THIS
MIGHT
MAKE
A
GOOD
RIDE!
Shortly after 'Jaws' smashed
box-office records world-wide, I'm fairly certain that the execs at Universal
Studios began devising the ride that you see on the Universal Studios backlot
tour in Hollywood. I don't know when the 'Jaws' portion of the tour originated
and since it was broken the one time I went to USH, I can't tell you how good
or bad it is. This picture of the very first shark - Old Carrot-Teeth - gives
you an idea of just how realistic it was back then.
|
|
|
When good ideas go
bad. This picture is from the excellent The
Abbreviated BRUCE Museum website. Keep in mind that this is the
original shark . . . the one they have now is an
improvement. |
However, I have gone on the 'Jaws'
ride at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando. . . about 30-40 times . . . so I
can tell you that it is a very entertaining representation of the 'Jaws'
experience. I've included the full story of the ride with photos here so if
you don't want to spoil it for yourself, you'll want to go somewhere else!
JAWS
THE
RIDE
- USF
The ride is located at
the far end of the park in a section that often opens an hour or
so after the park opens.
Unlike USH, where most of the
attractions are part of a backlot tour, USF has its attractions
housed in individual areas with their own separately themed queue
areas.
'Jaws' is one of the busier rides
at USF. I like to go to Orlando in the fall to avoid the serious
crowds but it is often a half-hour wait to get on. I'd suggest
going early in the day to avoid crowds!
'Jaws' has a rather storied past at USF.
I believe the park opened in 1990 or so and 'Jaws' was one of the
marquee rides. Unfortunately for Universal, the original design
for the ride was too ambitious and malfunctioned more frequently
than it should have. Here's an abbreviated history of the first
ride from the Usenet newsgroup rec.parks.theme from
Croooow@earthlink.net:
I never got to ride it, but from what I heard from
employees on my annual
trips to the park from 1990 to 1994 that the original kept having
major problems and no matter what was done to it, it never worked
properly.
In 1991, they were planning on spending bucks to have it fixed for
the 1992
season and had lots of signs on the ride building that said
so (coming 1992).
But in 1992, the ride was boarded up and had no signs
what-so-ever. When I asked what happened, they said that the
ride was deemed totally un-usable and the design was completely
flawed and that Universal had successfully sued the
company that designed it and was spending the money to hire another company to build it again.
The only tracks and such were scrapped and the ride was
recreated all over again,
while trying to use the same layout and some of the same sets and gimmicks
when
applicable. For example, the old ride still had the
sinking boat off to the
left side with all the clothes and floating junk, including a
Mickey Mouse
hat that eternally floats on the surface. Visitors to
JURASSIC PARK will
recognize this as well, since they liked it so much on JAWS,
they did the effect
again for JP...trashed boat, hat and all!
I don't believe that the old version had the exploding oil rig and
such that
the current one does, and I'm not sure how the shark met its
demise in the old
version compared to the current electrocution that it currently
gets. I think
it still got electrocuted though. Also, I think the dark
shack
(boathouse) with the shark bursting through is new too, but I'm
not sure.
And when did this ride fully reopen? I know they had
a soft opening of the second version of JAWS in the end of
1993, but I think it officially opened 100% in 1994.
It was originally sponsored by
Ocean Spray. A sign advertising this was
taken down at some point in 1997 or so as USF thought it
distracted too much from the theming.
 |
|
| The queue (line) area is
housed in three separate buildings although I've never seen more
than two used at a time.
The premise is that you're about to
board a leisurely tour cruise - courtesy of Captain Jake's Amity
Boat Tours - of Amity Island, the location made famous by a little
marine adventure film in the mid '70s.
Folks in line are treated to a fun
little video presentation courtesy of Amity's local TV station -
WJWS. Actually, I hate the video as I've seen it too many times
but I remember enjoying it the first time! |
|
|
Ride-goers are brought
onboard as the tour guide explains that everything today should be
pretty safe as you are 'fully protected at all times by this 80mm
grenade launcher' - that and the fact that there haven't been any
Great Whites spotted in the area in over twenty years.
Of course, they must
have forgotten the little incident with Deputy Sean Brody back in
'84 but I digress. |
|
Your tour begins with
a quick spin around Amity where we see such noted spots as the
home of Chief Martin Brody and the island lighthouse.
|
|
|
|
|
|
As you round the lighthouse, you hear Gordon,
another tour guide operator, over the radio as he cries out in
distress. Your boat is asked to keep an eye out for anything
unusual . . . which you quickly spot as you see the remains of
Gordon's boat.
The tour guide is understandably upset by this and says that
she can't think of anything that could do that except a . . . .
shark!!!
Right on cue, the most famous dorsal fin of all pops up off the
left side of the boat - and it is headed straight for you!
|
|
|
|
|
As your guide attempts
to subdue the marauding shark with a well-placed grenade launch,
you cruise toward an old boathouse with the Orca moored nearby.
(note - in recent times, the Orca has been removed to who knows
where)
Inside the boathouse, you hole up
for a moment as you view the grotesque remains of several dead
sharks in what could be described as Quint's Mad House.
Suddenly, some boats are knocked
off the wall as the shark gains entry into the boathouse and
attacks from the right side of the boat. . .
|
|
|
|
It's an impressive
attack made even more so by the electrical effects in the
background. The shark is huge and moves pretty well . . . if you
ignore the fact that he is kind of moving laterally through the
water as though it were attached to a mechanical device of some
kind - which is exactly how it is, of course! |
|
|
|
|
After fleeing the
boathouse, your boat is quickly attacked again although this time,
the attack comes from the left. The tour guide is usually good
enough at getting every newbie on board looking off the right side
that the attack is a total surprise.
The tour guide then shoots a
grenade at the shark which unluckily lands at a refueling depot
that quickly explodes in what I've heard is Florida's largest
continuously operating fire effect. The heat is fantastic - it
literally feels as though you are standing near a barbecue even
though the flames are a good 20-30 feet away!
|
|
|
All things considered, the
ride is one of the best in the 'large animatronic creature wreaks
havoc near a highly populated theme-park passenger vehicle' genre. USF
has a couple another example of this sub-section of thrill ride . . . 'Kongfrontation'
. . . and the closely related 'Twister' where the villain is an
artificial tornado. USH & US Islands of Adventure also have
'Jurassic Park - The Ride' in which an unhappy mechanical T. Rex
threatens to chew on your Uncle Sal. Good stuff.
