Apparently, the Shrek ride took over for the Hitchcock one; a pitty, that was really interesting and had neat interactive productions on how the effects were done, including audience participation. It was there that I learned he used chocolate syrup for the famous Psycho shower scene in lieu of blood as it showed up better on film in black-and-white. The other new ride based on some Dexter's Laboratory rip-off, "Jimmy Neutron" replaces the Hanna Barbara ride. This is one that could definatly go without too much being missed. It was a very sloppy and poorly done watch-the-screen-while-we-move-your-seats kinda thing. Really bad to be honest. The only fun part was the sets that you could take pictures on. (There's a photo somewhere around here of me and a friend on a full-size version of the Flintstones' car).
Everything still seems to be mum's the word on what exactly is taking over Kong's massive soundstage. Rumors fly of a rollercoaster type ride based on The Mummy or The Scorpian King but no official word. I remember riding Kong - several times over the years in fact. The ride itself was a lot less stellar then it's marketing. Man, I remember those billboards all along I-4 though, which had a HUGE Kong destroying the sign or roaring in anger. They really hyped that ride and it really had a distinct impression on what Universal Studios was all about back then. All these old movie-based rides and movie-history attractions. It all fit in with their themed areas - like Kong being in the New York part - and it all just kinda worked. It was neat.
I remember the first time we went to ride Kong. It was still pretty new - the whole park was - and the lines were insane. We kept walking past throughout the day and the line was way outside the building, wrapping around on itself the length of the sidewalk. (The facade of the building was like an old NY theater.) When the line finally got inside, we thought for sure that we would have a quick wait. Little did we know that even inside the building, there was something like two hours of wait time to be had.
I have to give them credit though, the ride wait line was some of the most detailed and creatively done I've ever seen. It was all set up like a New York subway - complete with posters for movies and tv's broadcasting emergancy news "reports" of an escaped monster destroying the city. They had graphiti on the walls and gum and gunk like you'd find in the real NY subway. You walked past vendors and "shops" selling newspapers and magazines and got to peek into store fronts and windows. It was just all done with such extraordinary level of detail, it was a peice of art. There's some photos I found here.
The ride itself was silly and campy, with you "evacuating" the city in a cable car/tram type thing, high above the city and Kong narrowly missing you, and your daring escape as he swipes at the car and you watch the fight against him. I don't remember too terribly much as there wasn't a lot to comment about it, but it was fun. (Though, not worth two hours in line kinda fun). I remember another time I went, there was literally no line at all, so when we got off, we ran back in and ran through the switchback line and right back to the line with about a two minute wait. When you got off the ride, you could get your photo taken with Kong, but you had to pay for it and I never got a chance to. (Either the folks didn't want to shell out the $12.95 or whatever, or I didn't have it) At one point, I got an annual pass (one of those pay one day, get a year for $20 more thing) and I went even when I didn't have cash, just to go do something.
So...just a weird memory and bit of sorrow over a not-that-amazing-but-still-a-major-staple ride. While looking for more photos to share with people who never got to ride it, I found a few more good links, so here they are:
-- Kongfrontation - Pics, ride details, more. Some great stuff here.
-- Blast from the past: 78 Kong ride photos Woah.
-- Kongfrontation pics and video of the line and ride
Sad when things you remember go away and you know you'll never see it again. Doesn't matter if it's a silly ride or not, it's kinda a reminder of how things always change - whether you want them to or not.
~ flowers bloom near Memory and Dream
at 6/18/2003 01:33:28 AM ~
~
