It’s been a few weeks since my last visit to Islands of Adventure and a lot has changed over at the Skull Island construction area. The first thing that caught my eye was a beautifully painted mural on the mountain range backdrop behind the facade. They’ve already finished the left-side and are continuing on the right, but it is looking incredible. It really sells the perspective, and even features some 2-dimensional brickwork extending the building upwards. Also new, are the two posts above the giant temple gate. These look like the posts used in the earlier King Kong films to tie down the sacrificial human when offering them up to the mighty Kong. The queue building on the right side of the construction zone is coming along nicely, with a rough fort-like roof style and some new covered walkways extending out from the Kong face arch. Check out all the images below for details in this Kong-sized photo update!
Skull Island signs added to the construction walls, displaying proudly that it’s opening Summer 2016
Construction Photos:
Sacrificial posts atop the temple entrance
Overview of the area coming from Toon Lagoon
Detail of the mural on the mountain range featuring 2D brickwork, trees, and mountains
A different view of the mural
View of the temple from the front, with new structures popping up in the foreground
Some of the unfinished mural on right side of temple gate
Seems like the details of the murals are being stenciled in layers
This wall surrounds the outdoor portion of the ride path, with new structures in the center
View of outdoor ride path from above
The temple gate opening has been closed up for now while interior work ramps up
Kong shaped entrance arch received more details, including some sharp teeth!
Detail of Kong’s rock face
New steel framework going up behind Kong entry arch to add cover over queue entrance
Indoor queue structure has gotten a fort-like/castle style roof
The new steel connecting arch entry to indoor queue building. This will be part of the outdoor queue
View from above
Detail of the new steel frame
Rockwork being completed on top of queue building
Wall detail above the queue building
The wall texture ends and is paint only for the far right side. Wonder if this is how it will remain.
Right side of structure finally enclosed and being painted nondescript color to blend into background
Workers painting
Epic Temple
The view from Toon Lagoon bridge on my way out
Walls are up once again around the Popeye statue in Toon Lagoon, blocking the entire courtyard
The ride is still open, but team members had to stand out front to help direct guests to the entrance
View behind the walls shows that parts of the walkway are being replaced
Alicia Stella has been covering new attractions since 2015, with her work cited by The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, and more. She specializes in reporting on new attraction development, and always looks forward to upcoming changes to the Orlando theme parks. She is also co-author of The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando.
0 Comments