Yes, those chants of Kong, Kong, Kong completely immerse me in the attraction.....By the way, during my first few days this trip, before we moved from Sapphire to Portofino & Express passes, we did standby with short lines so they didn't do the two split lines for boarding. We got stuck on row 1 and row 2. I can now see why anyone riding this only once that was assigned those seats would give a lackluster review. You actually can't see or experience about half of the effects. The only plus is you can see the AA driver, which is actually a better quality AA than I expected. So, if you are one of those people that have only been on this ride once or twice and got stuck in the first three or four rows, I would strongly suggest you ride again and request a middle or back row. The difference in ride experience is "substantial'. I've now rode Kong over three dozen times, and it holds up really well to repeat rides. Having the outside portion open though, is crucial to the ride's enjoyment, as I've said before.