This is the first ride ever where I deliberately avoided watching any on-ride videos before I hopped on board. I was shocked that the wait times were consistently under an hour. In fact, most of my waits were ten to fifteen minutes. (Maybe people are too afraid to go on it...or even too afraid to step foot into Dark Universe? I’ve heard the likely reason for the low wait times is the ride is ridiculously efficient.).
Regardless, we wind our way up to the main doors of Frankenstein's Manor. The place has stood abandoned for decades, it's crumbling facade a constant reminder to those living in Darkmoor of the terrible legacy of Dr. Henry Frankenstein and the horrors he wrought upon the village of Darkmoor. Lately, it would appear that a new character has taken up residence in the manor. A young woman named Victoria who claims to be the great-great granddaughter of Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Her name is a reference to the first name of Frankenstein in the novel, Victor). Victoria and her assistants have been conducting experiments within the manor and Victoria herself has been in the process of investigating and exploring the undercroft and catacombs that lie under Darkmoor.
Upon stepping foot inside the manor, look down. Notice the entrance has a large carpeted area that likely is supposed to be a welcome mat. Be a courteous guest and wipe your shoes before entering the manor. In the rotunda are two large spiral staircases adorned with two large, ornate and frightening paintings. At the base of the steps stand two imposing corpse-esque statues. At the top of the staircase is a painting of Dr. Henry Frankenstein from the original Frankenstein film.
Before ascending the staircase, you take a sharp left down a creepy hallway which has the phrase "Who's the true monster?" illuminated in blacklight. After passing through the hallway, you enter the living room which has a comfy sofa situated inside near a roaring fire. Atop the hearth is an actual picture of Henry and Elizabeth from the original classic. In the fire you can see a newspaper with the headline "Shadows over Darkmoor". In the living room there is a large container for organ storage/transport, above which a family tree of the Frankensteins sits on the wall. Victoria has crudely stapled a picture of herself to the middle of it, obscuring whoever was there originally.
In the next room, there stands a glass case in which the preserved corpse of the Boris Karloff Frankenstein's Monster lies (with a pair of undies on to keep him decent). A scanning effect triggers often, analyzing the monster and its anatomy. In this same room are grotesque spinal, cranial, and musculature structures preserved and on display. After this, we get to ascend the staircase, moving alongside those frightening paintings and past the portrait of Henry. We enter into another room that houses an old-school projector. On one wall are tacked black-and-white photos of the classic Universal Monsters. The projector is playing found footage of Victoria's assistants hunting down and ultimately being attacked by each of the classic Universal Monsters. They were apparently successful in their attempts to capture the monsters, but their success came with great casualties, as you will see.
After this, we are ushered into the first pre-show where the delightful freak Igor greets us and taunts us, revealing that the path ahead is filled with danger and that he will be piloting our Catacombs Navigation Unit before letting us in to see the good doctor. In other words, we are in the best of hands. In the second pre-show are animatronics of Victoria Frankenstein and her Monster, both of which are absolutely mind-blowing. Victoria Frankenstein's Monster actually takes several steps forward, and the facial detailing on Victoria Frankenstein is un-freaking-believable. She is easily the most lifelike animatronic I have ever seen in my entire life. You have to keep reminding yourself this is an actual animatronic and not a CGI screen you are looking at. You have to see it for yourself to fully understand.
Victoria reveals that she intends to reclaim the name of Frankenstein, and has been experimenting with taming/controlling each of the classic Universal Monsters. Quasimodo, The Phantom of the Opera, The Brides of Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Imhotep/The Mummy, and The Wolf Man have all fallen to the ambition and hubris of Victoria. Only one refuses to heel: Dracula. Victoria has invited all of us here to bear witness to her ultimate triumph, the final submission of Dracula to her will. Her monologuing complete, Victoria sends us into the catacombs to meet her for the final experiment.
On the way there we pass by a room that holds Dracula's opened coffin, and several artifacts that belong to Eric/The Phantom of the Opera (a violin, a sheet music holder, a picture of Christine Daae from the silent movie), a burst open cage that likely contained The Wolf Man, and a sarcophagus for Imhotep/The Mummy. After this we walk down some catacombs with skeletons or corpses in repose and that leads us directly to the loading area. Our Catacombs Navigation Units are Kuka Arms, essentially the same exact ride system from Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Igor takes control of our vehicle and within seconds of Victoria starting the experiment, Dracula flips the tables and wrestles control away from her, freeing himself and all the other monsters (Potentially even placing them directly under his control). With all hell literally breaking loose and the Monsters staging a full-on violent revolt, it's up to Victoria and Igor to find a way to stop the monsters from escaping and save their guests.
Monsters Unchained is basically a re-invention of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Gone are motion simulator screens, replaced by an over-abundance of animatronics and regular screens (similar to the vault screens directly before Voldemort and Nagini's attack in Escape From Gringotts). Each monster gets at least one fully-realized, hyper-realistic, intimidatingly large animatronic except for Quasimodo and The Brides, who are more static figures with limited motion. The Wolf Man gets two (The first Wolf Man was broken for all of my at least 5 ride-thrus, so it seems he might have been permanently shut off. Let's hope that's not the case), Drac gets three.
A good deal of the Animatronics on the ride are large (I'm talking at least nine or ten feet tall). Some get closer to your ride vehicles than others do, but you never feel in danger of them being able to touch you, though their sheer size is enough to make you shrink back a bit in your seat. The movement profile for the Catacombs Navigation Units are at least on par with Forbidden Journey, very possibly more intense. It's a very impressive and cool ride, but unfortunately it's not quite perfect.
Some areas are too bright and you can make out the warehouse walls. There are other areas with egregious and immersion breaking black curtains. They placed some chains in front of a few of the curtains, but this is essentially an obvious/glaring band-aid. Luckily, Monsters Unchained is so incredibly cool and wildly ambitious that it isn't too hard to overlook these issues.
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment is not the best ride in the park, but it is undoubtedly the coolest. The queue for Monsters Unchained is easily the best in all of Epic. It also has the largest number of animatronics we've gotten in a dark ride in the modern day, as well as the most lifelike and realistic animatronics you'll find in Orlando. In other words: It's a do-not-miss.
One of my favorite things about this ride, is that it presents you with a question in the queue: Is Victoria Frankenstein a hero, a villain/monster, or something in between? The name of the ride itself might imply that it's actually Victoria who is the one being tested. Upon exiting, the attraction hasn't given us a definitive answer. Instead, it provides clues throughout and allows riders to form their own conclusions. Personally, I think she is doing good, but despite her claiming altruistic intentions, there is the implication that her actions are coming from a place of self-serving, ego, and a quest for power and control. I'm not sure if she's definitively bad or good, as there is agenuine case to be made on each side.
Regardless, Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment is everything fans of the classic Universal Monsters have wanted. I don't personally think it's scary (I found the Dementors in Forbidden Journey to be scarier than the monsters in Unchained), but more-so atmospheric, creepy, and freaky. For your first ride, I strongly recommend you wait in the regular line despite how long it may or may not be. The queue is easily on par with Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, Kong, and Battle at the Ministry. You fully believe you are walking through Frankenstein's Manor.