Showing posts with label universal studios sentosa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label universal studios sentosa. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Universal Studios Singapore - First Videos !



Universal Studios Singapore sneak preview week has began and first videos of the park were posted on Youtube. But first the last news about the park "real" opening: As i told you before this sneak preview allows the guests to "visit" the park, enjoy the decors, have dinner in the restaurants and of course come back home with some souvenirs items from the shops. No rides were open as some of them are not totally operationals.

I've been told that the Jurassic Park Adventure, the Madagascar ride, the Lights, Camera, Action special effects show located in the New York area and the Ancient Egypt Treasure Hunters Jeep Ride must be complete before Universal will open the Park for "real", i.e with all rides open for the guests. I've also heard that the park could be open in soft opening mode from March 3, but as it will be about the 5th time that it has been announced we will see on that day if it's true or not...

So far, the buzz from the guests about the park is very good and apparently they liked what they saw during these sneak preview days. Although the visitors won't probably notice it, Universal teams have still a lot of details to finish up and the next weeks will give them the needed time to put the final touch before the Grand Opening celebration.

Sunday was also the Casino opening day and if what i've been told is right the Casino attracted 75,000 Visitors in it's first day, which is simply phenomenal. Disney, who was asked by Chinese officials if it could be possible to have a casino on the future Shanghaî Disneyland resort - and who apparently refused - is probably doing a big mistake as in Asia the word "Casino" not only means big money but also a lot of people coming in. My feeling is that the biggest danger for Hong Kong Disneyland is not only Universal Studios Singapore and its great rides but also the casino nearby. We'll see in one year if Hong Kong Disneyland has been hurt or not by Resorts World Sentosa.

And now here is a selection of videos, all shoot and posted on Youtube by myfamilyng, except the last video. They're all short videos so the download shouldn't take too long.

The first one below show the Universal Studios Singapore entrance and ticket booths.




On this next one, the Hollywood area and also a bit of the Madagascar land entrance.




Newt, a panoramic view of the New York Streets.




This next video show the Battlestar Galactica coaster in Sci-Fi City and the entrance to Ancient Egypt land.




These three next short videos show the spectacular decor of Ancient Egypt land.










The next video shows a panoramic view of the Far Far Away land and especially the castle.




Although the rides are not open, guests can enjoy some "streetmosphere" like this Madagascar "dance" in the Madagascar land...




...or experience some street dance in the New York Street area.




This last video show Sci-Fi City at night. It's a "family" video posted on Youtube by jiopzxcvbnm but it has some interesting night shots of the land.




MANY more pictures and videos of other lands are now on line HERE and HERE.


Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat


Youtube videos: copyright myfamilyng and jiopzxcvbnm

Thursday, February 11, 2010

D&M Exclusive : Universal Studios Singapore Grand Pictorial Report - Panoramic Pictures



As it was announced yesterday Universal Studios Singapore is finally opening next Sunday, February 14th, for one week of sneak preview. Disney and more have a great pictorial report for you today with fantastic panoramic pictures which will give you the feeling to visit the park, just like if you were there. A kind of sneak preview before the "real" sneak preview!

Most of the pictures you will see today are new pictures. There is 34 new pictures, but to make sure you'll have a view of all different lands i've added some pictures posted previously. Two or three pictures were shoot while the park was still under construction just some weeks ago, specially the New York Streets pictures, and of course all building machines you'll see on the pictures are removed now and guests of the sneak preview will see a park totally finished, even if some rides are not yet operational.

Also, you will notice on some pictures lot of people just like if the park was already open, especially in the Mel's Drive-In restaurant shots. That's because some of the pics were shoot two weeks ago during the "family employee preview" day. For any theme parks there is always a "family day" before the park's opening where employees and people who helped to built the park can invite their Family members.

And one more thing: due to a mistake during the shooting the "date stamp" appeared on some pictures. And because it's panoramic pictures made of four or five different pictures put together there was four date stamps! No big drama but as these date stamps were really un-esthetic and as i really want to pay tribute to the fantastic work done by Universal creative people i did my best to hide them. In some cases i had no other choice than to put a colored rectangle on these damn' date stamps. It was a huge work but most of the time you won't notice them, and if you do just remember they're here to hide a date stamp, and of course that they don't exist in the real decor.

So, let's have a look at these great panoramic pictures showing all the different areas of the park. As usual click on each panoramic picture to see it in big size and explore the park in details.

The first picture at the top is of course the park's entrance with the Universal Studios famous revolving globe. Same for the picture below with the tickets booths.



This next picture show the grand entrance of the park.



Let's enter the Hollywood area. On the picture below the camera is looking towards the entrance you saw in the previous picture.



A panoramic view of Hollywood Blvd, the entrance of the park is on the right.



Inside one of the shops. Could not located where it is exactly, but might be in the Hollywood area.



Exiting the Hollywood Blvd, on the center of the picture. On the right the Madagascar land, where the big ship is, on the left looking towards New York Streets.



The Brown Derby shop where guests will find great headwear is located on the right when you exit Hollywood. The big building structure behind it is 1500 seats Pantages Hollywood Theater fully equipped to host major Broadway musicals. Guests will watch the Universal Monsters Revue with a rock and roll style.



On the picture below it's Universal Singapore Central Plaza, with the Mel's drive-In restaurant on the right. You can see Ancient Egypt and Sci-Fi City lands on the other side of the lagoon.



Another exterior view of the Mel's Drive-In.



These vintage cars are parked in front of the Mel's Drive-In restaurant.



The two next pictures were shoot inside the Mel's Drive-In during the "family day". Sorry, they're not perfectly sharp.





Located on the left when you exit Hollywood is the Madagascar land, with this huge tree.



Welcome to Madagascar! Here is a picture of the entrance of the land.



But if you turn on the right when you'll exit Hollywood you'll enter the New York Streets area.



This next panoramic show the other side of the New York Street. As usual with Universal the quality of the sets is stunning.



The next shot is also showing the New York area, looking towards the Hollywood area.



Always in New York, the facade of the Palace Theater.



The 1940's style decor of the KT's Grill restaurant where guests will find grill entrees and sea food!



Another restaurant of the New York streets is Loui's NY Pizza Parlor.



A last picture of the highly detailed sets of New York streets.



Another picture of a shop. Sorry, i couldn't locate in which land it is, may be New York?



Let's move to Sci-Fi City, the next land. It's here where guests will be able to ride the giant Battlestar Galactica Dueling Coaster. Here are three different pics of it, the first one also showing the entrance of the ride.







On the picture below Sci-Fi City looks a bit empty but no doubt that when there will be plenty of guests or with the night lighting it will look great.



On the right of this next panoramic, the "tea cup style" Accelerator ride.



On the panoramic below the Ancient Egypt land is across the lagoon on the left, Sci-Fi City with the Battlestar Galactica dueling coaster in the center and the New York area on the right.



Next stop: Ancient Egypt land, where Universal Creatives built a gorgeous decor!



Another area of the land with the giant Anubis statues and the Lost World land in the background.



Right at the border of Ancient Egypt and The Lost World.



A picture of a shop which, considering the items sold and the deco, is probably the Carter's Curiosities shop in Ancient Egypt.



Let's move to The Lost World, home of Jurassic Park raft ride. On this first picture, the entrance to Ancient Egypt is on the left and the Discovery Food Court in the background, inspired by Jurassic Park's Discovery Center.



Two other views of the same area with Jurassic Park entrance on the left.





Another panoramic showing the vegetation inside The Lost World and the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure entrance on the right.



The entrance of Canopy Flyer on the left and the Dino Soarin ride on the right.



A Lost World area for young kids: the Raptor Nest.



Another picture of a shop, probably located in the Lost World area. Sorry, not perfectly sharp picture.



Our last stop will be Far Far Away land, home of Shrek and other characters from the animated movies. This panoramic below show the entrance of Far Far Away, shoot from the entrance of the Lost World land.



The next shot below is a picture of the "Far Far away" "Shrek" castle.



On the picture below the New York area is on the left (with a bit of the dueling coaster), the Hollywood area in the center and the Enchanted Airways coaster of Far Far Away land on the right.



And one more panoramic for the road, which is the least i can say as it shows the giant car park where you will have to find back your car at the end of the day! You better remember where you will park your car!



Hope you've enjoyed this pictorial report of Universal Studios Singapore. Once again everybody who built the park did a fantastic job and i'm confident it will be a success from day one.

Let's end with a special note: if you're a Disney and more reader who intend to go at USS sneak preview days, please let me know as i am looking for pictures of the park's opening. Any pictures of USS sneak preview are welcome and you can send them at: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr
Thanks!

See you next week for more news about this great park!


Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat

All pictures: copyright Disney and more

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Universal Studios Singapore finally open for " sneak-preview " Sunday Feb 14th !



Edited: After your reading of this article, don't miss the new Grand exclusive report on Universal Singapore with 45 panoramic pictures showing you the whole park! It's HERE.

Universal Studios Singapore will finally open Sunday, Feb 14th, but only for a "sneak-preview"! In theme park world there was "Grand Openings" or "soft-openings", thanks to Universal there is now the "sneak preview" days! In addition to this the Resorts World Sentosa Casino is opening also on Sunday Feb 14th. Frankly, they've found a smart answer to the problem: how to open a theme park not totally operational during Asia biggest holiday when we need people in a casino which is ready for opening?

So, this sneak preview will be every night from Feb 14 to 21 and the park will open from 5pm to 9pm. Good news: admission will be $10 only and with a same-value dining voucher! I tell you more below about what happened this week, but first, the official press release.

Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore’s First Integrated Resort Casino opens 14 Feb 2010; Celebrates with Universal Studios Singapore Previews

Singapore, 11 Feb 2010 - Singapore’s first Integrated Resort (IR), Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), will begin the first day of the Tiger year with the soft-opening of its casino and a preview opportunity to stroll through the amazing environments at Universal Studios Singapore and enjoy the specially themed dining and shopping venues that will complement the incredible attractions, rides and shows that soon will be revealed.

The casino, the Resort’s much-anticipated attraction, will have its first play at an auspicious hour with a private ceremony and welcome its first public guest at 12.18 pm. A day of festivities at the Integrated Resort has been planned to mark the red-letter day, including the debut of its public attraction, Lake of Dreams, and evening previews at its Universal Studios theme park.

The casino opening is part of the initial phased opening of Singapore’s first IR that began on 20 Jan 2010 with the opening of its four hotels: Crockfords Tower; Hotel Michael; Festive Hotel; and Hard Rock Hotel Singapore. Its shopping and dining promenade, FestiveWalk, soft-opened on 30 Jan 2010.





Chairman of Resorts World Sentosa and the Genting Group, Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay said: “In less than three years since the time we broke ground and commenced construction for Resorts World Sentosa, we have taken our vision from drawing board to reality. This is a significant milestone in Singapore’s business history. We promised to deliver a true Integrated Resort, and we have not deviated from that.”

Chief Executive Officer of Resorts World Sentosa, Mr. Tan Hee Teck said: “We know a lot of Singaporeans are looking forward to the opening of both our major elements, the casino and Universal Studios Singapore. We are ready to soft-open the casino but are still fine-tuning the rides and shows in the theme park, which are still on schedule to open in the first quarter of 2010. However, since its Chinese New Year, we decided to offer Singaporeans a week long preview of Universal Studios Singapore with a special and unique first-to-see walk-through opportunity. The theme park’s unique restaurants and shopping venues will be open for guests, although rides and shows will not be operational. However, we are confident that the park’s design, vistas and photo opportunities will truly excite and impress guests and motivate them for return visits when fully operational.”

“We celebrate the New Year with the people of Singapore and are thrilled to provide a sneak peek of Universal Studios Singapore during this festive holiday period,” said Tom Williams, Chairman and CEO, Universal Parks & Resorts. “It’s an exciting time for all of us and a great opportunity to share a glimpse of the action, thrills and adventure that Universal will bring to the region.”

For sneak peek week, Universal Studios Singapore will open from 5pm to 9pm every night from 14 Feb to 21 Feb. Admission will be by $10 tickets, rebated by a same-value dining voucher. Sale of the tickets starts from 11:18am Friday, 12 Feb 2010. Guests can visit the box office at the Universal Studios Singapore front gate to purchase tickets for another day (there will be no same day ticket sales available).
Following the sneak peek week, Universal Studios Singapore will open on 22 Feb 2010 to Resorts World Sentosa, Genting, and Universal employees followed by limited audiences of staff families, charities and invited guests. It expects to welcome its first public guests in early March.

Casino Levy
Singapore citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents can start buying the casino levy at the similar time of 11.18 am on Friday, 12 Feb 2010. The levy can be bought from counters outside the Resorts World™ Sentosa casino and online at www.rwsentosa.com. Details of the tours, levy terms and conditions will be posted online from Friday. Enquiries can be made at enquiries@rwsentosa.com or 6577 8888/99.

(end of press release)

So, what happened during this crazy week at Universal Singapore? Well, until yesterday no opening date was announced, not even sneak preview days but Universal Singapore teams worked all days long to fix the technical problems they have on some attractions and to finish all the usuals security tests.

Everything was done to have the park ready to open this week-end - which is Chinese New Year week-end, the biggest holiday of the year in all Asia. I told you last time that some attractions were not fully operational but at least two attractions are definitely not ready for an opening this month. Universal Singapore informed their staff that the Lights, Camera, Action special effects show located in the New York area probably won't be operational before the end of March and the big Madagascar flume ride may not be ready before April. And all the week other USS teams worked on the Jurassic Park ride to make sure it will be fully operational next week-end. If they were small "A" Ticket rides it won't be a problem, but unfortunately the three of them are very good attractions, kind of "D+" or "E" Ticket rides so let's hope they will be operational as soon as possible.

Although USS teams are doing absolutely all their best to have all rides working and safe as soon as possible but even during the park sneak preview days some of the rides won't be operational, as they say in the press release. Nobody is to blame in all this as what happen at Universal Singapore happen for any theme park in the world, and specially theme parks with sophisticated rides. The more sophisticated a ride is, the more difficult it is to have everything working fine. And you know how reality is, so you'll understand that there is no reason that everything works fine at the first push on the button.

If someone must be blame, it would be the guy who choose Feb 14th as the date of 2010 Chinese New Year (there is no "guy" to blame as Chinese New Year happen at the second new moon of the year). If there was not this Chinese New Year next week-end everybody at USS would be probably more relax right now. But there is so much money spent during this holiday that i can understand that Universal Singapore considered a Feb 14th opening as a priority, even in sneak preview mode.

Universal top executives who arrived at the park this week to have a better idea of the situation finally did the right choice or at least the only choice acceptable for the guests security, i.e to have a "sneak preview" of the park with not all rides operational and they'll do a Grand Opening celebration later when all USS 18 attractions will be ready to welcome the guests.

And Don't miss the new great exclusive report on Universal Singapore with 45 panoramic pictures where you will see the whole park! It's HERE.

Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat


Pictures: copyright Universal Studios - Resorts World sentosa

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Universal Studios Singapore is racing against time for a Chinese New Year opening



Here is a new update on Universal Studios Singapore and its opening date. Before i go further, here is a special request: If you are a Disney and more reader living in Singapore, owner of a good digital camera, and intend to be at Universal Singapore on opening day please contact me by email at: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr as i am looking for a photographer to shoot pictures of the park's opening. Any help from my Singaporian readers will be appreciated!

In my last article i told you that the park said they were waiting for the Singapore Government authorization to open the park? Well, they've finally got a government authorization this week, but it's for the Casino opening!

So, Resorts World Sentosa which include Universal Studios Singapore has been awarded its casino licence and for sure that's the authorization they were waiting for. I strongly doubt they were waiting for a government authorization to open the park but they were indeed waiting for the casino license as it will be the real money maker of the resort. With the Chinese new year coming on February 14th and big Chinese gamblers expected for this celebration it was urgent to get this casino license, and now they have it.



The grand arch at the park's entrance and ticket booths (below) are ready to welcome the guests...but the park is not open yet!




So, nothing should stop now the theme park opening, you ask? Well, normally yes, but truth is that Universal Singapore is fighting against time to have all attractions ready for a Chinese new year opening. Universal Creatives are working from 7a.m to 10p.m to test all the rides and last week they put the final touches on the Jurassic Park Ride. Right now it's not sure the park will open for the Chinese New Year as not enough Rides are fully operational.

I know that strong rumors keep saying that USS will open this week - and even I told you they were looking for a soft opening on February 11 - but if they do so, chances are there will still be 4 or 5 Rides that won't be open. Not only there is always the last minute details but there are many layers of testing for each attraction and some of the rides haven't gone through all of them. In two words four or five rides are not totally safe yet. May be they will be this week, may be not. Some of the rides are really complex and let's hope that Universal won't decide to open the park anyway including these not-totally-tested rides simply because they don't want to miss the Chinese new year event.

However, the good thing is that Universal is generally very strict on these security issues and that's the right thing to do.

In the meantime final touches are done, including last minute technical problems like the one that happened last week on the famous Universal Studios Globe at the entrance of the park.






However, visitors can have access to other areas of Resorts World Sentosa like the Festive Walk and its fountain, here shoot at sunset.





More update about Universal Studios Singapore opening coming soon, but don't miss my next article later this week where we will talk about the NEXT Universal Studios theme park in Asia and how it might not be the one that everybody is expecting for in South Korea...


Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat

All pictures: copyright Mark Lim
 
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