E.T. will always be a classic film and one of the best characters ever created. Not shockingly Universal realized this as well, leading to the creation of this classic dark ride. Anchoring the kids section of the park, E.T. is the senior citizen that’s glory days are far past it, as Universal’s newer, more technologically advanced attractions have greatly surpasses this ride in popularity. Nonetheless, E.T. is still a delight even though the attraction is admittedly dated.
In my few visits to Universal, I have never seen a wait for this attraction, which is always a plus. As with most of the park’s attractions, it begins with a pre-show where the premise of the attraction is revealed- E.T.’s home planet is dying and its up to us to board bikes for an interplanetary adventure to transport E.T. back home to save his planet with his magic touch. Following the pre-show, the queue continues through a beautiful, jungle-like atmosphere that really sets the tone for the ride’s atmosphere. Once navigating the queue, I boarded one of the many bikes the attraction utilizes. They are very cool thanks to the open-air design of the bikes and because of the interesting views they provide during the ride, especially when in my favorite row, the front.
Really the attraction can be divided into two segments- the jungle chase and journey home. The entire first half is pretty cool and is composed of a frenetic chase through the woods dodging the attempts of the authorities to capture E.T. Universal perfectly executed this scene, with the eerie, dark lighting, only to be interrupted by abrupt lights shined in our direction in an attempt to catch E.T. While certainly the effects are incredibly simple, Universal just pulls the effect off flawlessly.
But the second half is even better in my opinion. Narrowly escaping the authorities by flying away at the last second, the journey to E.T.’s home planet is very cool, especially the very memorable scene where the bikes fly over the incredibly detailed miniature city. I just love the feeling the effect that scene pulls off. Afterwards, E.T. prematurely reaches his home planet (in my opinion) and successfully heals it, leading to E.T. personally thanking everyone aboard much to the delight of the passengers, a very cool effect that just makes the ride much more immersive.
Overall, E.T. is still a great ride despite its age. Sure some of the effects (such as the lights in the first half) aren’t the most complex, but they are utilized perfectly to allow for a memorable experience. I do have one gripe with the attraction though, it’s length. Following the narrow escape from the woods, the ride just seemed to finish prematurely. I think that the finale could have been fleshed out a bit more, but nonetheless E.T. is a worthy attraction in Universal’s arsenal that has served the test of time.
|