Transformers: The Ride 3D
Universal Studios Hollywood
Ride previewed: April 28, 2012
Ride opens to public on May 25, 2012

Hasbro‘s Transformers films have excited the public for years now with fulfilled promises of high-speed action, fiery pyrotechnics, and intense Autobot vs. Decepticon battles on land and in the city skies above; everything you’ve come to expect from a Michael Bay production. The question is, could Michael Bay effectively translate that experience to a theme park ride? Recently I went on that ride, and I can honestly say, “Mission Accomplished.”

Michael Bay collaborated with the ride builders at Universal Creative to bring the experience from his films to life. I rode Transformers: The Ride 3D during what Universal Studios Hollywood called their Technical Preview (which just means that some aspects of the ride may not have been fully functional, but to be honest, everything seemed to work fine to me).

I’ve included an unabashedly enthusiastic post-ride video reaction and photos here below, along with a description of the ride and of the whole experience [...]

OK so maybe getting frozen in carbonite isn’t your greatest Star Wars dream—it actually appeared to be rather uncomfortable for Mr. Han Solo—but if you’ve ever wondered what your expression would look like after being betrayed by a trusted friend and imprisoned in the tightest of cells for delivery to a 600-year-old gangster slug, now’s your chance…and without all the discomfort it comes with!

During Star Wars Weekends this year at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, those who reserve a spot will enjoy the “Carbon-Freeze Me” experience, which is part of the new D-Tech line that uses technology to offer up insanely cool personalization options. [...]

For the most passionate of fans and thrill seekers, few things are more exciting than being thrown into your favorite movies via the rides of Universal Studios.

For fans of the Transformers movies, that ride is quickly approaching with Transformers: The Ride 3D at Universal Studios Hollywood. The ride is set to open on May 25th, but until that time, a new video has been released showing the making of the ride and what fans can expect. [...]

Remember the Tronorail, Disney World’s Tron-themed monorail that operated in the theme park back in 2010 as a promotion for Disney’s Tron: Legacy? It caused quite the stir with some people outraged that Disney would put what they considered to be advertisements on the monorail.

Well, guess what? A new themed monorail is on the way to Disney World, this time for the Marvel Studios film The Avengers, according to the Disney Parks Blog. This Spring, one of the Magic Kingdom Park monorails will get an Avengers-themed makeover in time for the film’s opening on May 4.

Check out the sneak peek image of the upcoming Avengers-themed monorail here below [...]

Listen up all you Southern Californians! Here’s certainly something to “woo woo” about! April 1st at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia is April Stooge Day, in parlance with the upcoming release of the Farrelly Brothers new film, The Three Stooges!

And this exciting news is also something to “nyuk, nyuk” about as well, as they are giving the first 500 people waiting in line that day access to enter the park one hour before opening. Those lucky folks will be also be able to ride the new thrill ride, “Curly’s Colossus” and the first 10 people will also be the fortunate ones to get to the head of the line. Is dressing up as your favorite Stooge of the legendary trio also encouraged? “Why Soitainly!” [...]

If you’ve been to any Disney theme park, then you might have seen Duffy the Disney Bear. I know that the American Pavilion in EPCOT is overrun with Duffy for some reason. If you don’t know who Duffy is, don’t worry – basically, he’s a very adorable teddy bear with a Mickey Mouse stamp on his feet (and his behind too now that I look at my purple Duffy bear).

And now, Disney is making a Jedi version of Duffy!

The story behind Jedi Duffy is that he’s an enrolled in the Jedi Training Academy at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (in Disney World in Orlando, FL). The padawan bear even wears the Jedi Training Academy t-shirt, along with the brown hooded Jedi robe, and carries a lightsaber that lights up – yes, I said it lights up! [...]

One of the most popular attractions at Disney World in Orlando, FL, is the Magic Kingdom’s world-famous Cinderella’s Castle. Since the beginning of February, the Castle has been the canvas for “The Magic, the Memories, and You” event, a 10-minute show featuring projections of hundreds of photographs of Disney World guests taken throughout the theme park each day by Disney PhotoPass photographers.

From February 1, 2012 through April 15, 2012, the nightly show will include a Romance segment in honor of Valentine’s Day, which displays romantic elements inspired by beloved Disney couples like Belle and Beast, Lady and Tramp, and the Disney princes and princesses, and moments from movies like Snow White, Cinderella, and Tangled [...]

Sooner or later every mega-popular movie franchise gets its own theme park attraction, and the latest honors go to Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks’ blockbuster Transformers series. Last night during the Super Bowl a TV spot premiered for the new Universal Studios Hollywood movie-based attraction Transformers: The Ride 3D.

You can check out the video here below.

The ride also has an official website called Prepare for Battle where you view “Intel Videos,” get e-mail updates, and play a special online game. [...]

Disneyland fan Brad Chowen, of Brad’s Disneyland Blog, went last month to Trader Sam’s, an Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, CA. While there to view the bar’s holiday decorations, he spotted some Indiana Jones-themed artifacts.

Encased in glass was the Indiana Jones voodoo doll seen in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, along with a letter from one of the film’s characters, Short Round, to “Sam” with instructions to destroy the item so it won’t hurt Dr. Jones anymore [...]

Disney has released a photo-realistic image of their upcoming Cars-themed ride, Radiator Springs Racers, which will open later this year at Disney’s California Adventure Park in Anaheim, CA. Check out the full, larger image here below.

Radiator Springs Racers, which has the same ride system as Disney World’s Test Track, will be located in Cars Land, a 12-acre land within California Adventure Park. The ride takes up 6 acres of that space and is the largest attraction at the Disneyland Resort [...]

The Star Tours attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios had its grand opening 22 years ago today on January 13, 1990.

Disney Parks Blog posted a photo from taken in 1989 of the 35-foot AT-AT at the entrance of the Star Wars-themed attraction, which was still under construction at the time [...]

Dave3 and I are heading off for a much-needed vacation to Disney World in Orlando, FL, and if you remember from last year, we shared our experiences with you along the way and sent out some postcards and souvenirs.

Well, we’re doing it again! If you’d like a postcard from us from Disney World, just follow the instructions below to enter this contest. We’ll select 25 people at random to receive a postcard (mailed out to you from Disney World) and then one of those winners will receive a special grand prize — a surprise souvenir from Disney World!

Since we want to actually send the postcards from Disney World, we’re making the contest only a few days long, so be sure to enter right away, and DEFINITELY let us know your favorite things about Disney in the contest entry form in the “Optional Comments” section — this will help us pick out a postcard theme most suited to you (if possible – I’ll try my best!).

25 Winners will each receive:

- One (1) Postcard from Disney World

One (1) Grand Prize Winner

- One (1) Disney World Souvenir [...]

The new year also happens to be a Leap Year, which means we’ll magically get get an extra day this year on February 29, 2012.

In honor of Leap Day this year, Disney has announced their One More Disney Day promotion where both the Magic Kingdom theme park at Disney World in Orlando, FL, and the Disneyland park at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, will stay open for 24 hours straight on Leap Day! [...]

One year I was lucky enough to spend New Year’s Eve in Orlando, FL, at Disney World’s Pleasure Island, the nightclub are where there’s a NYE-style countdown and fireworks display every night. It’s an amazing place to be to bring in the new year.

Check out the video here below from spotlighting some fireworks displays at the Disney Parks throughout the last 40 years; there’s also a video of some of the highlights from last year’s New Year’s Eve celebration at Disneyland’s California Adventure Park theme park (in Anaheim, CA) [...]

One of my places to see the holiday sights is at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Not only are the decorations through the theme parks spectacular, but so are the displays through the entire Resort (meaning, the many hotels located on Disney propriety inside the “World”).

Each resort really does it up nicely, and typically has a giant gingerbread and chocolate display. And if there’s one way to get my attention, it’s to create something cool out of gingerbread and/or chocolate.

JeffLangeDVD has posted a bunch of videos to YouTube of the edible holiday displays at the Disney World Resort, like the Gingerbread Carousel at Disney’s Beach Club that actually spins! [...]

It took paper artist Paul Jackson three weeks’ times and 50,000 folds of paper to recreate Disneyland Paris’ Sleeping Beauty Castle and the results are awesome.

After four weeks of planning for the project, Jackson used 20 different paper-folding techniques to create a 10-foot “pop-up” origami sculpture at the Pancras International station in London, England, where it’s currently on display [...]

Universal Studios announced on Friday on their Facebook page that their Orlando, Florida resort will be closing the Jaws-themed area and water ride Captain Jake’s Amity Boat Tours on January 2, 2012.

The ride, which was inspired by the Jaws portion of the Universal Studios Hollywood resort’s backlot tram experience, has been in operation since the Orlando resort opened in June 1990 at a cost of $65 million [...]

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the elaborate attraction based on the popular film franchise that has drawn more than 7 million people to Universal Studios Orlando, is about bring its Sunshine State to the West Coast. Universal is currently finalizing a deal with Harry Potter film distributor and licensing rights holder Warner Bros. to build a replica of the Wizarding World attraction at their theme park in Hollywood, CA [...]

Everyone loves to have fun on Halloween, even the animals at Disney World‘s Animal Kingdom park, who were given a special treat today in honor of the holiday: pumpkins!

Check out the video here below of the various species of wildlife being playful with their Mickey-themed pumpkin treats before chowing down on them.

Seriously, this is one of the cutest things you’ll watch today: an elephant playing soccer with its pumpkin; bats grabbing at tiny gourds, a tiger pawing at his new snack, and much more [...]

In 1963, Disneyland Records released an album called Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House which contained narrated creepy “haunted house” sound effects taken from the Disney Studios library, with explosions, spooky ghost sounds, attacking birds, and more.

Disney Parks Blog has posted a short video sample of the album, which you can check out here below [...]