Simpsons headed to theme parks

[GoGoBoy]

Article from Sydney Morning Herald - The Simpsons are headed to theme parks April 25, 2007 - 1:01PM Homer, Bart and the rest of the TV Simpson family are headed to the amusement park in the US. Universal Studios will feature the cartoon characters in a new ride set to open at its two parks in Orlando and Hollywood, California, in the spring of 2008, the parks announced today. The new attraction is not yet named and will replace Back to the Future: The Ride. It will be based on the character Krusty the Clown's vision of an amusement park. Visitors will sit in a vehicle and watch the action on a giant screen that fills their entire field of view. "The ride vehicle will be moving along with that action," said Universal spokesman Tom Schroder. "We will combine all that, along with some great special effects, to make it seem you are experiencing a ride with all of the Simpsons." Simpsons creator Matt Groening is collaborating with Universal on the project. "The ride is designed to duplicate the Simpsons home-viewing experience, only at high speed and with lots of screaming," Groening said in the statement. The actors' voices for the show's characters also will be featured in the attraction, Schroder said. "With its unique sense of humour and enormous popularity, The Simpsons is a perfect complement to our brand of entertainment," said Tom Williams, Chairman and CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts. AP

[mattcrombie]

oh kool, I have been reading this on some others pages, but its good to hear its been confirmed. Great one gogoboy. Cheers

[Gold Coaster]

Thanks for the confirmation. Will have to check it out when I do the US for checking out Hard Rock Park. I like The Simpsons without being a diehard fan. Would have preferred BTTF to have stayed as it was such a great attraction, particularly for fans. Did many here get to experience that? This will be a good replacement hopefully closer to the standard of the earlier seasons. While I'm a Disney fan, I'm glad they didn't choose to replace BTTF with something targeted primarily towards the child/tween market.

Edited April 26, 2007 by Tony Teulan

[D.C.]

I like Back to the Future but after going on Star Tours at Disneyland, that has stood the test of time better, it seemed like it was aging a little bit. It'll be interesting to see what Universal come up with for this attraction.

Edited April 27, 2007 by D.C.

[Harrop]

lots of simpsons advertising at universal orlando citiwalk when i was there in jan i think their back to the future ride has closed now (thanks god - it really sucked), so its likely to end up there

[Psycho]

I'm really torn about the way Universal has been ripping out older attractions and installing new ones in recent years. On the one hand, when I visited Universal Florida in December, BTTF looked incredibly dated and was in severe need of some TLC. On the other hand, it is one of those classic attractions that is synonymous with Universal parks. I can't wait to see what Universal do with the Simpsons franchise. It's a great park to have it in because, after all, Universal aren't afraid to be a little risque in their attractions. I just hope USF keeps their E.T. attraction - I'd be really disappointed to see that go!

[Harrop]

I'm really torn about the way Universal has been ripping out older attractions and installing new ones in recent years. On the one hand, when I visited Universal Florida in December, BTTF looked incredibly dated and was in severe need of some TLC. On the other hand, it is one of those classic attractions that is synonymous with Universal parks. I can't wait to see what Universal do with the Simpsons franchise. It's a great park to have it in because, after all, Universal aren't afraid to be a little risque in their attractions. I just hope USF keeps their E.T. attraction - I'd be really disappointed to see that go!

I didnt go on ET while I was there. Was it good? By the time we got around to ET, BTTF had made us so sick we didnt want to go on anything else. I must say I would definetly NOT recommend Universal Orlando to anyone - it is the worst park I have ever been too. We arrived at 9am (which was when the park opened) - only to find out that half the attractions didnt open up till around 12pm... The only good thing about the park would be Revenge of the Mummy - one of the top rollercoasters I've ever been on! Earthquake sucked, Back to the Future was terrible, MIB sucked, Jaws was 'ok', not to mention the park was a ghost town till about 12pm.... I actually have pictures of an empty park. We left about 11:30am and headed over to Islands of Adventure - now thats a good theme park! So many good rides there.... hulk, spiderman, dudley doo falls, rapids, jurassic park, duelling dragons. Left there at 5pm on a bus back to our Disney resort, park was very quiet so we managed to do everything we wanted too. But yeah, I definetly wouldnt recommend Universal Orlando to anyone - one of the worst parks I've ever been too without a doubt. Here are some pics of the empty park:

[Gazza]

It seems like you had a preconceived notion that the place "sucked".

[Harrop]

It seems like you had a preconceived notion that the place "sucked".

Actually, it was the park that I was most looking forward to. I dunno, after being at Disney for 2 weeks, when we arrived at US and were pretty much the only ones there, we didnt feel as 'safe' as we did at Disney. The themeing was great and all but the rides were just boring except for Revenge of the Mummy! That rocked - rode it 4 times in a row without getting off! Twister was boring, earthquake was boring, Shrek was boring because I had already seen it at Movieworld, Jaws was ok: scared the crap out of me, Back to the Future.... well.... worst ride I've ever been on! Men in Black.... it was ok... I went on it after BTTF (which made me throw up by the way).... so the spinning on MIB didnt help... but it was still 'dull' Didn't go on ET, and there was another Sim ride we went on (Jimmy Neautron I think) which was boring too..... But why open a park up at 9am If half the rides dont open till 10am, 11am, 12pm etc....? Just a bit weird My whole family agreed that the park just wasnt worth it. Islands of Adventure on the other hand rocked! Edited May 5, 2007 by Harrop

[Gold Coaster]

ET's fantastic. They've replicated the bike sequence of the movie very well. It's a lot of fun going through the woods being chased by the astronauts with ET in the basket in front of you. Then you fly over a miniature of the town (like you're high up) and past the moon like that well-known shot (and you see your shadow over it). But they extend the sequence beyond the movie's to include his home planet which has really lush vegetation and different creatures. Kind of a Booster Bicycle ride I would strongly disagree with you saying Universal Orlando's the worst park (and would be interested to know which parks you have been to). Operations is Operations so if it's a quieter day/evening, I can understand why they might open things later to require less staff. Even parks with a huge number of people coming in through the gates need to save money somehow. The theming is absolutely fantastic. While Hollywood has the backlot, Orlando has lots of different environments to enjoy. You feel like you're on Sunset Boulevard or in San Francisco, Amity, a (yellow cab-less and not quite as pedestrian-clogged) New York, whatever... and Mel's Drive-In is cool. And though I wish it had been a coaster or at least a ride like Spiderman over at IoA, BTTF was not a terrible ride and I quite liked the nature of it; well-executed too! Jaws was fun too, much improved on just having the shark lurch up next to the tram as in Hollywood. MIB sucked? Sorry, but no... that's one of the most fun rides I've done along with the Disney Buzz Lightyear version. Earthquake's a bit dated but still fun. Shrek sucked because you'd been on its clone? LOL. Still makes it a good ride. I'm really glad they mirrored it so well. While I think IoA craps over the studio park in a lot of ways, Universal Orlando's theming and varied ride experiences still place it high on my list.

Edited May 5, 2007 by Tony Teulan

[Harrop]

I've been to quite a few: Movieworld Dreamworld Seaworld Wet 'n' Wild Aussieworld AdventureWorld Wonderland Disneyland Paris Magic Kingdom Epcot MGM Studios Animal Kingdom Typhoon Lagoon Blizzard Beach Seaworld Orlando Wet 'n' Wild Orlando US Islands of Adevnture Disneyland ... think thats about it. I dunno I am a bit of a thrill seeker and I have no problems with sim rides but BTTF was just horrible - but its 50/50 - half the people on US boards hate it, and half love it Dunno what MIB you went on, but the one I went on was zzzzzzzzzzzz.... btw I loved buzz light year that rocked! Someone on the ride stood up so they stopped the cars moving and I point whored hehehe

Edited May 5, 2007 by Harrop

[Gold Coaster]

You found Buzz Lightyear good but MIB boring? I'm undecided as to whether I like one over the other but don't see how you could like one and hate the other when they're both the same kind of ride and each done quite well. That point whoring must have been fun though! Hahaha.