ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter December 16, 1994 - October 12, 2003

    First off Alien Encounter was truly scary. Even for adults it was pretty damn freaky. That's actually what I loved about it personally. I remember people bringing their kids on and having to leave because they were crying their eyes out. The best part was that the fear was all in your head. The seats never moved, it didn't engage onto some track and send you on a roller coaster ride. You were just sitting in the dark and your brain was telling you that shit was hitting the fan. It was complete sensory overload, having the alien: breathing hot air down your neck and licking the back of your head, hearing it fly around the room, and listening to it eat the person seated behind you.

    The random humor thrown in was fantastic too, my favorites being the recording of a guy yelling "It's my mother in law!" when the alien was revealed, and "My mouth was open!" when it explodes at the end. It also had an all star cast of actors including: Tyra Banks (Sknab Aryt),   Kevin Pollock (Spinlok), Kathy Najimy (Dr. Femus) and Jeffrey Jones (Chairman Clench). The Robotic salesman S.I.R. was originally voiced by the late great Phil Hartman before being recast with the always fantastic Tim Curry. The original version of Alien Encounter soft opened on December 16, 1994 and was dubbed “not scary enough" by Michael Eisner, and closed shop to be re-tooled. The second incarnation of the ride reopened on June 20, 1995 and was eventually deemed “Too Intense" for young children, and replaced with the very toned down and super marketable Stich's Great Mistak...err...Escape.


Regis previews Alien Encounter

The original preshow with Phil Hartman

Final Version:

Preshow

Main Show

Disney Skyway

The Skyway was a great way to get off your feet  and relax for a while especially at the end of the day. And the view was spectacular.








Disneyland
June 23, 1956 - November 9, 1994

Magic Kingdom

October 1, 1971 - November 10, 1999

Tokyo Disneyland

April 15, 1983 - November 3, 1998

Akbar's Adventure Tours May 1998 - August 2007

A simulator ride in the Egypt area of Busch Gardens Tampa. Replacing Questor this attraction starred Martin Short and Eugene Levy, taking you on a tour of Egypt. Questor and Akbar were the only rides Busch Gardens had at the time that were on par with the Orlando parks for theming and story. I really enjoyed Akbar's Adventure Tours. There were a lot of gimmicks that made it a unique simulator. The parts that still stick out to me are the mummy popping out from the simulator's ceiling, and the giant snake spitting on you. But it was the combination of Martin's slapstick humor and Levy's deadpan deliveries that completely sold me on this one. Unfortunately I can only find a few low quality video clips online, none of which include the full ride.

Akbar's Adventure Tours commercial

Questor 1991 - 1998

 


If you remember this ride you get a gold star. A simulator ride at Busch Gardens Tampa. This  "gem" of a ride was tucked in an out of the way corner of the park, behind the Clydesdale stables where the Egypt section would eventually be. It shares a lot of similarities to Body Wars, in that that the transitions don't make a whole lot of sense and are just there to keep you engaged. That doesn't make it bad, I loved to ride it back in the day. This was a great simulator which on my part required multiple rides per visit. The campy Jules Verne/steam punk theme completed the atmosphere of probably one of the most intense simulators I've ever been on. Its only short coming was that it probably had the most uncomfortable seats of all time. Upon the opening of the Egypt expansion  Questor was changed over to Akbars Adventure Tours.

The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera May 1, 1990 - October 20, 2002

     An auditorium style simulator ride that I could never really get behind. I think the premise and ride story are good, but the ride mechanics were pretty rough, and I never thought the interactive area afterwards was ever that great. It always struck me as a second hand knockoff of Imageworks from Journey into Imagination.

      This ride sticks out to me because it's the only "thrill ride" I can 100% remember going on with my grandparents on my fathers side. Which is a pretty big deal as they weren't a fan of very many rides unless it was slow moving like E.T. or Small World. They would be perfectly happy people watching while waiting for us at the exit of whatever we happened to be riding, heck even Pirates was a deal breaker for them since it included a minuscule drop. So even though I've never found this to be the greatest attraction ever created, I will always remember fondly because they toughed it up and rode this bucking pony of a ride with me.

World of Motion October 1, 1982 - January 2, 1996

World of Motion was a tongue-in-cheek look at the history of transportation: from foot power through time into the future. Looking at the old footage for the first time in years, I'd forgotten how dated it looked in the late 90s. If it was still around, it'd need to be playing itself for laughs much like Carousel of Progress does. I like Test Track, but there's something so uniquely "Epcot" about this ride.

Kongfrontation June 7, 1999 - September 8, 2002

Even as a kid I remember this ride being cheesy, in the best way possible of course. I think what I enjoyed most about this ride was the detail it involved. From the graffitied walls (which I swear I never added to with a magic marker.), to the news broadcasts, to the fully stocked store fronts below you. All of it did a great job of sucking you in to this movie world, at least until the fake helicopter and motion sickness came in to play.

If You Had Wings June 5, 1972-January 3, 1989/ Dream Flight June 23, 1989- January 5, 1998

To be honest I was so young at the time that I barely remember "If You Had Wings" save for the cruise ship and going into the giant globe. Dreamflight on the other hand I remember vividly. Dreamflight taught me that  just because a ride wasn't fast or super exciting, it didn't mean it wasn't also entertaining or of great quality. This would always be the last thing I rode during my visits to Magic Kingdom. While my family and friends were watching the night time parade or fireworks, I would be a patron of this ride. Most of the time I was on my own, but every once in a while I could sucker a few people to join me. I called it my wind down ride, and multiple trips were always a must.

Jaws: The Ride June 7, 1990- January 2, 2012

                

            Jaws: the ride was an opening day attraction at Universal Studios. The elaborate special effects involved constantly refused to work, resulting in the ride having to be evacuated almost daily. Universal temporarily shut down the ride after the summer season to retool the troubled scenes. Jaws had it's grand reopening in the spring of 1993. The big changes which resulted in the re-design were: the scene in which Bruce bites onto the tour boat and turns it 180-degrees was replaced with the gas dock explosion, the shark that surfaces in the boathouse with its thrashing head and snapping mouth was switched out for a less complicated animatronic, and the finale, in which the skipper shoots a grenade into the mouth of Bruce, causing him to explode in a geyser of blood was replaced by the finale in which Bruce bites the high-voltage wire.

Taking Jaws out of Universal is like taking the castle out of Disney. I was fortunate enough to ride this on its last day of operations. Not once but 15 times!! It was a surreal experience watching the Skippers ad lib lines they couldn't say before, or trying to stay in character while holding back tears, and the crowd was behind them 100%. A rowdy bunch they were too whether they were shouting out their favorite lines, or hoopin' and hollerin' for no reason at all. It really made me realize I was apart of something special. The picture I posted above of the shark biting the high voltage cable is the last time it ever came out of the water. The  animatronic didn't work for the next boat which shut the ride down for a few hours, they weren't able to get it working again and ran the rest of the day without. I think the highlight of the day for me was after the last boat unloaded a group of employees formed a circle and broke out into "Show Me the Way to Go Home". It was a fantastic and emotional day that I will never forget. If you're a fan of Jaws you need to check out http://amityboattours.com/ a site that serves as an archive for all things concerning the Jaws ride. RIP Bruce.

A great short documentery by the skippers

Original ride featuring the exploding Bruce

Jaws 2.0

The Final Tour

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage October 14, 1971- September 5, 1994

Located directly across from Mr. Toad, 20,000 Leagues was always a must for my family. I remember freaking out as a kid thinking we were actually diving into the depths of the ocean.Though it remained popular throughout its existence, it was closed on September 5, 1994, for what was called a temporary maintenance period. The closure was officially made permanent in 1996. During the grand opening of Ariel's Under Sea Adventure water from the 20,000 Leagues lagoon was poured into the new grotto as a tribute.

Here is a great article about the closure of this legendary ride

http://www.crazedfanboy.com/spotlight/20k.html