In the 1990s and 2000s, few rides summed up the iconic Universal Studios experience like the classic opening day attraction Jaws. One of the first attractions a guest would see as they entered the park, Jaws combined exhilarating thrills with immersive theming and of course the very real possibility of getting soaked (it was a water ride, after all!), all based on the 1975 film with the same name. But while it would eventually become one of the most popular rides in the park, Jaws had a pretty rocky opening year, plagued with maintenance issues and the constant need for evacs, resulting in a major refurbishment that would earn the ride the great reputation it holds among fans, even today.
Lets travel back in time to the early years of Florida’s second working movie studio theme park, and take a ride on the attraction that practically defined Universal Studios Orlando for thirty years!
A Park for Movies and Thrills
1971 marked the year that Disney opened the door to their newest park, Walt Disney World, offering just one theme park known as the Magic Kingdom. Eighteen years later however, Walt Disney World would continue to expand and open a third theme park after it’s initial opening in 1971 and then the opening of EPCOT Center in 1982, and this would be a new type of theme park that had never before been experienced outside of California, allowing guests to explore the wonders of a working film studio, all while experiencing the thrilling fun of a theme park. Disney MGM Studios experienced the success that many of Disney’s theme parks do in their opening year (not looking at you DCA or Disneyland Paris!), but not too far away, competition was brewing.
Just under twenty miles from the Happiest Place on Earth, Universal Studios Florida would open it’s doors for the first time as a theme park on 7th June 1990, consisting of five themed lands: the Front Lot, Production Central, San Francisco and Amity, Expo Centre, and a lagoon. Everything seemed set to go smoothly on opening day, especially as the park had several soft openings earlier in the year, but unfortunately, not everything went as well as was hoped.
Breakdowns and Evacs
Similar to Disney MGM, Universal Studios Florida was, and still is, home to a range of immersive and innovative attractions, and as with many new rides, teething problems were bound to occur. The simulator attraction Earthquake: The Big One and the dark ride Kongfrontation both experienced major technical problems in the opening year, but one of the main culprits for maintenance issues was Jaws, which was such a problem to operate that ride evacs were happening daily, and Universal would eventually go on to file a lawsuit against the company who manufactured both Jaws and Earthquake, Ride and Show Engineering, for failing to design them and build properly!
As you can imagine, Ride and Show were not particularly happy about the lawsuit, with the company’s Director of Marketing stating that they “feel very strongly about the products they build”, and that Universal were “pointing the fingers at them” for lower than expected park attendance, while the real reason may be a slowdown in tourism or increased gas prices.
Universal ended up winning the case, and it was decided that a complete redo of the ride system was needed in order to give the otherwise amazing attraction the longevity it deserved. Another manufacturer, Totally Fun Company, was brought in to carry out this refurbishment, and after the alteration of several aspects of the ride to improve reliability, Jaws reopened three years later in 1993, in the form that it would stay in until it’s closure in January 2012.
A Boat Tour that Goes Wrong
The premise of the Jaws ride was simple enough: a small group of riders would travel on a boat, passing a range of scenes along the way, with a Skipper really completing the experience. It was in a way similar to the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom… if on the Jungle Cruise you were at seemingly constant risk of being attacked by an animatronic shark. Courtesy of the fictional Amity Boat Tours, you would board your tour boat, headed to the site of a 1974 shark attack, the one that appears in the film franchise!
The tour would start off smoothly, with your Skipper providing entertainment throughout the experience. It wasn’t too long however before riders would get their first glimpse of the shark and what he can do- as the Skipper panics at the thought of the upturned and smoking Amity 3 boat in the water, a dorsal fin could be seen getting ominously closer and closer, before it disappears beneath the surface.
Your boat would be guided into the boathouse, but even there you weren’t completely safe, as the lights would flash out, leaving you with only torchlight to see your Skipper trying to get the boat moving again, and Jaws as he snaps scarily close to your boat. Eventually Jaws would disappear from sight, your boat would start moving again, and you would return to the shore safe and sound- if a little wet, depending on where you were sat!
More Than Just One Shark Attack
The Jaws boat ride wasn’t the first time the iconic shark would make an appearance at a Universal attraction, nor would it be the last. The idea for the ride was inspired by a segment of Universal Studios Hollywood’s Studio Tour, in which riders would be attacked by Jaws while travelling through sets from the 1975 film. After the eventual success of the attraction in Florida, an identical copy of the Jaws ride would be constructed all the way on the other side of the planet at Universal Studios Japan, which continues to entertain and terrify guests today!
The Final Tour
Jaws was one of the most popular attractions at Universal Studios Florida, but like all rides, it’s time of operation would eventually come to an end, and the end for this particular attraction came in early 2012, as plans were being created for the second phase of the new themed land The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, around five years after the first phase made it’s debut in Universal’s Islands of Adventure next door. The area would become home to Escape from Gringotts, an indoor Intamin launch coaster, opening in 2014 as the third Harry Potter themed ride at the Universal Orlando Resort (or fourth if you considered Dragon Challenge two coasters!), but Jaws wasn’t lost forever, as the hanging shark statue that once welcomed guests to the attraction is still in the park now, and a popular photo spot with people who like to put their heads under the shark’s head and look as if they are being eaten by a shark! My family and I did this when we visited the park in 2017- it was really fun!
Photo credits:
-ThemeParkGroupie on Youtube and Instagram
Youtube: ThemeParkGroupie – YouTube
Instagram: Theme Park Media and News (@themeparkgroupie) • Instagram photos and videos
Did you ever get the chance to ride Jaws at Universal Studios Florida and/or ridden the version in Japan? Let me know in the comments below!
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