Skull Island: Reign of Kong - Universal's Islands of Adventure

That is quite the mouthful. As discussed in Mako, Reign of Kong is still in a soft open so spoilers lie ahead.

SKULL ISLAND: REIGN OF KONG

Reign of Kong is the largest addition to Islands of Adventure in six years, and it shows. The biggest project at Islands since 2010, Reign of Kong takes place during the 1940s... I think. As you enter the queue, which is the star of this show FYI, you hear the replaying of old-timey radio broadcasts talking about Skull Island and its inhabitants. Outside it's a standard back and forth around the front of the building, which is neat because the expedition trucks full of 'explorers' pass you into the building. Speaking of trucks, this queue moves QUICK. I believe each truck holds 72 passengers and there are 5 trucks, which brings this capacity at awesome break-neck speed. I believe a full queue would last less than 90 minutes. Anyway after you wrap around the building, the queue heads inside.

Immediately you feel like you're in the Temple of Doom, as you're greeted by some incriminating statues that are carved into the walls (did Nassal do these?). Great detail, then you're going back and forth in a room filled with skulls. After a quick turn through a dark tight alley, you enter this huge room which everyone has been dubbing the Witch's Room. In it, a great lifelike animatronic witch summons the natives and powers of Kong, with beating drums and flames. It's pretty awesome, but wouldn't recommend an extended stay. You exit the room by following a narrow ramp that leads into a darker winding path.

MAJOR SPOILERS:

Now I'm not sure of the configuration, but I believe there are two 'natives' (scare actors) who jump out at pretty obvious areas as you wind your way through mummified remains. I'm pretty sure this is the first queue that's housed permanent scare actors, and it makes the queue even that much better. So far we have good 1940s music, great animatronic witches, scare actors, now what? Well that's it really, once you get through that section, you do a quick turnaround with an animatronic worm-like creature and you're ready to board.

For the ride itself, you board your vehicle, no real restraints. Immediately made me think of Disaster! You pass by dinosaur remains, some animatronic bats hanging out on the right, then you meet up with Kate the expedition leader (screen on the left side) She gets snatched by some animals so we got to save her! We go into the next room with screen on the right side where Kate is battling a bunch of animals that shake our truck and spray water at us. Then Kate gets snatched again!... and we never see her again? LOL, wait is she dead? What happened to Kate? All right, RIP Kate.

EDIT: Kate's voice returns at the end to tell everyone she's all right. Must've missed this the first time around.

Anyway, once Kate gets snatched, we end up getting lost and chased by dinosaurs. We try to speed away but get stopped by two T-Rex'es (screens on both sides). Luckily, Kong shows up, beats the crap out of them and saves us. We make a turn out of the room and sure enough, Kong's animatronic body (well his top half) is greeting us with roars as we turn into the station.

I'll preface everything by saying the queue is one of the best things ever, and will stand out against queues like Dueling Dragons and Escape from Gringott's. But I have some major issues with the ride itself. First off, I don't believe this should be in Islands of Adventure just because they incorporate dinosaurs. The ride is something you'd find at Studios. Secondly, everything seems to strewn together. Why is something as compelling as the witch even used if they're not going to be incorporated into the actual ride? And as great as the Kong animatronic is, he serves absolutely no purpose. Hey, Kong defeated the dinosaurs for us, now let's pass a lifelike version of him for no reason. It reminded me of how Seven Dwarf's Mine Train ended with the witch at the front door. So random.

As much hype as it had, I don't believe Reign of Kong will deliver for Islands in the long run. It may attract huge crowds because of its entertaining queue, but the ride will not stand the test of time. I do trust that Creative is already thinking of ways to improve it years down the line, storyline-wise. 6.5/10