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While I do understand where the negative reviews may be coming from concerning this ride, I do not agree with them. I actually found Revenge of the Mummy to be the top attraction at Universal Studios. I have not been on the Florida version, so Im sure that gives me a better impression of the California version. Let me begin with what may perhaps be perceived as flaws of the ride. Most of the queue line is outside, so the theming is pretty minimal until you do finally make it into the building. The majority of the inside theming consists of a room with clips of the Mummy movies being shown, interspersed with some creepy woman chanting "Imhotep" an endless number of times. During the main roller coaster portion of the ride, the only real scenery are glow-in-the-dark mummies and skeletons which the track actually travels through. Now let me move to the positives. Despite the short length of queue inside, there are a few neat little interactive tricks set up aside from the video monitor. Also, this has to be one of the most efficient roller coasters ever. Trains are being dispatched constantly. I dont know how they coordinate the timing of all the different components of this ride, but they do. The trains are dispatched at a slow, track-ride type of pace. Here is where the best theming of the ride comes into play, as we see the mummy coming back to life, scarab beetles devouring a man screaming about the curse of Imhotep being real, a whole bunch of ghoulish hands and arms reaching down at the train from the ceiling, and then Imhotep himself, admonishing us that our souls belong to him. Just as he finishes this phrase, two mummy warriors jump down very quickly from the ceiling and the train gets launched into the coaster portion of ride. The launch is very good, and the coaster portion is too. Its very reminiscent of Space Mountain, with an emphasis on curves and little dips rather than huge drops and loops. Midway through, the train brakes hard to a stop, and we see some scarab beetles scurrying along the walls and even feel them at our feets! They then squirt at us, sending the train backwards through more dark track. Even if all we get to see are glowing cardboard mummy cutouts during these portions, Im fine with that. This is an enclosed ride in the dark, so Im not expecting to be able to see all that much. The ride concludes by pulling backwards into a desert scene experiencing an eclipse, and a major sandstorm completely surrounds the train, freeing us from the curse, spinning the track around to pull us forward back into the station. All in all, Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Hollywood reminded me of a mix between Indiana Jones and Space Mountain at Disneyland, and thats a pretty good pedigree.
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