal following.

"But we felt this attraction would be more popular, and we're all about updating ," Trowbridge said.

Kongfrontation closed in September 2002, and workers began striking the ride's New York street sets almost immediately.

The soundstage has about 70,000 square feet of floor space and is about 55 feet tall, but fitting Mummy into the building created problems because of the ride's design, said Mike Hightower, vice president of project management with Universal Creative.

"Everything is right on top of each other," he said.

What's more, the stage has only one entrance in the rear for construction equipment, he said. So, the builders had to install the attraction like a tourist packing luggage into the trunk of the family car, making sure everything would eventually fit.

"It takes a tremendous amount of planning to schedule the sequences," Hightower said.

Now that the major sets and coaster track are in place, crews will spend the next several weeks testing the equipment and finishing the sets before opening the ride intermittently for "technical rehearsals" and making any final adjustments.

Universal hopes to have Mummy's official opening sometime in late spring, before the summer vacation season.

Sauer spent a recent morning in the ride's queue, telling a couple of workers where to place a broken "stone" column. It looked to weigh as much as a car, but they lifted it without much effort.

During a break, Sauer said she had lost track of how long she has worked on the ride. "I started four, four and a half years ago?" she said, doing the math in her head and reacting in mock horror at how quickly time had passed.

"Where did my life go?"

Todd Pack can be reached at tpack@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5407.

Copyright © 2004, Orlando Sentinel

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

www.coasterguide.de

Hi

Hier noch ein sehr interessantes Video zu "RotM"

http://www.universal-excitement.com/ROTMCGI.zip

GENERAL STATS

• Offers Express Pass & Single Rider
• Height Limit is 54" Tall
• Loads From 2 Tracks & Merge Into 1 Track.
• Uses 3 LIM Launch Systems
• Top Speed is 40MPH
• The Ride Is 4:15 Minutes Long
• A Combination Between Spider-Man & Hulk.

TRACK LAYOUT

• You Pullout of the Load Area.
• Turn Left
• Turn Right
• Turn Left
• LIM 40MPH Launch Backwards
• Left Turn
• Straighten Out
• LIM Launch
• Turn Right
• Turn Left
• Go Up & Over
• LIM Launch
• Turn Right
• Turn Right
• Turn Left
• Then Down
• Turn Left
• Turn Right
• Pull Into The Exit

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

www.coasterguide.de

Zu der Animation kann man wohl nur genial sagen.
Hier entsteht wohl gerade der genialste Indoorcoaster, den es bisher gibt.
Mehr bleibt nicht zu sagen.

Hi

Habe folgenden Bericht gerade zugeschickt bekommen:

http://themeparks.about.com/cs/universalparks/a/mummypre.htm

Behind an altar, the Mummy busts through a wall and appears as a large sand face. He makes an offer: "Join me and savor the riches of a thousand dynasties." Miraculously, a treasure trove of gold and jewels appears on either side of the train. "Or refuse and suffer a more bitter treasure," the Mummy continues. The room darkens, animated warrior mummies pop out of troughs on either side of the train. One of the animatronic warriors leaps onto the vehicles. Braziers on the altar burst into 10-foot flames, while a 20-foot flame shoots out towards the train, engulfs the ceiling, and turns the room into an inferno. The vehicles move toward a huge stone door that's descending and threatens to crush the passengers. Just as they face certain doom, the train makes a little coaster-like dip.

Having survived that insanity, the train scoots around the corner and into a dead-end room. With no way out, the vehicles proceed backwards, reverse direction, and tear through the mouth of the Mummy for a 1.5-G, Hulk-style launch uphill and into the coaster part of the attraction.

Details get sketchier here. The coaster ride includes some 0-G weightlessness all the way up to positive 3.5-Gs moments. There are no inversions, but there are some highly banked 80-degree turns. There is a blood-curdling 50-degree drop that, because it is in complete darkness, feels like an eternity. Ghosts, which I believe are projected onto fog, pursue the passengers throughout the coaster ride. The finale is one of the elements Universal is keeping under wraps.

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

www.coasterguide.de

Hi

Auf der folgenden Seite findet ihr ein Video von U.O. (Universal Orlando), wo auch ca. 3 Sek. RotM zusehen ist.

http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/2004/03_mar/news/aqpkryhs.htm

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

*Saudummschau*

Was ist das für eine Hintergrund Musik?
Ich kenn das bloß als "Surrender" von "Less than Jake".
Scheint aber ja eine andere Version zu sein.
Haben LTJ das bloß gecovert und es ist ein alter Song den ich nicht kenne?

MfG TomSC
"Remove your 6 Flags and wave the white one!"

Du meinst den Anthem Bonus Song, richtig? Der ist in der Tat ein Cover.
(Wie es auch unter dem Video steht!) "...features a remix of the Cheap Trick song of the same name."

Tom, wirst Du Dir untreu? Erst beklagst Du Dich über Coasters, dass dieser Thread noch existiert, und jetzt antwortest Du sogar On Topic, sofern man das für diesen Chaos-Thread noch behaupten darf.

Ich bin eindeutig für eine Schließung des Threads... oder aber bleibt dieser offen um sich weiterhin darüber zu amüsieren?!

>Tom, wirst Du Dir untreu? Erst beklagst Du Dich über Coasters, dass dieser Thread noch
>existiert,

Wollte ich dass dieser Thread gelöscht wird?

>und jetzt antwortest Du sogar On Topic, sofern man das für diesen
>Chaos-Thread noch behaupten darf.

War das wirklich On-Topic?

MfG TomSC
"Remove your 6 Flags and wave the white one!"

Hi

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

www.coasterguide.de

Hi

Hab gerade noch eine E-Mail mit Bildern bekommen, die ich euch nicht vorenthalten möchte:

Merchandise für The Mummy:

Ein altes Fotos:

(c) 2003 IOAhq.com (Kyle Young)

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

www.coasterguide.de

Hi

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

www.coasterguide.de

Hi

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

www.coasterguide.de

Letzte Bearbeitung am 17-Mar-04 um 15:18 Uhr ()
Warum immer noch dieser Thread? Der Ride hat doch (mindestens) einen eigenen verdient und hat doch sogar schon einen...

Vielleicht stehe ich ja (zusammen mit DragonKhan) allein mit dieser Meinung, aber der Thread ist zu überladen und RotM ist nun wirklich nichts was man in einem USA-Thread verstecken muss, oder?

 
mfg Boris
Edit: Titel angepasst

Aber dieser Thread hat das richtige Zeitfenster...

ARD - Bei uns sitzen Sie in der ersten Reihe

>Aber dieser Thread hat das richtige Zeitfenster...

Auf gut englisch:

Who cares?!

Ne, dieser Thread machte am Anfang zwar Sinn, aber langsam nervt es mich dass ich erst den ersten Post aufrufen muss (der mit dem Thema ueberhaupt nix zu tun hat) und dann noch den eigentlichen, neuen Post suchen muss...

The only difference between genius and insanity is success.
Gruss, Dragon der finded der Thread ist reif fuers Grab Khan

>>Aber dieser Thread hat das richtige Zeitfenster...
>Auf gut englisch:
>Who cares?!

Och, ich weiß schon wer. Aber den Insidergag konntest Du nicht kapieren. Sirro hat ihn auch nicht kapiert, obwohl er hätte drauf kommen können

ARD - Bei uns sitzen Sie in der ersten Reihe

Letzte Bearbeitung am 24-Mar-04 um 17:33 Uhr ()
Sorry kann gelöscht werden. Inhalt war uninteressant!

Hallo Coasters, ist ja schön und gut, dass du immer uns mit neuen Bildern versorgst, aber jetzt haben schon EINIGE dafür gesprochen, dass der Thread hier zu unübersichtlich ist.

Wieso postest du die Bilder also nicht in den eigenen The Mummy Thread, der bereits exestiert?
Ist das irgendwie ne Protestbewegung von dir?

Trotzdem, der Animatronic sieht leider verdammt geil aus.

Letzte Bearbeitung am 24-Mar-04 um 17:24 Uhr ()
Hi

Am 22.12.2003 habe ich als erster über die Attraktion Revenge of the Mummy in diesem Thread geschrieben.

Der Thread "Infos zu REVENGE OF THE MUMIE - The Ride in Orlando" gibt es erst ab dem 07.02.2004, also erst viel später als meinen.

Entweder ich poste die Bilder in den USA Thread oder gar nicht mehr! Bzw. wenn es dir/Euch nicht gefällt mu(ü)sst du/ihr diesen Thread nicht anklicken.

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

Dann halt nicht. die Bilder werden dann von anderen schon geposted....

Ne, im Ernst. Danke fuer die fruehen Infos, aber diese fruehen Infos interessieren jetzt eh keinen mehr!

The only difference between genius and insanity is success.
Gruss, Dragon der nicht einen Grund sieht den Thread hier offen zu lassen Khan

Da fällt mir was zu ein:
Papa Papa, der hat das selbe Spielzeug wie ich, aber ich hatte das vieeeeel früher.
Der darf da nicht mehr mit spielen, nur ich darf mit meinem spielen, weil ich das doch früher hatte. *quengel*

Siehst du es echt nicht ein, dass es hier unübersichtlich ist?
Gerade du, der wohl The Mummy richtig genial findet, müsste es doch einsehen, dass eine solche Attraktion einen eigenen Thread verdient hat und nicht in der Masse untergehen sollte.

Hi

Dann schliesst den Thread! Wünsche euch viel Spass bei dem anderen Mummy Thread.

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

Sebastian der nicht bei dem anderen Mummy Thread posten wird

Letzte Bearbeitung am 24-Mar-04 um 18:04 Uhr ()
>Dann schliesst den Thread! Wünsche euch viel Spass bei dem anderen Mummy Thread.

>Sebastian der nicht bei dem anderen Mummy Thread posten wird

Wie alt bist du?
8Jahre?
9Jahre?
Ach, schon 19? *wunder*

MfG TomSC
"Remove your 6 Flags and wave the white one!"

>Las Vegas News
>
>Star Trek: The Experience wird im Jahre 2004 ein neues 4D - Theater eröffnen. Der
>"Film" wird Borg Invasion heissen.
>
>Borg Invasion wird eine Kombination aus "lebenden" Schauspielern; special Effekten und
>einem neuen Film werden. Also fast das gleiche wie in Universal Studios Florida:
>Terminator 2: 3D Battle Across Time aber mit Star Trek Thema.
>
>Wer mehr darüber lesen möchte klickt den Link an:
>
>http://www.startrekexp.com/indexborg2.php
>
>Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters
>

www.coasterguide.de

...

könnte das die gleiche Attraktion/Film sein, die im Februar auch im SpacePark Bremen eröffnet wird?

MfG
Sascha

>könnte das die gleiche Attraktion/Film sein, die im
>Februar auch im SpacePark Bremen eröffnet wird?

AFAIK ja. Zumindest deutet vieles darauf hin.
Vergleiche auch diesen Thread.

BTW: http://learn.to/quote

mfg Boris
The contents of this posting are licensed under the Creative Commons license.

Hi

Winter Coaster Solace 2004

So zum 5ten mal gibt es das "Annual Winter Coaster Solace Event" in Knott`s Berry Farm am 6. März. Es werden ERTs auf folgenden Attraktionen statt finden:

- GhostRider
- Supreme Scream
- Monty
- Timberline Twister
- Boomerang
- Jaguar
- Xcelerator

Neue Bilder vom Bau vom B&M Coaster "Silver Bullet" gibt es hier

Seaorld California; San Diega

Hier ein paar neue Bilder von "Journey To Atlantis" hier

Las Vegas News:

In Las Vegas soll das größte Riesenrad ( "The Worlds Tallest Observation Wheel" ) der Welt gebaut werden.

Hier dazu ein paar Links:

http://www.harrahs.com/our_casinos/rlv/news/12-23-03RIO.html
http://www.voyager-ent.com/
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2003/dec/08/515985969.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/12/23/financial2101EST0125.DTL

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

www.coasterguide.de

Hi

Hier sind ein paar neue Bilder vom Bau des Rocket Coaster:

(c) 2003 Bryan Wood

Mehr Bilder gibt es hier.

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

www.coasterguide.de

Hi

In Knott`s Berry Farm wird ja an dem B&M Coaster Silver Bullet gebaut. Wer schonmal eine Runde fahren will klickt mal den Link an:

http://badnitrus.coasterbuzz.com/Videos/SilverBullet160.mov

Das Video ist ca. 6 MB groß.

Quicktime Low-Res
160x120
Quicktime Player

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters

www.coasterguide.de

Kann jemand bitte mal diesen bloedsinnigen Thread schliessen? Der wird langsam einfach ZU unuebersichtlich und das meisste hier drin verdient sowieso einen eigenen Thread! x(

The only difference between genius and insanity is success.
Gruss, Dragon der das nicht versteht Khan

Könnte man in diesem Thread nicht auch noch die ganzen anderen USA Threads anfügen? z.B. den Thread für den Rocket Coaster im Hersheypark, den Stealth Thread usw.

Das fände ich viel übersichtlicher, wenn man das alles in einem Thread hätte.

>Könnte man in diesem Thread nicht auch noch die ganzen anderen USA Threads anfügen?
>z.B. den Thread für den Rocket Coaster im Hersheypark, den Stealth Thread usw.
>Das fände ich viel übersichtlicher, wenn man das alles in einem Thread hätte.

Mensch, klasse Idee. Hoffentlich ist das machbar.

Wenn es geht, dann könnte man auch noch alle Six-Flags-Beiträge in einen Thread hier im Allgemeinen packen, ihn "Six Flags News" nennen und schon könnte man sich das SixFlags-Forum sparen...
Analog verfährt man mit dem vom Heide Park und dem vom PHL und und und...
 
 
mfg Boris
"Six Flags?" "Vielleicht ist das irgendwie sowas wo man einem so speiübel wird, wenn man reingeht?"

By Greg Groeller | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 30, 2004

Universal Studios Florida unwrapped its long-awaited Revenge of the Mummy attraction on Monday, giving a few visitors a sneak peek at the theme park's latest high-tech thrill ride.

Missing was the ride's namesake, the menacing Imhotep. Technicians were still tinkering with the 6-foot-8-inch robot, which Universal promises will be as fearsome as the Egyptian priest who returns from the dead in the popular Mummy movies.

The title character's absence didn't seem to bother the first wave of tourists who got to experience the ride, which park officials say is about 95 percent complete. Most of those coming out of the attraction Monday marveled at the combination of cutting-edge special effects and an indoor roller coaster.

"It was better than I even expected -- just awesome," said Michael Gurge of Fort Lauderdale, who rode the ride alone because his wife was too nervous to take it in.

More than four years in the making, Revenge of the Mummy replaces the park's aging King Kong ride -- Kongfrontation -- which closed in September 2002.

Monday was the first day the public had a chance to board the ride, though the grand opening isn't scheduled to occur until May 21. Until then, Universal will conduct "technical rehearsals" to work out any bugs in the attraction and to gauge customers' reactions. During this period, the ride will be open only sporadically.

It is one of two mummy rides that Universal is building at a total cost of more than $80 million. The other ride, under construction at the Universal Studios park in Southern California, is expected to open about a month after the Orlando attraction.

"I'm a little nervous," Jennifer Sauer, Revenge of the Mummy's creative director, admitted Monday as she watched the first visitors board the ride. "When you let everybody in to see your baby, you want them to love it."

Revenge of the Mummy begins with an elaborate waiting queue, complete with hieroglyphics and Egyptian statues. Interactive props keep those waiting in line occupied until it's their turn to board the ride. For example, placing a hand over a lighted amulet causes sudden bursts of air to blast visitors farther up the line. And when two people simultaneously place their hands on a stone tablet, it triggers an animated light show on the ceiling.

Brendan Fraser, star of the 1999's The Mummy and 2001's The Mummy Returns, narrates a mock "making of" video, in which strange things happen each time he mentions Imhotep by name. Then visitors board a 1930s-style open "railcar" that embarks on a slow tour past various mummies and ghostly spirits.

On Monday, a stationary mummy with a red baseball cap on its head stood near the spot where the 650-pound Imhotep robot is supposed to be frightening riders by opening day in May. The mummy's appearance is followed by a high-speed, in-the-dark coaster ride, complete with steep drops, jarring stops and reversals in direction. At one point, the car stops and the track rotates before shooting the car and its occupants off in a new direction.

Along the way, riders are subjected to spritzing water and the residual heat of a fire that crawls up the walls and along the ceiling. The fire is 3,400 degrees at the ceiling, though the air below is only about 100 degrees as the riders pass beneath the flames.

"The fire was really real!" marveled 12-year-old Joshua Stewart of Minneapolis, who rode with his mother, Teresa. "It was water then fire, cold then hot. It was great."

(c) orlandosentinel.com

Anubis, a 2-story statue of the god of the dead, stands inside the Revenge of the Mummy ride Monday. Grand opening is May 21.
(ROBERTO GONZALEZ/ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters