Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Orlando Confirmed?

Awhile back I wrote an article about the rumors that were swirling that the Back to the Future ride at Universal Studios theme park in Orlando would be replaced by a ride based on the popular and long-running animated series The Simpsons. Since then, the Back to the Future Ride-one of the most popular attractions at the theme park for years-has been retired. Now comes word that the rumors may be much more than that.

L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke, using that time-honored method of citing unnamed sources, revealed the Simpsons ride will be called "Travel with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie" and it will essentially be the same kind of ride as Back to the Future. That is, the Simpsons ride will be a motion simulated ride in which visitors board a stationary "car" that shifts in conjunction with the camera movements of an animated film projected onto a screen. The brain will process the coordinated movements so as to trick the viewer into thinking they are actually in transit.

The original title of this Imax format film was to be the "Simpsons: Sprint Through Springfield." Apparently, some of the suits at Universal Orlando must have gotten convinced that people not fervently and fanatically tied to the show wouldn't understand that Springfield is the town in which the show takes place and might think the ride was about O.J.'s search for the "real killers." As a result, the fun and alliterative original title has been changed to the utterly lackluster and uncreative "Travel with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie." Obviously, visitors are hardly going to come to the park and say, "Hey, lets start with Travel with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie." They'll probably say, "Hey, let's start with the Simpsons ride!" Even that utilitarian description is preferable to the execrable title Universal has apparently decided on. Going back to Spring Through Springfield would be even better.