Today the final shows of Terminator 2 3-D: Battle Across Time will run and after that it’s “Hasta la Vista Baby” for the Universal Studios Orlando T2 Attraction. The doors will close for a final time to make way for a new attraction. Universal Studios Florida was also the first theme park to host the T2 3-D attraction.
This will be a sad day for the many fans who regularly visited the park in Florida for this ride and sad for those who never got to experience it.
Battle Across Time was the first 3D outing for the Terminator franchise; blending live action over 3D projection screens, the audience was taken to the future war (which was described by James Cameron as a stepping stone to the original planned third theatrical installment).
The plot of the ride itself didn’t make too much sense, it revived Schwarzenegger’s T-800 and Robert Patrick’s T-1000 even after their molten steel demises in the theatrical story of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
The pre-show presentation would begin with viewers walking into “Miles Bennett Dyson Memorial Auditorium” with a talk by Cyberdyne employee “Kimberley Duncan” to hear the latest advances from the company via a video presentation.
Guests would then be led to the main show (to a large theater that could seat up to 700 people) and a demonstration of Cyberdyne’s new killing machine: the T-70 Terminator Units that lined either side of theater.
Sarah Connor and John Connor would storm the stage with the T-1000 to follow (the latter then kills Kimberly Duncan) this shouldn’t bother many people as the character is irritating and/or suspicious (depending on what actress portrays her), so her death doesn’t bother anyone (if it bothered you let us know in the comments below). The ride really starts when the T-800 then arrives from the future on his bike (“nothing dead will go” apparently doesn’t apply here) which kick-starts the whole experience in 3D being taken to the future war with John and the T-800 via a Harley Davidson Fat boy which would drive into the screen with nice digital trickery and a smoke screen.
The T-1000 (Robert Patrick) would run after them into the time bubble and then a theatrical segment would take place with an initial chase from The T-1000 followed by a chase from a flying HK then and some Mini-HK’s (Hunter Killer Units) that were new to Terminator Fans… after dealing with a T-800 Endoskeleton in a collapsed car park structure- the two heroes would go off to the SkyNet Pyramid (the home of SkyNet CPU and the machines) to finish it once and for all.
Unbeknownst to John and the T-800; there waits the most powerful Terminator of all the T-MEG (also known as the T One Million) a gigantic liquid metal spider guarding the CPU, the battle continues eventually freezing the T-MEG and the T-800 sacrifices himself once again with an explosive charge to destroy the CPU as John makes an escape via the time displacement equipment.
On exiting the ride fans would be greeted with the best damn Terminator store/shop on earth, featuring countless collectibles and mementos.
Towards the end of the ride there were some complaints of the experience starting to feel “dated”, pre-show presentation videos were more recently revamped in 2015 to feature updated graphics/footage with references to Project Angel (Salvation) and Genisys (the app) but these references were also later axed when those films didn’t particularly strike a true chord with fans/viewing audiences. Regardless, the Sarah Connor and John Connor originally filmed warning transmissions remained.
With doomed theatrical sequels/reboots and failures it was an eventuality that the ride would end.
On a positive note the ride lasted an incredible amount of time and attracted many Terminator fans who did not tire of the experience and you never know… James Cameron might be back to birth a new 3D ride to accompany Terminator 6 if it is successful.
This is the second Terminator 2 3-D Battle Across Time ride to close with the only surviving version of the ride being at Universal Studios Japan. So it isn’t completely over… yet.
Let us know if you experienced the ride or if it was on your bucket list in the comments below and share your stories/memories of the ride with us.
It’s Over, Goodbye.
