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SINGAPORE : Final safety checks are underway as Universal Studios Singapore gets ready for its soft opening on Thursday.
After months of waiting, the public will finally be able to go on the rides.
The Universal Studios theme park includes existing crowd pleasers like its Water World show. Members of the public can also check out the attraction based on the animation film Madagascar, the only one in the world
18 of the 24 attractions planned for the park are either newly created or adapted for the Singapore park.
No theme park would be without a rollercoaster, and the Battlestar Galactica trumps them all. It is Asia's first duelling rollercoaster, and the world's tallest too.
At several points, riders on the two rollercoasters whizz by one another with just inches to spare. It is certainly not for the faint-hearted!
When MediaCorp journalists visited the studio on Tuesday, some rides were closed briefly due to technical and safety glitches. The park said this could happen from time to time, lasting anywhere between a few minutes and a few hours. But it expects the rides to be fully operational come opening day.
John Hallenbeck, director of Operations, Universal Studios Singapore, said: "We've been testing attractions for months, and that's just part of the process. And it's not just the testing phase, but every day every attraction gets looked at - not only from a technical or mechanical standpoint, but also from an operational standpoint.
"As far as the processes that we have (are concerned), checklist, everything gets put together to ensure that we're 100 per cent safe. There are times when attractions will have technical difficulties - that's just the nature of theme parks and Universal Studios Singapore won't be an exception on that."
Robin Goh, assistant director for Communications at Resorts World Sentosa, said attractions may be closed to make "creative adjustments". "For example, we have to make sure that the dinosaurs, for example, at Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure pop out at a certain time. We expect the park to be fully operational and fully running by Thursday."
Tour agents said packages to the theme park are selling fast. And observers believe spinoffs to Singapore's tourism sector will be considerable.
Travel agent Eric Seetoh said: "Usually tourists to Singapore, they would only stay two to three days. But nowadays, I notice that because of the theme park, they're willing to stay in Singapore for more than four days or even five days."
About 4.5 million visitors are expected to the park each year.
- CNA/al
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