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4. Astronaut Gary Sinise

Gary Sinise in Apollo 13
Image: Universal

From 2003 to 2017, enterprising astronauts on Mission: SPACE received their pre-flight briefings from beloved actor Gary Sinise, kinda-sorta reprising his role from Disney’s first attraction-to-movie attempt, Mission to Mars. Like the best theme park preshows, Sinise’s performance took on a life of its own - see also: Paxton, Bill. Though he was capably replaced by actress Gina Torres, his bone-dry suggestion to “definitely hang on” still echoes in the hearts and minds of fans.

But Disney wouldn’t have had a monopoly on Astronaut Gary Sinise if Universal had gone forward with its plans for an Apollo 13 dark ride.

Universal knew its Studios park would need something to compete with the stampede to its shiny, new neighbor, Islands of Adventure. “The Millenium Project” as it came to be known would occupy the empty space between Back to the Future: The Ride and The Wild, Wild, Wild West Stunt Show that once held sets for the Swamp Thing TV series. While Men in Black: Alien Attack would win the real estate, a revolving door of other properties were considered.

Apollo 13, an Academy Award-winning Universal release that beat Casper as the second-highest grossing film of 1995, would’ve received a heavily themed roller coaster within a scaled-down replica of the Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building. When the price of that concept raised eyebrows, an outdoor version was pitched instead, but later shot down in the interest of local noise ordinances.

Like Casper, Apollo 13 earned its own behind-the-scenes exhibit, so footage of Gary Sinise as real-life Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly may have once played within the bounds of Universal Studios Florida. But oh, what could’ve been.

5. Pennywise

Pennywise
Image: Warner Bros.

Pennywise. Pennywise could’ve been.

Another Millennium Project candidate was a dark ride based on the collected works of Stephen King. It wasn’t his first flirtation with a theme park attraction - Disney’s earliest concepts for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror involved King - but Universal’s attempt got a lot closer to the finish line.

John Murdy, now a celebrity in his own right as the Creative Director for Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights, designed the ride as a Greatest Hits of sorts. While most of the attraction remains a mystery, its climactic scene would’ve pulled the rug out from under even the most seasoned park guests. The cars would’ve come to a complete stop in a room that sure looked like the unload, complete with the usual spiel. But the exit doors would’ve unleashed a Biblical deluge of blood ala The Shining as Pennywise The Dancing Clown emerged from the operator’s booth. Further hell would’ve broken loose from there.

The mass appeal of a permanent horror attraction, something Universal Orlando has still yet to pursue, concerned Creative enough to drop the idea entirely. Well, almost entirely. The fakeout ending was preserved and transplanted into Revenge of the Mummy, another Murdy project.

6. Van Helsing

Van Helsing
Image: Universal

As hard as it is to imagine a Universal with the likes of Bruce Wayne, Bugs Bunny, and Cujo, it might be harder to imagine a Universal without Harry Potter. But this isn’t the story of how J.K. Rowling gave Universal the greenlight so much as why they were ready, willing, and able to earn it.

 At the 2003 International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Trade Show, the triumvirate partnership of Dynamic Attractions, KUKA, and RoboCoaster unveiled a game-changing ride system. Based on RoboCoaster’s founding concept and realized with KUKA robotic arms on Dynamic’s track system, the RoboCoaster G2 was the next evolutionary step in dark rides.

Universal wanted in and fast.

Satisfied with the progress on Revenge of the Mummy, a pseudo-sequel to director Stephen Sommers’s blockbuster franchise, Universal placed its bets on Sommers’s next project, Van Helsing.

It was supposed to be the hottest ticket of 2004. Universal was so confident about that they paid rent on the village sets in Prague. A sequel was all but guaranteed and, if it took the same amount of time as The Mummy Returns, it would be the hottest ticket of 2005. A theme park attraction was aimed accordingly for 2006.

Van Helsing cost $60 million more than The Mummy Returns and made $130 million less at the box office. Critic Richard Roeper deemed it “one of the dopiest movies of the year” in a kinder review than most.

Seeing Hugh Jackman with a holy crossbow on an I-Drive billboard looked a lot less likely. However, a Van Helsing RoboCoaster G2 attraction was already designed. All that remains is a topographical sketch of the layout, still passed around the usual forums, but all that matters is the footprint.

In late 2006, the year Van Helsing: The Ride was supposed to debut, rumors started. A new Island was on the way, allegedly to carve out the back corner of Lost Continent. Four years later, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey opened on the same plot of land intended for Van Helsing, using the exact same ride system it was designed for.

 

 
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Comments

WOW, how have I never heard about the idea of a ride based on the works of Stephen King? It's such an obvious winner, would love to see concept art for it!

The stage coach from Van Helsing is back stage in the lay down yard covered by tarps.

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