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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

TRANSFORMATION

Emilio Barajas was never a big fan of Universal Studios Hollywood. The long lines and out-of-town visitors made the place feel like a bit of a tourist trap. That’s until “Transformers: The Ride 3D” opened in late May. Now the 16-year-old from Pacoima says he plans to go back again and again. The new ride is so realistic and true to the story line, Barajas said he felt like he was really falling from a skyscraper. “At one point I reached up to grab a missile, but I had to pull my hand back because there was heat coming out of it.” The new ride, which opened to overwhelmingly enthusiastic reviews, could have transformative powers for Universal, which is said to have invested some $100 million in the new attraction. The park draws fewer visitors than Disney’s California Adventure and Disneyland, but it has been pumping money into major attractions to boost attendance. Universal, which has bounced back and forth from one owner group to another in recent years, may be benefiting from corporate stability under Comcast, as new projects are being green-lighted faster, observers say. Transformers is the second major installation in three years, following the successful debut of “King Kong 360 3-D,” which helped to raise park attendance by 26 percent when it opened in 2010. Last year — a year of no new attractions — attendance grew much more slowly, a mere 2 percent to 5.1 million, according to a report by the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM. Like Kong, “Transformers” surrounds visitors with intense 3-D graphics. But the new ride — created by Transformers Director Michael Bay, the Oscar-winning special effects team Industrial Light & Magic and toy creator Hasbro — takes the experience up several notches with “action that’s faster, wilder and more three-dimensional than Spider-Man,” according to a review by the influential Pasadena blogger Robert Niles, founder and editor of Theme Park Insider. “It’s not just robots moving back and forth and side-to-side,” Niles said. “Riding Transformers, you really get a sense of height, and the vertical scale of these multi-story Autobots and Decepticons fighting in front you.” Universal would not comment on attendance figures since opening day, but Niles believes the park’s numbers should leap by at least double digits this year thanks to Transformers. The exact same installation in Singapore led to a 25 percent increase in attendance, he said. What may help Universal compete much more effectively with Disneyland for the first time are Disney’s prices, which now are much higher than Universal’s. Universal raised its daily rate to $80 from $77, while its annual pass that includes parking now costs $169, up from $149 a year ago. But the 14 percent increase for the annual pass pales in comparison to the 30 percent rate hike Disney foisted on consumers for its annual pass, now priced at $649. Still, the new Transformers ride has its downside for Barajas and other locals who like use those season passes for repeat visits to the park: long lines, which for the Transformer Ride has on occasion topped two hours. While there are food vendors and mist sprays to keep visitors comfortable, some have found the lines a huge turn-off. One reviewer on Yelp.com summed it up this way: “It’s excellent! Will I stand in line again two hours for this ride… no thank you.” That complaint does not concern the tourism industry and nearby hotels. As far as they are concerned, the longer the lines, the more meals out, the more hotel rooms booked. As Carol Martinez, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau put it: “For our hotels and partners, this is going to be a great summer of tourism for LA.”

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