AUTOBOTS. DECEPTICONS. OPTIMUS PRIME. EVAC. SCORPONOK.
After a trip on Transformers: The Ride – 3D, I now know what all these words mean.
Admittedly, I have always loved the Transformers franchise, but wasn’t well-versed on the specifics. Now, after this episode, I’m a Transformers pro (just. listen to the trivia competition at the end of our episode!).
…
OK, maybe not a pro, but David and I were lucky to take a deep dive into the world of Transformers: The Ride – 3D with a former attraction attendant, Paige.
David, who possesses far more Transformers knowledge than I, briefed me before we headed to the attraction. Put simply, Transformers: The Ride – 3D is a classic good-guys-versus-bad-guys-then-good-guys-win-and-save-the-world storyline. But there is SO much more than that. We started our day meeting up with Paige at Universal Studios Florida and headed into the queue line of the ride, where we viewed a fragment of the AllSpark on display (the Transformers power source) and a piece of Scorponok’s tail (a ravaged Decepticon from the film — a bad guy). Getting to see a robot-piece up close prepared me for the battle that was about to ensue.
As guests, we are endowed with the responsibility of helping the Autobots defeat the Decepticons as part of N.E.S.T., an alliance between the government and the Autobots. Seeing as how the Decepticons are threatening to steal the AllSpark and destroy the world, there is a pretty immediate need for N.E.S.T. cooperation and recruit action. Housed in your ride vehicle/Autobot called EVAC, you make your way through the city of Chicago, fighting off Decepticons and protecting the AllSpark and Autobots at all costs. And when I say you get up close to the Transformer robots, I mean CLOSE. They interact with you and bounce off your vehicle in certain moments. It is an exhilarating, action-packed adventure, and luckily, you emerge victorious!
Throughout the journey, I was amazed by several cool elements: the way the screens and practical sets are intertwined; the way the ride vehicle physically moves through the space and moves you in stationary scenes; and the amount of Transformers robots you get to see! Paige was so helpful to explain more about the world of Transformers when we got back to the studio. Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Wheelie, Grindor, Bonecrusher…now I could put some battle elements in perspective and name the robots!
And the icing on this cupcake of a day: we took the ultimate selfie with Optimus Prime. Yes, you can actually meet the Transformers robots! Outside the Transformers Supply Vault gift shop — which is loaded with awesome Transformers gear and swag — the life-size robots meet and greet you. Be careful, Megatron has an attitude…
I’m so glad I got to learn so much more about Transformers. I decided I am aligned with the Autobots — the good guys. What a great day to save the world! AUTOBOTS, ROLL OUT!
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