Transformers " E-Ticket " ride will open at Universal Studios in 2011

Universal Studios confirmed that a Transformers attraction will open in 2011, and i think we can expect a big "E" Ticket ride...The attraction is schedule to open first at Universal Studios Sentosa in Singapore which open in 2010. Universal released two renderings of this awaited ride and more details in the official press release that you will find below.



'Transformers' to be Developed as Theme Park Mega-Attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Singapore

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Oct. 20 -- "Transformers," the electrifying blockbuster celebrated for its multi-generational appeal, inventive storyline, spectacular action sequences and special effects, will now be developed as a new theme park mega-attraction in a partnership between Universal Parks & Resorts, Hasbro, Inc. and DreamWorks Pictures.

The attraction will fuse 3D-HD media, mega special effects and stunning robotics with a ride system that will transform perceptions of theme park experiences. The rides are scheduled to make their debuts in early 2011, first at Universal Studios Singapore and then at Universal Studios Hollywood. In "Transformers," Earth's humans are caught in the middle of an intergalactic war between the friendly Autobots and the evil Decepticons, which are able to change into a variety of objects, including cars, trucks, planes and other technological creations.

Tom Williams, Chairman and CEO, Universal Parks & Resorts, said: "'Transformers' will be a jewel in our collection of world-class rides based on great movies. We're thrilled to be collaborating with Hasbro, DreamWorks, director Michael Bay and the film's executive producer, Steven Spielberg, who has been responsible for so many of our signature rides and attractions." Steven Spielberg serves as creative consultant to Universal Parks & Resorts and has worked closely with the company in the creation of some of the world's most innovative theme park attractions. Those attractions include Jurassic Park-the Ride, a featured attraction at UP&R parks in Orlando, Hollywood and Japan, the E.T. Adventure at Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Japan, and the "War of the Worlds" sets at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Larry Kurzweil, President and Chief Operating Officer, Universal Studios Hollywood, said "'Transformers' represents a perfect match for our theme park: an exhilarating blockbuster with a great story, clever humor, non-stop action and flawless special effects. It has all the elements necessary to become one of the world's most exciting theme park rides and a centerpiece attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood, The Entertainment Capital of L.A."

"We are thrilled to be working with Universal Parks & Resorts and DreamWorks to create this 'Transformers' attraction because we believe it will deliver an ultimate one of a kind immersive 'Transformers' experience for our fans around the world!" said Brian Goldner, President and CEO of Hasbro, Inc.

Tan Hee Teck, Chief Executive Officer of Resorts World at Sentosa, the mega resort that is home to Universal Studios Singapore, said: "It is great that Asia will be the launch pad for the first Transformers attraction. Transformers was introduced in the United States in 1983 but traces its roots to Asia. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Megatron are familiar names to Asian audiences, who grew up with the robot toys and love the movie. When Transformers opens in Universal Studios Singapore in 2010, it will be the first of its kind in the world. We may see a surge of Transformers mania.

Director Michael Bay and Executive Producer Steve Spielberg presented "Transformers" in 2007. "Transformers" broke box office records on its way to gathering worldwide gross revenues of over $706 million -- the highest non-sequel gross of any movie in 2007 -- and three Academy Award nominations. The sequel, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," is scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures in the U.S. on June 26, 2009.

Editor's Note: Triple Feature today with the new artwork for Disney's Hollywood Studios American Idol Experience and two articles on Disneyland Paris Space Mountain! And if you've never watch the fantastic "Shoot for the moon" documentary, don't miss it below, it's a jewel!

Disney's Hollywood Studios : New Artwork of " The American Idol Experience "

The Disney's Hollywood Studios " American Idol Experience " is schedule to open in January 2009, but, as Jim Hill told us in one of his recent article, a Christmas soft opening is possible.

The park just released some new artwork of this interactive attraction which will bring all the excitement of the popular television show to Disney's Hollywood Studios, and they give a better insight of how it should look inside the attraction.

First, for those of you who may not know yet what will happen inside the attraction, here is a description: "The American Idol experience will follow the model of the high-energy show. Disney guests will be able to experience the challenge of auditioning, the rush of performing on stage in competition, or the thrill of judging the performances in a live interactive entertainment setting with all the glitz and glamour of the distinctive "American Idol" set.

The experience will include an audition process, open to all eligible to register, where guests perform “live” in front of a Disney’s Hollywood Studios producer for the chance to be cast in a theme park show. If shown to have that star quality during the screening process and after backstage preparation - working with a vocal coach, hair and make-up - it’s lights up and showtime for the lucky guest in front of a “live” audience and a panel of judges.

Guest performers with the highest votes will compete in an end-of-day Grand Finale show at Walt Disney World, and the winner of the Grand Finale show will receive a guaranteed reservation for a future regional stadium audition for the "American Idol" TV show."

Soooo, let's come back to the artwork, and here is the already known but beautiful rendering of the outside.......



........as well as a closer shot on the tower located on the right side of the entrance.



This first new rendering depicts the queue area of "The American Idol Experience " - all the people on the artwork looks really happy!



This next one - obviously a computer artwork - depicts the audition process inside "The American Idol Experience ".



And this last rendering depicts the main scene inside this new attraction. Wow, the winner guest who will be on the stage better be not shy...!



One more picture for the road. Those of you familiar with the original show will recognize singer David Cook, who was recently crowned "American Idol" champion. Here, he poses during a break in shooting June 26, 2008 in a Los Angeles recording studio. A crew from Walt Disney World in Florida taped video segments with Cook in Los Angeles that will be utilize in the attraction.



When they announced the future opening of American Idol Experience some months ago, as i'm not familiar with the show - and although we have a similar one in France - i was not very excited by this new DHS addition. But now, i think that it's going to be fun, and of course tremendously popular with the young generations!

All pictures and artwork: copyright Disney

Disneyland Paris Space Mountain : " Shoot for the moon " a fantastic making-of documentary

This BBC documentary you're going to see today is probably one of the best "making-of" ever done for a Disney theme park attraction - if not THE best. "Shoot for the Moon" was filmed in 1994-1995 during the building of the Disneyland Paris version of Space Mountain.
Tim Delaney, show producer of the land appears in person, with many others WDI imagineers.

Those of you who already know it will be pleased to see it again, but, for those of you who have never seen it, i strongly recommand you to take the time to watch it, because it's reaaaally a perfect documentary! Also, the moie is about the FIRST story line of the attraction, the one inspired by Jules Verne "From the Earth to the Moon", which is now unfortunately extinct, as it has been replaced by the "Mission 2". And, although the new version have some interesting special effects, i'm sorry to say that the first version was better - and had a better music, too.

Okay, enough talk, here is the real thing, the "Shoot for the Moon" documentary. And, believe me, it's a real good shoot!

Reportage BBC 1/5 - Shoot for the Moon - Space Mountain
envoyé par Zn00p1

Reportage BBC 2/5 - Shoot for the Moon - Space Mountain
envoyé par Zn00p1

Reportage BBC 3/5 - Shoot for the Moon - Space Mountain
envoyé par Zn00p1

Reportage BBC 4/5 - Shoot for the Moon - Space Mountain
envoyé par Zn00p1

Reportage BBC 5/5 - Shoot for the Moon - Space Mountain
envoyé par Zn00p1

In addition to this fantastic video, i have re-post below a previous article with many great renderings and making-of pictures of DLP Space Mountain. Don't miss it!

Daily Motion videos: copyright BBC and Disney. All my thanks to Zn00p1

Disneyland Paris Space Mountain - Artwork , photos , and video tribute

After the "Discovery Mountain" article, here is the second part of this article, this time about the "final" version of DLP Space Mountain "from the earth to the moon" , with the original renderings and pictures of Imagineers at work.



As you've probably understood when you saw the renderings in the previous article, due to the financial situation of the park back in 1993, the Discovery Mountain project became suddenly too expensive, and the imagineers had to revise their blueprints!






It was decided to keep the “from the earth to the moon” roller coaster concept, and the Nautilus too, now located outside the building.




The beautiful Columbiad cannon was always there, and even some reminiscence of the “volcano” first concept with these rocks emerging from the Discoveryland lagoon that you still can see today.




The “Columbiad “ canon is not only perfectly themed in a victorian way, but it's doing too a lot of things. The Imagineers could have design this 22 meters long canon only as an element of the decor , they did better than that. In fact, when the train is “catapulted” out of it, steam is projected in the front, and, too, in the back, like in a real one.




The upper part of the canon do have a “backing up” movement, and when the train enter it, before the launch , a door open , allowing the outside guests to see the arrival of the train inside the Columbiad. At the same time, a stylized sun on the side of the cannon turn right and left, and when all these elements work together, it makes the whole show “richer”.




Mind you, the title “Discovery mountain” remained in use until two months before the opening in 1995! Basically the change was for marketing reason: the executives thought that the word “Space “ would have been better understood as a clearer term for a “space roller coaster” by the visitors than “Discovery”... This is also why the initials “D.M” were still visible on the side of the trains as it was too late to change them, and the imagineers as well also like to keep a little bit of of the history of the ride in place.

Space Mountain first adventure “from the earth to the moon” from the opening day was a big hit . Great story line and solid theming by Tim Delaney, show producer, and his imagineers. For the first time inside a Space Mountain riders could directly walk in through the middle of the attraction, and watch the trains going by at high speeds between the meteorites.




The boarding room was designed as a victorian station which celebrates the “Gun club” first flight to the moon ( the name came from the Jules Verne novel ) and the “bronze” colour of the trains was perfectly chosen. For almost the first time ever, (in '95), the trains had on-board audio. (I say "almost" because the first time WDI utilized this unique system was the year before on the DLP Fantasyland "Casey Jr. Train.")



The launching with the cannon worked perfectly, and the ride was, in 1995, the fastest ride in a Disney theme park, with loops, etc, all that at 70 km per hour...



The theming in the ride was totally inspired by Verne’s novel: the train entered at high speed the “Lunar mining co” , then enter a huge meteorite, before he approach the moon , which was designed as a tribute to Georges Melies famous silent movie.





After a race through meteorites, the train came back to the station , passing through the “electro-de-velocitor” , another decor inspired by the novel.



And there is the gorgeous night lighting. Designed by Michael Valentino, one of the best lighting expert of WDI, his work is stunning. It is so beautiful that it becomes “hypnotic” , you can’t take your eyes out of it. The mix of theatrical lighting and neon transforms Space Mountain at night in a kind of huge “space ship” and it's a wonder, really!





Two years ago, the Space Mountain "Mission two" was launched, with a totally new theming, this time with no relation to the Verne's novel. Among the new show additions: the encounter with a huge “Comet”. This is a big projection effect, extremely well done, but the genius idea is that , when you first see the comet from the train, you see it from a distance - when the train is still on the other side - and as the train goes on, he approach in the direction of the comet. In the same time, the comet seems to move on the opposite direction, which means coming in the direction of your train, giving you the feeling for a few seconds that you’re going to collide. Of course, the train goes over the comet, but the whole effect is perfectly done, specially with the new addition of the “star field” - similar to the US versions - projected on the dome of the building.



Right after the first loop, now is a “galaxy” effect, before the train enter the giant asteroid - that was in the first version, but now with a mix of fog and light projection effect . The train goes down again, passing through a “cork screw” with meteorits thatlooks “in fire” - another projection effect . It’s also very well done , and it looks like if you were going to hit them...



At the top of the next “lift” awaits the “explosion” of a “super-nova”. There is another great idea before the arrival: a long red-neon “vortex” followed with blue-”flash” effect, which is supposed to bring back the train through “hyper space” at light speed to earth......before entering the “electro de velocitor”, one of the only decor element which remains from the first version .



It’s of course always difficult to describe with words the whole show - because it's a physical experience - but it’s real fun, always a speed roller coaster with a new musical score written by Michael Giacchino, who wrote the music for “the incredibles”. His score is good, goes very well with the new show, although i think the previous one by Steve Bramson was probably more “emotional”.

Below are two youtube videos, the first one , from johan30061967 shows the first version " from the earth to the moon " with a clever mix of on ride images and CGI video, and the second one is a brilliant 3D recreation of the "Mission two" ride by didyz.

Photos and Artwork: copyright Disney
Please note that photos 4, 5, 6 and 7 from the top show the model of Discovery Mountain, not the actual Space Mountain.

T-Rex Cafe at Downtown Disney - New high-Res pictures, and Videos

The T-REX Cafe "A Prehistoric Family Adventure" opened last Tuesday October 14 at Downtown Disney and you've probably read about it on other sites, but i was waiting for high-quality pictures, and they're finally available!

Landry’s Restaurants, in collaboration with Schussler Creative, developed the amazing concept for this new T-REX Café which features dining in an interactive prehistoric environment - the concept is built around water, fire and ice. Guests visiting T-REX are greeted with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, bubbling geysers, a fossil dig site and much more, taking them back to a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth.



T-REX greets visitors with a skeletal version of a 125-foot long replica of an Argentinasaurus, which was not only the largest dinosaur of the period, but quite possibly also the largest and heaviest animal to ever walk the earth. Just inside the front doors is an animatronic Tyrannosaurus waiting to greet the guests.



Also upon entering T-REX, guests will be greeted by a giant animatronic octopus sitting on top of the Shark Bar, motioning guests in for a specialty drink and a view of a 5,000-gallon shark tank. Lava rock, greenery and lighting effects combine to transport visitors into a time long ago.



The 30,000 sq. ft. restaurant seats 600 guests and is divided into several separate, distinctive dining rooms, each with its own theme and animatronic dinosaurs.



The Ice Cave, for example, resurrects the woolly mammoth, while the Fern Forest is the home of a Triceratops and its infants, along with a Stegosaurus. Other exciting areas include the Coral Reef Dining Room, Sequoia Room and Geo-Tech Room.



Also - and probably one of the best idea - an amazing meteor shower travels across the dining room ceiling every 20 minutes.
It looks great, and here is a video to have a better look to this amazing special projection effect.




But, while the décor may be prehistoric, the food facilities are cutting-edge. The Kitchen of Fire offers an open kitchen with a giant rotisserie that allows visitors to see meals being prepared and T-REX experience home, the Dino-Store provides a wide variety of dinosaur-related apparel and gifts.

T-REX is not just a place to visit – it is also a place to explore. Would-be paleontologists can practice their skills in the Discovery Dig Site, a large excavation pit with replicas of fossil bones waiting to be uncovered. The Geode Splitter breaks up geodes to display hidden minerals. Pan for precious stones, gems and fossils within Discovery Creek “sluice”. Plus, guests will be able to expand their knowledge of the dinosaur era and play one of several family-friendly games on the interactive Paleo Screens.
"T-REX is the perfect place to uncover never-before-known dinosaur facts and let your imagination roam wild," said Steve Schussler, CEO of Schussler Creative who designed previously the Rain Forest Cafe and the Yak and Yeti at Animal Kingdom.

It's time to see more about this T-Rex Cafe with this opening day video from the excellent Attractionsmagazine.com web site.
A last wish: if they could have the good idea to build a T-Rex Cafe at DLP, this will be great!




Photos: copyright Disney - Schussler Creative - Gene Duncan, photographer

Youtube Videos: copyright www.attractionsmagazine.com and pacocab

Editor's Note: Good news this week-end! Disneyland Paris is expecting to announce tuesday its first profit in five years, and in Hawai, Jay Rasulo unveiled the model of the future Disney Hawai resort. Check these news below!