Skull Island: Reign Of Kong

Skull Island: Reign of Kong is a ride at Islands of Adventure theme park at Universal Orlando in Florida. It began soft openings on June 9, 2016, and officially opened on July 13, 2016.

Queue
Guests enter under a giant sculpture of King Kong. Guests start to proceed into a line outside of the temple where they can hear radio broadcast advertising the expedition group and playing music. They then proceed into the temple of the natives, where many skulls line the walls and figures of their beliefs lie. Guests then enter into a chamber where a shamaness is performing a ritual and possibly warning guests that they are in sacred lands and are not safe. As guests proceed through the temple, they encounter bodies of the dead and possibly natives that may scare oblivious guests. After leaving the temple area, guests proceed into the base camp where many supplies are stacked and ready to be taken on the trucks. Guests also encounter an animatronic worm that moves around but doesn't attack. After this line, guests pick up their 3D glasses and be sent to the boarding area to wait for their truck to arrive. The guests then board a truck, with a driver played by a universal cast member. Several different characters are portrayed, depending on which truck you board.

Ride
Guests enter an expedition truck with one of five different drivers, each one containing their own backstory and dialog for the ride. They are warned of the island's dangers as they enter the 80 foot tall temple, as natives from Skull Island chant King Kong's name. The ride slows down and passes by a giant ape skull, as well as a few terapusmordax animatronics (bat-like creatures). Guests then turn and meet the other expedition group, who are getting ready to set up a camp. However, guests are attacked by a swarm of terapusmordaxs, who end up taking Kate, one of the few named explorers. She is taken over the truck and out of view of the riders. Both trucks speed off, following Kate to rescue her. In the back of the cave, a shadow of Kong can be seen.

The expedition trucks move on to a swamp, where they encounter multiple creatures from King Kong. Kate manages to escape the terapusmordax that took her and fights off the many creatures that threaten to kill her and the riders. After defending the truck for a few moments, she tells them to go without her, the driver refusing to leave. Right before she is able to jump onto the truck, a giant scorpion claw reaches out and grabs her, dragging her into a cave as she struggles to escape. The vehicle moves on to the jungle, where they are told to return to base camp. They later encounter small carnivorous dinosaurs who follow the truck as it speeds away and tries to escape but ends up crashing and waking up a few larger dinosaurs, who grabs a few of the smaller dinosaurs, causing them to scatter. The dinosaurs begin attacking the truck but before the truck can be badly damaged, Kong leaps from behind a temple and begins to fight the dinosaurs. Kong and the dinosaurs continue to fight when the truck from earlier shows up to help the riders.

Unfortunately, both trucks end up falling into a pit because of the weakening walkway around it. They swing from a vine where Kong faces the last dinosaur and causes both the other truck and the dinosaur to fall, but saves the truck allowing the crew to survive the fall. The truck also plummets but is saved as well by Kong who roars and climbs away. The driver sends out a report that the truck found Kong. The truck then drives and meet Kong in an animatronic form, who sniffs at the riders and stares but then roars, causing the driver to quickly speed away. The ride vehicle returns to base camp where Kate radioes that she and the other are safe.

Weather
During optimal weather, the trucks travel outside and up through the massive gates leading to Skull Island at the start of the ride. During inclement weather, the trucks take a bypass route indoors, cutting out the outdoor portion of the ride, so it can remain open during inclement weather. This results in a slightly shorter ride experience.

Reception
Skull Island: Reign of Kong has received mixed to positive reactions. Whatculture.com liked it, calling it "a beast of an attraction" and called the animatronics "amazing".Tyler Murillo from worldofuniversal.com gave it a score of 4.5 out of 5 stars, calling it an "amazing ride" and "visually stunning inside and out". Matt Timmy Creamer from Moviepilot.com gave the attraction as a whole 7 out of 10 stars, calling the queue line "incredible" and the animatronics "worth the wait", however, was disappointed with the number of screens and lack of practical effects in the ride.