I've noticed several people mention that Kong does not do the outdoor portion anymore, even in clear weather. Any truth to this? I hope it's not gone for good, as the ride is lacking a lot without it.
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Kong - skipping outside portion
- Thread starter Tom Morrow
- Start date
Yes. Durring my entitre two week FL visit that ended a week ago.
My best friend was on a team responsible for opening the attraction and putting it through to operations.
This is done when there are are not enough vehicles to be as efficient as they like. 2 Truck mode so it skips that amount of ride time to be slightly better capacity.
It def kills a huge impact of the ride and the kinetic energy of the area seeing the trucks go by.
sedati
Well-Known Member
I rode this several times in mid September and not once did we go to the outside portion. No rain and no sign of construction or work going on in the outside portion.
Sorcerer Mickey
Well-Known Member
It's probably better without the outside portion. Driving through the gates and seeing the giant Kong skeleton really hypes you up for a ride they didn't deliver.
It at least rounds out the experience and makes it feel like more than just another screen ride.
sonoma15
Well-Known Member
Yes, and the outdoor portion is also important because it explains the backstory of each of the truck drivers which adds another level of detail that's missed on without it. All the drivers give more or less the same experience without it.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
So is this a staffing issue? Or maintenance?
sonoma15
Well-Known Member
Maintenance, using the outdoor portion would require no extra staffing. My guess is they might have to do something like what happened with Rise and rip out the ground in the outdoor portion to fix whatever the issue is, which is why it still hasn't been fixed.
Walt_Disney
Active Member
What happened to rise?
Rob562
Well-Known Member
A poster earlier in the thread said it was a shortage of operational trucks, not something wrong with the outside track. Skipping the outdoor portion shortens the ride time for a truck and thus keeps guests moving through the attraction rather than standing around waiting for the few trucks on the track to make it back around.
-Rob
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
How many vehicles are they loading at a time? If they’re only using one load and unload station then not going outside would result in capacity not being cut in half.
Rob562
Well-Known Member
They load one vehicle at a time, plus room for one at the unload dock. I believe they have 5 trucks with a max capacity of 4 out on the track. If they're only running 2 trucks there would definitely be gaps where there's no truck at either platform.
-Rob
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
The load and unload stations are capable of each loading and unloading vehicles at a time. So it does seem like this would be related to operating at a reduced capacity (cost savings).
Has anyone actually experienced the outside portion recently?
EricsBiscuit
Well-Known Member
Ive noticed this too. Haven’t seen the outside portion working in months.
Yes. It is a shortage of trucks when it is a two truck capacity. The rainy day operation of bypassing the outside is implemented.
Between the first row no longer in use(you don't really want it) and this change. It is sadly a much reduced capacity and lesser experience.
The kinetic energy outside and believing there is a large scale excursion too.
Between the first row no longer in use(you don't really want it) and this change. It is sadly a much reduced capacity and lesser experience.
The kinetic energy outside and believing there is a large scale excursion too.
Not using the front row is a change I am okay with. I had it once and it was just awkward. Hard to see anything.
It truly is terrible. That has been a change for a couple of years at least now.
So this begs the question... Why is there a shortage of trucks? Univeral isn't typically known for understaffing their attractions.Yes. It is a shortage of trucks when it is a two truck capacity. The rainy day operation of bypassing the outside is implemented.
Between the first row no longer in use(you don't really want it) and this change. It is sadly a much reduced capacity and lesser experience.
The kinetic energy outside and believing there is a large scale excursion too.
The amount of trucks has little to do with staffing. They are unmanned ride vehicles.
There are different things it could be.
Something with outdoor course tracking(not likely)
Something with other trucks not cooperating(likely)
Doors to temple(fairly likely)