An opening day attraction at Universal Orlando, Kongfrontation was technologically groundbreaking, highly immersive, and extremely realistic. The ride did an excellent job of taking guests from the backlot to the center of the action, even casting them as stars in an unexpected twist ending that had them appear in “breaking” news footage. Yet it was also a master of illusion, carefully hiding some of its best secrets from its visitors. Here are 5 things you never knew about Kongfrontation.
1. The animatronics were unpredictable
The 39-foot tall audio-animatronic King Kongs went “inside the envelope.” This means that the animatronics’ hands and arms actually entered the space around the ride vehicles that would normally trigger an intrusion reaction. Getting the animatronics and ride vehicles to play nicely with each other was complicated, and some of the most interesting situations I experienced as a team member were based on those interactions.
My favorite day at Kong was possibly the biggest nightmare for the ride techs, Guest Services, and even the PR department. I came in at 3 p.m. for a closing shift, to learn that the ride had been alternately open and closed all day. Nothing was wrong with it, per se, except for the unfortunate placement of one Kong figure’s hand. His fist was tightly closed except for his middle finger, which was waving proudly at every guest who passed by.
2. The graffiti was real
The premise behind Kongfrontation was that Kong was on a rampage through New York, and guests were being evacuated to the relative safety of Roosevelt Island. The overhead ride vehicles were modeled on the real Roosevelt Island Tramway, while the boarding station was modeled on New York’s subway stations. To heighten the realism, Universal brought in actual New York graffiti artists rather than attempting to recreate their work. Of course, over the years, park visitors made their own additions, from signing their names to drawing elaborate pictures. While it wasn’t officially sanctioned, we tended to look the other way. This made Kongfrontation feel a little more special to many guests, who looked forward to revisiting or adding to their work on each trip.
3. We could actually drive the trams
Like most ride vehicles, the trams generally operated in an automatic mode. The tram driver had to hold down a switch, known as the deadman, during the times that the tram interacted with the audio-animatronics. If we forgot to push the switch, the Kong figures would stop moving for safety reasons.
Beyond that, however, we were also able to switch the trams into a manual operation mode. In manual mode, we could control not only the forward and backward and up and down movements, but also the pitch and yaw. This was most often used when we were parking trams at night, which could involve lowering a tram onto the floor of one of the show scenes or parking one very close behind another, or when taking a tram offline into the maintenance bay. However, we also used these controls during ride stops and emergency stops, when a tram could suddenly halt in a weirdly angled position.
Driving a tram in manual mode meant turning knobs mounted on a large piece of plastic that looked sort of like a big electrical box. Of course, we got detailed instructions over the radio from our control tower and maintenance technicians, but it was still quite an adrenaline rush!
4. E-stops were terrifying
E-stop, or emergency stop, buttons were located at strategic positions throughout the ride building, including on every tram. Most of the time, if something went wrong, we had a ride stop, in which all the ride vehicles stopped moving, or a show stop, in which the animation and special effects stopped. E-stops were different. Designed as a last resort for situations that presented an immediate and severe safety hazard, an E-stop killed all the power to the building. We had emergency lights, but also plenty of dark corners in which an E-stop meant plunging into absolute darkness while hanging nearly 40 feet in the air.
If you were ever on the ride during an E-stop, you probably remember your tram driver speaking calmly and lightly, helping everyone on the tram to relax and make the best of things. What you probably never knew was that your tram driver was panicking right along with you! After all, we knew that an E-stop was a last resort.
I only experienced one E-stop during my time at Kong, and naturally it was in one of those utterly dark corners. I was spieling right along, having a great time along with my guests, when suddenly everything stopped. My surroundings went pitch black and eerily silent, and then my headset radio exploded with chatter. It turned out that someone had accidentally hit the E-stop, but those few moments were among the tensest of my life.
5. Radio chatter was distracting
From your perspective as a rider, you saw your tram driver wearing a headset microphone. What you might not have realized, however, was that the headset was connected to the main radio channel for the attraction. While I was spieling to you, playing the role of your tour guide, I was also monitoring the conversations taking place throughout the building. A separate, CB-style microphone was mounted on the control panel of each tram so drivers could converse about the attraction as needed. I got used to normal radio chatter pretty quickly, and I could largely tune it out while listening for anything that affected me or my tram directly. One afternoon, however, I found it almost impossible to ignore.
I was just finishing a ride cycle when I got an urgent radio call from the control tower. A major VIP was on her way up the back stairs and would be boarding my tram with her entourage. The tower operator didn’t yet know who it was. I radioed back to confirm that I was ready to give her the best possible show, and went back to tending to my guests. As we reached the unload platform, my radio suddenly exploded with chatter.
It turned out that my VIP guest was the lovely and talented Liza Minnelli, and naturally everyone at the attraction was a huge fan. As I loaded her and her entourage onto the tram, anyone and everyone with a radio began sending their messages of congratulations and jealousy. The chatter continued throughout my entire ride cycle, and eventually became distracting enough that I broke a cardinal rule and silenced my radio. I figured Liza Minnelli deserved my full attention, and I actually got applause from her after the ride!
