Jaws (attraction) - History

History

The original attraction at Universal Studios Florida was inspired by a scene on the long-running Universal Studios Backlot Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood, in which the Studio Tour tram passed through several sets from the film and was then attacked by the shark known as JAWS while driving by an Amity Harbour shore line. For the Universal Studios Florida park/studio project, Universal sought to take the components of the Hollywood tour scene, and turn it into its own ride. The original ride was designed by MCA/Universal Planning and Development, in association with Ride and Show Engineering, which designed the original tour scene. Steven Spielberg, who directed the first film in the series, also served as a creative consultant for the ride.

Following the opening of Jaws with the park on June 7, 1990, it experienced extensive and persistent breakdowns as a result of the massive special effects involved, as did fellow original rides Kongfrontation and Earthquake: The Big One. However, while Universal was able to eventually contain the technical bugs in the Kong and Earthquake rides at "utmost consistency", the effects in the Jaws ride constantly refused to work at all, resulting in the ride having to be evacuated almost daily. Following the Summer opening of the park, Universal temporarily shut down the ride in August 1990, and sued Ride and Show Engineering for failing to properly design the ride. Throughout 1991 and early 1992, Universal attempted to refurbish the effects of the ride for a re-opening, but with no result. Some reports leaked that the high-tech electronics used in the sharks was damaged due to inadequate waterproofing. Eventually, Universal then collaborated with Totally Fun Company (who designed many of the park's original attractions) to create a new version of almost the entire ride. Some of the changes which resulted in the re-design of the ride include the replacement of two major ride scenes; the first one being in which JAWS bit onto the tour boat and turned it by 180-degrees (which was replaced with the Gas dock explosion scenes) and the second being the finale, which was loosely based on the first Jaws in which the skipper shot a grenade into the shark's mouth, causing him to explode underwater, resulting in gushing blood (which was replaced by the finale in which JAWS was electrocuted after biting onto a high-voltage barge which was loosely based on the ending for Jaws 2). The ride was then officially re-opened by Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary and Steven Spielberg in Spring of 1993.

Following the hurricanes that struck Central Florida in 2004, Universal was forced to temporarily close the ride in January 2005 due to the rising cost of petroleum, which was used to fuel the numerous pyrotechnical effects throughout the attraction as well as the tour boats. The ride finally reopened in December 2005, but was listed as "seasonal" and only open on busier days. This lasted until February 2007 when the ride was finally opened full-time again after numerous guest complaints. During the 2005 closure, several renovations were made to the ride. The attraction was further refurbished in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

On December 2, 2011, Universal Orlando Resort announced that the Jaws attraction and the entire Amity area of Universal Studios Florida would close permanently on January 2, 2012 to "make room for an exciting, NEW, experience." The attraction was officially closed on January 2, 2012 at 9pm with Michael Skipper aka (Skip the Skipper giving the final voyage for the last lucky 48 guest, with the entire Amity area walled off the next day. It was then completely demolished in the following months. The attraction remains open at the Osaka park.