Justice League 3D - a big flop?

[Flea]

The simulator ride itself was fun, but it was more the experience I kept going back for, not the ride part.

There's not really anything in JL that makes me want to keep going back.

Also agreed. I thought Batman was a solid experience - infinitely more re-rideable than a ride built for re-rideability (JL)! I would've loved to see them refurb Batman, update the ride to be akin to modern simulators and built JL in another location.

[MickeyD]

I agree that a complete lack of suitable marketing let the ride down, from memory it never had its own advertising campaign - unlike the lead up to Batman adventure - easily the most hyped new ride experience aside of the entire MW park.

Marketing aside, the ride just lacks the BANG! that people hope to experience. The loading area is exciting and sets expectations high. The usability of the shooting system itself is, IMO the MAJOR disappointment. You just can't feel accurately the results of your actions, making the action feel unconvincing and a little awkward. I believe this could still be upgraded / improved, only if it thought a worthy investment.

As Flea said, the flat finale ends the ride with a whimper leaving most riders feeling a little wtf..

I love the scenery and animations throughout etc, really impressive.. Just a few relatively basic enhancement to give the ride the surprise finale it deserves (wind, motion, bass, smoke etc)

All this aside it would appear our JL will have a clone coming soon to a USA 6 flags park..

[WCE87]

How long does the ride go for?

[MacPark]

The usability of the shooting system itself is, IMO the MAJOR disappointment. You just can't feel accurately the results of your actions, making the action feel unconvincing and a little awkward. I believe this could still be upgraded / improved, only if it thought a worthy investment.

This is the rides single biggest problem. I just feel like im shooting for the sake of it. I dont feel I can control what I am doing properly

Edited August 28, 2014 by MacPark

[MickeyD]

^ exactly! As the ride's signature feature is 'interactivity', that which makes it unique amongst all other aussie park rides unwillingly disconnects a willing audience from truly being part of the experience.

I've even said it before as so many others who WANT to love JL more. I make a point to ride whenever I visit wanting to enjoy the experience yet always felt unsatisfied. Animatronics, scenes, audio, lighting - all a stella job by any standard. So what could be the issue? Every time I rode, if anything the show just got better but still something was missing? Then it dawned. You need a great system that connects the ride with the game and game to the player. And in true MW style, it needs a surprising, exciting finale that's unexpected and the highlight of the experience. Something that makes people go WOW and talk excitedly amongst themselves as they exit.

[aussienetman]

I think the main way to get people re-riding is a simple scoreboard at the end of the course. Showing top 10 scores of the day, week, month, all time. This gives you a better excuse to go round and ride again. Even the option to add ur name next to your high score as ur leaving and then share to facebook. A couple of touchscreens would facilitate this at the ride exit.

I know if I saw I was only a little bit away from top three I would ride aga8n to beat my score.

Oh god. A scoreboard at the end showing ur face (an automated discreet camera) with ur score underneath... u can then print out ur score card and keep for next time

[BigKev]

I agree re the shooting part, half the time it is hard to tell if you are hitting anything or not. Some sort of vibration or speaker system would be good.

Speaking of scores, has anyone else noticed there is a massive advantage in the back seat, because you can often turn around and re-shoot the past targets a second time?

I find I score 50% more in the backseat than the front, as the actress said to the bishop.

Edited August 28, 2014 by BigKev

[Zanstabar]

^ I always go for the back just for that reason. It's not cheating, I swear...

[lolman123]

bigkev i thought the guns did vibrate?

[BigKev]

Maybe they do! Been a while!

[Zanstabar]

They do vibrate every time you hit a target

[Gazza]

When the ride first opened the vibration was inconsistent, and wasn't active at all on the virtual 3D screen targets.

Nowadays it buzzes for every hit.

[BigKev]

Maybe that's confusing me, I rode it not long after opening.

I've rode it again since and still always found it difficult to tell who shoots what, it's a pity the lasers aren't four different colours.

[GoGoBoy]

Let me preface this post by saying that I am a huge dark ride fan and I'd like nothing more than to see more dark rides at Movie World, but I truly think from everything I have seen and heard this ride has been a massive failure. It just missed the mark completely. Believe me, it upsets me to say that; I was looking forward to this ride so much and had such high hopes. I have never seen an attraction receive so many criticisms via reviews and comments on the net/social media. Here is a recent comment on the MW page that sums it up nicely:

"This on-rails ride was underwhelming to say the least. Some of the 3D screens/projections were reversed for whatever reason (the background depth became foreground) and many of the animated mannequins were so robotic as if they were from a 70's ride (with the exception of Cyborg).With so many similar rides around the world that push the bar including Star Tours, Transformers Ride 3D and King Kong 3D it's disappointing we get such a subpar ride. I wish the original Batman: The Ride was still there - that was a thrilling and family-friendly ride".

This post is already too long so I won't go into much more detail or else no one will read it. I'll just say that I think one of the biggest problems was the fact that they tried to fit it into an existing building which was too small. They definitely needed to go for the larger vehicles with actual independent movement to give the ride some much-needed excitement and less of an old ghost train feel.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

GGB - one question - you speak as if you haven't ridden it yet... is that right?

Don't let the naysayers sway your opinion (although if you go on with that opinion you might be pleasantly surprised).

I won't say it's an amazing ride, but it's been done very well in my opinion. It would be great if the game play was more connected, but I think if you took the guns away, and just had the animatronics beefed up a little to 'tell a story' (think Radiator Springs Racers) it'd still be a hit.

I don't feel JL deserves all the manure it's receiving.

[themeparkgc]

Like you GGB, I am a dark ride fan too. I personally think Justice League is a great ride.

The biggest problem to me is the ride system by Bertazzon. It trundles along at a pace that doesn't match the rest of what's happening around you. If Movie World / Sally Corp had decided to go with a different manufacturer for the ride system with basic motion-based vehicles, or even just rotating vehicles then I think it would have been a better ride. In saying all of that, MW would have had a budget and it may not have been feasible to go with a different system. Also as you pointed out they had a fixed sized building to work with which could also be a limiting factor in what they could do.

Also as others have said, MW hasn't really done the ride any favours when their internal and external marketing hasn't been that great. I'm not really surprised that it goes unnoticed by some.

[GoGoBoy]

Ridiculous that it is listed under 'thrill rides' on their website. Way to set people up for disappointment. Yeah AlexB I haven't been on it yet, but the public consensus isn't good!

I definitely think they needed ride vehicles that at least rotate, similar to Sally's Challenge of Tutankhamon. It would really have helped to deliver some sense of action. Imagine if the vehicles spun during the finale explosion scene! Add a proper blast of wind/smoke directed at the vehicle, similar to the old Wild West Falls finale before it was destroyed, and it would be far more effective.

I also think there is a major issue with the animatronics, apart from Cyborg. The corporate dummies just before you enter the main city scene are terrible. The rest of the figures aren't much better. I would have had far more animatronics placed in broken windows popping up randomly so you don't see their whole poorly-animated bodies. I'd also have made the main city scene way more chaotic with lots of noises (where are the sirens??) and damage everywhere (as in the artwork for the ride). You could have a Police car smashed into a street pole with the possessed cop inside the car (again hiding the full body) and smoke coming out of the crumpled bonnet.

Aaah, the possibilities

[Zanstabar]

Not sure how long this has happened for, but the firefighter in the Metropolis section has stopped working properly. It looks as if it's having an epileptic fit. What's even worse is that it actually fits in with the rest of the animatronics actions

Edited August 29, 2014 by Zanstabar

[westical]

When the ride first opened the vibration was inconsistent, and wasn't active at all on the virtual 3D screen targets.

Nowadays it buzzes for every hit.

Wasn't vibrating last week.

[BigKev]

I certainly don't think it is a 'bad' ride, Alex is right it has been very well done.

But I agree with people who say it lacks something.

I reckon it is a solid 7/10 ride and I guess we are always hoping for 10s.

[AllegroCrab]

I was surprised that my 3d was backwards at times, if not all the time, unless this was caused by people screwing with the glasses (which I doubt), it is a massive error on their part.

In school holidays the ride is pretty full, and I have definitely overheard kids talking about how cool it is to be on an interactive shooting ride. I don't think it has missed the mark in terms of pleasing its actual target market (whether or not MW is advertising to this same market), but I was personally pretty underwhelmed.

I wasn't aware that it was classified as a 'Thrill' ride, but if so then that's ridiculous. It could potentially cause kids who would actually love the experience to not ride it, and leave people who were expecting more to leave disappointed. Give JL the green family rating right now!

[themagician]

I don't think MW class it as a thrill ride, but because of the way their website is set up, they have just put it under the thrills category. They have thrills, which is nearly all rides, kids fun, which is the Kids WB Area and family entertainment, which is the shows. If you click on the information of rides it does say its a moderate ride. If they just renamed that section to just RIDES, then it would be more appropriate.

I haven't been to the park (except at Fright Night) since the ride opened and from what I have seen the ride looks pretty impressive. Themed really well and provides a great atmosphere. I can understand why the ride doesn't have long queues because of wheres it positioned. When you walk into the park it isn't something that you automatically see, unlike the rides around it. If they extended the theming out a bit, then it may be more visible, or if they fitted a sign saying 'Justice League: Alien Invasion' This Way. I doubt that MW are overly concerned about this though.

Regarding it as a replacement of Batman the Ride, I think it is a good one. Yes the journey you are taken on in Batman: the ride, was good, I didn't find it an overly enjoyable ride. I only ever rode it a couple of times, because of this.

[iwerks]

Many people are comparing it to the first Batman ride where, in actual fact, it replaced the second 'animated' one.

[Reanimated35]

Ridiculous that it is listed under 'thrill rides' on their website. Way to set people up for disappointment. Yeah AlexB I haven't been on it yet, but the public consensus isn't good!

2 questions -

1- do you own an iphone?

2 - why are you not even giving the ride a chance before saying how bad it is

[Flea]

^ I actually think the POV on youtube is a pretty good representation on the experience (which is rare for these kind of rides) and enough to base an opinion on, certainly an opinion on the animatronics (his main gripe).

This point in the ride really bothers me. There's enough of nothing going on to really make you focus on the static animatronics. Looking back on my last ride I also remember thinking that the audio needed to be a lot louder. The dialogue in particular.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Flea