Closing Jaws?

[Dislifer]

I just read on another thread that there are plans to permanently close JAWS. Does anyone know why??????????

 

[Minniespal]

I hope that is untrue ~ I love that ride.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Which thread was this? - Jaws is great.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Jaws is open until the end of summer.

 

[BettyBoop.IOA]

Jaws Closed for re-vamp before Christmas, But according to sources, its re-opened again. The fire effects are not as great and all the sharks have been re-painted etc.
Dudley Falls is still under revamp atm.


It will not go, popular demand

 

[BonnieA]

Here's a recent story about it:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...16,0,2297094.story?coll=orl-newsaol-headlines

 

[Seahag]

I heard it would be open "select" times - would this include HHN?

TIA

 

[macraven]

sorry haggy, does not include hhn.

it will close down sometime in sept.
it's going to be a seasonal ride/attraction.

last year it was closed when i went to hhn in early oct.
but two employees that normally work jaws were the employees that were at the express line for bill and teds during hhn. they reinacted their roles for jaws for all of us in line. it entertained us waiting until we could go in to the theater.

 

[Sylvester McBean]

we saw it today for the first time in it's new incarnation. the fireball effect on the gas dock is still nicely done, and still very hot. the only thing missing was the effect where the surface of the water catches fire and you escape through it. the photo op with bruce the shark out front has been bloodied up nicely.

 

[mickeymousemommy]

This is one of our very favorite rides at Universal! My daughters love it. We got to ride it in the dark once and it was fantastic! We would all be SO disappointed if it were closed, either permanently or while we were visiting. It's a must do!

 

[KarenB]

Oh I hope to get on it at least once. It was closed at Thanksgiving but we hope to go again in June.

Karen

 

[yaytezIOA]

This article from newsday:
Universal hauls Jaws back from the deep
After nearly shutting down last year, the ride has been fixed up and reopened full time.
February 16, 2006

Jaws, an expensive adventure ride at Universal Studios that has bounced from blockbuster attraction to part-time work, is making another comeback.

Universal finished refurbishing the ride and put it back on full-time operation this month, after all but shutting it down last year. In September, park officials reduced Jaws' operation to occasional after-hours events and holiday crowds.
Demand has brought it back, and visitors may cruise the perilous waters of Amity at least through the end of the summer, said Universal Orlando spokesman Tom Schroder.

"We made the decision to reopen Jaws because our guests told us, rather passionately, that they wanted us to," Schroder said.

Based on the best-selling 1974 novel Jaws, by Peter Benchley -- who died last weekend -- and the 1975 blockbuster movie by Steven Spielberg, the ride opened with Universal in 1990.

Jaws had a bad start. After a few months, Universal closed it, blaming mechanical difficulties. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1993. Between the original construction and that overhaul, Universal may have spent $70 million, outside industry sources estimated.

The ride provides a boat trip around Amity lagoon, terrorized by seven robotic great white sharks that lurk and attack.

Schroder said workers replaced one shark's attack motor, modified the flame effects and did touch-up work throughout.

The ride was once a marquee attraction, but some have wondered if -- 30 years removed from the book and movie -- it has lost relevance, especially among younger visitors.

However, Steven Smith, a former Universal employee and now operations manager at Baker Leisure Group, an Orlando-based theme park consulting firm, said the ride is unlikely to lose much relevance because the Jaws brand is an "evergreen" known worldwide.

He also said the ride is valuable to Universal because its capacity -- reported at 2,500 people an hour -- is phenomenal by thrill-ride standards. A typical major ride at most theme parks would do well to handle 1,800 people an hour, Smith said.
________________________________________________-
So you see...its now open full time, at least until the next huge spike in gas prices, and the next Hurricane season. The new shark effects on the ride shark look great, and most of the skippers are back. We rode 4 times saturday..each time the line was over 30 minutes...but the line goes real quick...and if you havent done jaws at night....then you really are missing something great.

 

[HolliePoppins]

do you think it will be open the 2nd week of dec? i hope so the last time we were there was in 1992 and it was still being built so we have never been on it. thanks all

 

[yaytezIOA]

:::::shakes the magic 8 ball ::::::::
The future is too cloudy to see.....check back a little sooner than 10 months away.

 

[deelam]

I hope it's open late May when we go. My 8 year old loves that ride

 

[Molokai Gram]

First Kong, now Jaws....but Twister and Earthquake still going....
By the time we save enough to get back (or win a trip) we won't have any favorites left.

 

[Notatourist]

It will be...it's already reopened...

 

[yaytezIOA]

If last year was any indication, it will be open until at least the last part of September. If it goes to seasonal operation....and yes

It is open already.

 

[pixiemomma]

Ugh, my son will be crushed if it not open in October. He is a huge Jaws fan.

 

[macraven]

i missed it last year, was there october 4 and will miss it again this year i bet as i am going early october again