Skull Island: Reign of Kong

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Skull Island: Reign of Kong
Universal Islands of Adventure
Area	Skull Island
Coordinates	28°28′09″N 81°28′23″W / 28.469042°N 81.473035°W / 28.469042; -81.473035
Status	Operating
Soft opening date	June 9, 2016 (2016-06-09)
Opening date	July 13, 2016 (2016-07-13)
Ride statistics
Attraction type	Trackless[1] 3D dark ride
Manufacturer	Oceaneering International
Designer	Universal Creative
Theme	King Kong
Vehicle type	Safari truck
Riders per vehicle	66
Rows	11
Riders per row	6
Duration	6:00
Height restriction	36 in (91 cm)
Supervision	Required if under 48 inches (120 cm)
Universal Express available
Single rider line available

Skull Island: Reign of Kong is a trackless dark ride located at Universal Islands of Adventure theme park within Universal Orlando Resort. Universal Creative based its design on various films in the King Kong franchise and consulted with Peter Jackson, who directed the 2005 film King Kong, during the initial phase of the project.^[2] The ride officially opened to the public on July 13, 2016, which was preceded by a series of soft openings held the previous month.^[3]

History[edit]

Construction on a brand new King Kong attraction began in March 2014. It was going to be built between the Jurassic Park and Toon Lagoon areas, as an expansion for Islands of Adventure.^[4]

Skull Island: Reign of Kong^[5] was originally planned to soft open in late 2015, but this was eventually delayed to June 9, 2016.^[6] The ride opened to the public the following month. The 3D part of the ride has been removed ^[7]

Summary[edit]

Queue[edit]

Guests enter under a giant sculpture of King Kong. Guests start to proceed into a line outside of the temple where they can hear radio broadcast advertising the expedition group and playing music. They then proceed into the temple of the natives, where many skulls line the walls and figures of their beliefs lie. Guests then enter into a chamber where a shamaness is performing a ritual and possibly warning guests that they are in sacred lands and are not safe.^[1][2] As guests proceed through the temple, they encounter bodies of the dead and possibly natives that may scare oblivious guests. After leaving the temple area, guests proceed into the base camp where many supplies are stacked and ready to be taken on the trucks. Guests also encounter an animatronic worm that moves around but does not attack. The guests then board a truck, with a driver played by an animatronic person styled to look like a Universal team member; the driver character varies from one truck to the next.

Ride[edit]

Guests enter an expedition truck with one of five different drivers, each one containing their own backstory and dialog for the ride. They are warned of the island's dangers as they enter the 80-foot (24 m) tall temple, as natives from Skull Island chant King Kong's name. The ride slows down and passes by the bones of a giant ape, as well as a few bat-like Terapusmordax animatronics.^[1] Guests then turn and meet the other expedition group, who are getting ready to set up a camp. However, guests are attacked by a swarm of Terapusmordax, one of which snatches up Kate, one of the few named explorers. She is taken over the truck and out of view of the riders. Both trucks speed off, following Kate to rescue her. In the back of the cave, a shadow of Kong can be seen.

The expedition trucks move on to a swamp, where they encounter giant invertebrates such as worm-like Carnictis, cricket-like Decarnocimex, and Arachno-Claws. Kate manages to escape the Terapusmordax that took her and fights off the creatures that threaten her and the riders. After defending the truck for a few moments, she tells them to leave without her, though the driver refuses to do so. Right before she is able to jump onto the truck, a Deplector reaches out, grabs her, and drags her into a cave with its claw as she struggles to escape. The vehicle moves on to the jungle, where the riders are ordered to return to base camp. They later encounter small carnivorous dinosaurs, Venatosaurus, who chase the truck as it speeds away in an attempt to escape. The truck, however, crashes and wakes up a group of larger dinosaurs, Vastatosaurus rex, which kill a few of the Venatosaurus, causing the smaller predators to scatter. The V. rexes begin attacking the truck; before the dinosaurs can badly damage it, Kong leaps from behind a temple and begins to fight them. Kong and the dinosaurs continue to fight when the truck from earlier shows up to help the riders.

However, both trucks end up falling into a pit because of the weakening walkway around it. They swing from vines while Kong faces the last V. rex and causes both the other truck and the dinosaur to fall. Kong saves the truck, allowing its crew to survive the fall. The riders' truck also plummets but is saved as well by Kong, who roars and climbs away. The driver sends out a report that the truck had found Kong. The truck then drives and meets Kong in an animatronic form, who sniffs at the riders and stares but then roars, causing the driver to quickly speed away. The ride vehicle returns to base camp where Kate radioes that she and the others are safe.

Weather conditions[edit]

During optimal weather, the trucks travel outside and up through the massive gates leading to Skull Island at the start of the ride. During inclement weather, the trucks take a bypass route indoors, cutting out the outdoor portion of the ride, so it can remain open during inclement weather. This results in a slightly shorter ride experience.^[8]

Reception[edit]

Skull Island: Reign of Kong has received mostly positive reactions. Whatculture.com liked it, calling it "a beast of an attraction" and called the animatronics "amazing".^[9] Tyler Murillo from worldofuniversal.com gave it a score of 4.5 out of 5 stars, calling it an "amazing ride" and "visually stunning inside and out".^[10] Matt Timmy Creamer from Moviepilot.com gave the attraction as a whole 7 out of 10 stars, calling the queue line "incredible" and the animatronics "worth the wait", but was disappointed with the number of screens and lack of practical effects in the ride.^[11]

Incidents[edit]

• In 2016, a Guatemalan tourist began to feel ill shortly after exiting the ride. His family left him to rest on a bench while they attended another of Universal's attractions. When the family returned, he was found collapsed and was later pronounced dead. A lawsuit claiming that Universal was negligent for not providing warning signs in Spanish was filed, prompting intense debate about reasonableness and personal responsibility.^[12] The deceased's family claims Universal should have been more attentive, providing medical care sooner.^[13]
• On May 16, 2021, a woman's index finger was severely cut off during mid-ride which had to be partially amputated as a result.^[14]

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Skull Island: Reign of Kong.