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

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I would wait until Friday or Saturday to make a decision. If Universal's going to move Kong into regular mode from technical softs, with the crowds of the holiday weekend, that's the perfect time for them to open the ride up. Everythings up in the air at this point in time.

What time on Friday 7/1? ;):peace:
 
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In going to make this short and sweet because ultimately I don't feel like I will really add much to things that haven't already been said a thousand times now. I rode RoK twice 3 weeks ago (work has been nuts). I will give my brief thoughts along with a 10 point scale rating. I sat near the front on the far right...

Pros
Soundtrack is fantastic
The witch room is well done yet it looped 6 times and wow does it get annoying
Once you enter the gates and the door closes the atmosphere is fantastic

Cons
The first two screens feel too much like I'm looking at well a screen framed by rock formation that doesn't blend into the overall scene

The 360 experience was better than I expected but I really have to wonder why they couldn't have wrapped the screen around the vehicle more. Seeing the top of the screens without even trying to see them was really disappointing

Kong is a solid AA, no arguments there but wow is he underutilized. His appearance and demeanor make no sense in the overall story and it comes off as more of a "oh yeah...and look at how cool this is" more than a solid part of the ride experience.

I certainly didn't hate the attraction but even after going on it a second time I just wasn't "feeling it" as much as others. It felt like a huge idea that was cut and chopped throughout production and we were left with Hollywood Kong.5. This is just my opinion, if people love it that's awesome, I love that they have fun on it but overall I just left a little underwhelmed.

6/10
 
In going to make this short and sweet because ultimately I don't feel like I will really add much to things that haven't already been said a thousand times now. I rode RoK twice 3 weeks ago (work has been nuts). I will give my brief thoughts along with a 10 point scale rating. I sat near the front on the far right...

Pros
Soundtrack is fantastic
The witch room is well done yet it looped 6 times and wow does it get annoying
Once you enter the gates and the door closes the atmosphere is fantastic

Cons
The first two screens feel too much like I'm looking at well a screen framed by rock formation that doesn't blend into the overall scene

The 360 experience was better than I expected but I really have to wonder why they couldn't have wrapped the screen around the vehicle more. Seeing the top of the screens without even trying to see them was really disappointing

Kong is a solid AA, no arguments there but wow is he underutilized. His appearance and demeanor make no sense in the overall story and it comes off as more of a "oh yeah...and look at how cool this is" more than a solid part of the ride experience.

I certainly didn't hate the attraction but even after going on it a second time I just wasn't "feeling it" as much as others. It felt like a huge idea that was cut and chopped throughout production and we were left with Hollywood Kong.5. This is just my opinion, if people love it that's awesome, I love that they have fun on it but overall I just left a little underwhelmed.

6/10

Agree with a lot of your points.

I have this feeling a huge portion cut was the AA interacting with an actor. In a manner where instead of just being snatched by a claw she is in the 360 scene and Kong saves her and returns her to the RV via an AA arm, and she jumps into the front seat with the driver.

The way the AA is there to just "hang" and then the blonde just radio checks in after to say shes ok seemed like a definite cut in story and budget....
 
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Agree with a lot of your points.

I have this feeling a huge portion cut was the AA interacting with an actor. In a manner where instead of just being snatched by a claw she is in the 360 scene and Kong saves her and returns her to the RV via an AA arm, and she jumps into the front seat with the driver.

The way the AA is there to just "hang" and then the blonde just radio checks in after to say shes ok seemed like a definite cut in story and budget....
Safety is probably the reason for cutting the driver portion and not budget reasons.
 
Rode yesterday w doc really liked the whole experience. Queue moved fast with nearly no stopping. Outside part is a must, caught the sunset and the whole train gasped. 3D tunnel feels more realistic than any other 3D in the parks to me. Only issue was Kong moved very little. Maybe this is normal but only a few facial expressions. Will ride again before I leave. 8/10
 
Updated thoughts, since I finally was able to experience the outdoor portion.

Rode with Doc, which from a script standpoint seemed to be an upgrade from Jinx. He seems a little forced in the acting but still better than Jinx.

And though it's just a few lines, the narration in the exterior portion sets up the experience overall pretty well. Without it, it doesn't make sense. So I still suggest avoiding an indoor only ride unless they somehow rewrote the script so it is coherent in that mode.

I sat midway in the vehicles on the left side - my original ride was 3rd row on the right side.

I waved to the guests in the queue, as one does, and the fire effect outside the gate gave a nice tangible feel to the whole thing with its heat. Also the view of the gateway in dusk lighting is nice and very cinematic. Lights on but enough natural light remaining that it's not "dark" and doesn't seem artificially lit.

Entering the cave did have the door slam and the torches blowing out - though the unconvincing "whoosh" that sounds like unplugging a compressor hose is still there. I'm not sure where the wind is blowing for that but it's not on the left or right side riders so why make that noise?

The AA bats looked to move better but I think their glowing eyes still looked silly, as did their general creature design.

Being on the left the first screen was easy to see and that made the problems with the vehicle movement matching the screen more apparent. The scene appears to pivot in space and change perspective - following a track that doesn't quite match the vehicle. I don't recall seeing this in any other such ride (Spiderman, transformers). It's minor but obvious if you're against the side wall of the vehicle.

Next scene in the bug pit - most of the water spray doesn't reach the far left side. And looking out to the left there is absolutely nothing to see.

The 360 scene was a little more coherent - perhaps because I watched my side more. I did notice I didn't catch the vrex jaw/neck snap but I did see and notice the other vehicle pulling up to "rescue" us which I didn't last time. Motion seemed to be ok, though I never got a real sense of height for the drops.

It still just became blank screens when it ended which seemed even more obvious this time. It looks like there is a low wall for evac on the left side that hides the lower edge of the screen but is obvious in and of itself. Top of the screen visible too.. And the portal out was plainly visible from the left side as the vehicle entered the scene.

Kong scene was pretty much the same. Meh.

No dumb padded hooks to check the doors this time and though they asked you not to stand until the doors fully opened there was no panic to keep you seated.

The single riders queue saved minimal time compared to the normal line but moved at a snails pace through a whole lot of nothing. If you're far enough back to see anything (you go past the witch scene) it's over an hour and a half and not worth it anyways. Might as well be in the regular queue that at least moves.
 
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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


Cons:

Left side misses some of the action in the main scene

Blank scene after main scene and before Kong AA

Queue needs better airflow and more A/C :)


Recommendations:

Ride it more than once, sit far left and right in the row and aim for the middle and back of the truck

On subsequent rides, look at the edges of the screen to see the scene set up

Keep the damn safety goggles off until past the skeleton
 
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
Entertaining review. Loved your enthusiasm and your term for the scare actors (Uglies). And I agree that many take Universal, and Disney too, for granted. For those of us far from Florida, who have just been experiencing Orlando for a short time, and are accustomed to the coaster regional parks, Universal is really someplace special. Thanks for your thoughts. :thumbsup: :cheers:
 
Wow Reign of Kong was awesome! At 9am today was a 10 minute posted wait but was basically a walk on. After watching videos online I was a little skeptical but was pleasantly surprised at what a great ride it is.
At 9:45 still posted wait of 10 minutes.....Glad you enjoyed it :thumbsup:....Another example of videos are not able to even come close to duplicating what a ride is really like....Videos are only good for curiosity purposes.
 
Yes indeed Mad Dog, the videos don't do rides justice. I sat middle of 9th row and I felt immersed in the action I didn't even see the bottom or top of the screens. I'm not a fan of 3D but still enjoy all of Universal's rides. There wasn't a scareactor when I went through but there were a few kids that were scared by the atmosphere in the queue.
 
I was able to run into Island's on the morning of the 4th to check it out. I got to the ride at about 9:00 and it was down. The TM's at the front were sayign that it could be hours, but there were a lot of people in line waiting. I asked one how long the line was if it opened up at that moment and was told probably 90 mins. I had to get back to Cabana Bay by 10:00 to take my family to the studios since they have Power Passes, so I was disappointed. I decided to just wait a little to see if I they were wrong, also I just ran all the way from the hotel and wanted to rest a little (it was brutally hot and I live in Florida).

As I walked the outside queue I saw trucks cycling with TMs every couple on minutes. Then I was stopped by the radio broadcast for about 5 mins behind a man with two kids (approx 8 and 10). Everyone started to cheer and then the line moved very fast. I would of walked all the way to the witch room, but it was stop and go from all the flash picture taking. Once I was in the witch room the line moved at a slower pace but still quicker than probably any queue I've been in. I was able to see the whole scene and then moved onto the scare corridor. The two kids in front of me both were having a good time till here. Their dad was taking their pictures at almost every statue or skull and what seemed like every move forward in the witch room. I obviously new what was going to happen cause I could hear the screams before I rounded the corner. He got me good though and I jumped (I attend HHN every year and don't startle easily). Those kids freaked out pretty bad even though it was directed at me. The boy who was about 8 brushed it off pretty quickly, but his older sister wasn't happy after that. She kept telling her dad that she didn't like this line and that it was a real person that popped out. He thought it was funny and was upset that he missed it cause he was trying to get a picture of something else . Every time I heard a scream it was always followed by laughter. I also saw what looked like a three year old go though the whole queue completely unfazed. I think this and the witch scene are what make the line awesome. Without the actor the queue would not be as entertaining. It still would be good, but not arguably one of the best in the park.

I made it on the ride and sat last row right side with Doc driving. Everything worked good and I was off in no time back to Cabana Bay. After a quick stop to take a pic of Beetle Bailey and Zero, I've never seen those characters in the park before, I made back with 5 minutes to spare.

I don't know if it would make my top 5 rides at Universal Orlando. I need to go on it a few more times to see. What it does best is the build up. From the moment you step into the queue to when the doors close behind your vehicle I cannot find a fault. I would give this portion a 10/10 it's that good. I don't think I would ever want to skip the queue by using single rider or express because so much of the experience would be lost. The rest of the ride is still good but it doesn't seem to flow as well and has some choppy moments. I noticed that the first screen seemed blurry as we approached it and moved a little weird till we stopped in front of it. The bug scene and 360 were very clear and worked very good. I would recommend sitting closer to the middle because in the 360 scene the top was very visible. I hope there is a transition out of the 360 scene that they have yet to put in. It seems odd that it goes black and then you are in a forest with Kong looking at you. The final scene with Kong is very impressive but seems out of place cause of the abrupt transition. I agree that the story doesn't feel right with Kate not showing back up except on the radio to say she's ok.

I really liked the whole experience a lot and would probably give it an 8/10. It could be more though if they fix the transition out of the 360 scene and if I sat more towards the middle. It's also too bad that there isn't just one more scene showing Kong rescuing Kate. They could even have him holding her when he appears, he could set her down when he sees the dinosaurs, jump in and beat his chest, and she could run to escape while the carnage ensues. All in all it's a great addition to IOA and I can't wait to go on it again as soon as September comes around.
 
I was able to run into Island's on the morning of the 4th to check it out. I got to the ride at about 9:00 and it was down. The TM's at the front were sayign that it could be hours, but there were a lot of people in line waiting. I asked one how long the line was if it opened up at that moment and was told probably 90 mins. I had to get back to Cabana Bay by 10:00 to take my family to the studios since they have Power Passes, so I was disappointed. I decided to just wait a little to see if I they were wrong, also I just ran all the way from the hotel and wanted to rest a little (it was brutally hot and I live in Florida).

As I walked the outside queue I saw trucks cycling with TMs every couple on minutes. Then I was stopped by the radio broadcast for about 5 mins behind a man with two kids (approx 8 and 10). Everyone started to cheer and then the line moved very fast. I would of walked all the way to the witch room, but it was stop and go from all the flash picture taking. Once I was in the witch room the line moved at a slower pace but still quicker than probably any queue I've been in. I was able to see the whole scene and then moved onto the scare corridor. The two kids in front of me both were having a good time till here. Their dad was taking their pictures at almost every statue or skull and what seemed like every move forward in the witch room. I obviously new what was going to happen cause I could hear the screams before I rounded the corner. He got me good though and I jumped (I attend HHN every year and don't startle easily). Those kids freaked out pretty bad even though it was directed at me. The boy who was about 8 brushed it off pretty quickly, but his older sister wasn't happy after that. She kept telling her dad that she didn't like this line and that it was a real person that popped out. He thought it was funny and was upset that he missed it cause he was trying to get a picture of something else . Every time I heard a scream it was always followed by laughter. I also saw what looked like a three year old go though the whole queue completely unfazed. I think this and the witch scene are what make the line awesome. Without the actor the queue would not be as entertaining. It still would be good, but not arguably one of the best in the park.

I made it on the ride and sat last row right side with Doc driving. Everything worked good and I was off in no time back to Cabana Bay. After a quick stop to take a pic of Beetle Bailey and Zero, I've never seen those characters in the park before, I made back with 5 minutes to spare.

I don't know if it would make my top 5 rides at Universal Orlando. I need to go on it a few more times to see. What it does best is the build up. From the moment you step into the queue to when the doors close behind your vehicle I cannot find a fault. I would give this portion a 10/10 it's that good. I don't think I would ever want to skip the queue by using single rider or express because so much of the experience would be lost. The rest of the ride is still good but it doesn't seem to flow as well and has some choppy moments. I noticed that the first screen seemed blurry as we approached it and moved a little weird till we stopped in front of it. The bug scene and 360 were very clear and worked very good. I would recommend sitting closer to the middle because in the 360 scene the top was very visible. I hope there is a transition out of the 360 scene that they have yet to put in. It seems odd that it goes black and then you are in a forest with Kong looking at you. The final scene with Kong is very impressive but seems out of place cause of the abrupt transition. I agree that the story doesn't feel right with Kate not showing back up except on the radio to say she's ok.

I really liked the whole experience a lot and would probably give it an 8/10. It could be more though if they fix the transition out of the 360 scene and if I sat more towards the middle. It's also too bad that there isn't just one more scene showing Kong rescuing Kate. They could even have him holding her when he appears, he could set her down when he sees the dinosaurs, jump in and beat his chest, and she could run to escape while the carnage ensues. All in all it's a great addition to IOA and I can't wait to go on it again as soon as September comes around.
Nice review. It will be interesting to hear your comments after a few more rides. :thumbsup: For myself, good rides usually grow on me. Generally I like them more after four or five rides than my first. At Universal, Mummy, Gringotts, Jurassic Park River Adventure, & SpiderMan were all better for me after a few rides.
 
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*may contain spoilers*

Hello everyone! My name is Michael, and I am brand new to this community. I wanted to briefly share my experience after riding Kong for the first time today. I came into this ride with not knowing really anything at all other than the vehicle being a truck, keep in mind, and now i don't know what to really think of it. Here's a brief review

After going off the train to Hogsmeade at about 5:00, I headed over to King Kong. As we looked at the queue we could clearly see the ride was open. The line said 90 minutes, but as the queue is hidden underneath an awning for a bit before the cave, and it also has a fan blowing, I'd say that it wasn't bad. During our wait outside, we could not see any trucks driving along the track. In the queue you can hear some cheesy oldtime sounds, and a guy saying something but I forget - and then you enter the cave.

Once in the cave, there is a room with just a queue, and some ominous noises. There is some skulls, and other cool gizmos in here, but nothing too over-the-top. It's very creepy. From here you enter the room with the witch, and she really helps add the tension and excitement into the room. However I must say, hearing her run over and over again for about 6 minutes is a tad annoying. From there you walk into a dark narrow hallway, and there is potholes where scary people jump out at people. Most people laugh, and I think I only saw one kid crying. After that, you enter a place with crates that contain shaking objects within at, and you can also see a graboid from Tremors (jk, it's just a giant worm in a cage). After that you board onto the ride. Before talking about the ride, I'm going to say that the atmosphere during this part is perfect. The tension is great! It feels like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (a bit), and it's all very eerie.

Now going onto the ride. I'm pretty sure only one truck was running as we waited a while to board the ride. Once board, I went onto the far right side on the fourth row I believe. One thing I noticed is that we didn't get to go outside, instead we went right into a chamber that looks almost the beginning of the Mummy. We were also greeted to our driver who I don't remember the name of. There is a screen where we meet the female who's named Kate, and then there are creatures that capture her. The creatures feel all about silly, but what stuck out to me is that we never really get to know who Kate is. The bug chamber is next, and this bit really got me wet! There were sprinklers that went off twice in here I believe, and then another in the next chamber. You won't get soaked, but you will get wet if you sit on the far right. After the bug scene, you go into a Dinosaur action sequence, very similar to the one in Hollywood. Here I could see the ceiling, and it didn't blend well with the scene. You'd have to look up, but yeah it's noticeable. Also the interaction doesn't feel all there. It's cool and all, but I'm not sure. It's nothing as good as the interaction where Spiderman jumps on the car in Spiderman or even where Bellatrix makes the car plummet in Gringotts. Afterwards you can see an animatronic King Kong which is used as if it's ET at the end o ET, all we need is for him to roar our names. I feel like he could be used far more.

I can safely say that this is not one of my top fave rides at Universal Studios Resort, but it's not bad. Maybe it's different with the outdoor bit? I'll have to see. I have a week left, and I'll probably reride it. Right now I feel as if it feels either a bit short, or just not complete. I feel if we met Kate in the queue, or maybe even heard from her - she'd be better developed and we'd feel more excited to save her. Also the screens could be better suited to the overall environment. After the dinosaur scene, the story feels real rushed. The king kong animatronic at the end seems more random than fitting, i figure it's an homage, but as if it was under used. I mean imagine if the finale consisted of the giant animatronic wrecking havoc among the vehicle after the Dinosaur scene. I just think that would make it feel more needed. I don't know. I felt like the ride felt choppy as if we lost a bit of the great story built within the queue from the ride. I'll see if my opinion changes after rerides
 
*may contain spoilers*

Hello everyone! My name is Michael, and I am brand new to this community. I wanted to briefly share my experience after riding Kong for the first time today. I came into this ride with not knowing really anything at all other than the vehicle being a truck, keep in mind, and now i don't know what to really think of it. Here's a brief review

After going off the train to Hogsmeade at about 5:00, I headed over to King Kong. As we looked at the queue we could clearly see the ride was open. The line said 90 minutes, but as the queue is hidden underneath an awning for a bit before the cave, and it also has a fan blowing, I'd say that it wasn't bad. During our wait outside, we could not see any trucks driving along the track. In the queue you can hear some cheesy oldtime sounds, and a guy saying something but I forget - and then you enter the cave.

Once in the cave, there is a room with just a queue, and some ominous noises. There is some skulls, and other cool gizmos in here, but nothing too over-the-top. It's very creepy. From here you enter the room with the witch, and she really helps add the tension and excitement into the room. However I must say, hearing her run over and over again for about 6 minutes is a tad annoying. From there you walk into a dark narrow hallway, and there is potholes where scary people jump out at people. Most people laugh, and I think I only saw one kid crying. After that, you enter a place with crates that contain shaking objects within at, and you can also see a graboid from Tremors (jk, it's just a giant worm in a cage). After that you board onto the ride. Before talking about the ride, I'm going to say that the atmosphere during this part is perfect. The tension is great! It feels like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (a bit), and it's all very eerie.

Now going onto the ride. I'm pretty sure only one truck was running as we waited a while to board the ride. Once board, I went onto the far right side on the fourth row I believe. One thing I noticed is that we didn't get to go outside, instead we went right into a chamber that looks almost the beginning of the Mummy. We were also greeted to our driver who I don't remember the name of. There is a screen where we meet the female who's named Kate, and then there are creatures that capture her. The creatures feel all about silly, but what stuck out to me is that we never really get to know who Kate is. The bug chamber is next, and this bit really got me wet! There were sprinklers that went off twice in here I believe, and then another in the next chamber. You won't get soaked, but you will get wet if you sit on the far right. After the bug scene, you go into a Dinosaur action sequence, very similar to the one in Hollywood. Here I could see the ceiling, and it didn't blend well with the scene. You'd have to look up, but yeah it's noticeable. Also the interaction doesn't feel all there. It's cool and all, but I'm not sure. It's nothing as good as the interaction where Spiderman jumps on the car in Spiderman or even where Bellatrix makes the car plummet in Gringotts. Afterwards you can see an animatronic King Kong which is used as if it's ET at the end o ET, all we need is for him to roar our names. I feel like he could be used far more.

I can safely say that this is not one of my top fave rides at Universal Studios Resort, but it's not bad. Maybe it's different with the outdoor bit? I'll have to see. I have a week left, and I'll probably reride it. Right now I feel as if it feels either a bit short, or just not complete. I feel if we met Kate in the queue, or maybe even heard from her - she'd be better developed and we'd feel more excited to save her. Also the screens could be better suited to the overall environment. After the dinosaur scene, the story feels real rushed. The king kong animatronic at the end seems more random than fitting, i figure it's an homage, but as if it was under used. I mean imagine if the finale consisted of the giant animatronic wrecking havoc among the vehicle after the Dinosaur scene. I just think that would make it feel more needed. I don't know. I felt like the ride felt choppy as if we lost a bit of the great story built within the queue from the ride. I'll see if my opinion changes after rerides


Welcome, thanks for sharing your review!
 
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As I was planning our trip to Universal, I stayed updated on the Kong ride with this forum.... so I thought I would contribute my thoughts.
My family was able to ride Kong last week, however, we were only able to ride once in our 5 days there. Either the line was way too long or it was not running.
I have a 5 yr old and a 7 yr old. They were more nervous about the jumpscares more than anything.
I don't want to reiterate the same points as others... so I will try to add something new.
In the queue, there was a child crying as he was being forced on by his family. He was much older than my kids, but obviously age doesn't matter when it comes to one's tolerance for being frightened.
We loved the "witch" room... I must say... the music and chanting build up- "KONG, KONG , KONG!" was by far the best effect in the whole experience. I will use this word a few times -> but the chanting was the most "emotional" part of the ride.
Off to the jumpscare walkway [the part I was most nervous about]. The actors did not jump out at me or my kids... not sure if it was random or if they chose not to.
The ride broke down while we were in line... thank goodness we were in the small area after the jumpscare line since it is quite tight in there and the queue has very little air circulation.
The cased "worm" was neat... but felt like my kids just looked at it... my daughter asked if it was real then moved on. Just not that much interest.
Got on the truck... we went through the outside portion. As we were driving up to the Kong gates, I noticed that I didn't feel like I had the same emotional experience as I do when the Jurassic Park journey begins... "Welcome to Jurassic Park!" with the well-known music blaring as the gates open.
The ride from here on seemed lacking... my husband and I were pointing out things around us to our kids, since there was A LOT going on. My husband thought the movements of the car did not go super smooth with the scenes, not sure if something was off.
Then there was Kong... he was made well, looks great- and I know this was said a million times. But, I will say it again, they really should have had more interaction with the riders and Kong. It was like "OOhhh look, there's Kong" and then we were done.
So as we were exiting the ride this was what I heard- my 7 yr old son wanted to go on again, my 5 yr old daughter thought it was boring, and my husband didn't like it at all. But I didn't say anything, I just wasn't sure what I felt- I didn't feel the same dislike for the ride as my husband, but I still was so unsure about the whole experience.
As were walking through the park I thought about watching the original Kong movie as a kid and I remember the fear I felt when the girl was chained up and you saw the trees moving as "HE" is approaching... the emotion was so strong. And that is when I realized what the ride was lacking... just plain emotion.
Gringotts [my favorite ride] has so much emotion... the music from the beginning, plummeting straight down, great villain interaction, being sent through the final tunnel, and ending with "After all, it is the safest place on Earth!" with that amazing musical score at the end. I want to clap and cheer every time I ride Gringotts.
I don't know what they could have done differently with Kong since they are the masterminds who have created so many emotion evoking rides... but I do feel like this ride could have been amazing and it just ended up being good.
Just wanted to give a different point of view. Thanks to everyone on this forum for keeping me updated on Universal Orlando... "After all, it is my favorite place on Earth!"
 
Hi. Yesterday I rode Kong at around 2pm. The regular line was about 90 minutes and I saw it went around to the extended queue so my cousin and I decided to go in the single riders queue.


Single Riders Queue: Nothing special. You can catch a short glimpse of the witch's room on your way there. Basically where you may have to wait a long time is the main cave hall. It's just this long hall and it gets smaller as you get closer to the loading area.
Luckily, me and my cousin sat together. We were on the 11th row on the far left.

Ride: The side doors came down and the journey began. I got Kalana (if thats how you spell her name :blank:) The trucks really do move smoothly. Then a little bit more narration and you come to the front of the big temple door. Natives chanting "KONG KONG KONG KONG" really gave me some goosebumps and then the doors opened.

Everything worked great. The Kong skeleton, the bats, the first scene, and the 2nd scene. Then we got to the 360 scene. The motion base WORKED great. Everything did! Everyone was screaming and enjoying the ride.

Then we got to the piece de resistance. The big Kong AA. I was on the left so I really couldn't see it well but I could definitely hear it. Then we came back to the unload station and then that was that.

A big con for me is the seating angles as it can affect your ride.


All and all, I give it a 9/10 as your ride seat really does limit your ride.