Disaster! - A Major Motion Picture Ride Starring You! Page 2
The last segment of the attraction is the shooting of the disaster scene, which takes place in the city of San Francisco. Guests board the rail car and are seated in rows of five. Newly installed monitors sit overhead and ask guests to refrain from taking any sort of photography while the ride is in motion. This not only is for the safety of other guests, but is for the best interest of the rider. In the instance that items are lost while on the ride, they can be retrieved at guest services located at the front of the park. All money, both in coin and paper, which is found on all Universal attractions, is donated to a variety of charities.
The ride begins and a man from the production crew by the name of "Mikey" tells riders that he will be guiding them through the filming process. The rail car doglegs to the left and enters what looks like a subway station. The rail car stops and the effects begin. Just like the original version of Earthquake - the Big One, Disaster! begins with a small tremor, which eventually leads into a large tremor that measures 8.3 on the Richter Scale. The station’s roof caves in revealing the streets of San Francisco above. A large Semi-truck carrying gasoline then slides down, crashing into the rail car. Fire erupts and Mikey asks guests to act like they’re scared. Next comes another tram that collides with the stagnant train that riders are seated in, followed by a flood sequence, as thousands of gallons of water come crashing into riders.
As the effects come to an end, the rail car begins to make its pursuit back to the station. On the way back, the trailer to “Mutha Nature” is displayed on the monitors, and guests can view themselves partaking in various scenes. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is featured in the comical trailer, playing the hero who saves the day from destruction.
Mark Woodberry, president of Universal Creative, explained how the attraction can produce such a trailer in a 10 minute time span. Woodberry says that the filming that is done in pre-show three is used as video clips that “fill” empty spaces in an already produced video template. This fully automated editing process requires no extra man power, and is said to be seamless, as different scenes automatically complete the trailer for final viewing purposes at the end of the attraction. As the park is constantly changing to suit the modern day, Disaster! marks a new era of Universal Studios. With the expansion of new technologies through Disaster!, Universal has opened the door to opportunities that will lead to many ground breaking additions in the near future...
More on Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was on-site for the debut of Disaster! and rode it for his first time on January 17th. He said that he loves comedy, and the roll portrayed in Disaster! appealed to him.
Johnson went on to explain how filming for an attraction is much like filming for a movie, except instead of viewing the final product, he gets to experience it. He loved riding the attraction and said that it exceeded his expectations. He went on to say that he likes watching things come to life, and feels great that he’s part of an addition to the Universal family.
Johnson says that he used to like roller coasters, but his body can no longer handle the forces of them. He also went on to say that he had never ridden Revenge of the Mummy (he played a major roll in the Scorpion King, a sequel to the Mummy series) but anticipated on riding it that day.
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