Universal Takes the Wraps off "Revenge of the Mummy" the Ride

First published July 06, 2004

By C. W. Oberleitner

Chuck Oberleitner fills us in on what it was like to attend Universal Hollywood's "ROTM" press premier party.

During the past two weeks I've discovered the main difference between people who live in the Eastern United States and those who live on the western edge of the continental shelf. Folks from "back East" measure travel in distance as in, "It's just two miles down the road to my place." And, they view a straight line as the shortest distance between two points.

Folks in the West tend to measure travel in time and if you live in the LA Metro travel is influenced by the time of day and your choice of route. Alternate routes may add miles but avoid long delays.

Recently, while addressing a group of reporters about the coming 50th Anniversary celebration at Disneyland, Art Linkletter, commented about some of the changes that have taken place since the park opened in 1955.

Things have changed dramatically since Walt first opened Disneyland in what was just bunch of orange groves. Back then Interstate 5 was only partially complete. There were barely twenty miles of freeway between Los Angeles and Anaheim. It used to take over an hour and a half to get here.

Now it’s the 21st Century and we have this marvelous ultra modern freeway system all over the place. And, it only takes about and hour and a half to get here from Los Angeles.

What lead me to the conclusion that Easterners view travel so differently has been two weeks of trying to co-ordinate meetings and appointments with my boss here at JHM, one James Hill. The same Jim Hill who looks at little Poway, California on the map and says its just a straight shot from there up Interstate 5 to Disneyland, and then on to Universal Studios Hollywood. A fifty to ninety mile trip that can take anywhere from one to fours hours depending upon the time of day you're foolish enough to get on I-5, one of Metro LA's most heavily trafficked and congested freeways.

Why tell you all of this, other than a need to vent? Like Jim, it's my way of partially explaining why my columns have been somewhat erratic over the past couple of weeks. In addition to running my own business I've taken some time to help Jim meet incoming JHM staffers at the airport, attend JHM brainstorming sessions--yes we do actually try to plan this thing out--and do my bit to help with the tours.

De Mummy Lives!
Okay it hasn't all been endless hours stuck in freeway traffic and rubber chicken lunches. On Thursday June 24, Jim and I joined soon to be JHM contributor, Chris Merritt, at Universal Studios Hollywood for the grand opening of the West Coast version of their hot new thrill coaster, "Revenge of the Mummy."

The party was so well attended, the food and beverage areas so well stocked and the ride so much a "must do" attraction that I nearly lost my reputation for being a celebrity junkie. I'm not kidding. There were a dozen or more stars at this thing and all I managed were a few shots of Brenden Fraser and Arnold Vosloo as they officially opened the ride.

Among the celebrities that I missed taking the first rides on this ground breaking new coaster were John Favreau, Wayne Brady, Jonathan Lipnicki, "Crossing Jordan's" Miguel Ferrer and Steve Valentin, " "The Apprentice's" Troy McClaine, platinum recording artist Chingy, the casts of NBC daytime dramas "Passions" and "Days of Our Lives" among others. Proceeds from the event benefited the Next Generation Council of the Motion Picture & Television Fund and L.A. Family Housing.

Despite all the star power Imhotep himself was the main attraction of the evening. And, just to make sure you didn't forget that it was his party the crafty old creature sent his minions amongst the throngs for pictures and to escort us to our doom.

What about the ride? It was everything that Creative Director, John Murdy, said it would be when he gave Internet correspondents a hard-hat sneak peak last month. Revenge of the Mummy coincides with Universal Studios Hollywood's 40th Anniversary. It signals the transformation of what was just once a "behind the scenes look at Hollywood filmmaking" into a world-class entertainment destination.

For a detailed look at the ride, and Universal's long love affair with Egypt's lord of the undead, check out my colleague, Rick Guitterez's, excellent series of "The Mummy Unwrapped" stories.

As Rick points out in his stories, Revenge of the Mummy in all likelihood will be a big hit with visitors to USH this summer. With that in mind here are a couple of tips to make your ride experience all the more enjoyable.

Print-at-Home Tickets: Available at www.universalstudioshollywood.com and offered exclusively through the Universal Studios Hollywood website, print-at-home ticketing allow you to print USH theme park admission tickets using your own computer and printer. When you arrive at the park with print-at-home tickets you can bypass the theme park ticket booths and proceed directly to the park's entrance. There are no shipping and handling fees.

Front-of-the-Line Passes: A Front of Line Pass provides you with: All day admission to Universal Studios Hollywood, priority access to all attractions and reserved seating at all of the park's most popular shows.

The FLP also provides you with special behind-the-scenes privileges. You get to see the secrets behind the shows and meet the actors at: Animal Planet Live!™, Waterworld® - A Live Sea War Spectacular, and Spider-Man Rocks!SM.

I Know a Secret
As for me, before leaving the party to kick-off the opening of Revenge of the Mummy I couldn't resist asking John Murdy just a few more questions about the ride. I mentioned that I had noticed that the safety spiel visual effect, that he had described on my earlier tour, that would morph desert sands into hieroglyphics then English was nowhere to be seen. I was shocked by what he told me.

The vendor who was to create this stunning effect for the hearing impaired had been mugged outside his offices in Orlando, Florida several weeks before the Hollywood version of the coaster was to open. He was beaten so badly he had to undergo reconstructive surgery the same week he was to deliver the visual effect to Universal Creative in Hollywood.

As it turns out, this was just one more in a string of "mishaps and accidents" that befell the crews working on both the East and West Coast versions of this thrilling new attraction.

"We began to think there really was a curse." Murdy told me. "After all, we had used the real 'Book of the Dead' as our guide for developing the storyline."

He went on to ask me what I thought of the ride. I told him I really enjoyed it but that to be honest just when I thought it was getting to be very exciting the door to the exit opened and the ride was over.

"Now you know the secret of the Mummy's revenge." He said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Always leave them wanting more."

C'ya real soon!