Skull Island: Reign of Kong - General Discussion

[LieutLaww]

as Shakespeare would have said if he was living today, "Get thee to the park!"...

I shall, in Oct.

 

[Mad Dog]

I shall, in Oct.

Great. :thumbsup:....Remember to re read our pointers for a most enjoyable ride experience.

 

[xxbrothawizxx]

Ride Kong this weekend 5th row 4rth person down and I legitimately had to take off my glasses to make sure it wasn't real. Still when I took of my glasses it looked real. I was more than astounded. Maybe it was both the position and an improvement in the 360 room but this ride was spectacular.

Edit: I also ride transformers this weekend and it was the best I've ever ridden in it so this weekend in general simulators were more than on point.

I rode in the same spot, 4th row. It was the most convincing 3D scene I had ever experienced. Like many others I was disappointed by what we ended up getting, but that doesn't negate the technical achievement on display.

VR took that crown away not too long after though.

 

[LieutLaww]

I can actually wear my Kawng T shirt when I go ride this in Oct lol

 

[UK-Trigg]

Damn you all and your repeat rides when I haven't even had 1 yet !!

Soon buddy, soon :thumbsup:

For all the bad press it has had I also really enjoy this ride, make sure to follow @Mad Dog 's top tips for getting the most out of the ride.

 

[Freak]

Really late to the party on this one, but I rode Kong for my first time on Thursday. I tried to ride Wednesday but the blasted thing kept breaking down. It was more unreliable than a female prom date or the Dippin Dots guy that day. Yeesh.

Like I mentioned in the Fallon thread, Universal Syndrome. Better queue than the ride. The queue was really nice. Loved the period-adventure feel to it. I got a strong Indy vibe in there. I totally forgot about the scareactor in there and he gave me a good jump! Loved it! The scene with the animatronic was neat, but I felt like it could’ve easily been on the ride instead. Oh well. To each his own.

The ride starts off well. The build up going into the gates was exciting as well as going into the cave. This was the coolest part of the ride aside from the Kong AA. After that, the ride goes downhill. It becomes screenapolooza. The action is mostly passive as it’s just looking at a screen. It doesn’t help that the screens are surrounded by plain walls that make the Ride feel more bare than an HHN Hollywood house. The 360 room was so similar to the Hollywood Ride I’m so used to, I thought for a second I was on the tram tour.

Overall, the ride was boring with a couple of nice practical scenes and a flashy queue. It reeks of budget cuts and not being scary enough. This ride was one giant missed oppurtnity lacking some potentially awesome practical and frightening moments. First off, what’s the point of hyping the ride as something frightening in the queue line if you’re going to chicken out and make it not as intense? Kate should’ve died in the ride. If they wanted to be more bold, they should’ve had the claw raise her out of view of the screen, play a “crunch” sound effect and spray blood on the riders. That would’ve added an nice “oh crap, we’re screwed” feel to the ride. Also, wouldn’t it be awesome if the driver gets eaten during the ride? That ties into my next complaint.

This ride really needs more practical. They could’ve done the “taking the driver” effect with some Kuka arms or something, do AA bugs and Dinos, have the Kong AA do something to our vehicle, have the roof shake when the bats come out....any of those would’ve been cool. It’s so disappointing how this ride could’ve been awesome but then decided, “it’s good enough.” Well, that’s a shame. Okay Ride, not super impressed.

 

[JungleSkip]

All I’ll say is I highly disagree. Sorry you didn’t like it

 

[Paulio]

Really late to the party on this one, but I rode Kong for my first time on Thursday. I tried to ride Wednesday but the blasted thing kept breaking down. It was more unreliable than a female prom date or the Dippin Dots guy that day. Yeesh.

Like I mentioned in the Fallon thread, Universal Syndrome. Better queue than the ride. The queue was really nice. Loved the period-adventure feel to it. I got a strong Indy vibe in there. I totally forgot about the scareactor in there and he gave me a good jump! Loved it! The scene with the animatronic was neat, but I felt like it could’ve easily been on the ride instead. Oh well. To each his own.

The ride starts off well. The build up going into the gates was exciting as well as going into the cave. This was the coolest part of the ride aside from the Kong AA. After that, the ride goes downhill. It becomes screenapolooza. The action is mostly passive as it’s just looking at a screen. It doesn’t help that the screens are surrounded by plain walls that make the Ride feel more bare than an HHN Hollywood house. The 360 room was so similar to the Hollywood Ride I’m so used to, I thought for a second I was on the tram tour.

Overall, the ride was boring with a couple of nice practical scenes and a flashy queue. It reeks of budget cuts and not being scary enough. This ride was one giant missed oppurtnity lacking some potentially awesome practical and frightening moments. First off, what’s the point of hyping the ride as something frightening in the queue line if you’re going to chicken out and make it not as intense? Kate should’ve died in the ride. If they wanted to be more bold, they should’ve had the claw raise her out of view of the screen, play a “crunch” sound effect and spray blood on the riders. That would’ve added an nice “oh crap, we’re screwed” feel to the ride. Also, wouldn’t it be awesome if the driver gets eaten during the ride? That ties into my next complaint.

This ride really needs more practical. They could’ve done the “taking the driver” effect with some Kuka arms or something, do AA bugs and Dinos, have the Kong AA do something to our vehicle, have the roof shake when the bats come out....any of those would’ve been cool. It’s so disappointing how this ride could’ve been awesome but then decided, “it’s good enough.” Well, that’s a shame. Okay Ride, not super impressed.

I rather prefer Universal take out the Lost Continent and retheme it to Skull Island, with just one E-ticket ride. It's far more bigger than Toon Lagoon and MSHI combined and is currently the only island without a ride.

 

[shiekra38]

The 360 room was so similar to the Hollywood Ride I’m so used to, I thought for a second I was on the tram tour.

Well, for a second you kind of are

I agree with some of your points...I disagree with you on the point of more scary = better...The ride is not lacking any creepy or scare factor for kids and people that don't do "scary" things like haunted houses...The big issue is pacing and the stop, go, stop, go feeling on the attraction

 

[Blaw923]

One item that would of totally changed my perception of this ride was a forest open air section of track beyond the wall before entering 'caves'. We are led to believe this island is a wild dense jungle, and we don't get to experience any of it. Instead of the stupid ape bones I would of rather been outside and come across what looks like Kongs lair (queue banana peels). This would of given that tiny bit of more practical scenes. It could of just been empty jungle we are driving through with an occasional Kong roar or rustling bushes.

Even the jungle trekking vibe in the big explorer RV feels lack luster because we enter tight rooms and stop so much.

Look below at the visual straight from Universals website, plus my addition to the show building. Even that addition loop in dense jungle cruise style would of made a huge difference.

 

[deathcab4cutie]

rode it a few days ago and noticed all of the giant bats are gone

 

[sonoma15]

rode it a few days ago and noticed all of the giant bats are gone

Wait what

 

[WAJAS]

rode it a few days ago and noticed all of the giant bats are gone

Road it today... they’re still there.

The projections onto the roof of the truck were also working in the first two rooms.

 

[Mad Dog]

The Count was in town. They took a day off of the job to visit him, talk about old times, and have a "bite" to eat on a customer at Monsters Cafe.

 

[shiekra38]

Road it today... they’re still there.

The projections onto the roof of the truck were also working in the first two rooms.

That's actually a great effect...Saw it work once in the 360 room, really cool

 

[acquaz]

rode it a few days ago and noticed all of the giant bats are gone

Yeah, I rode it last Wednesday and they weren't there. Forgot to mention it on here.

 

[JoeCamel]

rode it a few days ago and noticed all of the giant bats are gone

Yeah, I rode it last Wednesday and they weren't there. Forgot to mention it on here.

As of an hour ago today 11/27 the bats are there.

I have never done the bypass, can the bats be missed going that way?

 

[Andysol]

The ride starts off well. The build up going into the gates was exciting as well as going into the cave. This was the coolest part of the ride aside from the Kong AA.

The 360 room was so similar to the Hollywood Ride I’m so used to, I thought for a second I was on the tram tour.

This reiterates 2 points.

1) The build-up of having the outside section certainly adds to the ride experience. When it's poor weather or that section is skipped, it hurts the overall experience significantly.

2) You fit into a category that the majority of UOR guests won't. Very few of the guests have likely ridden the tram tour as much as you, since you're a local to USH. Whereas I haven't been to USH in over 20 years- so it certainly felt like a new experience to me.

Of course, I'm with you on screen fatigue; however, outside of Spiderman and FJ- there are no other screen rides in that park- both of which are hybrids. And outside of those two, Cat in the Hat is the only other ride you can ride during lightning. So in my opinion, for IoA- Kong fit the bill perfectly.
I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much had it been in USF.

 

[JPRA513]

This reiterates 2 points.
Of course, I'm with you on screen fatigue; however, outside of Spiderman and FJ- there are no other screen rides in that park- both of which are hybrids. And outside of those two, Cat in the Hat is the only other ride you can ride during lightning. So in my opinion, for IoA- Kong fit the bill perfectly.
I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much had it been in USF.

Very good point. Would I have preferred Kong to be mostly practical? Absolutely. But screens are not a problem in IoA like they are in USF (only reason it can seem that way at times is because the parks are in close proximity to each other). My girlfriend and I both really enjoyed Kong, especially since the 360 scene was a completely new experience for us. Add that to the queue, outside buildup, and Kong AA at the end, and it was a good attraction to us. Not great (which it easily could have been), but good. Would not have been nearly as good had it been in USF.

 

[DK745]

I like Kong. Haven't been to USH so it's a new experience but it's a good ride. I do agree with Andysol that if it were in USF it would probably lose a few points but being in IOA really helps. That park needs more indoor/dark rides.

Have they rolled out all the storyline tram drivers now? I thought they only had like 3 of them going at one point but it's been a while since I checked up on it.