The Mouse of Survival Horror

Okay... okay... this is amazing.

Disney's Japanese parks are known for being some of the best theme parks in the world, specifically DisneySea. Their version of the Tower of Terror has always looked to be a high-caliber effort, but then there's this promo video made for the ride that's just chef's kiss.

Admittedly, I'm a fan of older '90s video game 3D animation, but the PS1 cutscene look of this production is just... man.

I'm at a loss for words, and this is another one of those times I'm just showing you something awesome.

Happy Halloween.

Transformers Coaster coming to Saudi Arabia

Captain and the EO

E Ticket EVA

If there's one thing that makes me jealous of others, it's when they visit themed attractions. Specifically those lucky folks in Japan that seemingly has a non-stop supply of them. Not just at theme parks either. Oddball parks and shopping centers, arcades, or even pop up shops. Here in America, they're at bigger theme parks or special appearances for a new movie. Maybe Spirit Halloween fits the bill a little. From an outside perspective, there's quite a bit in Japan and if I lived there, I'd visit them up often. I love that sort of thing. Above is the Neon Genesis Evangelion attraction at Toei Kyoto Studio Park. A park I'd like to go to already (they have a great Kamen Rider and Super Sentai exhibit). This cool attraction offers a life size EVA Unit 00-1 with several activities a fan could enjoy. I'm not the most well versed Evangelion fan, but like the show and this looks like a lot of fun. I'd sure visit it if I could.

Fear And Loathing In Funkytown

Nothing say's Halloween like a haunted house. That's exactly what Skeeter has in mind for Halloween night. Blood Stone Manor just opened at Funky Town just in time for some spooky fun. Doug's pretty scared to go and gets Skeeter to do a little trick or treating before circumstances lead to bravery and a trip to Funkytown! Of course that circumstance is a mix of running into Patty Mayonnaise and being to old to trick or treat. Despite their best intentions, the park closes before Doug and Skeeter can get in the ride leading to Roger convincing them to sneak into the ride anyway. All hell breaks loose and did you hear that?

Ghosts.

Let's Survive Another Week

It's Monday and you know what that means? GHIDORAH IS ATTACKING THE CITY! It's a new week here on Planet Zone where everyday is an adventure! Speaking of adventure, hope everyone enjoyed the Tales from the Beast Hunters. It finally wrapped up Friday with chapter 24, but don't worry, I've got another Transformers story on the way with daily updates! There's a new Not As Brightly Lit for some Halloween fun in summer ready for your ear buds! Thank you for continuing to support Zone Base, I've got a fun week in mind! As always, please share with your friends!

Masters Of The Universal Studios And Christmas Trauma

Nothing say's Christmas like a brand new Masters of the Universe toy! I'll never forget that Christmas morning waking up to find Castle Grayskull under the tree. 

Where better to spend Christmas with them than Universal Studios? The park goes all out to create a wonderful and magical Christmas season, and just like everything they do... may be a little too mature for children. Merry Christmas, here's a skeleton faced demon.

Everyone gets free toy! Christmas!

Super Nintendo World Looks Super Awesome

First official looks at Super Nintendo World were released earlier and it looks great. I always rave about Universal's ability to bring their lands to life and they pulled off another miracle. It really looks like the world of Super Mario was brought to life in ways I couldn't imagine was possible. That's not a render you're looking at in the video above, that's really it! If the Wizarding World of Harry Potter changed the theme park landscape in 2010, this is really going to set the bar up another notch. I just wish the Florida version would be open next December when my next trip is planned... but it's still going to be quite a while before that happens.

Dinosaur Death Trap In Flordia

Anticipation of my trip to Universal Studios next December is murder. Know what else will murder you? Dinosaurs. One of the things I'm looking forward to is spending some time in Jurassic Park. By the time we go, the new ride will be open and there's gonna be some cool new stuff to check out.

Last time we were there, while eating lunch at one of the JP restaurants, this kid randomly yelled "WWE SUPERSTARS!" and slammed down his soda. There we were, an entire theme park restaurant staring at this kid like a freak. 

 

The main focus of the area is the Discovery Center and River Adventure. They manage to recreate the look and feel of the original movie really well. The River Adventure is the second version of the Jurassic Park ride that originally opened at the Hollywood Park in 1996. 

The ride was in works before the movie believe it or not. If you look at the images behind John Hammond during the dinner meeting scene in the original movie, you'll see conceptual art from the ride. It's in the 'future attractions' slide. Pretty cool huh? The version in Florida opened in 1999 and is clearly version 2.0 as there's a few differences. 

There's another version in Japan, which is a little different as well. The Singapore ride follows a similar idea, but is a river rapid style ride instead of a boat ride with a flume drop. Recently they upgraded the Hollywood Park ride into a Jurassic World version with new scenes and upgraded effects. It looks great... but I still think I like the original better. It just has a charm, you know?

 

Pacific Rim:Shatterdome Strike

Biohazard: The Real 3

So maybe the timing of using this commercial isn't the best, but considering we're all making the jokes... So far the virus pandemic has canceled a LOT of things for a few weeks. Toylanta was canceled among other things. I know my updates from it are usually a pretty popular, and I'm pretty disappointed. It's best to be safe while things get under control though.

I've been utilizing online services such as mobile app ordering and taking most food home and shopping online mainly for years now. That habit seems to be the way to go for a while and with the move to streaming services for media (I've been seeing news of movie studios offering major motion pictures to in demand services) fortunately we live in a world ready for such a situation. I hope all of you reading this are ok and continue to do so. Follow the guidelines being put out by your local governments, wash your hands and stay on top of those things. A little personal responsibility can go a long way.

Be nice to each other. There's a lot of scared people out these and that trip to the grocery store could prove stressful. I went out to stock up Saturday unaware if my grocery pick up would be available or what would even be in stock. People were generally friendly and patient with each other and that was nice. That's how we'll get though this. Thanks each and every one of you for reading Zone Base. I'd be honored if you shared the site with others to help them pass the time. I know my site isn't the greatest, and I don't make anything from it. But if one of my bad jokes about an old robot toy helps pass the time, then I've done my job.

By The Power of Poseidon's Fury

If you've ever been to Universal's Islands of Adventure, you've probably found yourself marveling at the gorgeous Poseidon's Fury facade. It's truly a sight to be seen, while opinions of the attraction itself may vary, there's no lack of love for the look of the place. It's awesome. Set in the ruins of a temple where a battle of good and evil takes place over a magic weapon... does that sound familiar?

 

Super Nintendo World Japan

Here is a special music video collaboration between @wearegalantis, @charli_xcx and @USJ_official celebrating #SUPERNINTENDOWORLD! The #Nintendo theme park experience will open in Japan this summer. #USJ https://t.co/2w1DR2nqhJ

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 14, 2020

Dang, I'm really jealous of those lucky ones in Japan this summer.

Ooh baby, do you know what a tickets worth? Ooh, Metrobase is a place on Earth.

A little over a year ago, I talked about the Transformers Land planned for Universal Studios in Beijing China. So earlier in October the same blog covered the park more in another post that I somehow missed during all the Halloween hoopla. I know this falls under the rumors category, but seriously, these guys are always right. Like, they cover all their bases and even address when things change. It's really neat. So more information regarding the Transformers Land below and I quote:

This new land has a clone of the Hulk coaster found at Islands of Adventure. Plus it will feature another Transformers: The Ride found at other Universal Parks. From the press release:

An expanded story was specifically developed for the character Metrobase, who is a Titan, a robot the size of a city. In conjunction with top Chinese scientists, Metrobase selected this Energon rich site just outside the city of Beijing to serve as the N.E.S.T. Beijing headquarters– a top-secret, technologically-advanced zone where an alliance between humans and Autobots developed to protect the Earth. The land is filled with Cybertronian architecture and advanced technology that creates an immersive experience that brings “guest agents” into the world of Transformers like never before.

 So the setting for the land is a movie version of Metrobase. A kinda obscure Metroplex repaint mostly appearing in Japanese manga. Who now serves as the setting for a theme park area. Neat.

That's amazingly out of left field. I can't help but to speculate on the merchandising potential for this. I imagine the Supply Vault store would have plenty of Evac and the new Studio Series Megatron toys on hand, but wouldn't a Metrobase repaint of the Generations Metroplex be nuts? If you've ever been in a Supply Vault at Universal Studios, you know they're not shying away from big ticket items. Something like that would drive a specific section of the fan base nuts (like me).

The Bat

I've never been to Kings Island, but they sure seemed to enjoy making roller coasters spooky for awhile. The ride had a bit of theming to match the name with the sign and a ride station that looked like Castle Dracula. The commercial is full on selling a vampire bat flying around during a scary full moon night! Despite the commercial airing pretty early in the year to advertise a ride opening in spring, somebody sure wanted to give viewers a bit of Halloween flavor off season. Whomever that person is deserves a medal. A spooky medal. Shaped like a bat.

Super 8 Haunted Mansion

When the crypt doors creak
And the tombstones quake
Spooks come out for a singing wake
Happy haunts materialize
And begin to vocalize
Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize

Haunted House at Camden Park

There was once a time where haunted houses had a charm to them that they just don't have anymore. It's hard not to see this commercial and not want to drop by Camden Park to ride the Haunted House. Obviously the perfect thing to do this Halloween season. You might just end up riding with the Wolfman! What happened to the guy? He was wearing a different outfit, so he couldn't have changed into the Wolfman. So... did the Wolfman kill him before taking his place and date? She seemed pretty happy about it. Who could blame her? The Wolfman was dressed pretty sharp. Bet the other guy smelled like farts.

Epic Universe

Universal Orlando announced earlier today (yesterday for you) the upcoming new park at their resort called Universal's Epic Universe. This will be the fourth park at the resort and second park since Comcast bought the company. I'm pretty excited even though it's years away from opening. I've been watching the developments of this on theme park blogs as the land was being purchased and various plans were changed and names were thrown around (it was at one point called Fantastic Worlds). While in their press conference, they gave a light description without going into too many details. That's fine, that's to be expected as they're literally still clearing the ground. This is a huge undertaking and in the end will be something amazing.

This preliminary picture of the park gives a general idea of what to expect. The new park will have it's own Citywalk and resorts. It's practically a brand new Universal Studios on it's own. While details are scarce, the underground rumblings that have been right all along are saying details that just seem amazing. Nintendo is going to be here. While originally going in the original park, then planned to be spread across all the Orlando resort parks, now the plan is to be here as a basic clone of the Japanese land. The same scuttlebutt claims there will be also a Fantastic Beast's land (more Harry Potter), a How to Train your Dragon land (probably will be a DreamWorks area in general), and a Universal Monster's land (you know I'm practically pee'ing myself over that). What makes this so great is, if you'll notice how Diagon Alley is and look at the plans for Super Nintendo Land in Japan (coming here), you'll have a good idea how this park is going to work by the above picture. Basically self contained themed lands that are accessible by a central hub that will be full of Universal Studios style total immersion. Universal Studios original slogan was 'ride the movies', and as they've been doing in the recent years with additions, they mean it. You're literally going to walk into the movies world and that is AWESOME. 

Jurassic Park- The Ride

Godzilla vs Evangelion

Earlier today, my wife texted me a screenshot of our advance tickets for Godzilla King of the Monsters. Of course I'm excited, in just a few weeks I'll be in full giddy kaiju glee in my theater seat. Magically enough, over in Japan, Universal Studios (love that place) new attraction Godzilla vs. Evangelion The Real 4D will open. For one magic weekend, Godzilla is going to be EVERYWHERE. While I doubt I'll be able to swing by Universal in Japan anytime soon (I'd be happy just to go to Florida again), I'll be content in enjoying the new movie over here (though I'd kill for some of that merchandise they're selling over there). If you've been holding off on buying any of the great Godzilla toys for sale at your local stores... you might want to get a few soon.

I'm going to have a hard time not stomping one around in the theater while the movie's on.