Glitch causes Battlestar Galactica Coasters to close at Universal Studios Singapore

Breaking News - According to news reports yesterday, the Battlestar Galactica coasters in Universal Studios Singapore, one of the blockbuster attractions, is instructed by the Singapore Police to halt operations after a technical glitch was discovered during a routine safety check in the morning. Nobody was hurt in this incident, and the ride is closed indefinitely until the issue/glitch has been resolved.

Official Statement posted by Resorts World Sentosa on their Facebook page

Dear fans,

During our daily pre-opening testing this morning prior to opening to the public, we found a technical problem on one of the ride vehicles and we are investigating at the Battlestar Galactica attraction. In keeping with our commitment to employee and guest safety, the ride was immediately closed by Universal Studios Singapore and will not be operating until we determine the cause and solution. Experts from the ride’s design, engineering and manufacturing company are assisting our own experienced ride and show team in the inspection and any necessary action to resolve the situation. No one was injured and all proper authorities were notified, which is a standard Universal Studios Singapore operating policy.

Employee and guest safety is our number one priority at Universal Studios Singapore. Every ride or attraction meets or exceeds industry guidelines and undergoes construction inspections and approvals of Singapore regulatory agencies for theme park rides. Additionally, all rides goes through a daily series of detailed inspections and testing before the park opens to ensure that all of the ride’s safety systems are functioning properly. No ride will be operated at any time unless it has passed all daily inspections and tests.

At this time, the ride may be closed for several days or longer to perform a complete analysis. We understand some guests may be disappointed; however, the safety of our employees and guests remains our top priority.

While this is definitely very disappointing to those planning to visit the park, and even more so for people who have bought tickets in advanced hence unable to do a refund or change of date, we think that such safety issues should be treated with utmost attention.

Although no extra information (other than ‘technical problem on one of the ride vehicles’) was given at this point of time as to what is the technical glitch, one interesting note is that this is Vekoma’s (the builder of the ride) first suspended roller coaster design they have built. We hope this has got nothing to do with the roller coaster’s design and it is just a purely a technical glitch that could be resolved without any major overhaul needed. Nonetheless visitor safety should always never be compromised and we hope that the team does a thorough check before reopening the ride again.

Opening Day Tickets SOLD OUT

RWS’ website was brought down to its knees today when the whole swamp of Singaporeans logged on to its website to snag opening day tickets to Universal Studios Singapore. As of 8pm today, all tickets to the opening day on March 18 are sold out. Tickets for the first opening weekend are selling out fast as we speak.

We wished the RWS team would have better anticipated the response and demand that it was going to get when they announced that they are going to release the tickets today. But they were quick enough to communicate with the public via Facebook status updates and also setting up other channels for the purchasing of tickets. Visitors experiencing difficulty buying online can send their reservations to reservations@rwsentosa.com or call the hotline at +65 65778888. The team will try their very best to respond within 48 hours upon receipt. Alternatively, visitors may also wish to purchase the tickets directly at the box office.

One interesting thing to note is that during the soft opening phase, the park will only open from 9am to 6pm, instead of the 9am to 9pm indicated on the website. Also, out of the 24 rides, only 18 will be opened on Day 1. We’re not too sure the rational behind the shortened operating hours and also how the fireworks show we are all hearing about is going to fit in. Nonetheless, stay with us as we get more updates of the park’s opening.

KB Creative Advisors - the guys behind what you see at Universal Studios Singapore

Seems like the Universal Creative team contracted KB Creative Advisors (the same guys who did Universal Studios Japan) to be in charge of the creative design of Universal Studios Singapore.

According to its website “KB Creative Advisors (KBCA) is the Executive Design Firm in charge of the creative design of Universal Studios Singapore. Representing Genting’s Resorts World at Sentosa, KBCA is providing master plan refinement, facility planning and design, facade, area development, environmental graphics, show, and interior design, and on-site art direction for the project, consisting of 24 shows, rides and attractions, 25 stores and restaurants. Scheduled for completion in early 2010, Universal Studios Singapore is a US $1.4bn part of Genting’s US $6.2bn resort addition to Singapore’s Sentosa Island.”

Hop on to KB Creative Advisors for more >

Universal Studios Singapore Preview Tickets Sold Out!

We’ve got news from Resorts World at Sentosa’s Facebook page that the preview tickets have all been sold out. USSi was lucky enough to manage to snag a pair of tickets to the preview. While the USSi team have work commitments and CNY visiting to do during this period, we can only go for the preview this coming Friday. So keep a look out for USSi’s report of the theme park this next week.

RWS announces opening date for Casino and USS Preview

While we hear a collective sigh across all eager Universal Studios Singapore fans who have been following the development of this theme park, Resorts World Sentosa just announced the opening of the casino first and the theme park opening next. This is contrary to all the reports that have been swirling around that the theme park will open before Chinese New Year/Valentine’s Day on the 14th of February.

This is still true for the least as the theme park will be opened for public preview from 14th Feb onwards. The gist is, you just have to pay $10 (which is fair enough), and you get to have a look at the theme park, which has yet to be opened to the public’s eye. The rides will not be operating, and you will not be able to go on any of them. There will be shops and restaurants in the theme park that will be opened and that is just about it. We think that being able to just get into the theme park and see how it is to be like before it opens to the crowd is good enough already. The park will only operate from 5pm onwards until 9pm.

Preview tours will take place from 14 Feb to 21 Feb, and you can only buy tickets at the ticketing booths outside Universal Studios Singapore. You might also want to take note that you can only buy tickets for tomorrow’s tour, which means to say you can’t get to purchase same-day tickets at the ticketing booths.

Read More at Straits Times

Theme Park brochures

One thing we love to collect at USSi are theme park brochures around the world and while we are at that, RWS have already started putting Universal Studios Singapore’s brochures on its premises. Pictures of it coming up soon!

Confirmed: USS had an Employees Preview today

We were tipped off by some readers that Universal Studios Singapore will be holding an Employees Preview on January 31 2010 and it is confirmed today that this rumour is indeed true.

I was there personally today at Resorts World Sentosa, and I was able to visit FestiveWalk (which by the way is accessible to public now) and managed to catch a glimpse of the famous Universal globe at the entrance of the theme park.

Employees of RWS, who were wearing their passes, were seen walking in and out of the entrance, carrying Universal Studios Store shopping bags. At the ticket booths, tickers showing “Employees Preview” were flashing.

Another thing to note is that the BattleStar Galactica rides now longer have dummies oboard. Could all these point to the possibility of the theme park getting almost ready to open its doors to the public?