I'd Never Seen Universal's Transformers Ride With The Lights On, But Whoa Boy, Now I'm Sweating Over That Drop

Nobody likes it when you’re on a theme park ride and something breaks down. Not only does it tend to ruin the fun, but it also breaks whatever immersion you’re experiencing by forcing you to come to terms with the fact that you are, in fact, only on a ride. However, I have to admit that, honestly, Transformers: The Ride might actually be a more thrilling experience when it breaks than when it’s working.

This revelation is brought to you by a post on X/Twitter, which included a video from Universal Studios Hollywood revealing what it looks like when you experience Transformers: The Ride breaking down. Not only did the attraction stop, but the lights came on, revealing something I had never actually seen before: the incredible drop that you’ll never notice during normal operation.

Transformers: The Ride has guests riding along with the Autobot Evac as you attempt to obtain the AllSpark, the MacGuffin from the first live-action Transformers movie. As such, the experience is mostly about creating the feeling of forward momentum as the car “drives” from one major set piece to another, through the use of a motion simulator, large video screens and various other effects.

Between the fact that much of the motion in the attraction is simulated, you don’t necessarily notice the points when you’re actually moving, so you might not even be aware that the Transformers ride has points at which it raises and lowers the ride vehicle. Even if you know the drop is there, as I did, I had never really thought about how big the drop actually was.

If you’ve ever been on Space Mountain or other attractions where you can’t see much, it’s not uncommon to be a little underwhelmed if you ever see the ride with the lights on. It’s not that the attractions are unimpressive, but they can never quite match up to your imagination. Transformers might be a rare case where seeing how the ride works honestly makes it all more exciting.

Transformers: The Ride is not my favorite ride at Universal Studios Florida or Hollywood. A big part of that is it never really felt like it had that much going on under the hood, with so much of the focus being on the transition from one screen to the next. It's nice to be reminded that sometimes the reason an attraction may come across as less than complex is actually because it's been deftly done.

Universal Studios Hollywood is expected to go through a lot of changes over the next few years, with a Fast & Furious roller coaster opening next year and rumors of the park's first resort hotel reportedly on the horizon. With so many new things planned and the future of the Transformers franchise in question, one wonders if Transformers: The Ride might be one of the next to be replaced.

It’s been a while since I’ve even ridden it, but now I’m actually curious to try it again, as knowing a bit more about what’s going on around me has me looking at the ride with new eyes.