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Universal Orlando’s King Kong thrill ride to open in mid-2016

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
This is a rendering of “Skull Island: Reign of Kong.”

ORLANDO, Fla. » King Kong first appeared on screens in New York in 1933, but next summer he’ll be in Florida, headlining a new thrill ride at Universal Orlando.

"Skull Island: Reign of Kong" will open in the summer of 2016 at Islands of Adventure.

Universal executives announced last week that guests participating in the "intense adventure" will board expedition trucks and forge through jungles and past prehistoric beasts before they come face to face with the big ape.

It will be one of Universal’s longest rides and will have a 34-inch height requirement. The attraction will be partially indoors and partially outdoors and will involve flaming cauldrons and caves.

The new attraction will be nestled in between Toon Lagoon and Jurassic Park.

This isn’t Kong’s first rodeo at Universal Orlando. From 1990 until 2002 the Kongfrontation attraction was housed at Universal Studios. But that centered on Kong in New York.

Mike West, Universal Creative’s executive producer, said locating the ride "in Kong’s home" on Skull Island as opposed to New York was a conscious decision on the part of the creative team.

"We want to tell the next generation Kong’s story," said West. "He’s timeless."

In the 1933 version of "King Kong," Fay Wray played an actress with a movie company that is going on location to a mysterious island. Kong is the huge ape that inhabits a part of the island.

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