Terminator 2: 3-D had it's grand opening on April 27, 1996 and has been entertaining Universal Studios guests ever since. If you had been keeping up with the films, last we left off The T-800, John Connor, and Sarah Connor had defeated the T-1000 and left Cyberdyne in ruins. Several years later, Cyberdyne has risen from the rubble of that day to become a mega-corporation with heavy ties to the The U.S. military among other things. We are V.I.Ps that have been invited to attend a special presentation of Cyberdyne's latest technological creations. Something they have lovingly named: The Terminators (the model is the T-70). Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?
The experience starts as soon as we step foot into Cyberdyne's lobby: a large, sprawling space the color of steel and chrome adorned with Cyberdyne posters, that includes an area where we can pick up our safety visors for the presentation (Really, their just 3D glasses). On the overhead TV monitors is a news broadcast produced by Cyberdyne itself, titled C.I.N (Cyberdyne Interactive Network), which keeps us updated on all things Cyberdyne including their latest products, achievements and etc. During breaks, we are treated to C.D.Y.N radio which plays clips from songs featured in Terminator 2. Once they are ready for us next door we are ushered into The Miles Bennett Dyson Memorial Auditorium (a spacious, futuristic looking pre-show room). It is here where we meet the Cyberdyne Systems Director of Community Relations and Media Control; Kimberly Duncan; who will be our hostess for the presentation. She is a very nasty, icy, controlling person....but she covers all this with a creepy facade of smiles and bubbly-ness. During the pre-show we are treated to a (dated, but still entertaining) commercial for Cyberdyne which is interrupted briefly by John and Sarah Connor who reveal their plans to crash the presentation in the hopes of stopping Cyberdyne once and for all. Undeterred, Ms. Duncan ushers us into a large theater where the action begins.
The theater is pretty large, able to seat 700 people. The seats are actually pretty comfortable for a theme park show. While the attraction's title says 3-D, the experience we are treated to here is so much more than that. We get several large animatronic robots (Terminators), in-theater effects (strobes, lasers, smells, fog, lights), a 3-D movie, and live actors equipped with realistic looking and sounding guns (the actors often run into and out of the screen in one of the most impressive theme park effects I have ever seen. Even though I was able to figure out how this effect is created, it still manages to wow me every time I see it. The guns they use are pretty loud too). The total experience in the theater lasts around 12 minutes, but you will walk out feeling completely wowed and ready to go out and conquer the rest of your day.
Even though it's been 18 years since the attraction first opened, it honestly hasn't aged all that much (except for the pre-show vid, which features Shaq back when he was popular). Whenever anybody asks me what my favorite theme park 3D show is, without even having to think my answer is always Terminator 2: 3-D. The theme is strong and consistent throughout the experience (It really does feel like you have entered Cyberdyne). The mix of live-action/actors, robots, 3-D, and in theater effects (the most impressive of which, in my opinion, is the final fog effect) all meld together to create a YOU-ARE-THERE experience that is pretty hard to shake off once the show ends. Naturally, I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting the parks (except maybe the wee ones, the entire experience is pretty intense). All in all, Terminator 2: 3D is a completely and wholly satisfying experience. As Kimberly Duncan would say: It's "Super"!
10/10
FUN FACT: Helping with the authenticity of the overall experience was James Cameron (director and creator of Terminator 1 and 2), who directed the 3-D film we watch.
The entire experience cost USF 36 million dollars to make.
TERMINATOR 2 3-D: BATTLE ACROSS TIME AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA OFFICIALLY CLOSED ON OCT. 8 2017. RIP
FUN FACT: Helping with the authenticity of the overall experience was James Cameron (director and creator of Terminator 1 and 2), who directed the 3-D film we watch.
The entire experience cost USF 36 million dollars to make.
TERMINATOR 2 3-D: BATTLE ACROSS TIME AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA OFFICIALLY CLOSED ON OCT. 8 2017. RIP
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