Everything’s big about Universal Orlando’s opening-in-2016 Skull Island: Reign of Kong

Jim Hill

9 years ago

For nearly 30 years now — ever since King Kong Encounter
was first added to Universal Studios Hollywood's tram tour back in June of 1986
and that 7 ton, 30 foot-tall animatronic figure began blasting tourists with
his banana breath — theme park goers
have been going ape for this massive movie monster.

Which is why — when the East Coast version of this Hollywood
must-see threw open its gates on June
7, 1990 — one of Universal Studios Florida's opening day
attractions was Kongfrontation. This time around, though, it was a pair of
Kings that menaced the crowds. With each of these 37 foot-tall, 13,000 pound mechanical
creatures attempting to swat an overhead tram full of terrified tourists out of
the sky.

Sadly, Kongfrontation closed its doors back in September
2002 so that its huge show building could then become home to USF's first-ever
indoor roller coaster, Revenge of the Mummy. And as for the oversized
animatronic ape which used to thrill tram riders at Universal Studios Hollywood
… He was lost back when a three alarm fire broke out on the backlot back in
June of 2008. And by the time that conflagration was contacted, King Kong
Encounter had burned to the ground. Along with the original version of Courthouse
Square from "Back to the Future" and
most of USH's New York Street.

But as they say, you can't keep a good man … er … ape
down. Which is why — as soon as that backlot fire at Universal Studios
Hollywood was snuffed out — Universal Creative (i.e., the arm of Universal
Parks & Resorts which designs all of the rides and attractions for
NBCUniversal's theme parks) — began making plans for the return of the King.
Using Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of this cinematic classic as their
jumping-off point, they added King Kong: 360 3-D to the USH tram tour. Which —
thanks to 3-D HD imagery which was then projected onto two 200-foot wide
screens (not to mention a tram motion base plus some wind & water effects)
— gives Universal Studio Hollywood visitors a view to Kong battling a trio of
V-Rexes.

Mind you, as impressive as King Kong: 360 3-D may be, it's
still only a two-and-a-half minute vignette on USH's tram tour. So when
Universal Creative decided that it was time for Kong to make his dramatic
return to the Orlando market, they
didn't just go king-sized with Skull Island:
Reign of Kong. They decided to make this brand-new immersive ride-thru
experience for Universal's Islands of Adventure genuinely massive.

Photo by Jim Hill

"Everything about this ride is going to be big. Take —
for instance — Reign of Kong's ride vehicle. Which is 40 feet-long," Mike
West, the executive producer of this still-under-construction IOA attraction,
stated. "And as for the ride itself … These days, the average theme park
ride is only 4 minutes in length. Whereas Skull
Island: Reign of Kong is going to
be just under six minutes in length. Five minutes and 50 seconds, to be exact.
So we're going to give our guests an exceptionally long ride through a highly
immersive environment. And I know that they won't be disappointed when they
encounter all of the new technology, new tricks & fun things that we're
going to install along Reign of Kong's ride track."

Late last month, the Huffington Post was one of just a
handful of news outlets that got to visit the Skull
Island: Reign of Kong worksite. And
as 300 workmen & artisans climbed scaffolding to finish sculpting &
painting the Great Wall that not only sets the scene for this
opening-in-the-Summer-of-2016 thrill ride but also hides its truly huge show
building, West walked us through this attraction's opening moments.

"Coming off of Islands of Adventure's main promenade,
the guests will first pass the Skull Island:
Reign of Kong marquee and then walk through this attraction's main entrance.
Which is this archway that's capped off with a giant stone version of King
Kong's skull. From here, the guests will find themselves in a dense jungle
surrounded by some rather dead looking plants. And as they make their way
through this jungle, the guests will eventually come across some crates &
supplies & things. Which suggests that an expedition has just landed on Skull
Island," Mike continued.

As Universal Orlando guests make their way through the queue
area which winds back & forth through this expedition's base camp, they'll
then get a lot of Skull Island: Reign of Kong's backstory through a radio
broadcast. An NBC news broadcast from the 1930s, to be exact (Which — given
that Universal Parks & Resorts is the theme park subsidiary of
NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast — only makes sense), complete with authentic-to-the-period
musical interludes from the NBC Orchestra.

"Just beyond the base camp, you'll see the ruins of
this ancient temple. As you make your way along this part of the queue, you'll
eventually enter those ruins. And you go deeper & deeper into this
supposedly abandoned temple; you'll then get a sense of the native presence on Skull
Island. You'll also meet a couple
of characters from the expedition who will then fill you in on even more of
Reign of Kong's backstory before you then continue on to this attraction's load
area," West explained.

And the entire time that guests are making their way through
Skull Island:
Reign of Kong's elaborately themed queue area, they'll be moving from large
open areas to tight spaces. Places that at first confine these theme park
visitors and then suddenly open up. Mind you, this was a deliberate design
choice on Universal Creative's part. All with the idea of this thrill ride's
exterior & interior queue space should properly establish a tone for the
show that's to follow.

Photo by Jim Hill

"Once they get to Reign of Kong's load area, the guests
hear one more radio broadcast. Which is this transmission from the expedition's
base camp. Which is somewhere deep inside the jungles of Skull
Island. This transmission is
supposed to tell our driver where he or she needs to go once we get out in the
field. More to the point, it hints at what the guests are actually going to
encounter once they finally climb onboard Reign of Kong' s ride vehicle,"
Mike said.

"And once these guests take their seats, this massive
ride vehicle will then come roaring out of the ruins. It'll bounce along this
crumpled temple road before then making a hard right turn. And as our ride
vehicle approaches the Great Wall, you'll hear drums beating. You'll see these
flames flaring up outside the wall. And then — as these massive temple doors
open …," West teased.

It was then that this Universal Creative rep got kind of
cagey. Refusing to go into great detail about what guests will actually
encounter once their ride vehicle actually enters Skull
Island: Reign of Kong's massive
show building.

Photo by Jim Hill

"What I can tell you is that — once our guests enter
this attraction — they'll then go through about five or six scenes that are
filled with foreboding dinosaurs and creatures from the underworld that they've
never seen before," Mike stated. "Everything's big and kind of
overwhelming on Reign of Kong. And I think that Universal Orlando visitors are
going to be totally amazed by what they encounter on this ride. It's really
going to be an incredible experience."

But what exactly is this experience going to be like? Is Skull
Island: Reign of Kong a clone of
USH's King Kong: 360 3-D? Will it continue the storyline of Peter Jackson's
2005 "King Kong" remake? Or does Reign of Kong take its inspiration
from that "Skull Island"
movie which Warner Bros. & Legendary Pictures are currently shooting in Hawaii?
West insists that the proper answer to these questions is "None of the
above."

"This ride is really its own entity. Look, there are
obviously some things — the sculptures in our rockwork, for example — that we
clearly carried over from Peter's 'Kong' movie. But this attraction is different
from that film. It's also different from King Kong: 360 3-D in Hollywood,"
West explained. "Sure, we've taken a few elements from King Kong: 360
3-D. But Skull
Island: Reign of Kong is really its
own land. More to the point, with this ride, we're bringing our guests to Skull
Island for the very first time.
With our previous Kong projects, King Kong has come to the human world. So
we've taken you to places like New York City
where Kong has then gone on a rampage. But this time around, we're taking our
guests into Kong's world. A place where he's in complete control."

"Look, King Kong has obviously been a huge part of
Universal history both in films and in theme park attractions for many years
now. And with Skull Island:
Reign of Kong, we're looking to do some next generation storytelling with this
screen legend. Not have our guests passively experience this attraction but
actually insert them into the story. So that they can then become part of the
Kong legend as they go through this ride," Mike stated.

"And how exactly is Universal Creative going to pull
that off?," you ask. The answer to that question will be revealed in the
Summer of 2016, when the very first ride vehicle rolls out of that elaborate
temple ruin and then rumbles through the gates of Skull
Island: Reign of Kong at
Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park.

This story was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on November 6, 2015