It’s summer time, and in the blazing heat there’s nothing better than a fun, air-conditioned
dark ride. But there are some cool attractions that still demand that you bring the heat.
I love the Men in Black movies, especially the first two, but whether you’re a fan or not, the
Universal Studios Orlando attraction, Men in Black: Alien Attack is total blast. And you get
to use blasters. Part dark ride, part competition, you board your vehicle and show off your
alien hunting abilities as you shoot at an insane assembly of alien targets, as you try to
impress Zed for your own black suit and glasses.
Side Note: Famed Hollywood creature designer Neville Page served as
Concept Designer on Men in Black: Alien Attack. Page also designed the
Banshees of Avatar, and served as a judge for 10 seasons on SyFy’s popular
makeup effects competition, Face/Off.
With the M.I.B. returning to movie theaters with the recent release of Men in Black:
International, let’s slide into the Tracker Vault, Big Willie style, and set the controls back
two years, to the time Tim and Jenn got jiggy with it, taking on the Universal Orlando Social
Media team in a friendly competition of blasting hostile aliens.
It began innocently enough when Tim responded to a Tweet by the official Universal
account bragging about their Men in Black: Alien Attack prowess that turned into one of the
funnier threads in theme park twitter history. By the end of the exchange, a date and time
had been set for the showdown of the galaxy.
Before you knew it, there were three teams involved in this battle royal for alien
dominance. Tim and Jenn – or should I say Agent T and Agent J – assembled their squad to
take on the Universal team, and a team of Universal Annual Passholders. Like true
competitors, Tim and Jenn didn’t rest on their laurels, but instead trained hard for epic
match.
“Galaxy Defender” is a title earned, not given. Tim not only practiced with multiple spins on
the attraction, he went home and “studied” for tips on how to achieve a higher score.
Battling the worst scum of the universe is as much a cerebral game as a physical one. You
can almost here Rocky’s theme playing. I know that mixing movie metaphors but hey, it’s a
movie theme park.
And then the day of the competition came . . .
I won’t give away any spoilers. You have to watch the vlog to see who reigned supreme
when it came to defending the galaxy, and which team turned out to be full of “Bug Bait.”
What matters is the event was an incredibly fun time for everybody involved, as well as for
everyone following along on social media. As Tim says, a valiant effort was put forth by
every competitor participating, and they all remained friends.
Next time you get to Universal Orlando, see how you fare, taking on aliens and bugs. You
never know. Wrack up a high enough score, you may be approached to join a secret agency
defending the planet. Or, you may just be asked to stare directly at a flashy thing. Maybe it
already happened . . .
