Kong Replacement Seems a Definite

[JonsMovies]

I visited HHN a couple weeks ago and talked to a number of employees, including a close friend of mine, who confirmed that Kong will most likely not open after HHN. They said to expect a Mummy themed ride (possibly a roller coaster like we've been hearing) in Kong's place.

While it's sad to see Kong go, the ride has gotten old and apparently has had a number of problems lately that Universal doesn't want to have to fix. I think a Mummy ride would be cool, but if it does get made, Universal really needs to redo the theming of the park. They already messed up the NY area by replacing Ghostbusters with Twister. If they get rid of Kong they need to completely re-haul the area. I hope they consider that when planning a replacement.

BTW, Horror nights was great. I went the second week on a Thursday and the park was literally empty! The last 15 minutes before closing were my best Horror Night experiences ever. A couple friends and I ran from maze to maze and we were the ONLY PEOPLE ON THEM! If you get the chance to go on a non-peek night, do so! And stay to the end. My fav mazes were Scary Tales and Run.

[RUN]

I think it would be awesome if they got a The Fast and The Furious roller coaster. If you remember, a little while back I found that new coaster patent they had. The cars for that coaster were inclosed, 2 seater, and 5 point safety belt. They could theme the coaster trains perfectly to cars from the movis such as the Supra, Eclipse, S2000, or RX7. You would zoom through the streets of NYC (I know the movie was in LA, but Kong is in the NYC section of Universal). The ride could even somehow be set up like like MIB only on TF&TF you would try and beat the oppenets in a race. There would be someway you could add NOS boosts to your car or accelerate somehow to win the race.

[chris mcfly]

Originally posted by JonsMovies

. I think a Mummy ride would be cool, but if it does get made, Universal really needs to redo the theming of the park. They already messed up the NY area by replacing Ghostbusters with Twister.


Why would the themeing have to be redone? The Penn. Station of KONG can easily be changed into a NY Museum of History, which is a perfect gateway to the mummy.

[RUN]

The only problem is that the museum in Mummy Returns is in London and not the USA. If they wanted to stretch the story they could do it in NYC, but stretching the story isn't something they usually do at the studios parks.

[Seahag]

Sure it is !!! LOL Here's an example : I never saw a roller coaster in any of my hulk comics !!!
I'm sure no matter what the decision, Universal will do it right. They have never disapointed me in the past & I don't see how they could. This is where we go to "escape" the real world & I think no matter what, they will provide an enjoyable plot.


21 DAYS TO GO !!!!:bounce:

[MIB999999]

I'm with seahag, whatever they do i will be there to enjoy it:smooth:

[RUN]

Seahag, the Incredible Hulk comics are a lot different than a motion picture. The stories in all the comics are different and each have their own seperate plot. The plot for the coaster is that you go through the gamma tube which will cure your infection of radiation. Also the Hulk is at IOA and the only section of that park themed to create a place from a movie is Jurassic Park, all the other stuff is made up or tied into stories from other sources.

At the studios parks the rides are in the right sections. It wouldn't make any sense for the Jaws ride to take place in downtown NYC nor would it make sense for Kong to take place in Amity. The sections in USF are used strictly for what movie was located there, and they keep the whole ride in the same city(Earthquake: Bart station in San Fran, Kong: High above the streets of NYC, Jaws: Along the beaches of Amity where the Jaws attacks took place). I believe thats part of the reason MiB wasn't designed for the NYC area of the park.

I think the Mummy ride would be awesome, but not in Kong's place. It should go in the World Expo area where they could create a cool plot involving some pyramids or a museum.

[DocBosch]

Well, there was no Institute of Future Technology in any of the Back To The Future movies. And Doc's intentions in the ride are very contridictory with his beliefs in the movies. But they streached the story there.

And if I'm not mistaken, while the Terminator movies took place in California, no part of either took place in Beverly Hill, nor was CyberDyn industries located on Rodeo Drive. But for the ride, they streched the story so that it seems like CyberDyn reopened, and their new headquaters are in the high class area.

It bothers me that Universal is laxing on their theming area consitency(ie Twister), but i don't mind them streaching the story line to fit the area (BTTF, T2), or even changing the area's theme to fit the story.

Making the Kong facade a NY Museum, and themeing it as if it was displaying egyptian artifact that were cursed, would be like continuing the Mummy story as opposed to recreating it. But I also agree that placing the Mummy ride in the expo center would work, as long as it was themed like it was an exsibit at a World's Fair.

(Then again, i still think that The Mummy would fit into the Posiden's Fury building and effects nicely.)

I've always thought that they should have made the NY area a general metropolitan theme, the San Fran/Amity area a West Coast/San Farn-LA/less urban city area, and then a Small Town USA area, where they could have placed Jaws, Twister and a (albeit differently themed) BTTF, and maybe even ET.

[suz1414]

:( that really sucks if that is true I loved kong that was my favorite ride though mummy might be neat I don't think it will beat knog.

[Jon360]

The problem with USF is that their 3 biggest attractions, MIB, BTTF, and T2 are all on one side of the park.

While the old rides on the other side of the park like Kong, Earthquake, and Jaws are getting old and are not as popular.

The old side needs a major attraction or 2 to balance things out.

[IOATech]

Sorry, but don't count Kong out just yet. He may not be a spring chicken but he aint dead yet...

[Molokai Gram]

IOA Tech,
You made this a happy Monday morning for me. Mahalo. Kong is one of our favorite family rides and we would hate to lose it! Kong was the rite of passage for our grandsons when they were three, so it has a special history for us.
Aloha,
Donna
:wave:

[EUROPA]

Yea!!!!! IOA Tech is back....we've missed you guys.

[WebmasterBarry]

Welcome back, IOA Tech!

BTW, what happened to the c-clamps on JPRA? I thought that MiB999999 might have took them, but he claims not to have. :)

[IOATech]

Thanks everyone. Thinking about auctioning off the C-clamps due to demand. A sincere thank you to all of you who have not let us down, and who continue to visit us and enjoy what we try so hard to offer.

We know you are out there and we appreciate your loyalty more than you may know, and at all levels.

And for those who are thinking of coming, we are glad you thought of us and will do our absolute best to ensure a top-quality experience.

[EUROPA]

Can't wait...we'll be there for 4 days in December. I hope to see the big furry guy ( Knog not IOA Tech), when I'm there. Not that I would not like to meet IOA Tech.

I liked Knog and hope that it stays for a little while longer...even though a mummy based attraction does sound nice.

[MIB999999]

jon360 those dipping dots have really messed with your medication levels. have you really seen the lines outside earthquake, jaws, and kong when it was open????? they in no way take second place to MIB, BTTF or T2???? how do you get T2 on the "same side of the park since it is front of park and MIB and BTTF are back by jaws????

You sure you were not at MGM instead????:confused:

[WebmasterBarry]

Other things to auction off:

MiB tips from MiB999999
Front row rides on Dueling Dragons
Who gets the ride in the test Sneetches vehicle
Spider-Man's buldge (in his arms, of course :) )

:)

[Earl]

Kong is scheduled to re-open by November 9th..... oh, those rumors.....LOL

[EUROPA]

EARL !!!! we have an EARL sighting.

[pathubia]

Welcome Back, Earl!!!!

[Seahag]

yeah !! It's Earl !! Now those pesky rumors can be laid to rest !

[Molokai Gram]

Aloha Earl,
Now the Hawaiians are happy. :D
BTW did Earl and JessicaR meet when she visited Orlando?
:smooth:

[WebmasterBarry]

Welcome back, Earl! :)

[Figaro30]

I hope Earl is right. I love love love Kong. It's one of the best rides I've ever been on. I'd hate to have such a fantastic ride be taken over by a roller coaster that I will never go on.

Pleeeeeeeeeeese be true!!

[Tony M]

HAVE FUN

[WebmasterBarry]

The idea seemed pretty cool, though, regardless if it would be put in Kong or not.

[willydoit]

Glad to hear from you guys. Makes me wonder where you go when YOU go on vacation?? As always, thanks for the info.;)

[MIB999999]

Glad to hear from EARL and IOAtech. Is CoasterFev still in the house????
thanks for all the info and the work you do so i have a place to play on saturday's:smooth:

[millerglass]

WOW, a name from the past!!
Welcome back Earl. Hope you enjoyed your rest
I'll be there in 2-1/2 weeks.
Save a place in line for me.
Eric

[larworth]

An IOA tech and Earl post all in one week. Life is finally getting back to normal. Glad to hear from both of you. Will be there in a couple of weeks.

[IOAfan]

That sucks...Kong's one of my favorite rides. I guess I will have to live with the change that Universal is making...

IOAfan

[Notatourist]

What change? It is reopening...

[gothamknight777]

No, say it ain't so! I love Kong! Sure it's not as thrilling as Spidey or MIB, even, but it's fun none-the-less. I'd much prefer Earthquake go, before Kong. I didn't even ride it this year. Though the San Fran themeing is cool. Anyway, I'd much prefer they find a way to enhance Kong rather than mothball it outright!

By the way, HHN this year was better than last. Scary Tales was by far the best haunted house. I just wish there were a way to limit the number of folks going through at a time w/o making the wait too long. Impossible, I know!! We went on Halloween night and the next night. It rained the second night (quite heavy at times), but it only added to the overall atmosphere...way cool!

GK777

P.S. Jay and Silent Bob were awesom at Bill & Ted's this year! My favorite was Jay referring to Farquad as "Burger King"!

[WebmasterBarry]

My favorite from Bill and Ted was when Jay kept on referring to the Planet of the Apes guy as Donkey Kong and Curious George.

[gothamknight777]

Yeah, that was hilarious! Snootchie-Bootchies!!! I can't wait till next year when Spidey, Star Wars, and Lord Of the Ring characters should be joining the pop icon cast. Hope Jay and Silent Bob will be kept on for laughs!!

GK777

[ProfesserBaxter]

Okay I think maybe we should get a few things straight around here. I work at Universal so my sources are some what fair but as I found out Kong will be back up for the rest of the year but in next September the ride has an Eval and if its bad they can close they ride. Rumors on The Mummy, yes I heard about that also but they will not put it where Poseidon's Fury is because the theming has to do with the three main areas of the Lost Containent (Dragons, Merlin, and Unicorns and then you got Sinbad and Finally the whole myth of Atlantis). There's also rumor to an Apollo 13 roller coaster thats suppose to go behind BTTF and MIB.
As of right now I never heard about the Herc and Xena building whats going to be done, but I won't say any more.
Kong is here to stay for a while and I belive there was a remark about Kong's, Quake's, and Jaw's lines never being long?
It depends on when you go to the park. Kong, Quake, and Jaws are very popular and a big draw to the parks you wouldn't belive the people ask me where these rides are and I have to tell them they're in the other park and not IOA. If anyone has feedback on anything I said just let me know I'm open to suggestions.

[MIB999999]

ProfessorBaxter: please fix Posidions Fury. allow yourself to be found so they have to change the story:D

[IOAfan]

whenever I was at USF, I noticed that the lines for Kong, Quake, and Jaws were extraordinarily long along with other lines. When are you guys in line for these rides?

IOAfan

[Figaro30]

Last time I was there in February 2000 there was a huge line for Jaws and hardly anyline for Quake, Kong, or twister. However, maybe that's because we hit Kong first at opening, twister, then Quake and didn't his Jaws until about 2:00pm.

We must have waited 40 minutes for Jaws. And maybe 5 minutes for the rest.

[ProfesserBaxter]

Yeah, MIB the old Poseidon show was better then the new one but they said that they weren't getting good reviews about it and the reviews now aren't much better

[gothamknight777]

RE: Poseidon's Fury

I thought the changes were an improvement. The storyline seemed more intense w/o Poseidon actually being our tourguide (if I remember right that's how it was setup before). For me, the trip through the water tunnel is worth the price of admission alone. Amazing stuff. Call me a dork. *shrug*

GK777

[ProfesserBaxter]

Nah, you're not a dork its just you got your own opion and thats cool and all but I like how you had the suprise ending in the first showand there were more lasers and fire, and poseidon and zeus looked more mythalogical. Some of the stuff in the new show is good also, like the pond fire, guest interactions. But, since I work there I don't see many guests have a suprised look on their face like before.

[IOATech]

First of all, Kong is open as of today (11/08). As far as an "Eval" goes, whatever it is you are speaking of- everyone needs to understand that if there is an issue necessitating the closure of a ride for material/mechanical reasons the decision is made to repair. This should not be implied as a problem we will let go until September. We need to be very careful about how we relate things- especially rumours which this is a prime example of. Sometimes it is better to just wait for the facts, and there are none right now, regardless of who your source is.

Kong is open, because our guests wanted it. They spoke, we listened and that's that.

[IOAfan]

IOAtech,

Thanks for the clarification. I think we all are glad that KONG is still open despite what the sources said in September. At least I am glad that it's still open...

IOAfan

[Figaro30]

Kong....here we come!! See you in 16 days!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the info IOA Tech!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Earl]

F.Y.I. - Kong re-opened today.

[MIB999999]

WAY TO GO KONG:bounce:

[MrNonacho]

Looks like I won't have to "kiss the monkey good-bye," as someone put it weeks and weeks ago.. ;)

At least not for a while..

Seems IOATech, Earl, and CoasterFEV once again came through with the right stuff. Those "Kong closing forever" threads just got a bit more humorous. Thanks, guys! :)

[IOAfan]

Yipee!!!!!!!!!! I hope it stays open for a while (until i get a chance to ride it again)...

IOAfan

[HyperionCT]

I guess it was just my lucky day...went to Universal Studios on Thursday, Nov. 8th....knew that Kongfrontation was going to be down, possibly gone for good...had already taken it of my list of "must-do" rides...the sign outside the park even said it was closed...they did not even list it on the park map and schedule they handed out...yet later that day as we walked we saw people going in and we asked and sure enough...they opened Kong!

Hey ...it ain't no Spider-Man, but I enjoyed it and I'm glad I got to experience it.

:) :p :D

[lukelance]

I hate Universal!


Are they going to still call it the New York area? It makes so sense already with Twister there and now Mummy Returns will be there?


I think Universal needs to theme their so called "lands" better. I hope they dont do this is IOA.

[kristikae]

I'm so glad Kong is open! I am taking my kids in 3 weeks and was really disappointed that they weren't going to get to ride it! I know it is corny but I still love it!