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Skull Island: Reign of Kong - Reviews, Photos, and Videos

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It seems the first 2 days went fine since besides downtime everything seemed to be working. Saturday is when the 360 portion stopped working and it seems they have not gotten it back up and running. I guess at this point with the huge turnout for softs they would rather just continue to let people ride rather then turn them all away as now people are expecting them to open it for softs every day now. I just feel lucky that I got a full experience and perhaps until we get word that the 360 portion is back up and running regularly people should be warned if they decide to trek out for softs.
 
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Good point about cell phones not working. Do they block the cell towers or something? It's like the second you walk through the doorway from outside there is zero service. Annoying.
 
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Skull Island: Reign of Kong Review

Torre' KONG!

I’ve been a big King Kong fan since my Pop showed me the original. We went and saw Jackson's Kong in the theater and loved it. My anticipation for this was pretty high.

The queue is everything I expected. Halloween Horror Nights fans will be pleased. We now have our own mini-HHN house all year long. The which room is very intimidating. As her chanting escalates I felt a sense of foreboding. I got to spend a good 15min in this room due to two breakdowns (it was expected, not complaining). The line does feel disjointed but from what I gathered, you are first introduced to the expedition crews site. You have to make it passed the ruins/temple to make it to the next camp where you begin the expedition.

As much as I love the queue, it might be part of the actual ride's problems. It builds different expectations than the ride provides. I felt like we were about to go on a cerebral, haunting experience. While I still enjoyed the ride it felt different.

Our driver was Doc. The Ops working the ride waved as he passed and introduced us to our driver. I sat row 12 back right (thank you all for your advice). The moment the vehicle fishtales out of the station passed all the ruins towards those iconic gates, I had a massive grin on.

The intro room is ominous and ancient. As the vehicle haults, Doc threw in some tid bits about the giant ape bones and those eerie AA bats. We entered the first scene and my screen complaints went almost out the window. The 3D depth of field is Avatar-like but expands on what Cameron created. Each actor on the screen stood out, hologram-like. Once the bats flew inside the truck I was blown away.

I’ll touch quick on the story before I move on. To me it has problems but doesn't destory the ride for me. I will agree Kate is unnecessary and adds nothing to the experience. In the queue you're told that supplies are needed at the camp further into the island. What more do you need? Kate and the camp crew should be killed off in the first scene and the truck drives off into mayhem. This is where the drivers can get more involved in the coming scenes.

The bug pit scene was cooler than expected. Didn't expect the motion in this room. I honestly wasn't really watching Kate, just the armada of bugs crawling down the walls. Pretty creppy.

After the bug pit it feels like something’s missing. There needs to be another large AA or one more scene. Pacing is everything in a ride.

Now for the main attractions. I've watched the POV of the Hollywood Kong multiple times. I thought I knew what to expect. The motion along with the 3D is exhilarating. There's so much going on it requires multiple rides. Once we feel off the cliff and started swinging in the vines, I was cracking up laughing. After we get saved by the man himself we entered the last scene.

Kong is massive. Doc warned us not to look him in the eyes as we approached. Everyone fell silent in the truck. As the big guy roars I felt it against my chest and inside the vehicle. Doc's final comment, “Who looked him in the eye?” Truly a king among AAs.

I’m thankful we didn't run into a single glitch. Screens, audio, motion and transitions were present throughout.

UO Ride Rank (Hulk stand on its own)
1. Forbidden Journey
2. Spidey
3. The Mummy
4. Reign of Kong
5. Gringotts

Pros
+ A Unique Ride that stands on its own
+ Evolution of 3D
+ The queue
+ Kong AA

Cons
- Too short
- Disjointed story

Overall score
4
out 5
 
Last edited:
And this is why going on a ride during technical rehearsals is a terrible idea.
Today was Kong day for me, the day I waited 2 and a half years for. Giant line, will power through it. The queue is the best one on site by far. The witch room, AAs involved, the musion effect and the overall sense of evil people watching you is unlike anything else. Ridiculous sense of dread, architecture that's otherworldly, it's a masterpiece of design. Sadly there was no native when I walked though, I bought him a candy bar to see how he'd react to it and just ended up eating it myself.

Got to the load area after two hours in line, the second we are about to be put in rows, something bugged out and the ride had to be cycled again and again for a literal hour. Thank god I had company with me for there was no cell service in the area. Finally we got on with a roaring applause. All running great (besides bat AAs not moving) until the bug scene, we got stuck. The audio kept going though as we heard the 360 scene next door perfectly through our RV, with only being able to see a small glimpse of it. After missing 90% of it, we finally drove in there only to go straight to the Kong room where he was shrouded in darkness. Couldn't see him whatsoever and he didn't move a muscle although his sound and breath worked. We went to the loading dock drained and visibly upset. They were kind enough to let us ride again however it wasn't much better. Stuck in the bat room, bug and 360 scenes worked and then the same thing happened again with Kong. We didn't want to ask for the favor again so we left insanely disappointed.

From what we saw however, it was incredible. The bat scene was really well done, bug scene gave me the heebie jeebies and the 360 room was absolutely breathtaking and filled to the brim with action, you must ride it multiple times to get all of it. the scope of the entire attraction is just unbelievable and NOTHING compares to it. The two drivers we got (the native relative and doc) were both really interesting and added tons of re rideablity, can't wait to do the other 3. It felt short but from the eyes of a massive Kong fan, what I saw was nothing short of fantastic. I am beyond bummed today didn't work out and I didn't see it all and for that reason I'm not gonna judge it as a whole until I do (most likely when hulk opens).

I want you all to use my story as a lesson, tech rehearsals suck and youll most likely have a small chance of having a perfect attraction experience. If you feel lucky and want to, then by all means do it. But as of now you're riding a broken ride until it officially opens. I definitely think universal should've done more tests and made sure everything really worked before releasing it to the public but hey, I'm a guest and don't know the reasons why
I love the native/candy bar story. Yeh, I remember telling you guys that I was kind of relieved early on my vacation when an Insider that I was drinking with told me softs weren't going to happen while I was there. Subsequently, I didn't have to stand around all day waiting for the event to happen. Or to go through the painful technical corrections when things weren't working according to script. So I was able to enjoy my vacation. And I did. I'll be there in the Fall though, and able to experience it then.
 
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Skull Island: Reign of Kong Review

Torre' KONG!

I’ve been a big King Kong fan since my Pop showed me the original. We went and saw Jackson's Kong in the theater and loved it. My anticipation for this was pretty high.

The queue is everything I expected. Halloween Horror Nights fans will be pleased. We now have our own mini-HHN house all year long. The which room is very intimidating. As her chanting escalates I felt a sense of foreboding. I got to spend a good 15min in this room due to two breakdowns (it was expected, not complaining). The line does feel disjointed but from what I gathered, you are first introduced to the expedition crews site. You have to make it passed the ruins/temple to make it to the next camp where you begin the expedition.

As much as I love the queue, it might be part of the actual ride's problems. It builds different expectations than the ride provides. I felt like we were about to go on a cerebral, haunting experience. While I still enjoyed the ride it felt different.

Our driver was Doc. The Ops working the ride waved as he passed and introduced us to our driver. I sat row 12 back right (thank you all for your advice). The moment the vehicle fishtales out of the station passed all the ruins towards those iconic gates, I had a massive grin on.

The intro room is ominous and ancient. As the vehicle haults, Doc threw in some tid bits about the giant ape bones and those eerie AA bats. We entered the first scene and my screen complaints went almost out the window. The 3D depth of field is Avatar-like but expands on what Cameron created. Each actor on the screen stood out, hologram-like. Once the bats flew inside the truck I was blown away.

I’ll touch quick on the story before I move on. To me it has problems but doesn't destory the ride for me. I will agree Kate is unnecessary and adds nothing to the experience. In the queue you're told that supplies are needed at the camp further into the island. What more do you need? Kate and the camp crew should be killed off in the first scene and the truck drives off into mayhem. This is where the drivers can get more involved in the coming scenes.

The bug pit scene was cooler than expected. Didn't expect the motion in this room. I honestly wasn't really watching Kate, just the armada of bugs crawling down the walls. Pretty creppy.

After the bug pit it feels like something’s missing. There needs to be another large AA or one more scene. Pacing is everything in a ride.

Now for the main attractions. I've watched the POV of the Hollywood Kong multiple times. I thought I knew what to expect. The motion along with the 3D is exhilarating. There's so much going on it requires multiple rides. Once we feel off the cliff and started swinging in the vines, I was cracking up laughing. After we get saved by the man himself we entered the last scene.

Kong is massive. Doc warned us not to look him in the eyes as we approached. Everyone fell silent in the truck. As the big guy roars I felt it against my chest and inside the vehicle. Docs final comment, “Who looked him eye?” Truly a king among AAs.

I’m thankful we didn't run into a single glitch. Screens, audio, motion and transitions were present throughout.

UO Ride Rank (Hulk stand on it's own)
1. Forbidden Journey
2. Spidey
3. Reign of Kong
4. The Mummy
5. Gringotts

Pros
+ A Unique Ride that stands on it's own
+ Evolution of 3D
+ The queue
+ Kong AA

Cons
- Too short
- Disjointed story

Overall score
4
out 5
Thanks for a really nice in depth review. I especially like how you touched on the driver's comments. You kind of humanized the AA for me. :) And as a few others have said, that there's so much going on that it requires multiple rides. That's how I felt about Gringotts also. And, with repeat rides I even enjoyed it better than the first rides. And perhaps this is why Kong, like Gringotts, seems short (and we know Kong is 6 minutes long so it's 50 percent longer than most rides).It's possibly because so very much is happening. When I ride Gringotts now, it doesn't seem short anymore. The attraction has slowed down for me. It's kind of like an analogy to American football or soccer (football). Once you get accustomed, through practice, to the speed of the game, it actually slows down for you. :thumbsup:
 
Some great write ups coming in. It definitely seems like the disjointed story is a sticking point for many of us. Kinda makes me wonder why Universal even wanted to add the Kate/human element when the story could have just as easily been "Eighth Wonder is recruiting guests to expedition out and discover new species", or something. Centering on Skull Island itself as a character, rather than human characters, may also have been able to provide a more focused buildup to the 360 scene (the reasoning behind presenting Kate as the main character/heroine, and then abandoning her halfway through the ride will forever elude me).
 
This past Saturday my wife and I decided to make a trip out to Islands and ride Kong.

I have to say I watched the YouTube video of the POV and yes it does look disappointing however, it is a completely different story when you actually ride it. This attraction really starts from the moment you enter the ride until the time you exit. In my personal opinion and from the reaction of others as well as my wife, this is really a solid ride that is very satisfying and leaves you wanting to hop right back on. I know there are full reviews on this already and this is my first post, but i just have so much to say.


The Outside Queue

Let’s start with the 2 hour wait in the make shift queue that started on the left side of Kong. There was nothing really to look at since this should only be a temporary setup however, hearing the loud booms and vibrations coming from within the building amplified our anticipation. Once we started approaching the wrap around where the vehicles drove by, all I can say is wow this facade is by far the best looking one at the resort. The combination of drums, fire, people cheering, and the large doors opening followed by a thunderous boom when they shut sets the tone of the ride even this far back in line. As we wrapped around the front of the attraction the rock work as well as the foliage really pulls you in feeling as if you are ready to set foot into the jungle. I thought it was a nice touch with the ambient animal noises as well as the old school narration in the background. As you zig zag through the line the vehicles pass by filled with cheering guests which the guest in the queue return the cheers. It’s a great little way that the ride interacts with the people in line building that anticipation even more.


In Inside Queue

We finally stepped inside and this is where everything went from calm to creepy. The first room had a few skulls lining the side walls with the front two walls having these ominous skeletons holding serpents on either side of them. You then pass under this triangular arch with pyramid spikes pointing towards you leading you to another room full of skulls lining each wall. If it’s one thing that you will see over and over again its skulls however, its needed to really set the creepy tone to the max. The next room (which is by far the best room of them all) is the witch room. This room is really an attraction in itself with the heavy tribal drum beats, Kong chants, the witch speaking in her native tongue, and the fire within the skulls faces growing bigger with everything amplifying more and more. This was seriously awesome!! After this room you snake through a hallway were the boo-holes are. To me these were fun with the natives jumping out scaring unsuspecting guests with one lady almost having a heart attack. There are a total of 4 and it definitely does catch a lot of people off guard. While it was great to have this feature here I don’t really see it adding much to the queue. Leaving this room leads to the next where you finally get to the AA slug which is really cool. I’m telling you UC has really upped their AA game with everything here looking better than that in the Gringotts line. We finally make it to the fork in the line. This is where i recommend based on other repots to head towards the right where it seats you from the middle to back rows. Looking at the ride vehicles you can definitely tell the the front two rows are extremely limited on what you get to see. I sat in row 9 all the way to the left which wasn’t too bad however, I personally would try to sit somewhere in the middle.


The Ride

Once the doors close and the the ride is clear to go you hear the vehicles engine kick in which is just a sound effect. You then make a left out of the station heading outside which I thought it was a nice touch by UC creative giving you another element of the ride. The path is leveled differently throughout the track giving you that sensation of being off road with the vehicles swaying back and forth lightly. As you navigate 3/4 of the way through the outside track you finally start hearing the chants of “Kong” while the doors begin to open. You see everyone within the vehicle get more and more excited as you enter into the temple. As soon as you come in you see the large ape skeleton on the left and the AA bats on the right. Then it becomes darker as you hear a loud thunderous boom signaling that the doors closed behind you. You then drive off to the next scene where we are introduced to Kate. There is no motion here and the screen appears on the left side of the vehicle. I was immediately awed by the quality of the 3D. People jumped as soon as the bats started flying towards our vehicle. We then move on to the next scene (the bug pit) which had a motion platform and it was really effective. The worm coming out from the water felt as if it was coming from under our truck. Water was sprayed on us simulating their guts as Kate saved us which I actually thought it was some sort of slime. The way they splatter us was unlike most rides with little sprits of water, they were large drops hitting us in the arms and such. Highly effective on this ride. We then move onto the 360 screen where unfortunately the motion platform was not working. Even so this scene was really awesome. It really does immerse you into the scene and there is a ton of action happening on both sides. If the motion platform was working this would have been the ultimate screen scene at the resort. Lastly we moved onto the Kong AA which silenced the entire vehicle (I believe everyone was in awe) which was absolutely the highlight of the entire attraction. His movement is absolutely fluid and the loud roar he gives out just sends chills down you back. There are moments when you feel like he is real especially with the movement of his face and how his eyes pierce right through you. Such a great way to end a great attraction. By the time we were pulling into the exit platform everyone was cheering and commenting on how amazing this ride was. It’s great to hear such positive feedback from the standard park guest and to think the ride wasn’t even fully working properly either.



What worked:

— I have to say the 3D here is the best anywhere.

— The queue is an attraction in itself. It really sets the bar high for future queues.

— Every AA I thought was great however, Kong was by far the greatest thing I’ve seen from Universal.

— A great mix of elements (outdoor portion, AA’s, screens, fire, wind, water, and motion simulation).

— Just the overall attention to detail. UC has really shown off with their last few attractions that they can really top Disney theming.

— You can definitely re ride this attraction and not get sick of it. There is so much going on that you need several rides to soak in everything.



What Didn’t:

— I sat on the far left of the vehicle and while not a bad seat I was able to see the top of the screens and even the base which took away from the illusion of driving fast in the 360 portion. It wasn’t bad though just something I noticed.

— There are definitely bad seats on this. While I took warning from previous posters and sat in the back, you can see that your view is limited towards the front rows.

— The story just didn't fully work.


My overall rating on this is a 7.5 out of 10 due to the motion platform not working. I know it will be higher once I ride it with everything functional. Definitely a solid and proper way to bring back Kong. Great job UC.
 
I have to agree that the story is disjointed, will it matter to the average guest? probably not.

For me I thought it was a bit jarring, like why are we walking through this temple with people that want to kill us, to get to our base camp? that apparently the base camp is inside the temple garage? haha and its not acknowledged at all, we could of died!, and the whole native thing is completely dropped.

The AA driver story is not a huge deal, it just gives the impression that something more will come from it. Its as if the kilimanjaro driver was like "hello my name is michael, my friends call me mike, I'm studying hospitality at valencia college" before starting the safari. its a bit odd.

The kate thing would be fine if there was a payoff, I understand that the ride is long as is, but theres probably a simple fix to that issue without adding another 2 minutes to the ride. the way she just drops off of the story is pretty bad.
 
This past Saturday my wife and I decided to make a trip out to Islands and ride Kong.

I have to say I watched the YouTube video of the POV and yes it does look disappointing however, it is a completely different story when you actually ride it. This attraction really starts from the moment you enter the ride until the time you exit. In my personal opinion and from the reaction of others as well as my wife, this is really a solid ride that is very satisfying and leaves you wanting to hop right back on. I know there are full reviews on this already and this is my first post, but i just have so much to say.


The Outside Queue

Let’s start with the 2 hour wait in the make shift queue that started on the left side of Kong. There was nothing really to look at since this should only be a temporary setup however, hearing the loud booms and vibrations coming from within the building amplified our anticipation. Once we started approaching the wrap around where the vehicles drove by, all I can say is wow this facade is by far the best looking one at the resort. The combination of drums, fire, people cheering, and the large doors opening followed by a thunderous boom when they shut sets the tone of the ride even this far back in line. As we wrapped around the front of the attraction the rock work as well as the foliage really pulls you in feeling as if you are ready to set foot into the jungle. I thought it was a nice touch with the ambient animal noises as well as the old school narration in the background. As you zig zag through the line the vehicles pass by filled with cheering guests which the guest in the queue return the cheers. It’s a great little way that the ride interacts with the people in line building that anticipation even more.


In Inside Queue

We finally stepped inside and this is where everything went from calm to creepy. The first room had a few skulls lining the side walls with the front two walls having these ominous skeletons holding serpents on either side of them. You then pass under this triangular arch with pyramid spikes pointing towards you leading you to another room full of skulls lining each wall. If it’s one thing that you will see over and over again its skulls however, its needed to really set the creepy tone to the max. The next room (which is by far the best room of them all) is the witch room. This room is really an attraction in itself with the heavy tribal drum beats, Kong chants, the witch speaking in her native tongue, and the fire within the skulls faces growing bigger with everything amplifying more and more. This was seriously awesome!! After this room you snake through a hallway were the boo-holes are. To me these were fun with the natives jumping out scaring unsuspecting guests with one lady almost having a heart attack. There are a total of 4 and it definitely does catch a lot of people off guard. While it was great to have this feature here I don’t really see it adding much to the queue. Leaving this room leads to the next where you finally get to the AA slug which is really cool. I’m telling you UC has really upped their AA game with everything here looking better than that in the Gringotts line. We finally make it to the fork in the line. This is where i recommend based on other repots to head towards the right where it seats you from the middle to back rows. Looking at the ride vehicles you can definitely tell the the front two rows are extremely limited on what you get to see. I sat in row 9 all the way to the left which wasn’t too bad however, I personally would try to sit somewhere in the middle.


The Ride

Once the doors close and the the ride is clear to go you hear the vehicles engine kick in which is just a sound effect. You then make a left out of the station heading outside which I thought it was a nice touch by UC creative giving you another element of the ride. The path is leveled differently throughout the track giving you that sensation of being off road with the vehicles swaying back and forth lightly. As you navigate 3/4 of the way through the outside track you finally start hearing the chants of “Kong” while the doors begin to open. You see everyone within the vehicle get more and more excited as you enter into the temple. As soon as you come in you see the large ape skeleton on the left and the AA bats on the right. Then it becomes darker as you hear a loud thunderous boom signaling that the doors closed behind you. You then drive off to the next scene where we are introduced to Kate. There is no motion here and the screen appears on the left side of the vehicle. I was immediately awed by the quality of the 3D. People jumped as soon as the bats started flying towards our vehicle. We then move on to the next scene (the bug pit) which had a motion platform and it was really effective. The worm coming out from the water felt as if it was coming from under our truck. Water was sprayed on us simulating their guts as Kate saved us which I actually thought it was some sort of slime. The way they splatter us was unlike most rides with little sprits of water, they were large drops hitting us in the arms and such. Highly effective on this ride. We then move onto the 360 screen where unfortunately the motion platform was not working. Even so this scene was really awesome. It really does immerse you into the scene and there is a ton of action happening on both sides. If the motion platform was working this would have been the ultimate screen scene at the resort. Lastly we moved onto the Kong AA which silenced the entire vehicle (I believe everyone was in awe) which was absolutely the highlight of the entire attraction. His movement is absolutely fluid and the loud roar he gives out just sends chills down you back. There are moments when you feel like he is real especially with the movement of his face and how his eyes pierce right through you. Such a great way to end a great attraction. By the time we were pulling into the exit platform everyone was cheering and commenting on how amazing this ride was. It’s great to hear such positive feedback from the standard park guest and to think the ride wasn’t even fully working properly either.



What worked:

— I have to say the 3D here is the best anywhere.

— The queue is an attraction in itself. It really sets the bar high for future queues.

— Every AA I thought was great however, Kong was by far the greatest thing I’ve seen from Universal.

— A great mix of elements (outdoor portion, AA’s, screens, fire, wind, water, and motion simulation).

— Just the overall attention to detail. UC has really shown off with their last few attractions that they can really top Disney theming.

— You can definitely re ride this attraction and not get sick of it. There is so much going on that you need several rides to soak in everything.



What Didn’t:

— I sat on the far left of the vehicle and while not a bad seat I was able to see the top of the screens and even the base which took away from the illusion of driving fast in the 360 portion. It wasn’t bad though just something I noticed.

— There are definitely bad seats on this. While I took warning from previous posters and sat in the back, you can see that your view is limited towards the front rows.

— The story just didn't fully work.


My overall rating on this is a 7.5 out of 10 due to the motion platform not working. I know it will be higher once I ride it with everything functional. Definitely a solid and proper way to bring back Kong. Great job UC.
First of all, welcome to OU. Hope to see you posting in the future....Nice detailed review, and you even allowed for the technical problem in what's a key ride feature. Yes, it's sounding more & more, through various reviews, that the queue could almost stand alone as a walk through attraction.And, I liked how you portrayed & described the sound effects. :thumbsup:
 
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Most theme park ride stories are disjointed. This is no different but the amazing detail to the queue, show building, AAs and unique experience makes this a must ride and one of the resort's best. I still think Spider-Man is the top 3-D ride at the resort, but this has a chance to be #2. I'll ride it a few more times and wait for it to be really open and operating at full strength before deciding but the ride is awesome and it's exactly what IOA needed. For all the screen complaining, people constantly forget how much of a outdoor park IOA is.
 
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I love the native/candy bar story. Yeh, I remember telling you guys that I was kind of relieved early on my vacation when an Insider that I was drinking with told me softs weren't going to happen while I was there. Subsequently, I didn't have to stand around all day waiting for the event to happen. Or to go through the painful technical corrections when things weren't working according to script. So I was able to enjoy my vacation. And I did. I'll be there in the Fall though, and able to experience it then.
Totally man, I'm happy you'll be able to ride in a full and complete form. The anticipation was killing me so I just had to make it out there. Better to wait than to be sorry you didn't
Your detailed description suggests to me that perhaps all of the systems needed to be completely rebooted. To have so many unrelated items not functioning sounds like a home computer that slowly looses functionality. Just my two cents.
that's the best way I could describe it. It was like playing a glitch filled video game that you've been really excited for. I have no idea what happened since softs were running very smoothly the days before I went on but I definitely think you're right, a reboot would be best
 
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Which driver is the best?
Out of the two I got, I loved the native ancestor character. She had a really great perspective on everything going on around her. Hearing her refer to the natives as "my people" and reacting to Kong as a spiritual figure was just incredibly interesting to me. Doc was ok, his fetish for finding giant primate skeletons got taxing after a while and I couldn't tell what they were going for with him, snarky? Nerdy? Idk it was strange. Way too excited to experience the ride with the other three, they really added tons of character to the story (especially in the queue). Will lead to tons of re rides for me no doubt
 
This past Saturday my wife and I decided to make a trip out to Islands and ride Kong.

I have to say I watched the YouTube video of the POV and yes it does look disappointing however, it is a completely different story when you actually ride it. This attraction really starts from the moment you enter the ride until the time you exit. In my personal opinion and from the reaction of others as well as my wife, this is really a solid ride that is very satisfying and leaves you wanting to hop right back on. I know there are full reviews on this already and this is my first post, but i just have so much to say.


The Outside Queue

Let’s start with the 2 hour wait in the make shift queue that started on the left side of Kong. There was nothing really to look at since this should only be a temporary setup however, hearing the loud booms and vibrations coming from within the building amplified our anticipation. Once we started approaching the wrap around where the vehicles drove by, all I can say is wow this facade is by far the best looking one at the resort. The combination of drums, fire, people cheering, and the large doors opening followed by a thunderous boom when they shut sets the tone of the ride even this far back in line. As we wrapped around the front of the attraction the rock work as well as the foliage really pulls you in feeling as if you are ready to set foot into the jungle. I thought it was a nice touch with the ambient animal noises as well as the old school narration in the background. As you zig zag through the line the vehicles pass by filled with cheering guests which the guest in the queue return the cheers. It’s a great little way that the ride interacts with the people in line building that anticipation even more.


In Inside Queue

We finally stepped inside and this is where everything went from calm to creepy. The first room had a few skulls lining the side walls with the front two walls having these ominous skeletons holding serpents on either side of them. You then pass under this triangular arch with pyramid spikes pointing towards you leading you to another room full of skulls lining each wall. If it’s one thing that you will see over and over again its skulls however, its needed to really set the creepy tone to the max. The next room (which is by far the best room of them all) is the witch room. This room is really an attraction in itself with the heavy tribal drum beats, Kong chants, the witch speaking in her native tongue, and the fire within the skulls faces growing bigger with everything amplifying more and more. This was seriously awesome!! After this room you snake through a hallway were the boo-holes are. To me these were fun with the natives jumping out scaring unsuspecting guests with one lady almost having a heart attack. There are a total of 4 and it definitely does catch a lot of people off guard. While it was great to have this feature here I don’t really see it adding much to the queue. Leaving this room leads to the next where you finally get to the AA slug which is really cool. I’m telling you UC has really upped their AA game with everything here looking better than that in the Gringotts line. We finally make it to the fork in the line. This is where i recommend based on other repots to head towards the right where it seats you from the middle to back rows. Looking at the ride vehicles you can definitely tell the the front two rows are extremely limited on what you get to see. I sat in row 9 all the way to the left which wasn’t too bad however, I personally would try to sit somewhere in the middle.


The Ride

Once the doors close and the the ride is clear to go you hear the vehicles engine kick in which is just a sound effect. You then make a left out of the station heading outside which I thought it was a nice touch by UC creative giving you another element of the ride. The path is leveled differently throughout the track giving you that sensation of being off road with the vehicles swaying back and forth lightly. As you navigate 3/4 of the way through the outside track you finally start hearing the chants of “Kong” while the doors begin to open. You see everyone within the vehicle get more and more excited as you enter into the temple. As soon as you come in you see the large ape skeleton on the left and the AA bats on the right. Then it becomes darker as you hear a loud thunderous boom signaling that the doors closed behind you. You then drive off to the next scene where we are introduced to Kate. There is no motion here and the screen appears on the left side of the vehicle. I was immediately awed by the quality of the 3D. People jumped as soon as the bats started flying towards our vehicle. We then move on to the next scene (the bug pit) which had a motion platform and it was really effective. The worm coming out from the water felt as if it was coming from under our truck. Water was sprayed on us simulating their guts as Kate saved us which I actually thought it was some sort of slime. The way they splatter us was unlike most rides with little sprits of water, they were large drops hitting us in the arms and such. Highly effective on this ride. We then move onto the 360 screen where unfortunately the motion platform was not working. Even so this scene was really awesome. It really does immerse you into the scene and there is a ton of action happening on both sides. If the motion platform was working this would have been the ultimate screen scene at the resort. Lastly we moved onto the Kong AA which silenced the entire vehicle (I believe everyone was in awe) which was absolutely the highlight of the entire attraction. His movement is absolutely fluid and the loud roar he gives out just sends chills down you back. There are moments when you feel like he is real especially with the movement of his face and how his eyes pierce right through you. Such a great way to end a great attraction. By the time we were pulling into the exit platform everyone was cheering and commenting on how amazing this ride was. It’s great to hear such positive feedback from the standard park guest and to think the ride wasn’t even fully working properly either.



What worked:

— I have to say the 3D here is the best anywhere.

— The queue is an attraction in itself. It really sets the bar high for future queues.

— Every AA I thought was great however, Kong was by far the greatest thing I’ve seen from Universal.

— A great mix of elements (outdoor portion, AA’s, screens, fire, wind, water, and motion simulation).

— Just the overall attention to detail. UC has really shown off with their last few attractions that they can really top Disney theming.

— You can definitely re ride this attraction and not get sick of it. There is so much going on that you need several rides to soak in everything.



What Didn’t:

— I sat on the far left of the vehicle and while not a bad seat I was able to see the top of the screens and even the base which took away from the illusion of driving fast in the 360 portion. It wasn’t bad though just something I noticed.

— There are definitely bad seats on this. While I took warning from previous posters and sat in the back, you can see that your view is limited towards the front rows.

— The story just didn't fully work.


My overall rating on this is a 7.5 out of 10 due to the motion platform not working. I know it will be higher once I ride it with everything functional. Definitely a solid and proper way to bring back Kong. Great job UC.

Nice to see you finally joined! Thanks for the review.
 
Rode Kong "twice" yesterday.

The 1st time around, the ride bypassed the outside portion. Then there was no audio at all, and we sat in front of the first screen in the dark for about 3 minutes. The bats were not present at all. The ride then resumed completely, as we saw the bug pit scene, 360 and the Kong animatronic. Very disappointing, but the TMs let us immediately re-ride. I then got excited all over again.

Once we got back on, we bypassed the outside portion AGAIN, but then the ride was working, what I assume to be, perfectly. I was very impressed by the 360 scene, in fact, I loved it. I also loved the Kong AA. It was so well done, and looked so real.

When it comes to the ride itself, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Maybe it is because I missed the outside on both rides, I'm not sure. It just felt very disjointed to me, and so very short. It was just two screens, 360, and the AA. The end just felt so anticlimatic... I wish that Kong AA had been in the middle of the ride, and that there was more to it after seeing him..? It felt just like "Oh! Here he is, now get off." While I loved many parts of the ride, such as the AAs and the 360, I just felt like I might have had my expectations too high?

I did, however, love the queue. Probably one of my favorite queues EVER. The Witch room was amazing to me, and all the detail was very immersive. The scareactors just made it even better. The loading area was so impressive looking to me, I absolutely loved it.

I look forward to riding again soon, for the queue and to get another impression of RoK.