Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
Like Dr. Frankenstein did first, Universal breathes life to its own creations in Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, the highest-tech spook house ever created. You'll begin by creeping through the palatial foyer and gloomy public rooms of his towering castle, which is now owned by his equally deluded great-granddaughter, Victoria Frankenstein. Tricky Vicky continues the family obsession with meddling with nature, and she even has her own gnomish assistant named Ygor who's prone to diabolical chuckling—what're the odds? This time, she's decided to mess with Dracula. You can guess how that will turn out.
Your tour of the catacombs under Darkmoor almost immediately goes awry, unleashing seemingly every monster movie creature from Universal's canon. One by one, they beset your vehicle in animatronic form, from the Phantom of the Opera at his flaming organ to the Creature from the Black Lagoon lurching from below, and your only chance for survival may rely on the kindness of Frankenstein's Monster. Some of it is done with screens, but the best stuff, including that spectacular levitating Dracula (the largest human animatronic Universal has ever made), is practical (which in entertainment-speak, means it's really there).
Nothing will actually touch you in this Hauntedest Mansion, of course, and adults realize that this living encyclopedia of intellectual property is tongue-in-cheek, but if you are a small child, you might not pick any of that up and this could very possibly be the scariest event of your life. (The height minimum is 48 inches, or 123 cm, and there's a Child Swap room so adults with kids can switch off while their children wait.) This isn't a good ride for you if you're sensitive to fog effects or if you're mortified of heights, because your feet will dangle high off the ground.
How it works is (and I'm not giving anything way—Ygor, your comic relief, shows you during the pre-show and you'll see other vehicles in the opening seconds of the ride) you sit four across in a high-backed, pew-like 4-person vehicle that's attached to the end of a robotic arm that travels around on a track. The middle seats are said to have the most balanced view. Fully secured into your chair with an overhead restraint, you'll lean forward, flip onto your back, jostle from side to side, and otherwise thrash around, within physical reason. If you have ridden Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Islands of Adventure or other Universal parks, you can handle this—it's the same ride system. Be very alert with your footing as you get on and off—the turntable loading platform can fool with your balance.
This ride is one of the most technically demanding of any in existence, the extent and lifelike fidelity of the animatronics is something to behold, and you'll appreciate the stagecraft more each time you do it—yet because it can handle huge numbers of passengers every hour, the wait time for it never comes close to the line for Harry Potter's Battle at the Ministry. There's a huge amount of incredible robotics work here, and at a large scale. Monsters Unchained is no small achievement. In fact, it's probably the best ride for animatronics on Earth.
Can’t do stairs? When you reach the double grand staircase upon entering the mansion (at the top, that's a portrait of Colin Clive, who played Dr. Henry Frankenstein in the 1930s Universal movies, even as he himself was dying), ask staff for the elevator.
Like Dr. Frankenstein did first, Universal breathes life to its own creations in Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, the highest-tech spook house ever created. You'll begin by creeping through the palatial foyer and gloomy public rooms of his towering castle, which is now owned by his equally deluded great-granddaughter, Victoria Frankenstein. Tricky Vicky continues the family obsession with meddling with nature, and she even has her own gnomish assistant named Ygor who's prone to diabolical chuckling—what're the odds? This time, she's decided to mess with Dracula. You can guess how that will turn out.
Your tour of the catacombs under Darkmoor almost immediately goes awry, unleashing seemingly every monster movie creature from Universal's canon. One by one, they beset your vehicle in animatronic form, from the Phantom of the Opera at his flaming organ to the Creature from the Black Lagoon lurching from below, and your only chance for survival may rely on the kindness of Frankenstein's Monster. Some of it is done with screens, but the best stuff, including that spectacular levitating Dracula (the largest human animatronic Universal has ever made), is practical (which in entertainment-speak, means it's really there).
Nothing will actually touch you in this Hauntedest Mansion, of course, and adults realize that this living encyclopedia of intellectual property is tongue-in-cheek, but if you are a small child, you might not pick any of that up and this could very possibly be the scariest event of your life. (The height minimum is 48 inches, or 123 cm, and there's a Child Swap room so adults with kids can switch off while their children wait.) This isn't a good ride for you if you're sensitive to fog effects or if you're mortified of heights, because your feet will dangle high off the ground.
How it works is (and I'm not giving anything way—Ygor, your comic relief, shows you during the pre-show and you'll see other vehicles in the opening seconds of the ride) you sit four across in a high-backed, pew-like 4-person vehicle that's attached to the end of a robotic arm that travels around on a track. The middle seats are said to have the most balanced view. Fully secured into your chair with an overhead restraint, you'll lean forward, flip onto your back, jostle from side to side, and otherwise thrash around, within physical reason. If you have ridden Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Islands of Adventure or other Universal parks, you can handle this—it's the same ride system. Be very alert with your footing as you get on and off—the turntable loading platform can fool with your balance.
This ride is one of the most technically demanding of any in existence, the extent and lifelike fidelity of the animatronics is something to behold, and you'll appreciate the stagecraft more each time you do it—yet because it can handle huge numbers of passengers every hour, the wait time for it never comes close to the line for Harry Potter's Battle at the Ministry. There's a huge amount of incredible robotics work here, and at a large scale. Monsters Unchained is no small achievement. In fact, it's probably the best ride for animatronics on Earth.
Can’t do stairs? When you reach the double grand staircase upon entering the mansion (at the top, that's a portrait of Colin Clive, who played Dr. Henry Frankenstein in the 1930s Universal movies, even as he himself was dying), ask staff for the elevator.
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