Disaster! - A Major Motion Picture Ride Starring You! Michael Thorp
Disaster! – A major motion picture ride starring you opened to the public on Thursday, January 17, 2008 at Universal Studios Florida, one of two world class theme parks at the Universal Orlando Resort. The new attraction is a refurbishment of the past attraction at the park, Earthquake, located in the San Francisco area between monumental rides such as Revenge of the Mummy-a Premier Rides indoor roller coaster opening in 2004 that sends passengers on a three minute journey through hair raising drops and tight turns-and Jaws, a classic Universal Studios attraction that recreates the danger and encounters experienced in the film's series as guest come face to face with a 20-foot great white shark. Using state of the art technology and applying interactivity amongst park guests, Disaster! produces a new experience that is sure to become a "must do" activity to all who spend a day visiting the park.
Before the addition of Disaster!, the former Earthquake ride sat in its place. Earthquake - the Big One opened on the debut of the entire Universal Studios park on June 7, 1990. Revolving around the 1974 filming of “Earthquake", the attraction’s premise was to show how large-scale disasters are created on the big screen, without causing catastrophic destruction in real world situations. Guests learn how miniatures are used to create disaster scenes before boarding a ride vehicle that resembles a San Francisco rail car. Guests experience what the calamity would feel like from a first hand point of view.
The attraction began transformation on November 5, 2007, with heavy thematic changes being made throughout its sound stage. Taking only seven weeks to complete, Disaster! marks as one of the fastest transformations of any ride ever created at the resort. The inner workings of the former “Earthquake” were stripped in order to accommodate more modern and up-to-date features to suit the technological day and age of the new millennium.
The changes in Disaster! are nothing short of dramatic, as a new plot and story board complete with an entirely new cast, were developed to enhance the ride experience. Starring Christopher Walken as “Frank Kinkaid”, the director of many of the films produced at the fictional movie production office appropriately titled Disaster Studios, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, as the lead character and hero in the up and coming new movie of “Mutha Nature”, the line up of celebrities is second-to-none.
As guests enter the attraction, they queue around a vast selection of full-scale props from past Disaster Studios films. Appropriately, Universal decided to use the mock films as spoofs on their past blockbuster films, including Jaws and Twister. From damaged airplanes, to destructed houses, and even a shark that is part machine, guests get
the idea that this isn’t your typical “production office” so to speak. Before entering the main lobby of the studios, guests get a brief glimpse of Frank Kinkaid, as a picture opportunity with his cardboard cut out is placed near the front doors.
As a result of the attraction running one high capacity train that can seat in upwards of 50 guests at a time, the operations for it run much like a theme park show would. Cycling four groups at one time, Disaster! takes advantage of its three pre-show areas as a form of entertainment before the actual ride segment commences. As one group leaves the final element of the attraction, another group enters. The constant flow of grouping keeps the queue line short, and compensates for the one “train” capacity in the ride segment. The design is efficient and effective, making it one of the highest capacity additions at Universal Studios.
As guests enter the first of thre pre-show rooms they are introduced to a young lady by the name of Lonnie. Lonnie is the production assistant to Frank Kinkaid, and has been put on special assignment to produce a few action sequences for a new movie entitled Mutha Nature. The assignment must be completed by the end of the day, or Lonnie will be “completed” with her position at the studios. She frantically asks for seven participants from the audience who will guest star as extras in the film.
Those who raise their hands the fastest are often picked first, as it effectively shows her need to get the project done as quickly as possible. Included in the cast of guest participants is a middle aged woman, an elderly grandmother who gardens, a small child who isn’t afraid to be enthusiastic, and a handsom man among others. Lonnie then asks all guests in the room to raise their right hand and say “I agree” to a large book that resembles a contract agreement. She then tells guests that the catch phrase “Moving on!” will be used throughout the screening process as a way to inform guests to move from one pre-show to another. The phrase is asked to be repeated out loud several times before the doors leading to pre-show two open.
Unlike the former ride of Earthquake, Disaster! incorporates state of the art technology in pre-show two that has been noted as being some of the most awe-inspiring visual entities of the amusement park industry. Using “Musion” holographic technology, Disaster! boasts the first ever application of such a feature in any amusement park around the world. It is also the largest single permanent used of the technology to date, spanning more than 30 feet in width and 10 feet in height.
Musion technology is relatively new, and is essentially a high definition holographic effect, not to be mistaken with a hologram due to its two-dimensional configuration. Deriving its concept from a 19th-century magician's trick known as "Pepper's ghost”, Musion takes 21st century projections and creates life-like figures that are capable of showing depth, by walking behind or in front of actual objects and creating life-like scenarios that appear real to an audience. The effect uses a large screen of transparent foil to reflect beams of light. Under everyday lighting, the foil appears invisible, yet when an image is projected; the foil reflects the light and displays what appears to be a life-like figure. Several different projections are used to display movement, giving characters the ability to interact with ordinary things, such as humans and furniture. Universal contracted the British company of Musion Systems Ltd. to install the Musion feature. Musion Systems has also used the technology in temporary circumstances at Auto-conventions and concerts. It has been noted that during the development of this particular sequence in the Disaster! attraction, that Universal Creative often found themselves confusing Musion projections with actual people, and mistakenly starting conversations with the beams of light.
In the instance of Disaster!, actor Christopher Walken is projected as director “Frank Kinkaid”, and his presence interacts with Lonnie, the production assistant. In the sequence, Kinkaid gets the idea to include all of the audience in the production of an earthquake disaster sequence. Kinkaid then asked the guests to join him as extras.
In the third and final pre-show room, guests are seated in what looks like an action movie set. Several different scenes are lined up adjacent to each other, with camera crews ready to shoot scenes for the fictional film of “Mutha Nature”. The seven participants that were randomly selected in pre-show one are used in pre-show three to produce stunts for the film. The first sequence involves the young child acting like he is in danger, as a large boulder is about to crash onto him. Because the attraction is light hearted and comical, the suspense of the boulder falling builds up, yet nothing happens, generating laughter in the audience. Lonnie says cut, and guests are directed to a second scene for which three people are asked to stand side by side in a line. Foam rocks are poured onto their heads and the scene is cut. Additionally, scenes of a teenage girl screaming, a man acting like he’s swimming in peanut-butter, and an older woman gardening are shot. Finally, the audience is asked to stand up and wave their hands in the air as if something stinks. This is shot in panoramic fashion to include the entire group of people.
