User:SkullIsland/Sandbox/Skull Island: Reign of Kong

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Skull Island: Reign of Kong is a ride at Islands of Adventure at the Universal Orlando resort, and opened July 13, 2016, being adapted from Universal Studios Hollywood's King Kong: 360 3-D tram tour stop. The ride is a non-canon prequel to the 2005 film, where Skull Island was discovered by the outside world in 1931, with the Eighth Wonder Expedition Company surveying the island and taking guests on jeep tours.

Summary

Queue

Guests enter the queue through the ruins of a stone monument to Kong near Skull Island's massive wall. Within the shadow of the wall, Eighth Wonder Expedition Company, a group established by Sir Robert Ashmore Wallace, has begun surveying the island after the great explorer stumbled upon it by airplane. NBC radio coverage of their activities by radio host Richard Armstrong, featuring interviews with various members of the expedition, can be heard playing throughout the outdoor portion of the queue setting the scene. Journeying deeper into the catacombs of the ancient city, one of the native tribe's warriors can be seen through a gap in the wall spying on interlopers while the shawoman can be seen preparing a ritual or just trying to warn guests coming through. Approaching the load area, guests pass a series of expedition crates including a captured Carnictis specimen in a glass tank before grabbing a set of "safety goggles" (3D glasses) before boarding the expedition truck.

Main Attraction

Boarding an expedition truck, one of five different characters can be heard as the truck's animatronic driver. These characters include adventurous Texan cowgirl Becky Callaghan, Will Denham (Carl Denham's younger cousin), superstitious ex-con Jinks Costanza, paleontologist Charles "Doc" Jordan, and Kalana, a native of a neighboring island said to have also been settled by the ancient civilization that built Skull Island's wall. Departing from the base camp to deliver supplies to zoologist Kate McCaffrey's survey team, the truck drive through the gate doors, to the sounds of native chants, and enter a cave. Passing by the skeletal remains of a Kong and some slumbering Terapusmordax, the truck arrives at Kate's camp. However, one of the explorers launches a flare to better illuminate the cave and awakens the entire Terapusmordax colony. Kate is able to keep them from dragging the man off, only to be grabbed herself, with the truck following in pursuit. Entering the spider pit, Kate is able to cut herself loose from the bat's grasp. As the creatures of the pit emerge to attack Kate and the truck, she uses a machine gun to ward them off and insists the truck take the guests to safety before an Arachno-claw grabs her and pulls her out of sight.

Emerging into the jungle, radio calls from another nearby truck indicate that everyone is being called back to base camp to regroup after Kate's disappearance. However, the trucks are surrounded and chased by a pack of Venatosaurus. The Venatosaurs chase the trucks along the side of the cliff until running into a trio of Vastatosaurus rexes. After snatching some of the Venatosaurs, the Vastatosaurs turn their attention to the trucks, only for King Kong to come to the rescue. As the battling creatures jump over and slam into our truck, a sliding V-rex ends up pulling the second truck into the vines of the canyon. Swinging between a V-rex and a Arachno-claw, Kong rescues the on-screen truck from the V-rex on top of it and sets it down gently before helping our own. Kong pounds his chest in victory before leaping up the cliff, with our truck getting an up close encounter with an animatronic Kong as he rests from the battle. As the truck leaves Kong and returns back to base, a radio message comes in revealing that Kate and her team managed to escape.

Appearances

Gallery

References

This is a list of references for SkullIsland/Sandbox/Skull Island: Reign of Kong. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

Videos

Making of Skull Island: Reign of Kong - The Story
Making of Skull Island: Reign of Kong - The Vehicle
Making of Skull Island: Reign of Kong - The Creatures
Making of Skull Island: Reign of Kong - The Encounter
Science of Universal Orlando Resort segment
Outdoor Queue Radio Loop
Grand Opening Ceremony

Trivia

  • In the event of thunderstorms and other severe weather, the ride's trackless vehicle system allows the trucks to bypass the outdoor drive up to the gates and directly enter the caves.
  • From the attraction's opening until 2019, a scare actor playing a native warrior would occasionally jump-scare guests in the catacombs section of the queue.
  • The ending of Will Denham's audio spiel has him remarking that he should tell his uncle Carl about the island, setting the events of the original story into motion.
  • 887 skulls are scattered throughout the attraction[1]
  • Sir Robert Ashmore Wallace takes his name from Carl Denham actor Robert Armstrong, and original Kong scriptwriters James Ashmore Creelman and Edgar Wallace.

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