Kongfrontation
Kongfrontation was a ride at Universal Studios Florida which opened on June 7, 1990, and closed on September 8, 2002. The ride was based on the 1976 King Kong film and Universal Studios Hollywood's King Kong Encounter.
Summary
Queue
Located in the park's New York area behind a facade inspired by the original Pennsylvania Station, guests traveled through a set simulating a New York subway station. TV monitors throughout the queue featured WWOR-TV reports on King Kong's rampage throughout the city, utilizing stock footage from the 1976 film. The queue would eventually lead to a loading area based around Manhattan's Roosevelt Island Tramway station and a nearby neighborhood, with guests using the aerial trams to evacuate Manhattan to the safety of Roosevelt Island.
Ride
Boarding the Roosevelt Island Tramway car with a live tram operator guide, the aerial trams are tuned into police radio broadcasts to follow Kong's movements. However, when being warned that the tram line is dangerously close to Kong's position, the tram operator finds themselves unable to override the vehicle's programming and stop. Looking down on the streets below, Kong's trail of destruction can be seen, with broken fire hydrants gushing water skyward, broken steam pipes, flipped-over cars, and a derailed subway train. A police helicopter describes Kong grabbing a power pole near the tram, with a spotlight briefly illuminating Kong's shadow, before sparks from the falling power pole ignite the crashed train. Coming around the bend on the left side of the vehicle, the trams see Kong hanging from the Queensboro Bridge. As a police helicopter tries to protect the tram and fire at Kong, Kong's retaliation shakes the roof of the tram and knocks the helicopter from the sky, where it crashes onto the bridge and explodes. As the tram escapes and crosses the river, a helicopter spotlight obscures the view ahead. As the tram operator tells them to dim their lights, Kong comes into view, having cut the tram off. Kong grabs the tram and lifts it up before dropping it in response to more shooting helicopters. As the trams make their escape to the safety of the unloading area, monitors in the trams drop down with a news report on the incident, where guests watched themselves in the tram car in the clutches of Kong. The crisis was announced to be coming to an end as Kong makes his way out of New York City.
Gallery
Billboard for the attraction
Videos
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Trivia
- Revenge of the Mummy, the attraction that replaced Kongfrontation, features several hidden tributes to its predecessor, including a golden ape statue in a treasure room, a recurring scarab design being designed in such a way to resemble a scowling Kong, and an ape face being hidden on the knee of the Imhotep animatronic's skin. Sahara Traders, the coaster's gift shop that replaced Kong's Safari Traders gift shop, would also feature props referencing Carl Denham being one of the curators of the Museum of Antiquities, responsible for a Skull Island artifact display and the Egyptian antiquities exhibit, with "The Living Mummy" being described as "The Ninth Wonder of the World".
Comments
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