DaptoFunlandGuy

Apologies for the lateness of part 2. Too many things going on this time of year. I've had to cut this one short (Lost world is fairly lengthy) So Ancient Egypt and Sci-Fi City will be carry over for next time... PART 2 The Lost World Leaving Shrek 4d, we headed into the lost world. By now, the rain has stopped, and it's back to the sweltering heat and humidity of a singapore summer. We just happened to walk by right as they were about to close the queue for the WaterWorld show. I lucked out when I went to Hollywood and missed the WaterWorld show, but since that was 14 years ago, and they've just built this one, I have to assume it has relatively good staying power. The stunts and action are great, backed up by great pyro and prop action, with well timed and executed SFX and other specialties. Well worth the look in, definitely more "re-ride" potential than HWSD. Leaving waterworld, we headed beneath the main gates (well themed, and almost identical to the main gates in the movie). First up is Canopy Flyer It's a rather unique suspended coaster, that operates single car trains, with two seats facing forward, and two backward. I'd call it a single rail coaster, but it does have two rails, just that the track is vertical, rather than horizontal. This allows the track to tilt slightly to get the same effect as a heavily banked corner on a conventional coaster. The trains are well themed, looking like something straight out of the movie, EXCEPT for the stock-standard family car shock absorbers fitted to the sides of it. A good effort from a relatively unknown manufacturer SetPoint (http://www.setpointinc.com/) who to date, have only 4 coasters to their name, 2 of which are in Universal Parks, and both within a Jurassic themed land (http://www.rcdb.com/r.htm?ot=2&co=6920). (i'd like to see the Roller-Soaker built at WnW or SW...). Canopy flyer is a great experience, with unique motions built into it that i've yet to experience in any other coaster (I think the shock absorbers mean the transitions, while quick, and much smoother than fixed rails). My only complaint is that the track is not long enough, and it is over far too quickly. The loading system is similar to Lethal Weapon, with a raising floor, but it is completed far more quickly as only 8 seats (two trains) need to be checked at a time, and they have 4 attendants to do the checking. After canopy flyer, its on to Dino-Soarin' A relatively simple "dumbo" style attraction, the stand out features of this attraction include a "Reggae" version of the popular Jurassic theme music, and an efficient load system, where a grouper will check how many passengers per car, and hand out entry keys to each group while the last cycle is running. Short and sweet, enough said on Dino-Soarin. The Lost World also has a climbing wall (upcharge) which features inlaid amber blocks, complete with mosquitos inside. Well landscaped, but didn't try it. Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure This is another that gets it's own heading. In my opinion, this is one of the top 2 attractions in the park. (Of course, Battlestar is still SBNO, so i can't have an opinion on that yet). A River rapids ride that is a little different to our own. Unlike at dreamworld, this rapids ride uses a new raft style, where each raft is divided into 3 sections, and each section seats 3 riders. The sections are joined independently of each other to the central hub, and then one big tube surrounds it. This allows the rafts more flexibility when loading onto conveyors etc. This ride starts well before you board the raft. The queue house is divided into 4 separate rooms, all themed around the jurassic park visitors centre. Numerous objects and little touches make the queue house an acceptable place to spend up to 3 hours waiting. Thankfully, this attraction has both a single rider queue (which we used - and boarded within 5 minutes) and a Universal Express queue. The first room in the queue house is more of an overflow area, and is reasonably exposed to the sun, although it is relatively protected from the rain. The second room is a much cooler, dimly lit tropical bungalow style. As you move forward to the next room, it becomes a lot brighter, cleaner, and sterile, as if it were vetrinary treatment rooms. Some skeletons and other animal related paraphernalia is spread around (although I must admit I did not spend a lot of time in these rooms due to the very fast single rider queue). The last room also houses the loading area. Rafts are received at the end of the chute, and lifted out of the water onto a slip-proof conveyor surface. Guests simply walk out across the conveyor as it moves, and board the rafts from dry land. The load system is incredibly efficient - 1 op groups the next group, while the other op disembarks the last group and directs them to the exit. Both ops then attend the loading raft to ensure all are seated and restraints are properly secured. 1 op then leaves to meet the next raft to ensure they do not attempt to exit before it is safe to do so while the other op briefs riders on exactly what they must do. This op then gives a go signal to another op at the end of the conveyor, so that op knows it is safe to release the raft when it reaches the end of the conveyor. 3 other operators man a control booth on the other side of the conveyor. It is well themed and outfitted with numerous kit-racks of wet suits, wet weather clothes etc, all done up in JP livery. <SPOILER ALERT> (The spoiler code doesn't seem to be working on the board today, so stop reading now if you don't want to know.) Once you slide down the end of the conveyor, you begin with gentle flowing water as you round a few bends. An audio system in the trees tells you that John Hammond welcomes you to Jurassic Park (queue dramatic movie theme music, and the giant JP doors from the movie swinging aside to reveal the rest of the rapids in front. Throughout the ride, the audio system keeps you updated as you tour through various dinosaur paddocks, including a newborn brachiosaurus. As you slide by, the audio changes to indicate a dam has broken, and sector C has gone underwater. This has shorted out the electric fences and the dinosaurs (including the raptors) are now loose. Queue giant sign telling you that you are now entering sector C. We see overturned rapids rafts just like the one we're in. Overturned petrol jeeps, and lookout towers (the heads of the lookout towers - as the rest is now supposedly underwater) As we progress further on through the chute, we hear the roar of the T-rex. Rounding a corner, we see more trashed JP vehicles, and we can hear the earth tremors of the T-Rex as he appears to follow us from behind thick bushes. Ahead, we can see the water entering a large underground tunnel - the inlet for the JP hydroelectric plant. Things get VERY dark, VERY quick. Our only source of light are a few randomly placed red flashing beacons, and the gurgle of the water, as everything gets REALLY quiet. BANG! there's a hole in the wall, and all of a sudden bright light from an electrical short circuit shows the T-Rex roaring and trying to get through the hole in the wall, but it's too big for him to fit, and we float on by to safety. A few more corners around, and we approach a dimly lit room, where water is split in two directions and flowing both ways. We hesitate for a minute before shunting one way or the other, and slowly, gently, float into a dark DARK room. A door slides shut, and we begin lifting out of the water, raising up towards the top of the building, all of a sudden (again) the T-rex appears, and this time he is directly above us. Roaring loudly, we come to within a metre of the snapping snarling jaws (convenient place to put the ride camera as everyone is looking up!) before the gates open behind us, and we slide down a VERY steep drop into the splashdown pool. The raft floats gently out of the runout pond and returns back to the loading station. I've looked up other peoples reviews of this ride, and one theme that seems to be consistent - and I will wholeheartedly agree - YOU - WILL - GET - WET. SATURATED. TO THE BONE. NO EXCEPTIONS. The lockers are there for a reason - use them. Don't take electronics on the ride. Don't take cameras on the ride. Don't take anything that you cannot afford to get wet. Ponchos, raincoats and umbrellas are permitted, but useless - ride it when it is hot, and use the soaking to cool you down. As per above - wait until after the daily rain shower has cleared.

Whichever side you are on, that is a very good point. Personally good on Dreamworld, but at the end of the day, any park, can say no to any group, for any reason, so long as it doesn't break discrimination laws. So - tough shit Nioa.

To answer Richard's question properly, they have a set of scales at the bottom of the queue. The display on the scale faces away from the queueline, and you are standing in front of it, so it is unlikely that anyone except yourself and the operator would know your weight - and after seeing 500 people an hour on that scale, i don't think the op will remember you later if you're overweight. I did hear the scales beep when i got on, and the op told me i was fine before the numbers stopped moving. Not sure if its just because they knew there was no way I was outside the limits, or if the beep tells them i'm fine. Either way, the scales are not a big drama, unless your ass is so big, it can't fit between the fenceposts to get on the scales (the scales have their own little alcove off the side of the path.)

Sorry Jordan, but that is definitely LOL worthy.

Putting things together logically - he has an issue removing his rash shirt, but you think he'll post pics of himself online to prove an injury. Aidan, sorry but the way i read your initial post, you made it sound precisely like DjRappa said. For those that have yet to ride AquaLoop, I rode it this weekend. Twice. Didn't feel anything except a constant slippery surface. There are few attractions that can well and truly give you a good adrenalin thrill - but this is one of them. My only feedback for potential riders is - if you're not wearing boardshorts of some description (girls included), expect to spend a minute or two in the splashdown pool picking a wedgie. We saw several girls come down in bikini \ one piece who were unable to stand up for a little while after splashdown for that very reason. My only critique with the ride is it's staff logistics. There were three staff in the queue line on ground level, and 12 guests queueing. The staff were involved in a discussion, and rather than end their discussion, one of them turned around, and called out "just wait right there for me guys", and kept us waiting while they finished their conversation. Meanwhile, the 5 staff at the top of the tower and standing around doing nothing, because they're waiting on riders. At another point, the three staff at the queue were split - with one person weighing at the head of the queue, and two others standing at the entrance to the queue talking. I'd have thought the two at the front could stop those with rash shirts and jewelry from even entering the queue, rather than let them bank up at the scales while the scales marshall identifies these things while you're standing on the scale. The signage also says something like large or loose jewelry, but they made everyone remove absolutely anything that was around their neck - thin silver chains (let's face it - it isn't going to choke them if it hangs up, it will just break) to the guys that wear a metal design on a leather thong. One guy was wearing a metal pendant on a leather thong - he was told to remove it, and when he told the attendant that it was not removeable, that he could not ride. I can appreciate the limitations placed by the manufacturer, but some of this is a little overkill. As for the number of staff at the top of the tower, I'm just concerned about what capacity impacts will happen when the ride is no longer new - will they leave one attendant at the top of the tower to load and launch all FOUR?

Like most recreations, they tend to wither and die a slow death somewhere between the front gate and the fifth attraction. I believe someone else just posted a new recreation attempt recently too. And I wouldn't say JUST ended - i'd say something like 7 months ago...

An effect similar to the mirrored UFO is used in Disneys Haunted mansion. Unfortunately, some of these mirrors are so large (and they have to be a single sheet) that replacements are impossible after the ride is completed. The mirror for the ballroom in the haunted mansion received a rather large crack in it at some stage throughout it's life. As it required pulling half the mansion apart to get a new mirror in, they simply hid the crack with fake spiderwebs. (Source - David Koenig's Mouse Tales and More Mouse Tales.)

PART ONE So after getting all settled and back into the swing of things, (plus the fact i got a night off) I decided to sit down and finally put together a little trip report for Universal Singapore. Getting There We stayed a fair way from Sentosa, however the public transport system for Singapore is clean, efficient, and fast. They have transport cards (similar to the Queensland 'GO' card, or the Hong Kong Octopus) which work on all buses and trains. A bus picks up outside our hotel every 12 minutes and arrives at the local train station about 5 minutes later. We boarded the train at Newton station, and with a quick changeover at Dhoby Ghaut interchange and then off at Harbourfront to board either the monorail or the chairlift to cross to Sentosa. The monorail costs $3(SGD) and there is no charge for a return trip (Sentosa guests can ride the monorail back and forth across the island all day without further charge). It also stops right outside the universal strip, making it a 2 minute walk to the park entrance gates, and taking you past everything from Hard Rock Cafe to the Sentosa Casino. Ticketing and Weather Conveniently, Sentosa sells tickets to practically every attraction on the island at Harborfront, as well as numerous places across this island. This means if your too dumb (or smart?), and need to buy tickets at the gate, there is remarkably little in the way of waiting time. Weather wise, Singapore is prone to showers, particularly in the warmer months. You can almost guarantee rain in mid to late morning (around 11ish). Don't worry if it does start to rain, as the weather usually clears up immediately after, but it can take an hour or so. Inside the Park So of course, we didn't know about the rain. We arrived just after 10, and bought our tickets at the gate. While the gate sells a 1 & 2 day pass, the ticket booth attendant did mention that if we bought a one day ticket, it would be cheaper to upgrade to a 2nd day at the end of the day by visiting guest services. The park is quite strict on outside food and drink, and would not permit a half empty coke buddy to cross the border. They were happy to provide a bin to dispose of it however, and charge $6.00 on the other side to buy another one. (Empty water bottles also not permitted... But you can take a pop-top inside, and affix it to an overpriced water bottle, and refill from any of the million and a half drink bubblers inside - which includes bubblers INSIDE queue lines). So we will start in HollyWood. An undercover street, similar to MW's main street (although much more elaborately themed) but a little longer. As the hollywood main street leads straight off the main gates, it has been built with a slight kink to it, so you cannot see much inside the park without a ticket. The monorail also runs directly over the main gates, and is shielded an inside view by elaborately ornate metalwork. As you make your way up main street, you begin to immerse into the theme of the park, and unlike movie world, don't receive the echo-bounce back from the roof. As you round the kink, the rest of the park unfolds, as you see fragments of each land across the central lake. From the left, you can see "Enchanted Airways" from the Shrek themed "far far away" land. To the right, a Jurassic Park themed visitor's centre-like building, housing a large food court. Further right, and you see hints of Egyptian statues and stonework of Ancient Egypt. Finally, the red and blue twisted wreckage that is Sci-Fi City's own Battlestar Gallactica. MadagascarWe figure on heading clockwise, and head towards Madagascar, just as the rain lets go - and POURS. (Take an umbrella, or a raincoat\poncho). The Madagascar Crate Adventure (looney tunes \ bermuda style attraction) is still under construction (however it does have quite an impressive facade of the giant ship from the movie). This leaves only one attraction open in madagascar - King Julien's Beach Party Go Round - an elaborately themed (but still plain and simple) Carousel. Since it's pouring rain, and the entire attraction is sheltered under a tropical beach hut - it was worth the ride while the rain eased off. Far Far AwayStill heading clockwise, and still raining, we head for Far Far Away. I pick up a poncho from the Penguin Mercantile store (quite a decent quality reusable one i might add), and we cross into Shrek's stomping grounds. Apparently, they've spotted lighting in the distance, so all outdoor attractions shut down. Enchanted Airways, our intended next stop, is not an option. (For those keeping score) - Enchanted Airways is a custom vekoma junior coaster, with a decent theme, animatronic figures throughout the ride (pinocchio makes an early appearance) and a nice "kid-sized" thrill. The coaster train is themed like Donkey's Dragon, and has little Donkey-Dragons climbing all over her (as seen in later movies). We got to this one later. Instead we moved onto the next attraction - Shrek 4D. Believe me - this gets it's own heading. I'd known this was here, and wasn't expecting much beyond what i'd experienced at Movie World - except perhaps a higher capacity. Most of Far Far Away is a giant castle, which houses several attractions and shops. Shrek 4d makes use of a lot of this internal space by housing it's external queue line inside. I managed to snap a few photos which I might bother to load at some point of the queue line, but needless to say a very elaborately themed queue house never goes astray. Entry into the pre-show is done remarkably well - Ogre-Vision goggles (these ones are Shrek green) are picked up by each guest from a well stocked rack. Two big double doors permit entry to the preshow room, where the henchmen are all spot-lit, and all are calling out, waving and overall doing what they need to get noticed to get the crowd to move to the bottom of the room (its a gentle slope downwards). All of the same props, storyline, and pre-show video are used, although they are much more widely spaced apart, much better lit, and the projector for the Dungeon Cam isn't sitting in plain view. To give an idea of the size, you could have a full NBA-accredited basketball game in there, with room for spectators. There are far more cast members, and they are much louder in their aims to move people in, sit them down, and get the show rolling. Once the preshow is complete, and the cinema loaded (huge, and as mentioned before - slanting floor, so everyone can see), the same jokes are recycled yet again (put you hand up if you can't find your seatbelt..... there aren't any). The movie starts, same as usual, and the motion bases are pretty well the same motion right the way through (although they were a lot smoother). Lighting wise, they use much more elaborate lighting effects for the tinkerbell dust. A large lighting rig is mounted on the roof with about 12-16 moving heads and other effects such as strobes and water effect lights. These are used to simulate lighting effects for everything from the fireballs from the dragon to the red "evil" eyes found in the forbidden forest down the "shortcut". The water sprays are used for more than just donkey snot, and deliver throughout the presentation at any hint of water in the shot (waterfall etc). THe cinema was fitted with a number of heavy duty air blowers (they were more than just fans) which were used during the felonious chase, the dragons flight, and the waterfall scenes. Overall, it was well put together. They really took the "external" or fourth dimension effects to the next level, which i suppose most parks do when they are working with a "new attraction" budget instead of a refurb budget. One thing that USS thought of over MW (The Roxy was already built) is that the 4d attraction exits directly into a shrek themed shop (Fairy Godmother's Potion Factory). This also has a miniature ferris wheel for the young ones INSIDE the shop (so that parents can shop while the kids ride???). End Part One. Stay tuned for more on USS. Next time round - The Lost World, Ancient Egypt, and Sci Fi City.

Really? go to a theme park to play a home-video game?

Ads is pretty well spot on. The parks generally do tell their employees ahead of time, and also tell them what can and can't be said about it at that point in time. By allowing rebel staff to leak it, the parks will just "put foot down" and stop sharing the information with anyone until the foundations are poured. We'd much rather know the goings on, within the realm of "Acceptability" as dictated by the park operators, than be shut out completely. I've been a member here long enough to remember when the press release was the first info we knew about a coming attraction and we were lucky if Richard could afford to take the time off to head out to the park for the day to attend the media launch (because he was the only one they would ever invite) - believe me what we've got now is much better. The parks are also SLOWLY realising that allowing a little info out about the attraction ahead of time is BENEFICIAL to their cause - word of mouth advertising etc, whereas in the past, the parks locked up their news until the last minute to prevent the competitor from stealing the idea, and building it first \ better. (aqualoop \ wedgie.... jet rescue \ mick doohan). Bottom line, we want to support them, so they support us. If we are seen to encourage "sock puppetry" etc, then we are less likely to receive the park support we receive now.

The Shrek facade has been totally stripped of all signage and "shrek-ish" paraphernalia. It was removed so quickly that last weekend, the bolts that stuck out of the wall holding the SHREK letters were still there. Don't know if thats been removed yet, but just a big bunch of dog tag machines and "closed for refurbishment" style signage.

Didn't know he had a brother - surprisingly his brother has the same job title as he does.... Journalists who can't get their info correct.... tut tut...

Thanks for the info Shadow. Good to see it up so soon. I was at MW a week ago, and Roxy was just a hollow shell. Perhaps in the rush to open JTTCOTE before school holidays, they've minimalised theming, and will extend their efforts once the rush is over? By the sounds of things, the job is unfinished, but the pic you have posted looks like a nicely done effort.

Someone just crawled out of a long-term rock... Welcome back to the forums SLick....

Looking at the picture, I don't think you're far off Gazza, but rather than footwell space being the reason, my guess is that the back row's seating is anchored over the axle, so the outside seating cannot be fitted as the wheel assembly is in the way, whereas the front row does not have this problem because the seating is mounted behind the axle, with the footwell being over the top of it.

Soft Opening? Possible. The usual pot stirring from Randy? Also-Possible.

Quite happy to throw spanners in peoples works here - and say that nothing says they can't use the carpark to throw a massive coaster around the boundaries.... many other parks have done it in the past....

Now THAT would have been worth the on-ride photo purchase....

Sounds like extreme speed machine, or XXL, or No Limit....

Between coming back after two weeks off work, the Ipswich Rotax National titles last weekend, and the likelihood of getting called out to assist the SES with the victorian floods, i'll see what I can do.

Actually, fires are common in Scooby doo. Thats why every coaster car is fitted with infra red fire detectors in the eyes of the front of the car. They also have their own motive power, that can reverse riders out of danger if a fire is detected ahead of them - even back uphill! *long term members will recognise this as a joke, poking fun at member "Adam". New members may disregard this entire post.

Shrek 4D is shown at Universal Singapore also (Just got back yesterday). While the film is exactly the same, theirs is a purpose built theatre which had 3 times the seating capacity, and the pre-show room was bigger than a basketball court. They utilised a lot more special effects throughout the show too - lighting etc, rather than just the fairy dust sparkle at the beginning. The water jets fired a few more times, and the air cannons were quieter, and used more often. If you've never seen the show, Singapore isn't too far away, cheap and chips, and provides a much better show experience than MW (obviously due to a much bigger budget, and custom designed theatre)

Mickey - past experience has shown us that you are more often than not 100% on the money. In this case though, i'd be happy with 50% too!

Looks like the capacity on that thing will be GREAT! Is this the fourth? Or is there 4, PLUS the hyper drop?

Good find Troy. Looking good.