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Saturday, 10 May 2014

Universal Studios Singapore NEW RIDE 2014

It is no secret that Universal Studios Singapore (USS) is now building a new ride. It is to be located at the far-far-away area, on the North East corner of the park. There are many rumours about what this new ride will be, including Despicable Me, Kung Fu Panda and even Star Trek! I am going to explore these possibilities and its relation to the tiny plot of land available for this expansion.

Map of USS with location of new ride
Our Universe is EXPANDING!


The land plot, according to GoogleMaps is a quadrilateral with a length of about 50m and average width of perhaps 30m. This is just slight smaller than the plot size for Transformers: The Ride (about 40m x 70m on GoogleMaps). This means that the ride is at most a medium sized one, perhaps on the $5mil - $15mil range. I think it will definitely not be a roller coaster as USS already has the highest concentration of coasters at any Universal Studios Park (if we include Battlestar Galactica).

GoogleMaps screenshot of site
Construction site shows limited work, only a concrete trench

Luke and the Temple of Fun (http://lukeandthetempleoffun.blogspot.sg/) hypothesize that the ride as Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. Well, as a motion simulator, this ride surely occupies less space than tracked rides so it should fit well space wise. In fact, if we look at the map of Universal Studios Florida, the Despicable Me building is only about 40m x 30m so it can actually fit quite well. It is also an excellent addition to the park and follows the resorts vision of more family friendly attractions. it also makes sense as the ride is a duplicate and will be cheaper, and Minions are wildly popular

Long queue to take photo with Minion

Disney and More (http://disneyandmore.blogspot.sg/) has an even more audacious claim that the new ride is Kung Fu Panda. Well, it makes sense as Kung Fu Panda is under Dreamworks and Far Far Away is dedicated to Dreamworks cartoons. If so, I am hoping that the new ride will be a robocoaster like Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.The dynamic motion of robotic arm can simulate high speed Kung Fu fighting and acrobatics very well. The park may also fit the ride onto 2 stories like Transformers to save space.

My idea of Kung Fu Panda Expansion

I am not so sure about Star Trek and World War Z as proposed by Dejiki (http://dejiki.com/2014/03/uss-update-2014mar/). It just does not fit well with the Far Far Away area and the transition is too drastic to do in such a small space. Besides, we already have sci-fi which is similar enough to star trek. If you say remodelling Battlestar Galactica to Star Trek, I may still believe.

Kuka Robotic Arm ride, similar to the one used in Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

I personally hope that a Robocoaster type ride (either Harry Potter or my version of Kung Fu Panda) will be coming to USS. It also makes sense as USS is the only Universal park that does not have a robocoaster built or planned. Despicable Me can then open in 2015 in the New York area, in line with the screening of the 3rd despicable me movie

So that's my analysis. What do you think the new ride will be?