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Transformers in June?!?!

Universal Orlando: Could USF be transforming early?

From Dominick D
Posted September 4, 2012 at 9:56 PM
Yesterday Screamscape said the earliest Transformers could be open was Mid-September 2013. Today, however, they're saying the earliest it could be open is June 2013. Again, the earliest it could be open is June 2013. We knew Universal was trying to get this out quick, now they're just trying to finish it ASAP. Your thoughts?


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From N B
Posted September 5, 2012 at 1:52 AM
They are working fast on all the expansion... If they get Transformers done by June 2013, that would be amazing.

I am still shooting for 4 days in USF and a beach trip to Key West for 2013 until HP London is finished.

I doubt Tranformers will be an Express Pass ride as they seem to skip that feature for anything new. I would hope RRR and Forbidden Journey finally get Express when the new rides go up.

I don't mind a nice walk through Hogwarts when the line is out of the castle and into the greenhouse area, but RRR is hot, brutal and kind of boring.

Paying the premium to stay on-site and having to wait 45-60 minutes for RRR is starting to aggravate me.

HP lets us in an hour early, so we can ride it 2-3 times before rope drop, but later in the day is a whole other story.

The only good news is Universal will probably have early opening for the new rides so we can get through them before the craziness starts.

From Mike Gallagher
Posted September 5, 2012 at 2:50 AM
Dom said: "they're saying the earliest it could be open is June 2013. Again, the earliest it could be open is June 2013."

We heard you the first time Dom. And I'm partly deaf, so the first time must have been pretty darn clear..

From Dominick D
Posted September 5, 2012 at 5:21 AM
^Yes Mike, I put the bold in there for you deaf people (sarcasm) I was actually just making the statement clear.

From Rob Pastor
Posted September 5, 2012 at 6:14 AM
That will guarantee a good 2013 attendance year for Universal if they are able to meet that goal. You have to hand it to Comcast. They have really gone full speed into the theme park business. 2012 had the new Spider Man, Despicable Me (a huge success), an excellent night show, an excellent parade and the unexpected starts of HP2 and Transformers. The Studios is a bit messy right now, but it's worth it for the long run. And, if I was betting on it, I would say they will have at least part of HP2 ready for summer of 2014. The slumbering giant, Disney World, needs to wake up. Universal is going full throttle with their theme park blitzkreig. Universal & Sea World are demonstrating that it doesn't need to take 4 years to plan and build a new attraction.

From Sean Huckel
Posted September 5, 2012 at 9:26 AM
June has been the goal from the get-go.

There will be problems with opening that early that I can't get into...but that's the goal.

From Orrin Carstarphen
Posted September 6, 2012 at 8:47 PM
I guess that explains the WHOLE month of July being blacked out in Studios park only next year for Power Pass holders.

From Zack McDonald
Posted September 6, 2012 at 8:56 PM
Went to USF last summer and March of this year. IOA was very busy and Studio park was really slow. Only needed about 4 hours to ride everything at the Studio park. It needs a new ride really bad.

From N B
Posted September 9, 2012 at 4:36 PM
Todd, that was priceless......

From Rob Pastor
Posted September 10, 2012 at 5:58 AM
Todd: "Pendents for sale under my giant hat". Now that's funny. +1, humor of the week.

From Tony Duda
Posted September 10, 2012 at 12:25 PM
I was waiting for Todd to say "I'm mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore" but that might have been mixing tirade genres.

From Doug Jenkins
Posted September 13, 2012 at 8:26 AM
NB,
Use the single riders line at Harry Potter. You can't see the person next to you anyway on the ride and the wait can be less than 10 minutes on a busy day.

From N B
Posted September 13, 2012 at 11:57 AM
Doug, that's true, but we go as a family... I don't mind waiting on HP at all. I could spend an hour in that castle and not get bored.

The RRR queue is the one I really dislike. My point was since we stay on-site and both parks are open an hour earlier, we should have no problem getting on Transformers.

Still deciding whether to skip USF all together in 2013....

From Tasia P.
Posted September 30, 2012 at 1:25 PM
June 2013 wow that is fast! I wonder if Potter Phase 2 will be pushed up? When is the expected date for that?

From Dominick D
Posted September 30, 2012 at 2:22 PM
I was at Universal last week and the walkway between Shrek and Transformers is blocked off by construction walls.

From N B
Posted September 30, 2012 at 9:16 PM
You can see the track for Transformers on some of the newest pics. Of course, you never see Potter, Transformers, or any USF construction photos on TPI for some reason.

From Dominick D
Posted October 1, 2012 at 5:25 AM
I do have a photo of what could be Gringotts, but it was a little blury.

From N B
Posted October 1, 2012 at 1:54 PM
Parkscope puts up a lot of Gringotts and Transformers photos. The track that the "Scoops" ride on can be plainly seen winding through the building where Soundstage 44 once stood. I forgot what they are called on the Transformers ride.

They will be installing the lightposts and statues along the London waterfront soon as they have opened it up to foot traffic. Apparently, the front facade of new HP area will look like a typical London street on the side that faces the lagoon, and when you enter it will change to look like Diagon alley.

The new signature ride building is enormous from what I can tell. It appears they want to have most of the queue in the building itself so they don't run into the same problems as Forbidden Journey where the line strecthes through Jurassic Park into Toon Lagoon.

From Jarrett Norman
Posted November 3, 2012 at 10:46 AM
I am hearing June 2013. I am trying to plan a trip. I guess I could wait till July 4 weekend and pray its open. Here's hoping that we get some concrete info on an open date as we get closer.

From Daniel Etcheberry
Posted November 4, 2012 at 5:11 PM
I received an email from Universal about the opening of Transformers for next summer. They love me :^) my wallet that is ;^)

From Andrew Dougherty
Posted November 4, 2012 at 8:24 PM
Rumor has it that it is opening early, middle of July, but could soft open by late June .

From Mike Gallagher
Posted November 9, 2012 at 8:25 AM
I've not seen any of the Transformers movies, but....

Mark Wahlberg?

Well, those robots are a funky bunch...

http://news.yahoo.com/mark-wahlberg-star-next-transformers-movie-033126189.html

From Dominick D
Posted November 9, 2012 at 10:23 AM
I hate the Transformers movies with a passion, and this is just making them worse.

From N B
Posted November 9, 2012 at 12:16 PM
The quirky, spastic, fast talking Shia LaBeouf thing is getting old. I am glad they are taking the story in a whole new directions.

I like Transformers, but my wife has been a nut job fan of these things since she was a kid. Actually, it's Transformers, James Bond, Star Trek and the New York Jets...

From Dominick D
Posted November 9, 2012 at 1:29 PM
Are you talking about Bay's movies N B?

From Andy Milito
Posted November 9, 2012 at 3:59 PM
For the most part, I don't mind the Transformers movies. They're good, stupid action with REALLY good CGI. It's one of those series that you can't think about too much without it becoming stupid.

But Wahlberg? Eh...

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