Pablo_Eskabear

I liked the old King Kong so much more then the new 3D show. It was the right mix of intensity, practical effects including fire and the banana scented air, and not being 10 minutes long. I felt like the new one is flashy but not enjoyable. I like the Waterworld show, too, and that’s hokey AF. It feels like they upped the volume and the intensity but lost the heart of what made US H special. It was always about Hollywood movie magic, and a good mix of practical and special effects can be magical. Heck, that’s why I like the Jurassic World ride so much, it’s a fantastic mix of practical and digit. The tour always had that mix but now it’s just screens and loud noises.

I’m assuming you have spent a lot of time at US H. Serious question, do you enjoy the Fast and Furious and King Kong segments, and what they’ve done with the studio tour in general?

Maybe I’m an outlier, but I liked the old tour, even if it wasn’t “exciting”. Watching King Kong murder a T Rex was way too much for the 3 year old with her parents a row up from where I was sitting, and all I could think was “Who is this all for?”. The F&F segment was way too loud, and I swear, Jimmy Fallon isn’t funny on TV, and now he’s narrating the whole tour. The Jurassic World (formerly Jurassic Park) ride actually has some great improvements, and I really like the way they added the mosasaurus part in the beginning, it’s a clever mix of digital and practical effects.

Last time I went, they didn’t even talk about the falling bridge that the tram used to drive over. Even if the tram doesn’t go over the bridge, it’s right there when you drive past, it’s easy to talk about, but I feel like they cut all sorts of “behind the scenes” parts to make room for F&F and KK and still get back in an hour. Is that overly nostalgic? Maybe, but it’s costing them ticket sales because I live close enough to go occasionally with my kids and there’s literally nothing there for them or me. I know I’m a small sampling but do you think it’s like Disneyland losing that nostalgia as part of Chapek’s reign?

I agree with you that the digital effects are such a big part of movies that it can be hard to convey them without screens. That said, the way they’re integrated now is bad. If anything it takes me out of the scene, out of the illusion. The old puppet KK was so great because it was 30 feet tall (I’m not 100% on that), covered in fake fur and it was there. They scented it’s breath just slightly when it roared, which is the kind of detail we appreciate in Disney today. It didn’t rely on 3d glasses because it was physically occupying space.

I think the same “magic” is why Jurassic Park is still considered a special effects masterpiece, it blended great practical effects with cutting edge digital effects (for the time). That’s why I always liked the studio tour, the practical effects we normally see on a big screen were right there, you could feel the heat of that fuel tanker on Earthquake and even get a little wet when the sea parted. Heck, I prefer the Backdraft experience to Transformers. The mastery of practical effects is what set US H apart from Disneyland, it was like being immersed in an action movie instead of a fairy tale.

I feel old.