Unless you've been living under a rock for the last year or so, you knew that Universal Studios Hollywood was opening a new roller coaster themed after The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. 

Universal kicked the pre-opening hype machine into high gear well before the ride was ready, with behind the scenes hard hat tours, 3D animation, and detailed descriptions of what would happen where in the rides available on the internet. 

Universal also built another Mummy coaster in Florida, however aside from name and ride hardware from Premier Universal went with two completely different rides.  These differences have been well discussed and documented all over the web.  Most enthusiasts ate up all this information. 

Does the ride live up to the expectations generated by all of this information or would this be a serious case of anticipointment?  What is the ride like to someone who didn't know every twist or turn going in?  How does it compare to Florida's?  ThrillNetwork reporters Tom Zeliff and Karl DeAngelo provide both points of view. 

Tom through great strength of will power avoided all the information as to what would happen in the ride, while Karl read all about it, saw all the photos, read the descriptions, read the trip reports from the previews, and even went to Universal Orlando to try out the other design. 

Tom's Review

Media day at Universal Studios was something I had been looking forward to.  I've seen how Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain open up a coaster, but had never been to a major attraction opening at Universal Studios Hollywood.  Being part of Hollywood I was expecting something grander, and was not disappointed. 

After checking in we headed down to the lower back lot section of the park.  Along the way we saw a red carpet for the stars and VIPs to walk down leading to the last set of escalators.  Photo press people were lined up on one landing to take pictures of arriving stars and VIPs.  At the bottom of the final escalator Entertainment Tonight and a couple of other news outlets were setup to do live interviews as people arrived.  Risers with more cameras were facing the front entrance to the ride, which had a faux brick wall and a couple of suspicious looking TNT plungers nearby.  A good-sized music ensemble was playing appropriate Egyptian sounding music that added nicely to the atmosphere of the event. 

As the hour drew near for the grand opening more and more costumed characters started arriving and mingling around for photo opportunities.  Some performers came out bearing large snakes, others were on stilts, yet still more were dressed as mummies from the ride.  Some ride attendants working the front wandered around and added to the atmosphere more, issuing dire warnings about the ride being cursed.  An open bar and very tasty looking catered dinner was also available.  Free Books of the Dead were available stacked up on tables.  (These books are translations of actual Egyptian hieroglyphics, not the fancy books with evil powers seen in the movies)  A comical event happened when part of the faux wall started coming down ahead of schedule, but in a brilliant bit of inspiration one of the performers on stilts walked over and helped out trying to stack the bricks back up.  This was met with cheering from the audience. 

After Brendan Frasier and Arnold Vosloo arrived and were interviewed we were finally ready for the grand opening.  Taking their place at the TNT plungers they blew up the remaining wall, then Arnold got a piggyback ride from Brendan to head into the ride for the first official circuit.  Attendants kept the public back until the pyro and bricks were cleared out of the way, tossing many bricks to the crowd, then when ready allowed us in for our first rides.  Free locker tokens were handed out, personal belongings stashed, and off into the ride we went. 

SPOILER WARNING! 

Turn back now if you, like me, want to remain surprised for your first trip.

The outside of the ride building keeps the studio back lot theme intact, but as soon as you step inside you enter dimly lit caverns rich with theming.  The queue inside isn't terribly long, but does have a couple of fun surprises in it that I would have pass right by without Karl looking for them.  The first booby trap is a hole in the wall that you can hear Scarab beetles running around in.  If you stick your hand in you'll get a sudden blast of air and the beetles will sound like they are scurrying around madly for a bit.  After about 30-40 seconds this trap will be reset for the next victim.  Next up is an ornate Book of the Dead, this one from the actual movie.  If you reach out to touch it then lots of loud sound effects will play.  Again this has a reset period before it can be re-triggered. 

The Queue continues on as we go passed a room with a sarcophagus in it that has been broken open with smoke coming out of it.  All the décor is top notch here.  Next room features some switch backs while a projection of clips from the movie is mixed with new footage of a creepy old woman who tells the back story of the ride in Dire Warnings of Doom, which have been mixed in 5.1 surround sound.  As an eclipse nears Imohtep will rise and take over the world under the darkness.  Up some stairs and around a corner and you arrive in the loading station, and if you look up you can see an opening that shows that the eclipse is in progress now.  Cars can load 2 at a time.  3 lines converge here, one for handicapped riders, one for single riders, and the normal line.  After being assigned a row you'll advance into the comfy seats and pull down your lap bar, and off you go.

Heading around an S curve to the left you see a mummy guard creature with glowing red eyes hiss at you and look frightening.  After that it's a straight room where you see a small projection of a clip from the film of some poor guy being overrun with Scarabs.  Around another curve you'll see many rotting arms come out from the ceiling in one of the ride's better effects.  After this is the treasure room, where a strange projection of Imohtep's face tells you to take the riches seen here, and as the room lighting changes to join him in death for all eternity.  Around another corner we see the launch track entering into darkness, and Imohtep himself above the tunnel.  A fantastically animated animatronics threatens us, then just as a pair of mummy guards drop from the ceiling on either side we launch into the ride. 

The coaster portion of the ride only tops out at 45 mph, which is likely due to the relatively small area they had to work with inside of the old ET building.  Lots of sudden dips, banks, and highly banked turns wait in the darkness, providing some wonderful pops of airtime.  While riding through ghostly mummy images will flash around you.  After a short trip you head up a hill and around a flat turn, then come to a very abrupt stop in a small room. 

In the room you see some holes in the walls that are filled with a projection of Scarab Beetles pouring out.  A quick spritz of water hits you, and then you're sent backwards down a drop and through more banked turns, again being "attacked" by flying mummy apparitions. 

Finally you come to a smooth stop in a final room looking up at a big domed sky where you see an image of Imohtep as the eclipse starts to end.  As it does the room starts filling with smoke as your car turns around.  Fire effects start as Imohtep roars in fury as he is destroyed by the sunlight, and the room completely fills with smoke.  The lights go out, a strong wind clears the smoke from the room and you advance forward back to the loading station.

As a first timer through all of this I was very impressed with the effort Universal put in to the queue.  The booby traps were a great touch, and the movie showing the story was well put together, if a bit hard to understand.  The Premier coaster cars are great and ride very smooth.  The special effects were a bit hit and miss to me.  One thing that bugged me was that all of the dark ride portion of the ride you ride in track that seems to have a large platform on either side of it the entire way around.  This puts the first mummy creature you encounter pretty far away, and not very threatening.  The video of the guy being overwhelmed by Scarabs was neither interesting nor scary, and just felt cheap.  The mummy arms reaching down looked great though, as they covered the entire width of the corridor you ride down.  The treasure room was wonderfully decorated, but aside from the strange Imohtep face talking to you (again projected) nothing moved, which was disappointing.  The room with the launch was good.  The animatronics Imohtep figure was very nicely done, and the guards that drop come down very quickly, but again feel too far away.  Looking around the room there seems to be more space and additional tracks to put in more dropping guards, but they weren't there. 

Inside the ride there are arches that have the mummy ghosts painted on them, which are lit by flashing black lights as the car goes by.  These were very static and seemed fun house like.  Some more ethereal effects with some transparency and maybe a bit of animation or projection would have worked better here.  The Scarab room, which holds you while the switch track shifts behind you, needed more than video screens showing scarabs to give you the appropriate fear effect.  It's too easy to look at them and just think it's a video.  The final room is pretty neat, and I like the huge amount of smoke they fill the room with.  It could start sooner though to better cover your rotation, as well as the room really needs real fire. 

So, with all of that, what did I think?  Well not knowing what I was in for, I had a great time discovering everything for the first time.  When I got off the ride, I wanted to go again, but it was less for the dark ride effects and more for the coaster part of the ride.  Universal has a fun ride though that will be good for the entire family, and while not the most thrilling ride around it does have surprises in it that keep it fun.  A solid effort that sadly just needs that extra polish to move it into the same class as the great E-Ticket rides at Disneyland, but a noble effort, and a lot of fun.  7/10 Screams.

Karl's Review

Having been on Florida's Mummy just a few weeks prior to this event I was greatly anticipating the premier for Hollywood's Mummy.  Going into Florida's I knew almost every detail of the ride from spoilers online.  Hollywood's I knew most but there were still a few things in the ride I didn't know about or that I thought I would know because of my experience in Florida.  I was dead wrong.  While the two rides share the same name and coaster manufacturer they are completely different experiences in my book.  It's terribly difficult for me to write this without comparing the two rides as I go on so please forgive me as I jump back and forth to tell the Tale of the Two Mummies.

I knew that the building for Hollywood's Mummy was smaller than Florida's so I was prepared for a smaller coaster portion with a similar dark ride and queue experience.  Starting off with the queue, Hollywood's features a very large outdoor section full of switchbacks with a small indoor section.  Whereas Florida's queue transports you from the movie set for the next Mummy film into an excavation site Hollywood's has you walk directly into the tomb.  There are two interactive items in Hollywood's queue, both of which can make people jump.  Florida has two from what I remember, but both were presented better than Hollywood's.  For example, both queues have a hole for you to reach into.  In Florida you can see the key to the Book of the Dead for you to grab only to be shot with a blast of air.  In Hollywood you can't see anything but can hear the sound of scarabs in the hole.  I don't think the sound is enough to get people to reach their hand in the hold whereas the projection of the key DOES get people to reach in there.

Moving deeper into Hollywood's queue (don't think THAT deep…it's not that big) you come upon a set of switchbacks with a video playing.  The video describes the curse of Imhotep while playing clips from the Mummy movies.  I didn't think it to be very effective.  In Florida's the videos are interviews with the cast of the movies but take place prior to being "transported" to the excavation site.  I never had a chance to watch those so I can't comment on them.  Following the video scene in Hollywood is the loading station.  In Florida the excavation site is much more engaging to me.  There are littler details like plans for the mine cart you will be riding in and a statue of Anubis being raised out of the site. 

Next comes the loading station.  For the Hollywood premiere the Universal crew was loading one train at a time but it was easy to tell that the ability to load two trains at a time is possible.  Florida's features a split station.  One side loads the Express Pass users and the other loads the Stand-by line.  Up to this point Florida's has Hollywood's Mummy beat, hands down.

As much as I hate reading spoilers I have a very hard time holding back so I did know what was in store for the rides.  Hollywood's dark ride portion PALES in comparison to Florida's.  Throughout the entire section there is no sense of urgency, no real sense that we are going to endure the curse of Imoteph.  Florida's is completely different and is much more exciting.  To show the difference I'll detail two of the similar show scenes between the two rides.

"The Curse is Real"
Hollywood – A video projection screen set high, partially blocked by a wall.  A man screams "The curse is real" or something to that effect while scarabs devour him.
Florida – An animatronics figure wiggles in front of you, wrapped in bandages like a Mummy, and tries to tell you about the curse.  A very fluid Imohtep animatronics then slams open his tomb, sucking his soul dry.

The Treasure Room
Hollywood – The room is dark when you enter.  A projection of Imohtep on a large video screen begins telling you to serve him.  The room lights up to show your treasure for serving him.  He continues…and speaks of your death.  Flashes of light show the skeletal remains of his former takers above.
Florida – The room is dark when you enter.  A projection of Imohtep on a large video screen begins telling you to serve him.  The room lights up with the illusion of the light coming from several reflective mirrors as in the movies.  He continues…and speaks of your death.  Mummy warriors pop up on both sides of the car accompanied by balls of fire.  The door in front of you begins to close as you approach it (think Indiana Jones).  You narrowly miss the door closing on top of you as you escape.

The Coaster Portion
Hollywood – An animatronics Imohtep greets you on a ledge above the launch track.  His range of motion appeared more limited than the (two) Imohteps in Florida.  The car launches down a flat launch track.  After a few hills, which are taken too slow to be terribly thrilling and cardboard cutouts that creep by, you come to the scarab scene.  This was not effective at all.  Basically there were just projections all around of scarabs with a few water drops.  Then you're pushed backwards to begin a short backwards coaster section, leading into the final show scene.
Florida – The car launches, at an upward angle, into the mouth of Imoteph.  At the top the car is slammed to the right and the fast-paced coaster section begins.  This runs at a much more effective speed than Hollywood's does.  The cutouts fly by better.  I wasn't able to notice how cheap they were where as in Hollywood I did.  An abrupt stop is made in an unload station where you are greeted and thanked for riding.  An animatronics Imohtep then breaks the operator's glass window.  Fire breaks out in the ceiling above (think Backdraft at Hollywood or Escape from Pompeii at BGW).  The car is then plummeted forward into a mist-filled pit that caught me off-guard during my first ride and peters around into the final brake run.  The story doesn't end nearly as well as Hollywood's with, as I'm sure you've heard, "Where's my COFFEE?"

While both are fun rides, Florida's is the clear winner.  It has better show scenes, a sense of urgency, and a better coaster section (even though it doesn't go backwards).  I'd give Florida's an 8/10, losing points only for the bad ending.  Hollywood's I'd give a 5/10.  Enjoyable, but nothing I want to ride again soon.  Of course…I may be giving Hollywood a lower score because I know what it could have been.

Media
Opening Ceremony Video (requires QuickTime Player)
Opening Ceremony Picture Gallery

Related
Revenge of the Mummy-Universal Hollywood
Video Preview Page
Beware of the Revenge of the Mummy (Orlando)