Jaws closing?

[FLORIDA_PHIL]

I totally agree with your view on the attractions, Lose Twister, Disaster, even MIB but leave Jaws. I have a phobia of ET so have never been on it!

I'm guessing Jaws will be a building site for when I'm there next Sept!

Really not happy about this news jaws is my favorite film of all time and going on the ride no matter how dated it is was always a highlight for me 2 i am there in sept / oct 2012

 

[Pete C]

Think of it this way, who cares if you like the actual Harry Potter stories, movies, etc.
Do you have to like "Song of the South" to enjoy splash mountain?
Do only the biggest fans of "The Mummy" remake enjoy "Revenge of the Mummy"?
Can you build an entire new land with one attraction based on a large mythological creature in a mountain, have the ride be decent but the creature disappear? Does the general public care? No, they don't.

However, even if you don't like Harry Potter it has been the greatest single success built at any theme park in the fastest amount of time ever.

If instead of "Avatar" WDW was going to build an entire "Star Wars" area there would be people that would complain and multitudes more who would be there happy to pay admission and buy merchandise just because.

Does it suck to lose JAWS? Yes. Don't let nostalgia blind you, watch "BTTF the Ride" again. It wasn't really that good of an actual ride. Did you identify with the characters and story, sure. Was the ride itself that good? Not really.
I don't ride "Revenge of the Mummy" for any other reason than it's an amazing theme park attraction, so why not get excited for more attractions from the people that built Spiderman, HP&tFJ, Revenge of the Mummy & others at or above the quality of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter?

You hit the nail right on the head man. When it comes to attractions, a great ride is a great ride. My wife never read the Harry Potter books, doesn't like the movies (or fantasy in general), but thought Forbidden Journey was totally amazing and the best ride she has ever been on. Universal makes the most technologically advanced, most thrilling dark rides in the business right now and I can't wait to see what's next.

 

[pumpkin7]

Here's something neat: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=googl....479308,-81.469749&fspn=0.00065,0.001313&z=20
Google Map's satellite imagery of the Jaws ride area. You can actually make out all the shark animatronics sitting below the surface of the water.
This attraction has a much bigger footprint than I imagined- nearly twice that of Mummy/Kongfrontation

it's not that you can just make them out, it's semi drained of water. you can see the track and everything. awesomeness. always wondered what it looked like with no water.

 

[FLORIDA_PHIL]

i still think WWOHP is overated IMHO , went round it but was bored after 10 mins
JAWS is king :king::king::king::king::king::king::king::king::king::king:

 

[Bairstow]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Those are some great photos. Thanks for sharing.

 

[JimJam]

DOES ANYONE LISTEN TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOOOOOOOOOOOOOK HERE!<------------
Important News About Jaws



On January 2, 2012, one of Universal Studios' most iconic rides is heading out to sea for the last time. In order to make room for an exciting new attraction, Captain Jake's Amity Boat Tours is closing and we invite you to come celebrate with one final ride of JAWS®.
Come relive your favorite memories and get ready to scream as the Great White Shark takes its last bite.

 

[GLaDOS]

^^^Captain Jake's Amity Tours is the fictional boat company that operates the boat tours around Amity, which you are riding in the ride.

Has nothing to do with the replacement.

 

[Bairstow]

Those are some great photos. Thanks for sharing.

None of them are mine.
Just practicing my Google-Fu.

Here's something you might find neat- it's a rare video of the original version of the Florida Jaws ride.
It had two unique effects, a sequence where the shark appears to bite the front of the ride vehicle and make it rotate, and the finale where the shark explodes into a fountain of blood and "chunks", but neither were cheap or reliable.

The revised version of the ride added the oil refinery explosion and both sharks in the current electrocution finale.
I haven't been able to find out whether the indoor shark in the boathouse sequence was added or was original.

[Youtube]7AKeqAMulvQ[/youtube]
The final version is/was clearly superior in my opinion, and when I saw it in August it was in perfect working order.

 

[WDWFanatic]

I loved the spinning boat effect, I wish I could find our tape of it. I could not believe how long it took to change it from the first version to the second.
The boathouse was around since the beginning too

 

[pumpkin7]

wow cool photos! i've tried googling it before and couldn't find any pics of the shark out of water. oh well.
the 90's spinning effect looked cool!
i'm really bummed we don't get to ride jaws again. it's a good ride, although the effects aren't anything amazing like what they do today, you still really believed you were being chased around by a killer shark. it always used to freak me out, even up to the last time we rode in 2008.
it was like when they closed BTTF. i LOVED that ride. the atmosphere and the setting they did wonderfully. one of my all time favourite movie series too.
and kong. kong was awesome; i just loved the smell of the ride. it was musty and dirty, but in a good way. kind of like how earthquake used to smell. for some reason it doesn't smell anymore.
i just hope they don't go into harry potter overkill. it's in one park, enough already. too much potter can be a bad thing. try something new instead universal.

o and if they're shutting it january 2nd, that's extremely quickly after the announcement. sucks for die hard fans that can't possibly make a trip before then.

 

[Matpez]

Martin also has a video of the original ride, with the shark pulling the boat sequence just past the 15 min. mark:
http://vimeo.com/6177093

 

[Bairstow]

Martin also has a video of the original ride, with the shark pulling the boat sequence just past the 15 min. mark:
http://vimeo.com/6177093

Bloody thing won't let jump to the desired time.
Grrrr...

Ok, watched it.
It's unclear from the video what's happening in the indoor portion- I didn't see a shark pop out in the boathouse, and the audience doesn't seem to react to anything. The boathouse may only be there so that the door will prevent the guests on one boat from seeing the boat in front of them go through the finale sequences. Maybe there was nothing in there at all before the refurb and guests just sat in there in suspense. That or it wasn't working on the day Martin filmed the ride.

The original, "dragging" shark animatronic is a mixed bag. I like that its jaws are articulated independently of the body, as on a real shark, and that it has a flexible "skin" over the mechanics underneath, but it's obvious that there's a big open gap of nothing between the moving head segment of the shark and the rest of the animal- the skin ripples and pops weirdly back into place. The shark's backward movement when it lets go of the boat is awkward too.
Overall the simpler, "lunging" sharks seen after the '94 refurb are much more effective, partly because air jets generate lots of splashes around them at all times.

 

[scoobygirl39541]

urgh please let HP still be a rumor. They better not taint both sides of the park with this. I'll honestly take anything but HP (well maybe not Twilight)

 

[Thrill Seeker]

urgh please let HP still be a rumor. They better not taint both sides of the park with this. I'll honestly take anything but HP (well maybe not Twilight)

I looks to be pretty much confirmed. I have a feeling it won't be long before Universal officially announces the replacement...which is most likely Potter Phase 2.

 

[Bairstow]

I looks to be pretty much confirmed.

Is it?
I haven't seen independent confirmation by anyone outside of ScreamScape.

 

[maxairmike]

Is it?
I haven't seen independent confirmation by anyone outside of ScreamScape.

I have, though you won't see it on Screamscape. If you frequent other communities in the larger amusement industry, you'll probably run across a few rather reliable sources. Maybe not "independent confirmation" of the type you're looking for, but I'm confident in considering HP all but announced for that plot.

 

[Rosso11]

Is it?
I haven't seen independent confirmation by anyone outside of ScreamScape.

You have confirmation from whylightbulb in this very thread and he already confirmed this well over a month ago when the Spirit was first to announce this in another thread. Just in case you don't know who whylightbulb is he is an ex imagineer who helped design and build Harry Potter phase 1 and is now working on phase 2. Until it is officially announced he is one of the best sources you can get.

 

[IHeartArt]

If this is Harry Potter... oh man... it's gonna be absolutely spectacular, and worth losing Jaws over.

If the ride is good, (and not based on a crap franchise that needed to end a long time ago and is unfunny and oh god I want you back BTTF ; ~; ) does it really matter that it's replacing something just as big? This is actually probably a really good move.

After all, Jaws is high-maintenance. They have reasons for this, good ones!

 

[Bairstow]

You have confirmation from whylightbulb in this very thread and he already confirmed this well over a month ago when the Spirit was first to announce this in another thread. Just in case you don't know who whylightbulb is he is an ex imagineer who helped design and build Harry Potter phase 1 and is now working on phase 2. Until it is officially announced he is one of the best sources you can get.

Ah. You're right.
He is credible.