B.O.R.E.D
Box Office Reported Eloquently by Daniel

This week B.O.R.E.D takes a look at a new theme park attraction.

 

Revenge of the Mummy In-Depth Review 

Some people might consider me a "theme park critic."  I don't particularly like the term critic because it usually implies that the critic goes looking for everything wrong with something.  I always found that good critics are the people who can explain why something affects you in a certain way.  Sure critics will give their opinion on whether or not they think whatever they criticize is good or bad, but in the end you can usually follow their logic to determine where you agree or disagree with the critic's opinion.  I myself am a very analytical person and I take in experiences in different ways than many people do.  That doesn't mean I enjoy my life less because I might notice imperfection more obviously, it's just the way I am.  With that in mind I offer my thoughts and in-depth (seriously, very in-depth) analysis of Revenge of the Mummy.

 

Revenge of the Mummy has been billed as "the world's first psychological thrill-ride."  Almost assuredly anybody would quickly throw out the ridiculous tag-line, and take it for the over-hyped statement it is.  The question is not really if Revenge of the Mummy is a psychological thrill ride as much as it is an interesting, entertaining, experience?  Well, simply put the answer is yes, it's very enjoyable and worth a try.  The long answer is much more convoluted and delves into specific issues I have with Universal and modern theme park design in general.  So if you would like a non-spoiled opinion of the attraction, the answer is yes Revenge of the Mummy is enjoyable.  Those of you who want the full (and SPOILER full) answer, keep reading.  No stone will be left unturned, and no surprise is not going to be ruined.  You have been warned

 

The Queue
The attraction begins, like most modern attractions, in the queue.  The queue has been incredibly well designed in my opinion.  The queue begins with a theater-like lobby with artifacts and posters highlighting different Mummy films from the past.  Then you start weaving through various rooms.  The rooms all have a very basic look to them, almost resembling an unused office space.  On the walls are enlarged pictures of different scenes from the Mummy films, and television screens hang from the ceiling.  Watching the television screens you see interviews with cast and crew of "Revenge of the Mummy" a film currently being filmed at Universal Studios Florida.  Apparently they shipped over actual props from the real Egypt and cast members are very concerned about the "curse of the mummy."  The footage is mostly played for laughs and features some very clever puns and satire on behind-the-scenes documentaries.  In the footage though is some important information if you truly want to understand the ride (or as we come to later, if you can understand the ride).  First of all is the Med-jai symbol that the crewmembers wear around their neck.  They believe it will protect them from the curse.  Of course, many of the cast write it off since the Med-jai symbols are just props anyway.  Brendan Frasier is not allowed to get food since he does not carry the Med-jai symbol and the caterer is very superstious.  Obviously very upset that he has not gotten his cup of coffee he sends Reggie, I believe a grip or something similar, to get him his cup of coffee.  Reggie wears a Med-jai symbol that the director snatches from him.  In the background in a later scene you see Reggie get trapped inside a mummy coffin.  Now after weaving through what is probably about 60 minutes of indoor queue (provided it's full) you exit the side building and enter the main building.  The inside of the main building looks very much like an empty soundstage.  It's a quite detailed room with costumes and props.  There's a bulletin board that you can read to give you an insight on the Revenge of the Mummy production.  After turning back and forth you finally enter the "hot set" of Revenge of the Mummy.  This part of the queue is more than just a little reminiscent of Indiana Jones Adventure from Disneyland, although there's a lack of realism in favor of a more Hollywoodized approach.  The first of two rooms has guests walking around a giant stone carving.  On the object are two places distinctly marked to place your hand.  A note on the wall indicated to place two hands on the stone at the same time.  If guests simply place one hand on the stone, loud sounds play (although this part of the queue is entirely too loud anyway).  When two guests cooperate from across the stone and place both of their hands at the same time a nice light effect occurs on the ceiling. The Med-jai symbol is seen on the ceiling in bright red.  I suppose according to the storyline we are now safe as we have gotten the Med-jai symbol.  There is another effect in this room, involving you thrusting air and guests waiting in line. The hallway between rooms has a beautifully painted ceiling and hieroglyphics covering the walls.  At the end of the hallway a holograph of an artifact seems to hover around in midair.  If you try to grasp at it, you get a rather harsh blast of air.  Nice little effect and a lot of fun.  The next room features a gigantic Egyptian statue.  The statue hangs from the ceiling on ropes at about a 45 degree angle.  It's a little disconcerting for such a large statue to be hanging like that, and I'm pretty sure that was the designers intention.  You then pass by an office, looking much like Indiana Jones' office from Indiana Jones Adventure and make your way up a large staircase.

 

Overall the queue was well designed and very effective.  It could have setup the story points of the ride a little more effectively, but considering how weak I find the storyline overall it's really not that important.  90+ minutes of indoor themed queue is wonderful.  Just the indoor (and air conditioned!) part is wonderful in of itself.  Unfortunately Disney attractions lately have gone the more thinly themed route, or even worse made guests wait outside for lengthy periods of time. 

The Ride
The vehicles of Revenge of the Mummy are 4 row 4 seater cars.   There are themed to look like mine carts and feature only lap bars as restraints.  The individual lap bars used are more elaborate than your standard lap bar and are quite tight fitting.  A headrest at every seat gives riders some nice neck and head support. 

 

First Scene - The Mummy Arrives
You car starts moving forward at a slow speed, not unlike that of a typical dark ride.  The first room is a darkly lit skeleton chamber with some very nice detailing.  As you turn a corner a shadow of somebody walking is seen up a staircase.  Suddenly you hear Reggie scream, and a huge robotic Imhotep (the mummy) figure jumps out (yes, jumps out).  The Imhotep figure is wonderful, with a broad range of motions similar to those found on the Wicked Witch at the Great Movie Ride or Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean Auctioneer.  Imhotep sucks Reggie's soul with a neat little effect involving lighting a smoke and threatens to take everyone's souls.  It's here that unfortunately the attraction looses it's artistic vision and becomes a special effects showcase.  Your car starts towards a wall that lights up with different patterns, one of them I believe to be the Med-jai symbol.  Unfortunately the wall on the other side is clearly not themed and looks like was built yesterday.

 

Second scene - Imhotep's Offer
The next room is incredibly large, and seems to resemble some type of throne room.  Unfortunately, the realism of the first scene is completely gone and this scene come across like something from a Las Vegas hotel lobby.  On a large screen Imhotep offers you riches if you join him.  If you don't though, he will kill you anyway.  When he threatens you large mummy figures pop up from the sides of the car.  The way the figures flip-up is really strange and more reminiscent of a shooting gallery than anything terrifying.  The mummy figures have no movement, so while they look somewhat scary they aren't really all that menacing.  Imhotep gets incredibly upset, and starts yelling something.  I'm not sure if it's another language or if it's just that the horribly recorded speech was just too muddled.  I don't quite understand the logic of having a major character talk to you if you can't understand what they are saying.  As the vehicle turns a corner to escape a large wall starts to fall to trap the car.  Thankfully you take a very small dip to avoid it and escape.

 

Third scene - Scarab Attack
The vehicle travels towards a wall and comes to an abrupt stop.  The impact of the vehicle against the wall (actually an obvious projection of a wall) sends swarms of scarabs out from the cracks of the wall.  This effect, although very similar to Indiana Jones Adventure, is fairly effective.  For one, they actually use real mini-figures of scarabs that are dropped around the vehicle.  Also, the action takes place very quickly and is quite dramatic.  What happens next is a little unexpected, the vehicle quickly catapults backwards and down a little drop.

 

Fourth scene - Imhotep's Threat
Once the cart evens out riders see the Med-jai symbol projected on a screen.  The projection used here is very interesting as it gives a somewhat dimension look, but it has an odd sort of pixelation to it.  The room itself is not themed a bit, and while dark could have used something to keep it looking like a show building.  Imhotep warns, "Not even the Med-jai can save you now" and your car begins to turn on a revolving platform.  While the motion in the scene is incredibly dramatic, I don't feel the visuals are really that interesting.  This is the third scene in a row to use projection in a big way, and as I'm not a very big fan of projection in the first place, it's beginning to become a little boring.  One your car does a complete about-face the track in front of you begins to light up.  On the ceiling strange lighted objects resembling cotton swabs light up in patterns.  The car begins traveling up an incline.  The incline is really not themed at all and looks like your standard roller coaster climb.  No effort is made to hide it, but that maybe because of what is about to happen.  At the top of the climb a large Imhotep face is projected (yet again!) and suddenly the car is thrusted forward at 40+ m.p.h and into Imhotep's mouth.