- Aug 10, 2012
- 255
- 137
Skull Island: Reign of Kong - Reviews, Photos, and Videos
- Thread starter Parkscope Joe
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I like the story up until the 360 scene, where the Kate storyline is dropped. I'm not sure why we don't first see Kong smash the bug with his fist and save Kate, then Dino battle. When Kong sets her down to fight the Dinos, Kate runs off. That would also give a great reason for Kong to be inspecting the people on the truck. The driver could even say something like, "all you blonde ladies should keep your heads down". As is, Kong never meets "the blonde girl". Fail.
Still really like the attraction though.
Still really like the attraction though.
Last edited:
I rode earlier today in the mid-left of Row 12. Thoughts:
The queue is pretty nice though a bit overhyped. The witch room was awesome! I saw a scareactor but never was the target. The slug AA looks really cool.
The driver in my vehicle was the native girl, it's essentially narration. Don't know how better or worse the other drivers are.
All of the AAs looked amazing, especially the big guy himself. Didn't catch his gorilla breath though.
Projection is good quality with some very good 3D. I think it would have been better if I was up a few rows though.
Like I said earlier, the motion in the 360 scene wasn't working. That said, the scene is still very impressive and I didn't know where to look!
My biggest issues with the ride are the minimal story and pacing. The opening scenes are nice and set the atmosphere but the first two screens felt like they happened very quickly. The 360 scene felt longer than the two of them combined.
Overall I'd say the ride is a solid 8/10. Not in my personal Top 5 UO attractions but a very solid addition to the lineup.
The queue is pretty nice though a bit overhyped. The witch room was awesome! I saw a scareactor but never was the target. The slug AA looks really cool.
The driver in my vehicle was the native girl, it's essentially narration. Don't know how better or worse the other drivers are.
All of the AAs looked amazing, especially the big guy himself. Didn't catch his gorilla breath though.
Projection is good quality with some very good 3D. I think it would have been better if I was up a few rows though.
Like I said earlier, the motion in the 360 scene wasn't working. That said, the scene is still very impressive and I didn't know where to look!
My biggest issues with the ride are the minimal story and pacing. The opening scenes are nice and set the atmosphere but the first two screens felt like they happened very quickly. The 360 scene felt longer than the two of them combined.
Overall I'd say the ride is a solid 8/10. Not in my personal Top 5 UO attractions but a very solid addition to the lineup.
Interesting observations regarding the brief story. I wonder if UC figured that out after a bit but too late to do anything about it. There is a limit to stretching a budget.
- Sep 15, 2012
- 310
- 321
I was lucky enough to get two rides in today. We got in line around 4:00-4:10PM, which I believe was about 20 minutes after softs started. We entered in the overflow queue and even took a detour out through the single rider entrance and around a makeshift side queue they had set up. Overall I believe my wait was around 80-90 minutes. There were two delays while I was in line, but they were both resolved fairly quickly.
First off, the queue is fantastic. The outdoor portion gets some great views of ride vehicles passing by, which nearly always encouraged some interaction between riders and guests waiting in line. It was a great choice, as seeing the ride vehicles so early really builds anticipation and makes the wait a bit easier. Further along in the outdoor portion is some nice Skull Island theming and jolly music.
Moving inside, the atmosphere shifts to something more foreboding and intimidating. The first few rooms of the interior queue didn’t make much of an impression on me, but the witch room really steps it up. This room gets very loud, with booms and native chants, and the backdrop of fiery faces sets an unsettling tone. The witch AA itself is uncanny, and one of the most convincing AAs I’ve ever seen.
Much has been said about the scareactors – some I agree with, and some I don’t. Are they as traumatizing as what’s been suggested? Not really. But are they this awesome, necessary part of this particular queue experience? Not really, either. For the faint of heart, there are about three or four boo holes to watch out for…but they’re all on the right side on a particular section, so the truly skittish can simply face the left wall and tune them out. I personally got one scare, which was somewhat effective, I guess. The scareactor experience in Kong just doesn’t really seem consistent with what follows. For as aggressive as they are, they’re irrelevant to everything that comes after – it’s not like we get any satisfying “payback” for them harassing us earlier in the ride. Instead of going for quick (and ultimately) forgettable startles, I think I would have rather preferred a more atmospheric use of actors; maybe have an actor slowly and creepily emerge from a boo hole, look us over while sneering, and quietly retreat – basically just reinforcing the whole “hostile territory” element of Skull Island instead of setting up the natives as “villains” that are never properly dealt with. The whole native element felt undercooked in general, as outside of a few chants at the start of the ride they’re never heard from again.
But anyway, the station is filled with plenty of objects to look over, and the worm AA is much larger and more impressive in person than in any Youtube video. Not much else to say here, other than keep right at the fork to raise your chance of a seat near the back of the RV.
The flow of the queue was a bit inconsistent. I’m aware that this is likely a highly variable experience, but here’s how it went for me: the interior queue moved a bit slowly, before nearly going into overdrive at the witch room. Unfortunately, the Gringotts bank hall problem reared its head with many guests slowing up the line to take pictures of the witch AA. The queue continued moved fairly quickly until the load station, where it slowed down a bit. Assuming they were running three RVs today, a full five will devour guests. This is a people eating machine.
In my two rides I was in rows 8 and 11, on the far left side of each. Let me just say that I love the outdoor portion. Simply moving around in the RVs feels…awesome, for lack of a better word, and the extremely uneven ground in this section leads to an unpredictable and very enjoyable romp. As stated before, there’s some potential for fun interaction with guests waiting in line, and the scene is capped off by the dramatic opening of the massive gates and entrance into the show building. If we’re being honest here, I would never want to ride Skull Island without the outdoor portion being active. I also want to ride it after dark so, so badly.
The three screen scenes in the interior all follow a logical progression and ramp up accordingly: the first has one screen and no motion base, the second has one screen and a motion base, and the third has a screen on each side with a motion base. There’s a clear progression here, and I felt that, together with the outdoor scene, the creators mined just about everything they needed to with these ride mechanics. I can’t look at Kong like I can with Gringotts and say something like “That was fun, but they definitely missed the chance to do (insert thing here) with that ride system.” Kong feels like a complete ride experience from start to finish, satisfactorily exploring every element I can think of for these RVs.
Additionally, the screen scenes mostly address one of my main complaints with Gringotts, which is how its screen sections are such passive experiences compared to Universal’s other top dark rides – not so with Kong. Two of the three screens use motion bases to great effect (seriously, the simulation in the 360 scene was so much better than what I was expecting), and there are many water and wind effects. Yeah, they’re screens, but they’re not boring – there’s near-constant interaction.
Finally, the Kong AA. It’s big, it’s loud, and it’s impressive. Its final roar elicited cheers from my truck on both rides. It’s a crowd pleaser, and therefore a winner. A fitting end to the ride, and an ending I particularly like, as it gives riders something they haven’t yet seen on the ride.
The story is underwhelming. The natives element doesn’t gel with the rest of the experience, and there no real set-up that I was privy to for why we’re doing what we’re doing. Now, this is a theme park ride, so that’s not such a big deal to me (though still an oversight). What does feel incredibly jarring is how Kate’s character is handled. After being grabbed by a giant pincer and dragged off in the bug pit scene, she isn’t heard from again. Yet, the ending of the ride suggests somewhat of a happy ending, even after she…got dragged off and massacred? As other users have noted, early softs included some dialogue at the end indicating that Kate survived (which is a bit cheap, but whatever), so it wasn’t as much of a downer, but it wasn’t present for my rides. It just seems like a huge blunder. There’s no reason why the second truck from the bat scene couldn’t have driven in near the end of the bug pit scene, picked up Kate, with the driver saying something like “Go on ahead, we’ll catch up”. Resume as normal until the end of the ride, where some radio chatter indicates the second truck made it out alright. The ending of the ride isn’t presented as this bittersweet or negative thing, so to have those elements in the story just feels off.
Overall, a fantastic attraction. Beyond a frozen Kong on my first ride (which gave me a re-ride, and worked on my second ride), everything seemed to be functioning as intended. I did notice one aspect of the 360 scene motion base, though – after the truck begins to accelerate near the start, the motion base felt like it kicked in maybe about a second late. I’m not sure if this is by design, as it happened in both rides, and the rest of the simulation in that scene definitely felt in sync. Just a small quirk, I guess.
As a complete experience, it’s up there with Indiana Jones Adventure, Gringotts, and Forbidden Journey as one of the best around. As purely a ride experience, it doesn’t quite hit the highs of a Spider-Man, but still stands as a solid addition to the resort that first-time guests will definitely want to hit, and repeat riders should be on the lookout for when waits aren’t too long. It doesn’t quite scratch the itch I’m looking for (I definitely want more motion along with my screens), though I suspect the vast majority of riders will be more than thrilled when it ends.
Questions/comments about anything I said or didn't say are welcome.
Complete experience (Queue+Ride) Rating: 9/10
Ride experience rating: 7/10
My rankings for Universal Orlando, to give some context for my opinions (subject to change, of course) -
Complete experience:
1. Gringotts
2. Skull Island
3. Forbidden Journey
4. Spider-Man
5. Mummy
Ride experience:
1. Spider-Man
2. Forbidden Journey
3. Gringotts
4. Mummy
5. Skull Island
Sit near the back.
First off, the queue is fantastic. The outdoor portion gets some great views of ride vehicles passing by, which nearly always encouraged some interaction between riders and guests waiting in line. It was a great choice, as seeing the ride vehicles so early really builds anticipation and makes the wait a bit easier. Further along in the outdoor portion is some nice Skull Island theming and jolly music.
Moving inside, the atmosphere shifts to something more foreboding and intimidating. The first few rooms of the interior queue didn’t make much of an impression on me, but the witch room really steps it up. This room gets very loud, with booms and native chants, and the backdrop of fiery faces sets an unsettling tone. The witch AA itself is uncanny, and one of the most convincing AAs I’ve ever seen.
Much has been said about the scareactors – some I agree with, and some I don’t. Are they as traumatizing as what’s been suggested? Not really. But are they this awesome, necessary part of this particular queue experience? Not really, either. For the faint of heart, there are about three or four boo holes to watch out for…but they’re all on the right side on a particular section, so the truly skittish can simply face the left wall and tune them out. I personally got one scare, which was somewhat effective, I guess. The scareactor experience in Kong just doesn’t really seem consistent with what follows. For as aggressive as they are, they’re irrelevant to everything that comes after – it’s not like we get any satisfying “payback” for them harassing us earlier in the ride. Instead of going for quick (and ultimately) forgettable startles, I think I would have rather preferred a more atmospheric use of actors; maybe have an actor slowly and creepily emerge from a boo hole, look us over while sneering, and quietly retreat – basically just reinforcing the whole “hostile territory” element of Skull Island instead of setting up the natives as “villains” that are never properly dealt with. The whole native element felt undercooked in general, as outside of a few chants at the start of the ride they’re never heard from again.
But anyway, the station is filled with plenty of objects to look over, and the worm AA is much larger and more impressive in person than in any Youtube video. Not much else to say here, other than keep right at the fork to raise your chance of a seat near the back of the RV.
The flow of the queue was a bit inconsistent. I’m aware that this is likely a highly variable experience, but here’s how it went for me: the interior queue moved a bit slowly, before nearly going into overdrive at the witch room. Unfortunately, the Gringotts bank hall problem reared its head with many guests slowing up the line to take pictures of the witch AA. The queue continued moved fairly quickly until the load station, where it slowed down a bit. Assuming they were running three RVs today, a full five will devour guests. This is a people eating machine.
In my two rides I was in rows 8 and 11, on the far left side of each. Let me just say that I love the outdoor portion. Simply moving around in the RVs feels…awesome, for lack of a better word, and the extremely uneven ground in this section leads to an unpredictable and very enjoyable romp. As stated before, there’s some potential for fun interaction with guests waiting in line, and the scene is capped off by the dramatic opening of the massive gates and entrance into the show building. If we’re being honest here, I would never want to ride Skull Island without the outdoor portion being active. I also want to ride it after dark so, so badly.
The three screen scenes in the interior all follow a logical progression and ramp up accordingly: the first has one screen and no motion base, the second has one screen and a motion base, and the third has a screen on each side with a motion base. There’s a clear progression here, and I felt that, together with the outdoor scene, the creators mined just about everything they needed to with these ride mechanics. I can’t look at Kong like I can with Gringotts and say something like “That was fun, but they definitely missed the chance to do (insert thing here) with that ride system.” Kong feels like a complete ride experience from start to finish, satisfactorily exploring every element I can think of for these RVs.
Additionally, the screen scenes mostly address one of my main complaints with Gringotts, which is how its screen sections are such passive experiences compared to Universal’s other top dark rides – not so with Kong. Two of the three screens use motion bases to great effect (seriously, the simulation in the 360 scene was so much better than what I was expecting), and there are many water and wind effects. Yeah, they’re screens, but they’re not boring – there’s near-constant interaction.
Finally, the Kong AA. It’s big, it’s loud, and it’s impressive. Its final roar elicited cheers from my truck on both rides. It’s a crowd pleaser, and therefore a winner. A fitting end to the ride, and an ending I particularly like, as it gives riders something they haven’t yet seen on the ride.
The story is underwhelming. The natives element doesn’t gel with the rest of the experience, and there no real set-up that I was privy to for why we’re doing what we’re doing. Now, this is a theme park ride, so that’s not such a big deal to me (though still an oversight). What does feel incredibly jarring is how Kate’s character is handled. After being grabbed by a giant pincer and dragged off in the bug pit scene, she isn’t heard from again. Yet, the ending of the ride suggests somewhat of a happy ending, even after she…got dragged off and massacred? As other users have noted, early softs included some dialogue at the end indicating that Kate survived (which is a bit cheap, but whatever), so it wasn’t as much of a downer, but it wasn’t present for my rides. It just seems like a huge blunder. There’s no reason why the second truck from the bat scene couldn’t have driven in near the end of the bug pit scene, picked up Kate, with the driver saying something like “Go on ahead, we’ll catch up”. Resume as normal until the end of the ride, where some radio chatter indicates the second truck made it out alright. The ending of the ride isn’t presented as this bittersweet or negative thing, so to have those elements in the story just feels off.
Overall, a fantastic attraction. Beyond a frozen Kong on my first ride (which gave me a re-ride, and worked on my second ride), everything seemed to be functioning as intended. I did notice one aspect of the 360 scene motion base, though – after the truck begins to accelerate near the start, the motion base felt like it kicked in maybe about a second late. I’m not sure if this is by design, as it happened in both rides, and the rest of the simulation in that scene definitely felt in sync. Just a small quirk, I guess.
As a complete experience, it’s up there with Indiana Jones Adventure, Gringotts, and Forbidden Journey as one of the best around. As purely a ride experience, it doesn’t quite hit the highs of a Spider-Man, but still stands as a solid addition to the resort that first-time guests will definitely want to hit, and repeat riders should be on the lookout for when waits aren’t too long. It doesn’t quite scratch the itch I’m looking for (I definitely want more motion along with my screens), though I suspect the vast majority of riders will be more than thrilled when it ends.
Questions/comments about anything I said or didn't say are welcome.
Complete experience (Queue+Ride) Rating: 9/10
Ride experience rating: 7/10
My rankings for Universal Orlando, to give some context for my opinions (subject to change, of course) -
Complete experience:
1. Gringotts
2. Skull Island
3. Forbidden Journey
4. Spider-Man
5. Mummy
Ride experience:
1. Spider-Man
2. Forbidden Journey
3. Gringotts
4. Mummy
5. Skull Island
Sit near the back.
After riding it today I think it's safe to say Universal has nailed the queue parts of their new attractions. I wasn't too impressed with the ride BUT we were sitting in the second row and the motion base at the end wasn't working so that didn't help. I'll be going again next week to do it again but as of right now the ride gets a 7/10 and the queue gets a 9/10.
The fact that I had a terrible seat and missing effects and I still gave it a 7 should tell you something about this ride.
The fact that I had a terrible seat and missing effects and I still gave it a 7 should tell you something about this ride.
- May 15, 2016
- 277
- 439
Question. Is there supposed to be a movable screen in front of the car in the 360 room like Gringotts? I ask because it was just a big black hole there today and it was really obvious from the front few rows.
- May 15, 2016
- 277
- 439
Thats just how it looks. I feel like there is so much going on on the left and the right during that scene that you shouldn't even be noticing what is in front of the vehicle. I sat in row 7, so it wasnt as glaringly obvious.
- Sep 15, 2012
- 310
- 321
I briefly noticed the 360 scene exit from row 8 (far left seat), but the front of the truck seemed to obscure it once the vehicle settled into position. Didn't bother me too much.
Now, that transition on the other hand...(which I forgot to mention in my review, along with the insane projection quality, and the audio, and...BAH!)
Now, that transition on the other hand...(which I forgot to mention in my review, along with the insane projection quality, and the audio, and...BAH!)
That was a really well thought out review. :thumbsup: I especially like how you rated it as a Total Attraction Experience and a separate Ride Experience. I'm a very strong proponent that the attraction rating should reflect the facade/queue and the ride. The totality of the experience is what is important to me personally. You made a lot of good points.
- May 15, 2016
- 277
- 439
It is so damn hard to rate all these rides in a numerical fashion. Considering the Universal park app lists rides as: Thrill, 3d and 4d, water, and kids. Its impossible to combine all these categories and then dish out numbers.. I would literally have to sit and think all day where I would rank Reign of Kong this epic list of fun attractions.
IMO this is a ride you will want to ride every time you take a trip into Islands. That is the only way I can rank them because all the rides that I ride, I ride because they are fun on some level.
IMO this is a ride you will want to ride every time you take a trip into Islands. That is the only way I can rank them because all the rides that I ride, I ride because they are fun on some level.
- Aug 10, 2012
- 255
- 137
The motion base is a make or break element of this ride. If it's not working it greatly affects your experience.
- Sep 15, 2012
- 310
- 321
I'd put the outdoor scene on the same level. If a thunderstorm was imminent I'd probably skip the ride unless the wait was 20-30 minutes. Not sure if that's an outlying opinion, but yeah. Loved it both times.
We were able to ride yesterday. The outdoor part was our favorite as well. I just lurk here but did want to register to say it is a good ride. Don't pay any attention to the yelp like worst ride ever posts. It was a good time. People 's opinion will vary according to how into Kong they are. I think the problem is mainly that Gringotts set the bar so high. For me personally Kong is about maybe fifth. Still a great ride and fits well next to JP. Looks great coming in from that side.
Yeah, good point. From my outside view of things, since I won't ride this until September, the outside route, and entrance through the opening gates, would be on the level of the gates opening on Jurassic Park River Adventure. And that JPR entrance always sends a chill up my back, it's that good. If Kong even approaches that, I'll love the beginning.
- Apr 18, 2013
- 3,451
- 3,384
In my opinion it surpasses that at least physically, of course the JP music plays a large role in that entrance. I do kind of wish that this was the Jurassic Park ride. The format would have been perfect. Amazing entrance, screen based dinosaur chases and then a huge T-Rex AA at the end!
Here's my experience Friday, waiting for softs all day and then being one of the first in the door, immortalized on video:
Hopefully next time I'll be able to take it a little slow through the queue and get some still photos, cause we were just rushing through that line to ride.
Oh, and I like the extended queue btw. It's so cool to see the old bamboo work walls get a new life!
Hopefully next time I'll be able to take it a little slow through the queue and get some still photos, cause we were just rushing through that line to ride.
Oh, and I like the extended queue btw. It's so cool to see the old bamboo work walls get a new life!
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