The “e-ticket” ride we chose to delve deeper into is our Manic Megalodon Adventure.  The ride is similar to Soarin’ at EPCOT, but unlike the single screen featured in Soarin’, Manic Megalodon Adventure’s riders will venture through an “underwater” tunnel.  The tunnel walls are completely covered in an ultra-high definition movie screen.

 

Riders will start in the queue where it appears as if they are fully immersed under water.  Projectors on the walls cast images on the ceiling and walls to make it look like water is rippling and clouds are passing by overhead.  As the rider advances through the queue, they see various facts along the walls. Some of these facts would include the names and illustrations of the creatures that could be seen on the ride, as well as their genus and species.  While this is supposed to be an entertaining ride, one of our central values is to educate guests on the history of these majestic beasts.

 

When guests reach the front of the line, they are seated in their underwater rover vessels, don 3D glasses, a lap bar is pulled down, and the guests take off.  As they depart from the loading bay, this will be the first time that they are briefed on what they will see on the ride. A narrator’s voice will come across the speakers located in the vessels.  He describes the journey and talks about the creatures and habitat the guests see.

 

This will be the first time the guests experience the tunnel.  As previously mentioned in past assignments, the tunnel will be U-shaped.  The guests will see images of sea creatures and light rays casting through the water down on them.  While they are riding through, looking at all the creatures and life underwater, peaceful music is playing.  Mid-ride, the music begins to sound more sinister as a shadow passes over the rover vessel.

 

At this moment, the rover vessel stops.  A tusoteuthis (a massive squid from the late Cretaceous) wraps its tentacles around the screen and starts to constrict.  The squid seems to wrench the rover vessel around to face the screen. The 3D glasses make the screen appear to close in around them.  As the tusoteuthis constricts, the seats begin to constrict around the guests. The bucket seats are outfitted with air compressors that inflate on both side of the riders’ laps.  This action takes the guests by surprise and adds to the suspense. A panicked narrator yells at the guests to protect themselves (of course they can’t because they are locked into their seats!)  Just before the tusoteuthis cracks the screen, it is suddenly attacked by a megalodon. The tusoteuthis releases the screen and focuses its attention on the megalodon. They begin to battle right in front the rover vessels.   The tusoteuthis attempts to constrict the megalodon, but the megalodon delivers a fatal blow to the tusoteuthis, causing it to fall into the screen and plummet to the bottom of the sea.

 

Megalodon swims right up to the screen and looks very menacing as he considers eating the guests, but decides otherwise and swims off into the distance.  The rover vessel slowly moves to a forward-facing position as the narrator’s now soothing voice comes over the speakers and exclaims that the riders are lucky to be alive and to have experienced such a sight.  The lap bar raises, and the guests get off. They venture off through the gift shop, giddy with excitement and ready to buy their Manic Megalodon Adventure merchandise.