Intro
For the culminating project of my master's degree I decided to see what could happen if Universal took a similar approach to "Skull Island: Reign of Kong"--which has received average reviews on sites like Yelp and Google--as they did when re-theming "Jurassic Park: The Ride" to "Jurassic World: The Ride". While keeping the existing ride layout as close as possible to the existing attraction, I looked for areas I thought the ride experience could be improved and ways it could be made more relevant.
After reading many reviews, I found the three most common complaints were lack of stand out moments, the over-use of screens, and length of the line. I addressed the lack of stand-out moments by directing more of the action directly toward the ride vehicle rather than on people or objects outside of it. When doing so, I tried to implement physical elements whenever it seemed beneficial and could fit the constraints. I still kept screens in some areas where a physical replacement would either not be feasible or be ineffective. While I attempted to make the line entertaining, my main hope on that front was that a more entertaining ride experience would make the line worth the wait.
Story Treatment Pt. 1: Queue
The outdoor portion of the line takes guests through the wreckage of the "Venture", which has crashed and stranded them all on Skull Island. Pieces of the boat and belongings of passengers are scattered about. Among them is a radio that miraculously still works! It is playing a radio station similar to the one on the current attraction, only featuring interviews with characters from the 2005 King Kong film. I made a portion of what that could sound like featuring interviews with Carl Denham, the greedy director, and Bruce Baxter, the self-absorbed actor:
This audio gives the guests backstory to the upcoming attraction, should they choose to listen. As the guests move inside, where the temple is in the current queue, they are greeted with a hastily set up camp. This is where the crew of the "Venture" stayed after the ship crashed. There are more hints here about the characters guests will meet on the ride. However, it is clear that it has been recently left empty. In the camp, guests find one of Carl Denham's cameras that has been left on. It is playing a video Carl shot to inform the rest of the crew--which includes the guests--about their plan to get off the island. I made an example of what this film could look like, once again using Carl Denham and Bruce Baxter:
This video serves both to provide the basic story of the ride and give the basic safety spiel required on all rides. Following this video, guests board the buses which have one of five pairs of characters in the front seat. Each of these characters would have been interviewed on the radio station and been referenced by props in other sections of the queue. After loading, the guests would officially start the ride.
Story Treatment Pt. 2: Ride
The ride begins similarly to the current structure. There is a short loop outside before entering back inside through the iconic Skull Island gate. Inside, the guests travel through a small cave with large bat-like creatures hanging from the walls and the scattered remains of Kong's long deceased relatives. At the end of this portion, the lights cut out, there's a rumbling sound, then a loud crack. The guests have a sensation of falling and landing with a splash. Here, one of the characters on the bus reveals that the sound was an earthquake. Even worse, the earthquakes are causing the island to sink!
After this realization, one of the characters realizes there are some strange sounds surrounding the vehicle. They shoot a flare. As the lights come back on, it is revealed the truck has landed in a pit of giant bugs! Several worms surround the bus. The driver hits the gas, but the bus is stuck. Right when the worms are about to descend upon the bus, the driver is able to pull away as more bugs--and water--pour out from the walls.
The bugs fade from view as the bus gets back to the surface of the island where it has started to storm. Guests see velociraptor-type dinosaurs--called Venatosaurus-- run up to the bus. Just when it seems they may attack, they quickly disperse as the bus pulls forward into a clearing in the jungle. Everything seems to stop as strange noises are heard approaching the truck. A large V-Rex head comes gets right up to the window of the bus. It stays still for a second...then chomps! Quickly, the driver pulls away as the rex gives chase.
Just when it seems the rex will crush the bus, King Kong makes his appearance. Much like in the current ride, Kong fights off the rex--along with a few others that show up--only this time it is among the crumbling ruins of a sinking island. After that climactic battle, the bus turns a corner to reveal the large head of Kong! The bus slowly rolls towards the rescue boat in the distance, leaving the doomed Kong to sink with his island.
Final Deliverables
Over a week, I constructed a model to showcase what a portion of the ride could look like, using Denham and Baxter as the characters occupying the front of the truck. I have used physical props where physical props would be and green screens where a screen would be. Below is a 360 video--also viewable in VR--of the bug section and V-Rex encounter.
You can also download the script I wrote for this version of the attraction by clicking here.
