Twister...Ride It Out

[Crypt Keeper]

Just thought some of you might enjoy this! I just uploaded a video I took back in October of 2014 of Twister resetting.

This will never NOT be cool to me. Man, I miss Twister

 

[belloq87]

Just thought some of you might enjoy this! I just uploaded a video I took back in October of 2014 of Twister resetting.

That's awesome! Thank you for sharing this.

 

[Paulio]

It's depressing to know that Twister's attraction isn't coming back, even if the 2024 sequel will be successful. Fallon Ride simply doesn't hold the candle to that previous attraction.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

It's depressing to know that Twister's attraction isn't coming back, even if the 2024 sequel will be successful. Fallon Ride simply doesn't hold the candle to that previous attraction.

Hot take: Twister was bad and was made fun of all the time, including by Jack the Clown during HHN25. It's time was and is over. Fallon is better.

 

[Mad Dog]

Twister was good for the first couple times I experienced it. But it had poor repeatability. I recall the last few times I saw it that there were only a smattering of people attending. I can't ever recall it not being a walk on.

 

[belloq87]

Here's all I know: I'd do Twister every time I was in the park.

I never do Fallon unless somebody else in my group demands it... which doesn't happen often.

 

[UNIrd]

We love us some practical effects. RIP Twister!

 

[Universal 4 Life]

I was involved in the soft openings way back. I was walking by the attraction and workers started calling people over to try Twister. I thought it was awesome honestly. I guess I have a soft spot in my heart for Twister.

 

[USO92]

Hot take: Twister was bad and was made fun of all the time, including by Jack the Clown during HHN25. It's time was and is over. Fallon is better.

A hot take indeed.

Fallon, IMO, has an engaging and unique queue. That alone is worth entering the building. The ride? Meh. Maybe I see Twister as being more entertaining and more of a stand-out attraction in its design and execution - not necessarily categorically "good" compared to its in-park neighbors.

 

[JoeCamel]

A hot take indeed.

Fallon, IMO, has an engaging and unique queue. That alone is worth entering the building. The ride? Meh. Maybe I see Twister as being more entertaining and more of a stand-out attraction in its design and execution - not necessarily categorically "good" compared to its in-park neighbors.

I think Jack knew Twister was on the way out and the semi-script called it out. Another inside ha ha like much of B&T.
BTW the energy "Jack" brought to the '25 show was awesome, the man was in his element and the difference that was "friend of Jack" and what he did on stage was stark. Erin too, give me the first string the talent was on display and I love watching experts at work.

 

[universal_fanatic]

While we're here reminiscing about Twister I thought I'd share some photos I've collected. None of these are mine, but BTS pics of the attraction are rare so figured some of you maybe haven't seen these!

 

[Parkscope Joe]

A hot take indeed.

Fallon, IMO, has an engaging and unique queue. That alone is worth entering the building. The ride? Meh. Maybe I see Twister as being more entertaining and more of a stand-out attraction in its design and execution - not necessarily categorically "good" compared to its in-park neighbors.

I can appreciate Universe of Energy's music, ride system, dinos, and humor but still realize it was a 40-minute snooze fest of outdated info that was falling apart. Guests hated UoE and love Guardians, even if IMHO Guardians fits as well in Epcot as Zootopia at AK. That's how I view Twister - some neat components that never meshed together into a whole and never satisfied guests.

 

[Clive]

Wow, fantastic find! Thank you!

 

[Tbad556]

While we're here reminiscing about Twister I thought I'd share some photos I've collected. None of these are mine, but BTS pics of the attraction are rare so figured some of you maybe haven't seen these!
View attachment 19066

That first picture especially is incredible. Lovely finds!

 

[universal_fanatic]

That first picture especially is incredible. Lovely finds!

Yeah it really gives you a sense of the scale in that section of the soundstage. It's so much more shallow than I thought.

 

[belloq87]

They really did pull off the illusion of that space being much larger than it actually was.

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

Wait a minute, the cow was an animatronic? It always looked like a papier-mâché sculpture
I really miss this attraction though. Imo it was far more interesting than the Fallon ride and it'd still hold up today. Also, check the insane level of detail in that set! You really felt like you were outside when you walked into that room. The pre-show areas were also incredibly well themed and always gave such an eerie, nightmarish feeling with the wind blowing and the sirens blaring.

 

[Kichkinet85]

Hot take: Twister was bad and was made fun of all the time, including by Jack the Clown during HHN25. It's time was and is over. Fallon is better.

 

[universal_fanatic]

Wait a minute, the cow was an animatronic? It always looked like a papier-mâché sculpture
I really miss this attraction though. Imo it was far more interesting than the Fallon ride and it'd still hold up today. Also, check the insane level of detail in that set! You really felt like you were outside when you walked into that room. The pre-show areas were also incredibly well themed and always gave such an eerie, nightmarish feeling with the wind blowing and the sirens blaring.

The cow(s) definitely evolved over the years! I remember at one point the cow had the Esmoo Dairy logo on it which really leaned into the ridiculousness, but eventually it changed to the more realistic looking cow, both of which were sold in the prop shop!

Older style flying cow

Newer style flying cow


EDIT: A 3rd cow has been spotted!
The old set of photos I linked above are from when a crew went in to replace the original Esmoo cow. So this other cow was the second iteration from what I can gather. It does look similar to the final cow but this one has it's legs in a different position and the colouring/pattern is different.

From a crew member who took the original photos:
"I did go on location to replace and test the upgraded cow a few months after the attraction opened. We did all of our work at night and had to replace the old cow in time for the morning opening until we had the new cow in place.
They wanted the attraction to be more like the movie, so we made a more realistic cow.
Designed to make it flail a bit, it didn't work as expected. The fur was too inflexible and the motion of moving it across stage was too smooth to make the limns shake. I would do this completely differently if I had to do it over. Hindsight 20/20 and all that."

 

[universal_fanatic]

Just uploaded this old clip from Popular Mechanics for Kids that features some great views of Twister!