It has been over a decade since Universal debuted Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and brought the Kuka arm dark ride to life, redefining what an attraction can do. As theme park fans, we have been eagerly waiting for the next evolution, and it has finally come in the form of Monsters Unchained. There will be massive spoilers in this article, so read with caution if you want to go in not knowing the details.
Monsters Unchained Review
The Queue
The incredibly impressive entrance into Frankenstein Manor is visually stunning, it’s one of the most intricate and daunting facades for a ride I’ve ever seen.
You’ll pass under the entrance sign and into the manor, entering into the parlor where a grand staircase leads up to the second floor.
Before going up the stairs, the queue goes through the ground floor of the manor, passing through several detailed rooms explaining what Victoria Frankenstein has been up to.
For big Universal Monsters fans, there is the “actual” body of Frankenstein’s monster in one of the rooms, being scanned and analyzed for future experimentation.
One of the other rooms has found footage playing on a projector of all of the other monsters being captured for transport to the manor.
There is another room with a very cool 3D effect where a bat is in the center of an electric device, and I was second guessing if this was a physical animatronic until I got closer.
As you walk through the queue, you’ll see cables and wires with flowing electricity leading you into the pre-shows.
The Pre-Shows
These are some of the best pre-shows in any attraction. The first one features a replica of the ride vehicle that is being controlled by Ygor via a screen. The characters on screens in these rides are created through CGI, and appear a little video-gamey, but I didn’t find it too distracting.
Ygor explains that you’ll be boarding Catacombs Navigation Units to explore the catacombs beneath Frankenstein manor, where Victoria has been performing her experiments. After Ygor gives you the rundown, the room’s bookshelves open and it’s on to the next pre-show.
The second pre-show includes a life-sized Frankenstein’s monster animatronic that actually walks, and a Victoria Frankenstein animatronic with a projected face. This is the best use of the projected face I have seen, the lighting is programmed in a specific way to light the figure very realistically. Most guests probably would not know this is a projection. The rest of the animatronic is real, and the range of motion is amazing.
The monster is all practical, and seeing him walk directly at the audience and tower over you is a high point of the whole ride. There are so many technical elements in this pre-show that all work together to make something incredible. The story isn’t quite communicated (I’m still not sure what the actual experiment is or why the monsters have been assembled), but the basics are clear: there are lots of monsters, and you’re about to get up close and personal with them.
After the second pre-show, there are double sided lockers for storing bags, but smaller items like phones are okay to bring, I would recommend a zipper pocket though due to the motion of the ride.
The Ride Experience
After another room of queue, it is time to board the vehicles. The loading station is a large, circular room because the ride vehicles are moving simultaneously with a turntable. Unlike Forbidden Journey, these ride vehicles are attached to the Kuka arm from the bottom, not the back. This allows for a different range of motion, and more room to get closer to the scenes.
Even from the station, you know this ride is going to be something special. The ambience and tone set in the land extends to the queue and finally continues here in the ride; it’s brilliantly done. The vehicles dispatch and face Ygor, who will be controlling your Catacombs Navigation Unit vehicle throughout the ride. The moment he takes control of the ride vehicles you’ll feel the motions become more sudden and choppier. It’s a great piece of ride programming.
In this first scene, you will clearly be able to see multiple other ride vehicles. However, since they are now incorporated as a part of the story, it is not as jarring as if you saw another one on Forbidden Journey. I always love when the ride vehicle itself is incorporated into the story, and this may be the best example.
From here, the vehicle tilts on its back to pass under a bell with the Hunchback of Notre Dame inside. This ride will have riders on their backs for a lot of the maneuvers. The vehicle then passes through each scene, getting very close to each monster as Victoria conducts her experiment to try and control Dracula.
A giant Phantom of the Opera plays a flaming organ and then reaches out towards riders. This first scene gives a sense of scale for how big this attraction can get, some of the sets are massive. There is a lighted board listing of all the monsters under Victoria’s containment, giving a preview of what’s to come, with some surprises thrown in as well.
As the ride goes on, you will see scenes all around you. Some are above, some are below, and some are all-encompassing. There are monsters everywhere, even some I did not know about or did not expect. It’s not just the same setup every time either, each monster has its own unique environment and the ride never feels repetitive.
There are more screens than I thought there would be, but when they’re used as backgrounds or seen from farther away, they blend much better than the ones that serve as story scenes. It can be a little jarring going from some of the most highly advanced animatronics ever made to a CGI version of the same characters, but some blend more than others.
The animatronics in this ride are remarkable, and there are so many of them. Every scene has a highly detailed animatronic moving in a different way. There are even scenes where two animatronics are interacting with each other, or where animatronics are integrated into the scenery around them.
Some of the movements of the ride vehicle are very jarring (in a good way), and the Kuka arms move more suddenly than Forbidden Journey. There are moments that caught me by surprise even after riding multiple times in a row. That’s how overwhelming this ride can be, there are details that I missed or only focused on one element of and fully appreciated the next time around.
The ride also feels substantial in length; even though it is right around 4 minutes it feels much longer.
The Negatives
I only have one major negative with Monsters Unchained, and that is that you can see too much of the mechanics and “backstage” portions of the ride. Most of the animatronics are connected to some sort of attachment or moving piece, and in some cases it’s painfully obvious to see how they work.
In addition, since a lot of this ride is spent looking up, the unfinished ceiling really stands out. There is one scene where you are staring straight up directly at catwalks with almost no theming, and another where it’s a black curtain with an emergency speaker next to it.
It’s part of the give-and-take from having more open-air ride vehicles, the previous model has riders’ heads mostly enclosed. For the most part, these moments could be fixed, and I’m sure they eventually will be when the attraction gets its first refurbishment. With how positively this ride is being received, it will be up-kept for a long time to come.
There are a couple of “dead spots” where the ride vehicle is just looking at a wall or screen and the pacing slows way down. The animatronics have also been unreliable, but seem to be getting better. Granted, I only went during previews so there’s a chance that after May 22nd they all operate flawlessly, but there is one animatronic at the very end that I have never seen work properly firsthand or on video.
Final Thoughts
The highest highs on this ride far outweigh the lowest lows. The best scenes on this ride are some of the greatest ever on any dark ride. There is one scene I particularly love, where Victoria Frankenstein is turning on a large machine, and the ride vehicle follows the path of the electricity as it flows from piece to piece.
Another standout scene is where the Brides of Dracula emerge from their coffins that I couldn’t believe the first time I rode. There are also some new effects built into the ride vehicle that will add a physical element to some scenes. I’m excited to see the next evolution of this on a future robotic arm ride. This is one of those rides where I noticed more details every time I rode it. There is so much jam packed into this ride that it’s almost impossible to notice everything on your first run (I still don’t quite have a grasp on the story).
As soon as the ride ended, I wanted to get right back on, which is easy to do with the incredibly efficient single rider line. When it comes to tone, this ride is more in-your-face than I thought. A lot of the queue is devoted to establishing suspense and building an eerie feeling, but I didn’t really feel that on the ride. It’s much more action-based.
Overall, Monsters Unchained is one of the best dark rides Universal has ever created, and is a worthy evolution of the Kuka arm technology. While the revealing cosmetic details are hard to look past for me personally, it’s a fantastic step forward towards more unique dark rides. The fact that Universal took this big of a risk on “original” IP is refreshing, and makes this land stand out. I love that Universal Creative put so much thought into this ride, and you can feel the passion of the designers in every detail. This ride is a triumph and testament to anyone who loves themed experiences.
It may be weird to say it this way, but I just love that Monsters Unchained exists. It’s so creative and was clearly made to push boundaries and expand on what has been done before. It’s become a core part of the identity of Epic Universe, and that makes me very happy.
What are you most looking forward to at Epic Universe? Let us know in the comments below! Then, check out our reviews of Stardust Racers, Battle at the Ministry, and Mine Cart Madness.
Recent Discussion