2010 Best Theme Park Attraction: Terminator 2: 3D vs. MuppetVision 3D

March 24, 2010, 11:46 AM · Round Two of the 2010 Best Theme Park Attraction Tournament continues with today's match-up in the Best Movie or Animated Show bracket.

You can click the links or pictures below for a full description of each show, along with comments from other Theme Park Insider readers. Both these shows run in Florida and California, so I suspect that we'll have more readers who have seen both of these shows than for some other match-ups in the tournament.

3. Terminator 2: 3D
(Round One: Defeated Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor)

Terminator 2: 3D

vs.

6. MuppetVision 3D
(Round One: Defeated Shrek 4-D)

MuppetVision 3D


Please tell us in the comments why you voted the way you did.

Would you like to know whenever we post new votes?

Next up: 1. Fantasmic! vs. 9. Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island

Replies (26)

March 24, 2010 at 11:58 AM · Despite being the biggest of Disney fans, I've got to give this to Terminator.

A truly brilliant show with some astounding effects that make for an exciting experience time after time.

That's not to say Muppets is bad, in fact it's one of the best, but this time Arnie takes it.

March 24, 2010 at 12:05 PM · Even as a big Disney fan, I give this one enthusiastically to Terminator 2: 3D. It was one of the very few 3D movies to pleasantly surprise me, and the live action sequences and pre-show clearly set it apart from the rest. Muppets is very good, and I especially enjoy the in-theater effects, but given the choice between the two, I'd pick Terminator without a second of hesitation.
March 24, 2010 at 12:06 PM · I was forced to Vote for one but they both are boring and should have already been knocked off..
March 24, 2010 at 12:16 PM · Boring?

Wow. I'm not sure what your definition of exciting is, Mr. Emery, but you might be setting the bar a little high.

Both are enormously creative, involve heavily-accented European characters with large guns, have funny pre-show entertainment, and employ a big explosion in the finale. What more could you ask for?

This one goes to T2: 3D, a show that continues to blow me away. This is one of the few attractions that complements its source material perfectly. I still am amazed when the T-1000 drives through the screen, and I love being engulfed in the fog when the T-1M is destroyed.

Similarly, Muppet*Vision complements its source material very well, though the addition of the character "Wally" was a huge mistake. What an annoying excuse for a character. I'd love to see Arnie blast him to smithereens.

For that reason and others, this round goes to T2.

March 24, 2010 at 12:23 PM · Its time to start the music!

Muppets all the way!

It really is a three hour extraviganza!

March 24, 2010 at 12:25 PM · This is a really tough matchup, and I think whichever attraction wins, should win the overall title for best show.

These attractions have so much in common!

- A clever and entertaining pre-show
- A film that treats the audience as part of the story
- Theaters with built-in special effects
- Live actors to further enhance the story

It's almost a tie for me, but I gave my nod to the Muppets. There are just so many little details, so many funny little things that you might miss the first, second, or third time. That makes it more repeatable than Terminator, and repeatability is ultimately the toughest challenge for theme park shows.

March 24, 2010 at 12:44 PM · T2. Terrific Effects, Very Exciteing show. Muppets still an outstanding show. But T2 takes this one.
March 24, 2010 at 1:04 PM · Yes Josh BORING..Both of them…. You sound like you have been drinking the corporate Kool aid…

When was the last time the Muppets were relevant?

Terminator is a little better but both do not have any value to me as a consumer… Yes me, my opinion…. They need to be replaced.

Oh look, Bubbles…. Yeah… High tech..

March 24, 2010 at 1:05 PM · I hate when people use the word boring! Sometimes it gets used in my house to much, but any way, things are boring if you make them boring. For the vote, Muppetvision all the way.
March 24, 2010 at 1:15 PM · I love the theme park corporate Kool-Aid. It goes so well with their fried food.
March 24, 2010 at 1:21 PM · I love both shows as each franchise was part of my youth and still is part of me to this day. I'm the kid who wanted to learn motocross thanks to T2. I'm the guy who still enjoys the Swedish Chef to this day. Technologically, both shows blend live action with the on-screen action. My only gripe with T2 is that it can't decide if you're in the movie, or just watching. But overall, I think T2 is a more entertaining show due to the special effects. Muppets are much more light hearted.

Sorry Brian, I'm also confused as to what's boring about these two shows as you've only stated that it's your opinion that they're not relevant/ have any value as a consumer. To knock the Muppets show just because they use bubbles is a little much don't you think? Soarin "just" uses smells from fans, Bugs "just" uses fog instead of bug spray, and Fantasmic "just" uses projectors on water.

Just because something's not new doesn't mean it should be taken out of a park. Look at Jurassic Park. There hasn't been a movie since 2001, and the ride is still popular. Water World was a horrible movie from 1995... the show is phenomenal. The Terminator is a classic/iconic Sci-Fi Character that changed the way people see post-Apocolyptic future. The Muppets still entertain kids on Sesame Street to this day.

March 24, 2010 at 1:21 PM · Also, I think all that Disney mobilizing has turned against us, as T2 is slowly going down.
March 24, 2010 at 1:45 PM · They are both great attractions. I vote for Terminator mostly because I remember it blowing my mind the first time I saw it.
March 24, 2010 at 2:41 PM · Another 50/50? Exciting contest. Anyway, I voted for T2, even though I really enjoy Muppets 3D. Hard to top that moment when the terminator skull comes flying out of the screen...
March 24, 2010 at 2:57 PM · Another tough one, perhaps the toughest match up yet. My vote goes to T23D purely because I'm a bigger Terminator fan.
March 24, 2010 at 2:57 PM · Very tough one...I give the edge to Jim Henson's timeless Muppets. Humor over action!
March 24, 2010 at 3:31 PM · This was a tough one for me. I have been on both attractions numerous times, and it came down to which has a higher re-ride-ability. That easily goes to the Muppet show. It's funny, fast paced, light hearted, and just a lot of fun. It also has one of the best pre-shows ever. Period. Done.
March 24, 2010 at 3:33 PM · I went to some Universal fan groups to try and counteract the Disney fan groups presence (which I may have helped build for the Pirates/DarKastle match-up). Very unproductive workday.
March 24, 2010 at 4:09 PM · Yeah, Josh, been having a tough time getting anything done as well. But since my quality of work life is awful, and my job sucks, I am not sure I care. One day we will all be working for the government anyway, so nothing I do today is going to matter.

Man, I am depressed. Life would be so much better if I had a job I liked.

Go Terminator!

March 24, 2010 at 4:21 PM · Muppets!! I go to a theme park to escape. Terminator's monochrome monotone world is not where I want to escape to. It's just not entertaining to me.
March 24, 2010 at 4:30 PM · Terminator is an awesome show. I love it.
March 24, 2010 at 4:33 PM · Is there a reason the linked article doesn't mention the great Adam Bezark?
March 24, 2010 at 5:09 PM · Wow, James. That was awfully blue. I was hoping you were going to say that someday we'd all be working for theme parks.

Hang in there, bud.

March 24, 2010 at 7:45 PM · You're right, Josh...that was a bitter, depressing comment.
I guess I should know better than to post a comment right after I get home from a crappy day at the office. And theme parks would have been a much better, happier place of employment for all of us fans!

Tomorrow will be better! And, hey, at least I still have a job so I can pay for my May expedition to Orlando!

Now, back to the thread: good job getting the word out to the Universal fanbase. Remember to do the same thing for Spider-Man when the time comes....

March 25, 2010 at 12:46 AM · Wow, this is so exciting! I hadn't heard of this wonderful competition until today -- coincidentally, just in time to cheer on T2:3D. Of course, my heart belongs to the Terminator... but actually, MuppetVision 3D is one of my all-time favorite attractions, and was one of our big influences when we were developing the Terminator show. Sweetums running through the house became the T-1000 stepping out of the screen! So it's an honor to compete with one of the greatest shows ever. Thanks, and can't wait for round three!
March 25, 2010 at 10:34 AM · ^I couldn't help but notice you said "one of our" influences. Did you help develop T2: 3D?

Can you tell us more?

...Can I shake your hand?

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