Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast (Grand Opening Aug 11) and Cafe

[mickeyluv'r]

We we’re on it yesterday and will probably never do it again Because
1. No seats.

The no seats aspect, IMO, allows for more freedom of movement than say Buzz or TSM.

I also didn't miss the spinning of MiB, TSM, and Buzz. One thing that has always annoyed me about Buzz is the uncontrollable way the cart turns.

 

[Jessem1133]

This ride...did zero for me.
Between the queue extending out onto empty pavement with no shade from the sun, to minimal directions, to the chaotic screens...I see no reason to get back on it. Swing and a miss UO.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

This ride...did zero for me.
Between the queue extending out onto empty pavement with no shade from the sun, to minimal directions, to the chaotic screens...I see no reason to get back on it. Swing and a miss UO.

The app provides a good bit of information on how to play the game.
Riders are supposed to be Villains on secret missions, so in the app, you choose your mission. More missions get unlocked as you complete each one.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the game more once you know what your secret mission is!

There are also collectibles hidden throughout the whole Minions area, so it is a type of scavenger hunt, and you collect each one using your phone. It is neat that they incorporated it right to phones, so there's nothing extra to buy to play.

 

[New Mouse]

Rode it for the first time this week. Hot mess is an under statement. They need to put about half as many people through this at a time for it to even have a chance at being a functional experience.

 

[anniemae]

We did it last week. I like the concept, but they pack you in too tight. The "dots" you have to stand on are WAAAAAAY to close together. I kept bumping into the people next to me and got whacked in the head when the guy next to me turned quickly. Also, I whacked a guy with my back pack when I turned. You naturally stray off the dot and it's a mess. I have no idea why they put the dots so close. They should load everyone on every other dot.

 

[hildarumpole]

We did it last week. I like the concept, but they pack you in too tight. The "dots" you have to stand on are WAAAAAAY to close together. I kept bumping into the people next to me and got whacked in the head when the guy next to me turned quickly. Also, I whacked a guy with my back pack when I turned. You naturally stray off the dot and it's a mess. I have no idea why they put the dots so close. They should load everyone on every other dot.

Every other dot was loaded when we did the AP premier. They also told people not to turn or swing the gun around. With the high demand, they probably want to use all space to keep waits from being completely terrible. Maybe they could allow an extra dot between groups. That way, if someone gets whacked, the annoyance can be kept within the friend/family circle instead of dealing with a stranger.

 

[gatorlisa]

Just finished with 4 days at Universal. I'm far from a regular, as this was my first trip in over 6 years and only 3rd overall. My point of view comes from being a person that struggles with coasters now and prefers dark rides, heavily themed rides, or interactive experiences. I enjoyed this attraction a lot more than I expected to and "rode" it I think 6 times. While I totally understand the frustration with no seat and having to stand, I actually liked the freedom of movement that standing gives. It allowed me to rotate, move around, duck as needed to see around the taller folks around me...within the confines of my dot. As for how they load, sometimes they would have me skip a dot before getting on one and sometimes they would have me stand on a dot immediately next to someone...no idea what the rhyme or reason for how they decide that is. Being able to link the gun to your phone so that you can customize your buttons, choose missions, keep track of collectibles, and see stats and rankings is pretty cool. The gun is a bit on the heavy side and my arms were very tired at the end, but I thought the actual game play was very fun. I found it much easier to see where I was aiming than any other shooting game I've done in a theme park. I'm also pretty short, only 5 feet tall, and I never had any issues getting bumped or hit by others while playing. Overall, I think this is a solid addition to the park.

 

[MIChessGuy]

I did Minion Blast a few times last week. Overall, it just struck me as too frenetic and over-active. I did manage to sync my mobile phone with my blaster, so that was fine, but the ride experience itself I just found hard to follow. Difficult to see where exactly my ammo was landing or what I'm supposed to be shooting at. Also I am not a big fan of doing a lot of homework in advance of riding an attraction, so sitting around filling out profiles or selecting missions or whatever doesn't hold a lot of appeal. Probably my own fault--these ultra-high tech, information age rides are hard to get used to. In a way, the exhibit hall itself worked a lot better for me as there's a LOT of funny stuff in there. It reminded me of how, many years ago, the set design of the walk-through forest in E.T. Adventure almost seemed better than the ride itself.

 

[tony67]

So I finally got to try the Minion ride last week and I had heard a lot of bad things about it.
I actually thought it was quite good.

One issue is getting your phone to work with it - its not clear where you touch - they need to put the tap logo on the device. I saw many people tapping the wrong place - which seems to be where they tell you to tap.
There were a lot of Europeans there and they use tap way more than we do and they were flighting with it.

The other issue I had is NFC does not work with my case so I had to remove the phone from the case every time - that is my issue though it seems to be common according to the attendant. I think that might be a tough ride to work on with so many people trying to use there phones for the game.

The game play itself takes a few play throughs to get and you need to check the app to add your perks, take on missions and configure your blaster
I did not see a lot of that till my last day and that did make a difference with my score - was finally able to get over a million - I was stuck around 750000 every play through.

I think I may enjoy it more than MIB - just because the zapper actually seemed to work well - had a lot of issues with MIB last week. When MIB is working its a great game, but when its not its really annoying.

Another issue is It can be hard to know which target is yours on the screen with minions so that can be difficult, but over I like it.
One problem is bags and people bumping into you - the spots are too close together - maybe leave one empty between parties at least. It gets a lot of people through cramming them in but you really need to pay attention and lots of people don't.

Also the wait time is often 10 to 20 minutes so that is a nice plus.

Overall I think its a good addition to the park.

 

[DoryGirl1963]

So I finally got to try the Minion ride last week and I had heard a lot of bad things about it.
I actually thought it was quite good.

One issue is getting your phone to work with it - its not clear where you touch - they need to put the tap logo on the device. I saw many people tapping the wrong place - which seems to be where they tell you to tap.
There were a lot of Europeans there and they use tap way more than we do and they were flighting with it.

The other issue I had is NFC does not work with my case so I had to remove the phone from the case every time - that is my issue though it seems to be common according to the attendant. I think that might be a tough ride to work on with so many people trying to use there phones for the game.

The game play itself takes a few play throughs to get and you need to check the app to add your perks, take on missions and configure your blaster
I did not see a lot of that till my last day and that did make a difference with my score - was finally able to get over a million - I was stuck around 750000 every play through.

I think I may enjoy it more than MIB - just because the zapper actually seemed to work well - had a lot of issues with MIB last week. When MIB is working its a great game, but when its not its really annoying.

Another issue is It can be hard to know which target is yours on the screen with minions so that can be difficult, but over I like it.
One problem is bags and people bumping into you - the spots are too close together - maybe leave one empty between parties at least. It gets a lot of people through cramming them in but you really need to pay attention and lots of people don't.

Also the wait time is often 10 to 20 minutes so that is a nice plus.

Overall I think its a good addition to the park.

Do you HAVE to use your phone/ the app? Or is it only needed for extras?

 

[Jessem1133]

Do you HAVE to use your phone/ the app? Or is it only needed for extras?

I've never used my phone with it, no issues. It's just for the extras.

 

[DoryGirl1963]

That's what I was hoping ☺

Thanks so much!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Do you HAVE to use your phone/ the app? Or is it only needed for extras?

You do not need to use your phone to play. When I went, few people seemed to be using their phones.

That said, if you do opt to use your phone, you will find a lot of useful information. Even if you do not link your phone to your blaster, just looking over the information in the app will help you to better understand the gameplay.

You can also glean quite a bit if you pay attention to the overhead screens in the queue.

 

[tony67]

Yeah - phone is not required but it does give you extra features.

So you can

• track your score and see where you rank overall
• Customize your blaster
• Add missions for extra points

Id say about half the people were trying to use their phones - with mixed results .

Since I am already using the universal app I don't mind adding this, but no doubt you can use it without the app

 

[kbelle8995]

I didn't know what I was doing for most of this. I wish they had put in a practice area . I enjoyed the queue once you got inside. The blaster got to be heavy over the duration of the ride. I rode it the first time without my app just wanted to see what it was without it. I think that you are too close to other people on the moving walkway but I did not receive the note that we could not turn as it's hard to not do that as the screens are in both directions at various points

I want to ride it again. I didn't have to wait long for it so that was a plus.

 

[nighttowll]

So, if you use your phone is that in place of holding a blaster?

 

[kbelle8995]

So, if you use your phone is that in place of holding a blaster?

No you scan the blaster with your phone and then use the blaster. The phone merely tracks your blaster from what I understand. My fellow traveler did it.

If you want to scan the blaster you better have the app open and ready to go. We didn't get much time to scan

 

[nighttowll]

No you scan the blaster with your phone and then use the blaster. The phone merely tracks your blaster from what I understand. My fellow traveler did it.

If you want to scan the blaster you better have the app open and ready to go. We didn't get much time to scan

I think I'll probably pass on the phone thing than. I usually don't take one with me into the park, nice to be unplugged and not have to carry anything around. Just thought a phone would be smaller and lighter to hold than a blaster. Someone above mentioned tired arms.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I think I'll probably pass on the phone thing than. I usually don't take one with me into the park, nice to be unplugged and not have to carry anything around. Just thought a phone would be smaller and lighter to hold than a blaster. Someone above mentioned tired arms.

It is not too bad, IMO. My arms feel more fatigued at the end of TSMania in HS.

Small children are offered a smaller toy blaster, but those are not linked to the actual game.

 

[tony67]

I think I'll probably pass on the phone thing than. I usually don't take one with me into the park, nice to be unplugged and not have to carry anything around.

Yeah - unfortunately that is getting to be less and less of an option - for example you can only eat at minions cafe using mobile order and pay. There was a very annoyed person in front of my that was not happy with this and they were told this is they way they will be doing things going forward - especially with Epic. Not sure if they could keep complaining and they would work with them but they walked off in a huff.

I did find it good for entering the park as your ticket is on your phone - but you cant bring your phone on some rides so you still need a way to get a locker and have a ticket. I did not see any options around this although I know you can ask for a paper locker ticket - I did not see anyone to ask.

Also for express at HHN the phones were still a problem - can take a long time to scan, people have issues with the app and then have to turn up the brightness of there phones. Paper ticket was way easier for that so I stopped using the phone.

Anyway much like Disney the phone seems to be something Universal will rely on more and more going forward.