This weekend I was extremely fortunate enough to be in the right place, at the right time, and experience the new amazing mega attraction at Universal Studios Orlando Islands of Adventure – “Skull Island: Reign of Kong”.
And….I…LOVED IT!
For over a year now NEOZAZ has been covering the progress of the new attraction, eagerly waiting for the giant doors to the black rock temple to open.
This week during technical rehearsals those doors opened for a limited time, and those lucky enough to be in the park when they did, were treated to something pretty amazing.
This post will not contain any spoilers, if you really need to know every details of the new ride they can be found online with little (Including full ride video despite the multiple warning to not photograph or video during the ride). This post is more of a button to our over yearlong coverage of the creation of the attraction.
So, the first question to answer: Was it worth the wait? My answer: Beyond the shadow of any doubt, YES – no question.
I’m always excited about and new attraction at Universal Studios; rarely have the hairs on my air stand up they way they did as we entered the temple on Reign of Kong and encountered the ride’s first conflict.
But that is actually getting a little ahead of myself.
The queue line is phenomenal. Not only in design and creativity but also in regards to preparing you for the immersion of the ride.
As you enter, you clearly and knowingly exit the park main path way and enter the line through a huge rock formation of the legendary Kong.
With each turn and each area you enter you are slowly taking out the park and into the world and time where Skull Island resides.
This mental and sensory preparation of an attraction like this is not new to Universal Studios, however this may be a new level for them and possibly the most effective they’ve created yet.
After the queue is of course the ride, and again I don’t want spoil the main attraction in this post.
What I do want to do is try to express how much I enjoyed this ride on every level. The original “Kongfrontation” was the very first attraction I visited during my first trip of Universal Studios. I loved that ride then and have missed it every since it closed in September of 2002. The addition, or rather, the return of Kong to Universal Studios had a lot to prove to me. It did, and then some.
Bottom line is, do not miss this ride. It’s undoubtedly going to have the longest line of all the attractions in both parks when it officially opens this summer. Don’t let the wait time scare you off; it’s worth the wait!
Skull Island: Reign of Kong opens officially this summer, but is currently in technical rehearsals.
I did take pictures of the queue line. None of the pictures in the gallery below are of the ride experience. However, I will warn that if you don’t want to know anything about this ride, don’t open the gallery, it’s a pretty complete look at the queue line from entry to ride vehicle loading: