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

[Mad Dog]

Morning!
View attachment 3714

The Breakfast of Champions.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Morning! Please could you recommend approx row(s)? I guess not too close to the front? First time Kong at Easter. (Realise ride will be packed so may be no choice) Thx

It never hurts to ask. 1st time we rode we requested towards the back, but we let the team member suggest/pick the row.

Middle to back is best. When you get to the end of the boarding line it splits & goes left & right. Go RIGHT, that way you'll be seated in the middle or back. (People that go left get seated in the front, and that's a lesser experience).....Welcome to the OU Forums:thumbsup:

Does this advice still pan out since they opened Express? It just seems that Express loads the back half and standby loads the front half, I guess you still have a better chance to avoid the front few rows by going right, but 1st time and after a long wait...I still say just ask!

 

[Mad Dog]

It never hurts to ask. 1st time we rode we requested towards the back, but we let the team member suggest/pick the row.



Does this advice still pan out since they opened Express? It just seems that Express loads the back half and standby loads the front half, I guess you still have a better chance to avoid the front few rows by going right, but 1st time and after a long wait...I still say just ask!

When I was in Express they were still pulling people from the standby line and loading them in the middle. And there's lots of times there's only a handful of people in Express.

 

[Joel]

Morning! Please could you recommend approx row(s)? I guess not too close to the front? First time Kong at Easter. (Realise ride will be packed so may be no choice) Thx

It never hurts to ask. 1st time we rode we requested towards the back, but we let the team member suggest/pick the row.



Does this advice still pan out since they opened Express? It just seems that Express loads the back half and standby loads the front half, I guess you still have a better chance to avoid the front few rows by going right, but 1st time and after a long wait...I still say just ask!

Row 8 or above. Also just ask and they will accomdate you, they're not here to ruin your day. The TM just told the express line TM she had 2 ppl going to row 10 and we went

 

[sjago13]

I say row 8-10. Also requested row 8 over presidents day weekend and they accommodated us. We just had to wait and extra vehicle. As long as you are polite they always seem to accommodate requests.

 

[Coasted]

Thanks to each of you for the knowledgeable advice (and the welcome)! Can't wait...

 

[Imperius]

Finally rode it. I enjoyed it, but feel it does need one or two more physical pieces. That Kong was ridiculous though.

 

[LieutLaww]

And my wait to ride this continues, roll on Oct !

 

[SkiBum]

So, I was looking at Touring Plans for September. They showed IOA as a "2" but the estimated wait for Kong was 45 minutes. Do you think that will hold true? Is it that popular or does it not have the estimated capacity original thought to have?

 

[Mad Dog]

So, I was looking at Touring Plans for September. They showed IOA as a "2" but the estimated wait for Kong was 45 minutes. Do you think that will hold true? Is it that popular or does it not have the estimated capacity original thought to have?

If you catch it early in the morning or near closing you can probably half that time on a low level crowd day, from what I've seen.....Kong seems to be fairly popular with the GP. It's lines are generally the longest at IOA on any given day.

 

[anihilnation]

Does anyone know if all technical issues have been resolved, or are there still hiccups?

 

[Skold]

If you catch it early in the morning or near closing you can probably half that time on a low level crowd day, from what I've seen.....Kong seems to be fairly popular with the GP. It's lines are generally the longest at IOA on any given day.

Last time i was there, in October, they weren't using the outdoor track until it was open for an hour or so. Is that standard operating procedure?

 

[Mad Dog]

Last time i was there, in October, they weren't using the outdoor track until it was open for an hour or so. Is that standard operating procedure?

Don't know. But I ran into that same thing on the two Sundays I was there in October, but not the weekdays. I was wondering if it was something peculiar to Sunday mornings, which usually are notoriously slow.

 

[Scott W.]

The Breakfast of Champions.

I love this phrase for alcohol for breakfast.

 

[Mad Dog]

Does anyone know if all technical issues have been resolved, or are there still hiccups?

Seems like they still have some issues with the trucks, occasionally.

 

[krazykat]

Not sure about this as I haven't seen anything posted about it, but is there any kind of photo op with Kong like there used to be before in the original KONGFRONTATION?

Something like this would be cool:

 

[JoeCamel]

Not sure about this as I haven't seen anything posted about it, but is there any kind of photo op with Kong like there used to be before in the original KONGFRONTATION?

Something like this would be cool:

Nope

 

[Mad Dog]

Kong's been known to eat photographers, so they won't do it. OSHA regulations and all.

 

[Kmac]

Re-posting here as per @Mad Dog's suggestion:

So if you don't know, there is a tour that you can take of this ride. Just ask a team member at the entrance if anyone is available for a tour. Here are some of the fun facts we learned about the ride.

• The RVs are not self-driving like you may think. The system the RVs use is they measure the rotation of the wheels to determine which angle to turn each wheel. Since the ride path is fixed, they know exactly when to turn each wheel just based on how many times the wheels have rotated and at what part of the rotation the wheel is in.
• When the ride breaks down it is almost always because the RV is confused about where it is in the ride. Which causes a hard stop. Along the ride path there are sensors in the ground that sync up with the RV. If rotation of the wheels and position of the RV are not correct, the ride will hard stop
• There is a curled up rope in the single riders/extended outside queue next to a radio that is from Jaws
• That radio was supposed to be synced up with the ride vehicle's audio as they passed by the outdoor portion of the queue, but it never worked
• Most of the props in the final queue area with the worm are re-purposed from disaster after that closed down
• If you shine a light into one of the first boxes in the final queue room there is a statue of the empire state building (a reference to OG Kong)
• In the ride load area there are 3 giant guardians carved into the rockwork. The one in the middle has his arms crossed like a mummy. This is a reference to the mummy ride to reciprocate the gold Kong easter egg in the treasure room scene
• Sometimes the gates of the main facade don't work. If this happens they can tie down the doors to be permanently open so that the outdoor section can still operate
• As you enter the gates, the old Kong skull is called "princess" by the team members
• The motion of the RV is comprised of two parts. The first is the motion base on the ground. Each of the four wheels lock into their own motion base. There is also an airbag system in the RV underneath you that also adds motion to the vehicle
• In scene 2 when Kate is being pulled over the vehicle by the bat, look at the roof of the vehicle. There is a simulated shadow that syncs up perfectly with Kate "flying" over the vehicle. This shadow effect is also used in the 360 room and looks like branches
• The ride was down a lot during its first operation during the winter season. This was because the Kong animatronic was actually getting too cold and shutting off. They found this out because Kong would only work in the afternoon (when it was warm outside) and it would break down in the mornings and evenings (when it was cold outside). They now have heaters installed in that room, which has fixed the problem.
• If Kong does break down, the entire ride will go down since that is a crucial part of the ride experience
• Kong has 36 different motors just in his face alone
• For a while the doors of the RV would need to be held up by team members with poles. This is because one time one of doors fell only an inch or two and touched the top of a guest's head. They were not hurt, but this is what caused the pole holding to happen for awhile. They've seem to have fixed this for now
• If someone is standing up during the ride, they can play a prerecorded voice of your specific animatronic driver telling everyone to sit down. If they still don't sit down an actual team member can tap into audio system and yell at them
• Sometimes the animatronic drivers won't operate. This does not cause the ride to go down. Usually they have no idea why it broke and they just need to reset it
• Because of the frequency at which the ride breaks down, there is always a ride tech in the control booth

If those nerd facts aren't enough, you get to ride with the team member without waiting in line as part of the tour and it's completely free. We skipped a 75 minute wait.

I've wondered why Kong is so much better than Supercharged. They are essentially the same ride, with a different overlay. After taking this tour, I know why. It's all in the details. And that's what makes any theme park ride amazing. The small details, that add so much. Details that you would never notice, but if they weren't there, you would feel something is missing.

 

[Andy]

Cool stuff thanks for sharing!!! Had no clue about the temp being the reason the Kong AA was going down.