King Kong never gets old.
Universal Orlando released a few details and a new image Thursday of its latest incarnation of a King Kong ride — Skull Island: Reign of Kong, set to open this summer at the Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando.
The new ride is the second Kong-themed ride for Universal Orlando and the fourth overall for Universal Parks & Resorts in the United States.
This time Universal is promising one of the theme park company’s most “massive adventures” and longest ride experiences ever created. It will be a “dark ride,” meaning visitors will be transported through an environment where 3-D video, motion and intense audio will complete the experience.
The company says riders will enter an exotic world filled with “menacing, the intense — and the wildly entertaining. A powerful storyline, a stunning 3D experience, innovative technology – and the unexpected – will pull you into one of Universal Orlando’s most massive adventures yet. This is a multi-dimensional experience filled with surprise – all wrapped into what will be one of the longest Universal ride experiences ever created.”
No opening date has been announced yet.
Universal Orlando’s previous Kong ride, Kongfrontation, was original to the the Universal Studios Florida theme park in 1990 and closed in 2002 to make room for the Revenge of the Mummy ride.
Here is part of Universal’s description of the new ride:
“You board a specially designed expedition vehicle that will take you deeper into the island. Mysterious sounds pierce the air and you hear chanting. And then – you confront an enormous temple wall, complete with carvings and images that seem to pay homage to something you cannot quite comprehend. The temple’s massive wooden doors slowly open, revealing a labyrinth of caves.
“Inside the caves, you meet your expedition leader – and suddenly find yourself in the midst of a raging struggle between creatures of incomprehensible size and ferocity. Then, as those creatures turn on you, there is an even more enormous, earth-pounding presence – bigger, closer and more overwhelming than you can possibly imagine. It is Kong. But is he friend or foe?”