This is a rather long review, more of a story about how our experiences were.. so enjoy! All in all we had 3 rides. 1 Wednesday and 2 Thursday (6-22/23). I will intermix the three rides in the review since each time I saw something new.
Its been over a week since we rode and are finally headed back to reality
We had a blast at Universal. First off, we are not screens people simply because where we go does not have them – so take this review from the standpoint of a 3d/screens newbie! Our experience was limited to rides like soarin, fantasmic and to a lesser extent the old Days of Thunder at Kings island with the motion seats.. although those moved pretty cool – anyway for my money, Kong was awesome – simply put! I would say it was my favorite ride. In fact, we enjoyed all the rides, Especially Forbidden Journey, Transformers, Spidey, minons, etc., but Kong has special place because I have followed it for a while and the fact that it did not wear me out in terms of motion, The other rides took a toll on me and I needed a little recovery time to ride again – but not with kong, I was ready to roll as soon as it was done. Got in line Friday with the whole family but the line was already long and 1 truck had caution tape on the door actuators and since me and the boy already had 3 rides, the other two were ok skipping it J
I have been following this since we booked the trip in November and it has been cool to watch it develop. The pictures and videos did not do it justice. Seeing it up close and in person was a sight to behold. Our first day there was Wednesday of last week that saw pretty regular softs around 5. We had left Cincinnati at 2am for the 5am flight from Columbus – and hit the parks hard, so we were tired but at 4:45 or so we headed over to Kong and jumped in the line at the extended queue. We saw people going thru the extended queue side entrance and got in line but they then directed us to the main entrance where we turned left and went through the queue surrounding the outside scene. Luckily we did not have to go back to the extended queue.. the line was moving well but only 1 truck had cycled. The level of detail and view you get from the queue portion that is along the outside scene is awesome – and when you see the truck for the first time, man is it a big mama jamma! Very impressive. The AA driver looks ok, but you can definitely tell its an AA.
We stopped moving at the first drinking fountain about 5 minutes later.. still no trucks.. At that point the line started to creep along we eventually stopped at the covered part of the queue where you are up against the outdoor track where the trucks first enter. We were there about 15-20 minutes without moving.. during that time an empty truck cycled and everyone went nuts. Every few minutes the brief technical delay notice would play over the speakers. After another 15 minutes the line started to move, probably just from people exiting. By this time we had made it to the entrance to the indoor section. Then the “extended delay” announcement came.. 45 minutes
that got us a few more switchbacks into the interior. The first interior room is not much to look at – other than the detail and a few snake dudes. After about more 30 minutes trucks started cycling and people were going nuts. You thought we all were getting government cheese! After about 15 more minutes with trucks cycling reliably every 3 or so minutes (based on the cheers) the line started to move and move quick. We raced thru the second room and hallways, again the detail was incredible, especially all the skull heads and snake dude statues. Saw a few of the boo holes. No ugly’s in them. Then we got to the witch room.. Very cool – again the detail, AA, everything was top notch. Luckily people slowed down enough that we caught the end part of the show where the flames fire up.. man that AA is spot on. Headed up the ramp and an ugly was there jumping out at people. Scared the crap out of those around us. I was laughing at them so the ugly and I high fived.. good to see that interaction. From there we were into the final room moving quickly. The detail in the final room was spot on. From the radio recordings, to the AA slug to the moving boxes with the live critters… Just great! Even the CM’s were playing up the tour part. Thanks to the advice here we headed right and I ended up sitting row 7 in the middle.
Our second ride on Thursday we got there at 4:50 and they let us directly in to the extended queue. It looked like a long damn line.. but trucks were cycling reliably every 3 minutes with VIPs or the like on there… about 5-10 per truck. At 5:10 they let us in and we were off to the races. 10 minutes later we were loading! On the second ride we were far right in 4th last row? I know it was back there... hit it again and moved quickly to the witch room where we then moved at a normal pace and got to experience the whole Witch scene,, she is creepy and appears to look directly at you. Spent more time in the final room and got to appreciate the level of detail, especially with the slug. Rode far left side on ride 3 – on of the middle rows I believe. Loading was smooth and quick each time. All three times, there were no CM’s holding up the doors at loading. At the unload, on ride 1 they all came out and told everyone not to move.. they watched the doors and when they stopped shaking after going up they said we could exit.. there was a CM there with the stick
On rides 2 and 3 the next day, there were no sticks and we hopped up as soon as the ride stopped. The unload area is nothing special, but loading is kind of cool, like you see in the original video Universal put out, they shine a blueish light to make you think you are in some sort of cave or protected area. Almost Raiders of the lost ark esk..
First ride - We get on and away we go with a large cheer. Our driver was Kalana, but I had a hard time hearing her. As we made our way outside the folks in line were cheering like crazy – same on the truck too! The outside is impressive. It rides bigger than it looks. You felt like you were out there for a while. As we approached the gates, the flames shot up – and you can definitely feel the heat! (Worked like that all three times) As we entered the temple, being on the left gives you a good view of the skeleton but it was hard to see the bats – the bats were ok, nothing special but at least something to look at. Middle was ok for both. The first scene is clear to see and I felt like part of the action. I believe all the effects worked for us all three times. What I didn’t pay attention to but realized on rides 2-3 was that there was the other vehicle that takes off right before us after whats her name gets snatched.. more on that later. As we moved to the bug pit scene I thought that was well done. Being in the middle and left kind of takes away from it since there are so many damn bugs on the screen. On ride two we were on the right end. Man, do you see a lot more – you see the bugs coming from everywhere since you can look to the top of the screen. You also feel like you are part of the action, especially when the big claw grabs whats her name. Moving to the main scene, that was fantastic.. you really feel the hits and motion. For example, when Kong is punching the t-rex, you get sprayed and the truck moves at the right time. When you get knocked off the cliff.. you felt like you were falling.. Very well done. The effects were awesome in each seat. However, on the right, just like the bug scene you can see Kong come bounding over the top kind of sets it up a little better in my opinion.
However, on the left, you see the other truck and I thought to myself in the first ride.. where in the hell did that come from.. then it made sense on rides two and three – you were following them out.
Finally, I was ok with the story and didn’t feel it jumped too bad. Although it would have been nice to see how whats her name was saved instead of just hearing her voice on the radio. On rides 2 and three we had Jinx and Doc? Cant remember.. I know Jinx for sure. He was much clearer and I liked the New York back story. The only disappointment was after the kong scene you get the blank wall for a few seconds before the Kong AA.. seemed a little out of place. The kong AA was awesome – moved fluidly and was loud.. very nice ending!
Funny side note, on the first ride I was slouching in the seat so I tried to sit upright - ended up lifting my butt up (not intentionally) .. and sure enough, Kalana yelled at me
What a fun ride! Obviously some Universal veterans have a different view and that’s ok.. This universal newbie loved it. We rode most rides 4 times – 5 for forbidden journey and gringots over the three days, so our level of appreciation is still that of a kid on Christmas with a new toy!
Thanks to the advice here from everyone. Already looking forward to the next visit whenever it may be. In fact, ill hang around so I can keep up with the happenings!
Pros
Level of detail in the queue
Uglys in the queue (scareactors) /Witch
Motion effects; tram falling, getting hit by t-rex
Motion effects; Wind feeling when moving, blood from the creatures getting shot, etc.
Outside scene
Sheer size and fluidity of the Kong AA