Kongfrontation

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Kongfrontation
Universal Studios Florida
Area New York
Attraction type Special Effects Ride
Theme King Kong
Opening date June 7, 1990
Closing date September 8, 2002
Vehicle type Tram
Ride duration 5 minutes
Height requirements 40" (102 cm)
Replaced By Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride

Kongfrontation was a ride at the Universal Studios Florida theme park, in Orlando, Florida, the main attraction in the park's New York section. It opened as one of the original attractions at the park in 1990 and was closed in 2002. Revenge of the Mummy opened in its place in 2004.

Contents

[edit] Ride

[edit] Queue

Guests entered a recreation of Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, New York City. The queue line was themed to a New York City Subway station and city block on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, intricately detailed right down to the graffiti covering the walls and the stocked storefronts. Television monitors overhead covered a special report: "Kong On The Loose". The giant ape King Kong has escaped and is wreaking havoc on the streets of New York City. Kong has destroyed two elevated trains and is rapidly approaching the East River with authorities seemingly powerless to stop him. Guests walked up to the Manhattan station of the Roosevelt Island Tramway.

[edit] Ride

The ride consisted of this cable car ride under the pretense of an evacuation of the city during Kong's attack. Traveling through elaborate street sets, the tram had repeated encounters with Kong, first at the 59th Street Bridge and once more as the beast cut the tram off upon arrival at Roosevelt Island. Choppers fired on Kong as he lifted the tram up and subsequently dropped it. Narrowly escaping the enraged Kong, the tram's passengers would then see themselves on a breaking news report. Riders could actually catch a whiff of "banana breath" from Kong's mouth. The ride was based on the 1976 remake of King Kong.

[edit] History

Originally a scene for the Universal Studios Hollywood Studio Tram Tour, Kongfrontation has been credited as being the catalyst for the Universal Studios Florida project (which has since evolved into the Universal Orlando Resort). Universal originally envisioned the attraction as the crown jewel of the Florida park. While the attraction drew substantial crowds, it had an unreliable track record due to the complex special effects involved. Universal engineers attempted several times to improve reliability, which ultimately required removing functionality of Kong by limiting his movements and some of the background effects. The attraction publicly closed on September 8th, 2002. The closure of such a major attraction struck many visitors. Universal has never given reasoning for the closure, although it has been speculated it was due to maintenance issues and the costs of repairs. It joined a list of original and popular Universal Studios Florida attractions that have been retired, including Ghostbusters Spooktacular, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, Back to the Future: The Ride and Earthquake: The Big One.

[edit] Kongfrontation Facts

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • King Kong Height: 39 feet
  • King Kong Arm Span: 54 feet
  • King Kong Weight: There were 2 Kongs used in the attraction. The street Kong weighed approximately 13,000 pounds and the bridge Kong weighed approximately 8,000 pounds.
  • Being both analog and digital, the Kongs could perform 62 separate functions.
  • The helicopters were molded from actual helicopters and true to size.
  • Soundstage Size: 35,000 square feet. Exterior Wall Concrete slabs are the largest slabs ever constructed.
  • There were 50 facades modeled after Manhattan's Lower East Side in 1976.
  • A smeltzer device was used to create the smell of Kong's breath.
  • WWOR-TV in 1989-1990 was integrated in to the ride because MCA/Universal owned the station at the time.

[edit] External links