With the old King Kong AA no longer part of the studio tram tour (it was destroyed in the fire), Universal Studios is rebuilding an all new Kong experience. It will be built inside a huge soundstage, with massive screens, surround sound audio, and special effects. It will open later this summer.
ThemeParkAdventure has a full report on the sneak peek they were given earlier this week. Universal Studios invited the media for a preview of the upcoming attraction - the preview was held at a secrete location near LAX airport. Read the full report here: http://www.themeparkadventure.com/Universal_Studios_Hollywood.htm#kongpreview
It's a very large-scale (literally) operation, and one that Universal Creative is very excited about. So excited in fact, that they made a highly-irregular move and invited a handful of people from the media to the Kong film test site to witness the work in progress on March 23, 2010. This is so rare in fact, that in Theme Park Adventure's 15 years, we have never before been asked "officially" to come witness a full-blown mock-up of an attraction at a test facility; it just doesn't happen.
King Kong 360 3-D is the largest 3-D experience in the world, dropping Tour riders right into the middle of all the action you would expect to find on Skull Island. That's no line, folks... this show building and the scale of this attraction is massive; absolutely impressive from the technical end of the stick.
Under the watchful eyes and very involved hands of Peter Jackson, King Kong 360 3-D will take guests from the Universal Studios Backlot and immerse them into the jungle environment of Skull Island, the mythical home of King Kong - and other movie-sized monsters. Unlike its predecessor, the original King Kong attraction, Kong 360 will bring Universal guests up-close and personal with dinosaurs and the King himself with the use of stunning 3-D technology and in-theater effects such as water, wind and scents.
Long-time fans of the original Kong have asked us if this new version will feature the "banana breath" that the beloved Bob Gurr ape was famous for. "We didn't want to go back and do something that had been done before," explained Johnson-Redrow. "In this new attraction, we've actually taken that original gag and have updated it - this time around, we're giving you dino breath that will smell just as bad as it sounds!"
Not only will guests be blasted with a whiff of Jurassic halitosis, they'll also be pelted by T-Rex slobber as part of the attraction's effects. "This is a completely immersive experience," continued Johnson-Redrow. "Multiple scents including the jungle itself and the dinosaur breath will really help transport you to another place."
Valerie understands the fan appreciation and curiosity of whether or not Kong will have his banana breath again, but assures us that the new and improved sensory experience will be so over-the-top that guests young and old alike will be thrilled by the new scent effects going in to Kong 360.
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Universal Studios Hollywood has a winner of an attraction on its hands - and while Kong may have been under the fan radar in the shadow of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and other big-ticket items such as World of Color, the buzz has certainly been set in motion now as fan sites have been given this very special opportunity to preview the show and report back to our readers.
King Kong 360 3D opens this weekend -- previews and soft openings took place earlier this week.
Here's a video of on-ride footage posted by 9ALLEN9. It's a 3D attraction so a youtube video probably won't do it justice, still looks like fun though!
