Universal Studios Florida revamped its Earthquake attraction and had the official grand opening last week for Disaster! A Major Motion Picture Ride…Starring You. (Whew! Long name.) On hand for the festivities was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who has a role in the ride. While the train ride and the special effects havoc in the subway tunnel remain essentially unchanged from the original Earthquake ride, the pre- and post-shows have changed considerably. Among the new features incorporated into the attraction is a technology called "Musion," which uses two-dimensional, high-definition video projection to simulate a three-dimensional character. I haven't experienced the attraction, so I can't comment on it. But many years ago, I did experience an attraction at the Luxor in Las Vegas that was part of a trilogy with the In Search of the Obelisk simulation ride. It was presented as if live characters were participating in a talk show; however the scene was filmed with state-of-the-art (for the time) video recording and projection equipment that used a higher rate of frames per second to simulate live action. It was well done, but still had telltale signs of video. The attraction has since closed. Of the three, the only Luxor attraction now open is the simulator ride, which is dated and reportedly may be closing. Later this year, Universal Studios Florida (and Hollywood) will be opening the Simpsons ride that has taken over the Back to the Future building.

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Photo: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (left) kicks off the Disaster! Attraction. Universal Studios 2007. Used with permission.