USA Today has written an article detailing Skull Island: Reign of Kong, opening soon at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, and they have included some never-before-seen images from inside the incredibly themed, and apparently somewhat frightening, queue. It seems that rumors were correct and we will be seeing scareactors within the queue itself, straight up Halloween Horror Nights style! See a section of the write-up along with all the incredible photographs in high resolution below. Click on an image to see it full size and stay tuned for more Kong news as it happens!

Fires flare up inside a shrine-like area as the drum beat gets louder. The natives are chanting. A Shah woman with long, stringy gray hair summons King Kong. Kong responds with a massive roar. All that, and you aren’t even on the ride yet. As guests, stroll through the queue at Skull Island: Reign of Kong, the latest attraction at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure, they are treated to impressive theatrics that build anticipation in every sense of the word.

The first thing you notice as you enter is the massive scale of things. For starters, you are surrounded by 150,000 square feet of rock work. In the distance, huge temple doors are set among a rugged landscape full of craggy peaks and dense jungle. The next thing you’ll notice are the whispering voices and unidentifiable grunts and growls. That might be attributed to the fact that the ride includes things like a terapusmordax, a flying predator sporting a 10-foot wingspan, and a vastatosaurus rex, a rather intimidating dinosaur.

Set to open this summer, the nearly 6-minute-long experience is a feast for the eyes. It features a trackless ride system (a first for Universal Orlando), an interactive queue (yes, hostile natives are lurking around the corners) and an almost three-story-tall mechanical figure of the furry one himself.

Read the full story here.

Queue and Ride Photographs

As guests, stroll through the queue at Skull Island: Reign of Kong, the latest attraction at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure, they are treated to impressive theatrics that build anticipation in every sense of the word.

“Once inside the ruins, guests interact with the physical environment as the space gets tighter, the danger gets more authentic and they start to get the feeling the locals aren’t necessarily friendly,” says Mike West, executive producer at Universal Creative.

Among the piles of skulls a very lifelike native is peeking out. Better yet, actors dressed as not-so-friendly natives pop out from dark corners to scare the beejeebees out of you, Halloween-Horror-Nights style.

“Our journey takes place in the early 1930s, predating the Carl Denham expedition to Skull Island that brought Kong to New York,” West says.

“We worked with Peter Jackson during the initial concept phase of the project to develop the look and feel of the environment.”

“We saw how great Skull Island looked on film, but we envisioned a completely immersive experience with enormous sets, vehicles and characters that literally put our guests right in the middle of the action.”

As you arrive at base camp, the ride vehicles are waiting with no track or rail in sight.Each vehicle seats 72 people and comes with an expedition guide. With five guides altogether, each guide narrates the story in a different way.

“The first thing you see are the remnants of a Kong species skeleton on the left,” West says.

About eight feet away from the truck is Kong in all his glory. With a head the size of a car, he’s so close you can feel his breath. He even expresses human emotion like scrunching down his eyebrows in anger or contorting his face in surprise.

Learn More

Meet Kong Himself

About the Ride Vehicles

The Monsters of Skull Island

Be sure to check out my recent Kongstruction update with video of the new area theme music, and see all Kong updates here.

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