Skull Island: Reign of Kong - General Discussion

[UniversalRBLX]

One of the comments suggest they’re leaving it closed because cutting that portion cuts 60-70 seconds off the ride, thus increasing its hourly capacitor by enough that Uni wants to keep the outdoor part closed. There is no way that takes 60-70 seconds. My guess is 20 seconds max.

From station to the moment the gates are closed and clears the entire block, it takes about ~70 secs.

Sounds like they are cutting down on ride time since they're running fewer vehicles it seems.

Poor show.

 

[IzzyB]

From station to the moment the gates are closed and clears the entire block, it takes about ~70 secs.

Sounds like they are cutting down on ride time since they're running fewer vehicles it seems.

Poor show.

I agree. It is a poor show to do that. I am bummed since when I was there I didn't ride it because my daughter was too scared to even get in line (she was younger) and so I never saw it with the outdoor portion.

I would think they would get more vehicles by now so they can run it at capacity. Everyone makes fun of the Yeti and I do feel this is Uni's Yeti.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I agree. It is a poor show to do that. I am bummed since when I was there I didn't ride it because my daughter was too scared to even get in line (she was younger) and so I never saw it with the outdoor portion.

I would think they would get more vehicles by now so they can run it at capacity. Everyone makes fun of the Yeti and I do feel this is Uni's Yeti.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and wait a few more months, but this is just inexcusable.

This part of the attraction is the only reason why they went through the headache of creating a trackless system... would be a shame to lose the most unique element of any dark ride in Orlando.

 

[biggerboat16]

This is exactly why I hate B-modes. They give parks the ability to run an attraction even when a major element is not working. Since the park can still funnel people through, it makes them much less concerned with getting the attraction back up to where it should be. A park could hypothetically leave an attraction in B-mode permanently because people will still queue for it, not understanding that the experience is hindered. They just make it so parks don’t need to fix things in the short term. I bet a million bucks that if the indoor shortcut didn’t exist Uni would’ve already fixed the outdoor section.

 

[Brian G.]

Folks, nothing's changed since this last popped up a few weeks ago in the thread.

Kong's alleged issue is that the temple door entryway is causing hell on the ride vehicles, and they can't close down the ride because every other ride has needs for refurbishment and maintenance - which were exacerbated by said hurricane... This is why JPRA, ET, MIB are getting fixed while remaining open, allowing UO to do little by little overnight.

 

[Milla4Prez66]

Hopefully once EU finally opens Universal executives can get comfortable with shutting some of these rides down for a while to get them where they need to be. JPRA and ET above all, but the outdoor section of Kong needs to be on the list too. It was the coolest thing about what was a pretty disappointing ride.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Hopefully once EU finally opens Universal executives can get comfortable with shutting some of these rides down for a while to get them where they need to be. JPRA and ET above all, but the outdoor section of Kong needs to be on the list too. It was the coolest thing about what was a pretty disappointing ride.

Is ET still part of this? When we went in September ET looked better than it's looked since I started going in 2016

 

[universal_fanatic]

E.T. has definitely been getting some love over the past few months!

 

[Milla4Prez66]

I gotta admit that I haven’t gotten the chance to ride ET lately, so maybe it’s in pretty good shape. I’ve always wanted them to just take the ride down and spruce it up though.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I gotta admit that I haven’t gotten the chance to ride ET lately, so maybe it’s in pretty good shape. I’ve always wanted them to just take the ride down and spruce it up though.

It's in better shape than it was 2 years ago... but it still needs a more proper refurb to enhance/plus scenes of it like Disney does with the Fantasyland dark rides.

 

[ibanezjp]

It's in better shape than it was 2 years ago... but it still needs a more proper refurb to enhance/plus scenes of it like Disney does with the Fantasyland dark rides.

This 100%!! Disney keeps those really old dark rides in tip top shape. Better than some of their “newer” rides like Dinosaur and Splash Mountain before the re-theme. I’ve always thought ET should be UNI’s crown jewel retro attraction. Keep that thing in immaculate shape to show they care about their past. We rode it twice this week on our trip there and it was in the best shape in a while. The second car lunged forward which hasn’t happened for years. A lot of the AA’s are moving cleaner. They added a light to the ET basket and made all the lights in the ET AA’s heart bright orange. Of course the drummer guy is working and the names are working more consistently. STILL will NEVER understand why they removed the fog when you exit the space tunnel and arrive on the green planet. It always made that transition so cool.

As for Kong, I counted 20 sec’s from dispatch to being inside using the current shortcut so if the outside way is 50 secs that’s only a 30 sec difference. Not much and hopefully the real answer is the issue with the doors.

 

[Mad Dog]

On Kong, it's not so much the 'amount of extra outdoor time', it's the fabulous ambiance of that portion of the ride, and how it sets up the entire story. Absence of the outside portion is a 'significant' loss to the ride's quality and enjoyment......But they've had periodic issues with that gate, and continual problems with the vehicle wheels wearing down quickly, since the attraction opened. So unfortunately, even after they fix this present issue, it will probably sporadically occur in the future.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

On Kong, it's not so much the 'amount of extra outdoor time', it's the fabulous ambiance of that portion of the ride, and how it sets up the entire story. Absence of the outside portion is a 'significant' loss to the ride's quality and enjoyment......But they've had periodic issues with that gate, and continual problems with the vehicle wheels wearing down quickly, since the attraction opened. So unfortunately, even after they fix this present issue, it will probably sporadically occur in the future.

It's like skipping the entire cave/bayou section of Pirates of the Caribbean from Disneyland. Sure, it's not the "core" portion of the ride... but it does a heck of a job setting up the mood.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

As much as I'd rather have the ride open than not at all, the outdoor portion definitely sets the "adventure" mood for the ride.

 

[Casper Gutman]

As much as I'd rather have the ride open than not at all, the outdoor portion definitely sets the "adventure" mood for the ride.

Yup. It’s an essential part of a major ride and it has been off-line for a year. Whatever the exact details of the problem, at some point it boils down to “insufficient budget.”

 

[Rhian]

This shows how much difference a 'skipper' makes on a ride even if they're robotic. The fact Universal went out of their way to make several different characters for each vehicle emphasis this. With Jaws gone the outdoor portion on this ride gave a similar experience leading into the first indoor scene that isn't like any other ride at the resort right now.

For me I think that's what I miss most between Jaws gone and this ride. It's not the main ingredient but it's a really good garnish. EU isn't opening with any rides with a skipper/tour guide setup either. If Uni doesn't find a reliable fix for Kong I hope they try again with having skippers on an upcoming ride elsewhere.

 

[Crypt Keeper]

Shame the outdoor portion isn’t working, but the ride itself is pretty underwhelming IMO. So….eh.

I disagree so much tbh. Kong is a very underrated attraction. Is it another screen ride? Sure, but at least it blends the screens with set pieces, has a fantastic queue, an impressive Kong animatronic given the space constraints, and a tension-building outdoor portion.

I will always defend Reign of Kong

If Uni doesn't find a reliable fix for Kong I hope they try again with having skippers on an upcoming ride elsewhere.

If Universal ever goes through with the Creature From The Black Lagoon boat ride, then skippers could be featured.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

In April/May it'll be a full year of the attraction bypassing the outdoor portion... so what are we waiting on? I'd imagine they want the ride to be in proper working order prior to the attendance boost from Epic.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

In April/May it'll be a full year of the attraction bypassing the outdoor portion... so what are we waiting on? I'd imagine they want the ride to be in proper working order prior to the attendance boost from Epic.

 

[belloq87]

In April/May it'll be a full year of the attraction bypassing the outdoor portion... so what are we waiting on? I'd imagine they want the ride to be in proper working order prior to the attendance boost from Epic.

I hope they have a plan.