“Listen, SCOOP – crime reports are coming in from all over the city and I’m starting to get worried…”
Frequent readers here at Theme Park Tourist are likely familiar with our Lost Legends series – a growing library of in-depth features that tell the complete stories of forgotten fan favorites and closed classics across the globe, from Magic Kingdom’s Alien Encounter to Disney California Adventure’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and everything in between in our fan-favorite Lost Legends Library.
But this summer, we’re launching a brand new series that aims to take a detailed look at living legends; the innumerable rides around the globe that can only be described as Modern Marvels. We want to examine the history of these must-ride wonders and go for a ride, seeing why these sought-after experiences are so celebrated and beloved by fans.
We kicked off our series by soaring out to Hong Kong Disneyland for a ride on what some call Disney’s best ride ever, Mystic Manor, and then unearthed the ancient curse behind Revenge of the Mummy. But when it comes to Marvels, our next stop has to be a ride that garnered so much enthusiasm, it’s credited with reinvigorating the Orlando market and redefining the genre of rides that would follow.
Image: Universal / Marvel / The Goddard Group
We can only be talking about The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, the thrilling and groundbreaking dark ride that debuted alongside Universal’s Islands of Adventure – “the most technologically advanced theme park in the world” – in 1999.
So today, we’ll get the inside scoop on this brilliant attraction, see the almost-unbelievable story of the completely different hero who almost starred in it, and step into our own SCOOP to face the Sinister Syndicate with our friendly, neighborhood web-slinger. But with Spider-Man nearby, trouble can’t be far away… “And you know what trouble means: headlines! National coverage! So don’t screw this up! I mean, uh… good luck.”
Disney v. Universal
Image: Universal
Despite stories that make it sound like a centuries-old feud, the supposed rivalry between Disney and Universal (and particularly their Parks & Resorts divisions) wasn’t kicked into high gear until the late 1980s. That’s when Universal began moving forward with plans for an Orlando-based movie studio park… and when Michael Eisner swept into Disney as CEO and quickly rush-ordered a movie park of his own. The Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989 – a year before Universal Studios Florida. But it wouldn’t be the last time the two giants would face off…
Pretty quickly, though, a dichotomy was clear: the addition of the Disney-MGM Studios assured that Walt Disney World remained a multi-day “Vacation Kingdom” for families with young children… and if the family had older children, too, they might add on a single day at Universal Studios Florida up the road. After all, a day at Universal Studios was relegated mostly to (impressive and blockbuster) rides wherein guests were outright terrorized by killer sharks, giant apes, Terminators, ghosts, gunfire, and dinosaurs… a trying and tumultuous day for parents of youngsters.
Image: Universal
But MCA Inc. – then-owners of Universal – had a plan: codename “Project X.” Even from the early 1990s, they began to toy with the concept of a second park joining the Studios, establishing Universal as a multi-day destination in and of itself, just like Walt Disney World.
They turned, in part, to a preeminant figure within the themed entertainment industry: Gary Goddard. Goddard was, at the time, head of the Landmark Entertainment Group that had worked closely with Universal to develop the original King Kong Encounter in Hollywood, not to mention leading the charge on the groundbreaking Terminator 2: 3D. And as plans for “Project X” took shape, he was also leading the development of Universal’s Jurassic Park: The Ride in Hollywood.
Image: The Goddard Group
Now, Goddard and his peers were tasked with drafting compelling rides utilizing external intellectual properties that could rival Disney’s dominance in the family market. After all, if Disney had stolen Universal’s “studio” concept for their third park, then Universal would counter by using Disney’s bread-and-butter: cartoons.
Cartoon World
Image: Universal / Warner Bros.
Universal Studios Florida would’ve been joined by a new neighbor: a second park called Cartoon World. An incredible collection of attractions was devised by the Goddard Group (among others) for this spectacular second gate, and luckily for industry enthusiasts, much of it is available thanks to the reporting of Josh Young and our friends at Theme Park University.
What we know is that Universal would reach beyond its own intellectual property in order to accumulate enough stories to populate an entire park with timeless characters, impressive dark rides, and plenty of family fun. Entered via the Loading Dock of a “Comic Strip Factory” (where we’d see our favorite ‘toons clocking-in to start the day) and an ensuing “Main Street” packed with anthropomorphic Jay Ward character environments (from Rocky and Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle, and Mr. Peabody and Sherman), this unique park would’ve placed themed cartoon lands in a Magic Kingdom style layout.
Image: DC Comics / Universal, via Theme Park University
The Northwest Mining Camp (themed to Jay Ward’s Dudley Do-Right, above), Popeye’s Island, The World of Seuss, and Warner Bros. Looney Tunes Land would pack the park with beloved, generations-proven sights, sounds, and stories.
Whimsy and wonder were on the menu… except in Cartoon World’s sixth cartoon realm. There, action and adventure would rule over a comic book cityscape of heroes and villains, police sirens, epic encounters, and good and evil. That’s right – MCA would acquire the theme park rights to truth, justice, and the American way: DC Superhero Land.
Image: DC Comics / The Goddard Group
MCA’s executives invited Goddard and others to begin crafting theme park attractions based on Seuss, Warner Bros. and DC Comics even before a contract had been signed. Rather, it was hoped that robust, quality attraction renderings (like a proposed Batman & Robin Action Adventure Spectacular ski-show, above) would help sell their respective right’s owners on the benefit of a partnership. So Goddard got to work on developing his ideal DC Superhero Land…
The Amazing Adventures of Superman
Image: DC Comics / The Goddard Group
Gary Goddard had always loved DC, and set to work designing the DC Superhero Land. Naturally, he designed the land to be one of extremes: one half of the land, Gotham City, would the “dark side of Superhero Land,” themed to the gothic, gritty, industrial city (closely modeled after the Tim Burton / Michael Keaton films) of Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego, Batman.
Goddard’s plans for The Joker’s Madhouse attraction had guests enter into mix of haunted house, carnival, and walkthrough to access a wild mouse style roller coaster / dark ride combination with an elaborate post-show of “twisted” carnival rides for thrill-seekers.
Image: DC Comics / The Goddard Group
BatWing, meanwhile, would’ve been a suspended twin coaster face-off between Penguin and Batman wherein riders would choose either the Pen-O-Wing track or the BatWing track. The inverted coaster would then dart along the streets of DC Superhero Land, racing together and then diverging to burst through showbuildings before “dueling” at key points along the coasters’ tracks.
The other half of the land, Metropolis, would be the “city of light,” themed to the Art Deco architecture of Chicago and New York in the 1930s – home to Superman. It’s here that guests could enter the glimmering glass skyscraper of the Daily Planet and become field reporters aboard a cutting-edge thrill ride.
Image: DC Comics / The Goddard Group, via Theme Park University
According to our friends at Theme Park University, this cutting-edge ride would’ve seen guests board 18-person vehicles that advanced into the belly of a “telecopter” (via wrapped projection screens), hoisted high over Metropolis for a bird’s-eye view of Lex Luthor’s rampage.
While details are scarce, it’s believed that these 18-passenger vehicles would rock and rumble to the surrounding screens (like a Disney Lost Legend: Star Tours) until they’d free-fall 130 feet back to Earth – having actually risen 13-stories, concealed in a Superhero Land skyscraper!
Image: DC Comics / The Goddard Group
Negotiations and Mutations
There was only one problem: According to Sam Gennaway’s spectacular, must-read book Universal vs. Disney, Universal had overextended itself in trying to acquire so many external properties and had found itself locked in a head-to-head showdown with Time Warner, who owned the rights to both DC Comics and the Looney Tunes – two-fifths of Universal’s Cartoon World.
It was a battle over royalties. Time Warner wanted 10% of royalties earned from Universal’s new park given the major role its heroes and cartoons would play. MCA Inc. (owners of Universal) wouldn’t budge from 6%.
Eventually, Time Warner was willing to negotiate for 8%, but MCA held at 6%.
Though Universal’s designers begged for MCA’s executives to agree to the 8% figure (given how many attraction they’d designed around DC Comics and the Looney Tunes), the negotiations came to an abrupt end… To hear Gary Goddard recount the story to Gennaway, MCA’s COO Sidney Sheinberg was fed up with the process and told his contact at Time Warner, “We don’t need your [expletive] characters.” And that was that.
Any hopes of Cartoon World were dead.
Image: Universal
But maybe that’s for the best. The loss of a Warner Bros. partnership forced Universal back to the drawing board, and they found inspiration in their own library. At the time, Steven Spielberg was finishing up production on Universal’s Jurassic Park while the Goddard Group put the finishing touches on Jurassic Park: The Ride for Universal Studios Hollywood.
Given the stellar expectations for the film and ride, it occured to designers that Jurassic Park could even occupy an entire themed land of its own at a Disney-quality second gate.
Image: Universal
With Bugs and Bruce Wayne out and Jurassic Park in, Universal hired on a team of former Disney Imagineers who had fled Michael Eisner’s cost-cutting in the wake of Disneyland Paris’ abysmal opening. They brought with them concepts Eisner had axed, which Universal was happy to fund. That’s how Port of Entry and an epic forgotten land and Lost Legend: The Lost Continent, found their way into the new park’s designs.
A simple “Cartoon World” no more, the new, rounded-out park gained a new thesis and a new name: Universal Studios Islands of Adventure would transport guests into the epic stories and unforgettable adventures of blockbuster films, favorite cartoons, storybooks, and mythological landscapes…
Image: Universal
Port of Entry, Seuss Landing, The Lost Continent, Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon… And one more.
The concepts Universal Creative had cooked up for the DC superheroes wouldn’t go to waste… Universal had found another comic giant who’d fallen on hard times and was happy to make a deal to be exclusively featured in Universal’s second gate… Read on…
A Marvelous Deal
Image: Marvel
While it may be difficult to imagine now, the 1990s were a difficult time for what was then called the Marvel Entertainment Group. In 1992, a core group including seven of its most sought-after artists left en masse to form Image Comics. By the middle of the decade, the entire industry had slumped, and in 1996, Marvel Entertainment Group officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Marvel was in a bad place, and hastily crafted some business decisions that – in retrospect – were fairly desperate. They began selling off the film rights to their characters to whoever would take them: Men in Black and Spider-Man (to Columbia), X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and Elektra (to 20th Century Fox), and The Hulk (to Universal).
The shortsighted move was enough to bolster the company temporarily, even if it meant that Marvel’s most prized intellectual properties were scattered to the winds.
Image: Marvel / Universal
Yet another deal of the era? Marvel agreed to award Universal (then MCA) exclusive U.S. rights to build theme park attractions based on the Marvel universe in perpetuity.
The contract even expressly notes “no [Marvel-themed land] shall be in or marketed in conjunction with any themed entertainment areas owned, operated, or marketed by Disney, Time Warner, Six Flags, Sony, Paramount, or [SeaWorld].” Just for good measure, the contract specifically forbids any Marvel-themed land (including its characters, logos, and licenses) “within 60 miles of any Universal Theme Park with [a Marvel-themed land].”
Image: Universal
That means that as long as the contract is in good standing, Universal Orlando retains the rights to feature the Hulk, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and any reasonably related characters in theme parks east of the Mississippi River. Period. The only way the contract will end is if Universal terminates it, if Universal and Marvel agree to exceptions, or if Marvel deems that Universal Orlando is not representing the brand “in a manner consistent with the highest standards of the theme park industry.”
(One should note, of course, that the contract remained legally binding in perpetuity… even when The Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel outright in 2009 for $4 billion…)
The Omnimover Adventures of Spider-Man
With Spider-Man now taking Superman’s place, Goddard and company devised their most unique plan yet. The first draft of The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man they crafted used a time-tested, three-decade-old ride system in a very new way.
Click and expand for a more detailed view. Image: The Goddard Group / Marvel
In fact, this early version of the ride we know used Disney’s patented Omnimover (the continuously-loading chain of vehicles pioneered on Disney’s Lost Legend: Adventure Thru Inner Space, but used most famously on the Haunted Mansion and a lineup of EPCOT Center originals). The benefit of the Omnimover – which we listed among our Seven Modern Wonders of the Theme Park World – is two-fold: logistically, a high-capacity, constantly-loading ride can easily eat through crowds; creatively, the swiveling clamshell carts direct riders’ attention to exactly the spot designers want, and exactly when they want it, giving designers the real-life power of a camera.
And in the case of this Spider-Man ride, that would be important, because Goddard wanted to incorporate something wild: these Omnimovers would pass through physical, built-out sets that would be “extended” by 3D screens where action could take place.
Image: The Goddard Group / Marvel, via Theme Park University
The Omnimovers, then, could rotate “into the 3D focal range,” becoming part of the looping action at just the right moment. See, no one had ever developed a 3D/4D ride before. Sure, guests had been thrilled by 3D movies for decades, including Disney’s fabled Captain EO and Universal’s own Terminator 2: 3D (developed by Goddard, mind you), but the concept of having guests move past a 3D screen was novel… and invited its own complications.
Which is why, to hear Goddard say it, this Omnimover study was always a means-to-an-end: a way to get the executives to sign onto a high-capacity, low-cost ride system, in essence giving Goddard the go-ahead for a 3D ride… and permission to experiment with a better way to move guests through it. And a brand-new ride at Disneyland in California had just stunned the industry…
Breaking News
Image: Disney / LucasFilm
If you ask insiders, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye changed everything in the themed entertainment industry. The high-energy, story-driven, special-effects packed dark ride that opened in 1995 was groundbreaking in every way, sending guests on a whirlwind tour of a cursed temple to face the wrath of Mara. Even acknowledging the unthinkable three different ride intros, the bubbling lava pits, the snakes, the spiders, the forty-foot-tall god, and Indy himself, the ride’s biggest (and most understated) star was its ride vehicle.
The Enhanced Motion Vehicle (or EMV) looks and feels like a regular ole’ troop transport… until it turns the corner out of the eyesight of queuing guests and becomes one of the most technologically-advanced tools in parks today. Each EMV is like a slot car, powered and guided down a track.
However, what riders are seated in is truly a motion-base platform atop the vehicle, which means that each Jeep bucks, turns, slides, shuffles, and drops to exaggerate turns, “climb” over rubble, mimic reverse motion, and rear back when accelerating. On Indiana Jones Adventure, guests weren’t merely witnessing the action; they were part of it… and even the reason for it! Unlike an Omnimover that can pass looping, atmospheric action, the EMV sent groups of guests – one at a time – into the unknown.
Backbone
And that, if you ask insiders, pushed the forces at Universal Creative to get… well… creative. Which is why Oceaneering International (yes, a subsea engineering and applied technology company specializing in undersea ROVs and deepwater hardware) was brought in to create their own 12-passenger motion-base simulator pod capable of six degrees of freedom (heave, sway, surge, yaw, pitch, and roll) and 360-degree rotation (achieved with a ring and pinion gear system), all contained in an angled shell to direct riders’ view just like an Omnimover.
Gary Goddard – along with Universal Creative’s Philip Hettema and William Mason – received inventor credits on the ride system patent.
In the Spider-Man universe, it’s called a SCOOP. That name has stuck and become synonymous with the ride system just like “Omnimover” or “EMV.”
But most unthinkable of all, this motion-simulator would then be placed on a track, powered through a showbuilding to buck, rumble, spin, and slalom through physical sets. Universal Creative’s Scott Trowbridge and Thierry Coup storyboarded a scene-by-scene breakdown of the new version of the ride while an outside firm animated the stereoscopic film that would be projected throughout the ride’s scenes. Altogether, 13 30-foot tall projection screens would be dotted throughout the ride, integrated perfectly with physical sets.
However, this wasn’t your typical 3D theme park film. Because guests would be moving toward, away from, or past these 3D screens, animators had to consider the perspective shift that viewers would naturally encounter if these really were alleys, warehouses, and rooftops. Ultimately, they developed a never-before-used process they called “squinching” – meticulously accounting for a viewer’s moving sightline and effectively distorting the animation to match – seen in the video below:
In other words, to stand still and view a scene of, say, a hallway, it would appear that the hallway was stretching, then sliding, then squashing, then stretching again. But perfectly paced with the moving ride vehicle, the “squinched” animation aligns perfectly to rider’s moving perspective, making the film appear like a true extension of the scene.
That required that a point-of-view and ride path were nailed down from the ride’s earliest concepts, so Universal Creative built a 20 by 26 foot scale model (1-inch:1-foot), hoisted high with the ride’s track cut-out so that designers could walk through the ride building with their heads taking place of the ride vehicles – a plan borrowed from Walt Disney and his final walkthroughs of the model for Pirates of the Caribbean.
Image: Universal
In order to avoid the opening year embarrassments that had plagued Universal’s Lost Legends: Kongfrontation and JAWS, Universal Creative began testing elements of the Spider-Man concept inside a warehouse in Buffalo, New York in 1996. And as a result of their hard work, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man was ready to go when Universal’s Islands of Adventure began technical rehearsal previews on March 27, 1999.
On the next page, we’ll board a SCOOP and take off on the most dangerous night of our lives! Read on…
Marvel Super Hero Island
Leaving behind the windchimes and seagulls of Port of Entry, a metallic bridge over an arm of the Great Sea leads into Marvel Super Hero Island. Look – we know Universal can create habitable streetscapes. Next door at Universal Studios Florida, you can walk through lived-in recreations of New York, San Francisco, Hollywood, and Martha’s Vineyard so authentic, you might convince friends you actually visited with a photo.
But at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, you’re able to step into the frantic world of super heroes, and that means leaving behind the built-out streets of our world in favor of theirs: a living comic book; a kinetic, electric cityscape of bold colors, bright surfaces, and sharp angles. The buildings here are famously painted in photoreactive paints that appear to shift colors throughout the day and as guests amble past, adding to the metallic, animated appearance.
Super Hero Island is designed to bring the panels of Marvel’s comics into three dimensions, though that doesn’t mean they’ve become three-dimensional… Rather, the buildings are marked with simple labels such as “CAFE,” “DRINKS,” “ARCADE,” “COMICS,” and “STORE,” just as they would be in the simple backgrounds of a comic panel.
Put another way: at what Marvel Super Hero Island sets out to convey, it succeeds. While less “real” than – say – Disney California Adventure’s Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! (the groan-inducing replacement for the park’s Lost Legend: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror), this comic book world isn’t meant to exist in that cinematic one, and Super Hero Island’s simplicity is its success.
And beneath one of the city’s skyscrapers is the entrance to its headlining attraction. Even with the Incredible Hulk Coaster roaring over the skyline, it’s The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man that stands as the keystone of Islands of Adventure’s ride lineup… So, let’s head in.
Breaking News
Past the front doors, we find ourselves in the lobby of the Daily Bugle, the room’s proportions stretched and skewed as they might be in a comic book. At the head of the room is, of course, a portrait of the unscrupulous J. Jonah Jameson, editor-in-chief. The Daily Bugle, of course, is the newspaper that’s been catching the scoop on Spider-Man thanks to ace junior photographer Peter Parker.
The queue then brilliantly leads into the reporting office of the Bugle where reporters’ work stations are vacant. Cleverly, each of these desks and their contents are “sketched in” with minimal detail and color. After all, in a comic book, these would be mere backdrops.
Even if the reporters are no where to be seen, the late-breaking news scrolling across their computers and the newsroom live monitors help fill us in: the nefarious “Sinister Syndicate” – a collection of the town’s biggest and baddest: Scream, Electro, Hydroman, and the Hobgoblin – is apparently at large, led by Doctor Octopus himself. The metallic-armed evil genius has devised a most unusual contraption: an “Anti-Gravity Cannon” capable of suspending the laws of physics.
Weaving through the newsroom, more and more information gathers to remind us that this Anti-Gravity Cannon might pose a real threat to our well-being in the hands of the Syndicate.
But the action really picks up in the next room, where we pass by a model of Jameson’s pride and joy: a new high-tech newsgathering super-vehicle built to power over rough terrain as it carries reporters through the city. He calls it, a SCOOP.
But wait… On the screen overhead, a cartoon-style news update catches our attention with breaking news… I can’t be… But it is! Engulfed in the ethereal green glow of the Anti-Gravity Cannon, Lady Liberty has been plucked from her pedestal. The Sinister Syndicate has stolen the Statue of Liberty straight out of the harbor! As the live report continues, announcements come across the Bugle’s PA: “Peter Parker, report to Mr. Jameson’s office pronto! On the double!”
The Sinister Syndicate taps into the feed and takes over the live broadcast. “I apologize for interrupting your inane situation comedies and cartoon shows,” Doc Ock sneers, pushing the liquified Hydroman out of frame, “but you should have observed by now that we have laid plunder to your city and have burgled your beloved seaside statue. You have thirty minutes for the complete and unconditional surrender of your city or you will never see your beloved Beacon of Freedom again.”
Image: Marvel
As the feed returns, Jameson appeals: “I’m gonna be straight with you people. These nutcases are serious! You’re all I’ve got left to find out what’s really going on out there. Use the SCOOP, get the skinny, and get your butts back here. If you pull it off, by god, I’ll give you each a free paper! Not the Sunday edition, but a paper nonetheless.”
With our mission accepted, the queue snakes out of the newsroom and into the steaming back alley of the Bugle office, where we get our first glimpse… No longer a 2D cartoon on a screen, the SCOOP stands before us, ready to carry us out into the city to get the scoop on the Syndicate.
SCOOP
As the massive, 12-person SCOOP rumbled out of the Bugle’s Loading Dock and toward a towering billboard of Jameson himself, the distant sounds of sirens and city life set the stage. As it turns the corner and enters a back alley behind the building, you may catch a brief glimpse of a shadow swinging overhead. As a cat yowls and a garbage can clatters in the distance, the SCOOP’s radio kicks on.
“Hello? This is Jonah Jameson, roger. Is this thing on? Listen, SCOOP, crime reports are coming in from all over the city and I’m starting to get worried…” A roving spot of red light moves across the cityscape, shining Spider-Man’s mask pattern. “Did you see that?! The Spider Signal! With Spider-Man nearby, trouble can’t be far away… And you know what trouble means: HEADLINES! NATIONAL COVERAGE! SO DON’T SCREW THIS UP. I mean, uh… be careful.”
And herein lies the brilliance: given no prior information about what the SCOOP can do, first-time riders would – as this point – assume that it’ll lumber through the ride like any typical dark ride that’s come before. But as the SCOOP turns the corner and escapes the view of queuing guests, it revs to life. The vehicle lifts a bit, then spins dramatically to reveal another alleyway with the city looming beyond. But wait… Spider-Man leaps from a rooftop and lands on a fire escape, causing it to slam upward right next to us. (Where does the set end and screen begin?)
Image: Universal
“Man, you shouldn’t be out here…” he leaps upward and lands on the hood of the SCOOP, causing it to slam to the ground. “With Doc Ock on the loose, this could be the most dangerous night of my life…” he points directly at us. “…and yours!” As an explosion lights the sky a block over, he turns. “Be careful…” He slings a web and swings away, the SCOOP bouncing back from the force.
The SCOOP spins away, racing down another alley as Jameson crackles through. “Was that Spider-Man?! That no-good… red leotard…” Before he can finish, a garbage truck rounds the corner, heading straight toward us! The familiar driver looks none too happy. In a classic dark ride move, the vehicle slams on its brakes just as the SCOOP darts to the left. It crashed through a wall and into a crowded warehouse stacked with pallettes, wooden crates, and lifts. Rats squeal around us, but scurry away as the SCOOP glides between the boxes.
And herein lies one of the most impressive sights on the ride: overhead, the full-sized tablet of the Statue of Liberty is lifted in the warehouse, apparently having been severed from the stated.
“Doctor Octopus!” we hear the crazed voice of the Hobgoblin echoing from the depths of the warehouse. “Everything’s going as planned!”
“Excellent!” the refined doctor’s voice reverberates. “And with my Anti-Gravity Cannon, even Spider-Man won’t be able to stop me!”
Image: Marvel / Universal
The SCOOP rounds the corner, where the Sinister Syndicate comes into view, with the Hobgoblin floating just ahead of us on his Hoverboard. The Statue’s arm and torch lie on the warehouse floor ahead…
“You mean, stop us!”
“Yes, of course.” With a hum, the Anti-Gravity Cannon lights up, shooting an emerald laser toward the torch. It glows brilliantly and begins to lift off the ground, the ethereal green light illuminating the warehouse… and us. Tch.
“Hey, what’s going on?!” Jameson radios in.
Electro turns toward us. “What was that?!” Spotting us, he launches skyward leaving a trail of lightning in his wake and zooms off behind a row of shipping containers. The SCOOP reacts, yanking left and racing away from the torch. But Electro’s cornered us at a massive computer terminal fed by enormous electrical wires. He pulls a sparking wire from the wall and flies toward us.
Image: Marvel / Universal
“Intruders! If you think you’re getting out of here,” he laughs, “you’re in for it!” With a heave, he grips the wire and slams it into the SCOOP. The vehicle heaves, then vibrates and jolts from the power coursing through it. Luckily, the Bugle’s engineers prepared for everything. The SCOOP absorbs the shock and overloads the wire, sending Electro flying.
Image: Marvel / Universal
We race ahead through the warehouse, coming nose-to-nose with an old armored tank. Scream leaps onto the hood, snarling and drooling as she claws at us. But Doc Ock throws her aside. “Out of the way! They’re mine!” He takes aim with the Anti-Gravity Cannon, but we spin away. Above us, we can see the laser landing on the full-sized head of the Statue of Liberty, floating peacefully above us as it glows.
“Blast ’em again!” Hobgoblin cries. Another laser comes from over our heads, leading on a crate that begins to glow and float. The SCOOP jolts away from the crate and past an auxilliary fan, spinning wildly as it descends through a massive metallic pipe. When it finally calms, we find ourselves in a massive underground sewar. Spidey flips down from the ceiling. “So much for being careful. Just get back to the Bugle and… Uh oh.” Behind him, the water has risen from the aquifer and formed into the shape of Hydroman.
Spider-Man’s blows do nothing to the water-based villain, but a swift punch from Hydroman uproots a pipe, which slams into the SCOOP, jolting it backward and spraying riders with water. The SCOOP spins away to face a three-story brick wall. But all is not as it seems, as the bricks bow out, then burst, spraying the SCOOP as Doc Ock himself climbs through.
Image: Marvel / Universal
“Don’t leave now,” he sneers, latching onto the SCOOP’s bumper with one metallic arm and emitting fire from another mere inches from us… “Things are just starting to… heat up!” A truly singeing heat emits from the leg, but the SCOOP rallies. The vehicle grinds and rumbles as it tries to pull away. Doc Ock laughs… until the SCOOP’s bumper is pulled off entirely, sending the good doctor flying back through the wall.
But ahead, the glow of water signals our arrival at the harbor. The Brooklyn Bridge looms, and the Hobgoblin comes screaming into view on his Hoverboard, carrying a jack-o-lantern. “Trick or treat, smell my feet; time to blow you off the street.” He cackles just as Spider-Man swings into view.
Image: Marvel / Universal
He tosses the flaming jack-o-lantern toward us, but Spidey catches it in a web, catapulting the pumpkin behind him where it smashes against the bridge, exploding in flames.
Hobgoblin turns, shocked. “Spider-Man!” He rears back to launch another, but Spider-Man leaps off the bridge. “Oh no you don’t!” He lands on the Hoverboard, shaking the Hobgoblin and distrupting his aim, sending the next jack-o-lantern screaming above us. As it strikes, a plume of real fire bursts out of the building it hit!
Now, we arrive at the finale.
A New York streetscape comes into view as Spider-Man hits the SCOOP and bounces off, ricocheting onto a theater’s glowing marquee. “SCOOP, my precious SCOOP!” Jameson cries over the radio.
Doctor Octopus stomps down the street, shooting the marquee with his Cannon. It glows, snaps off of the building, and begins to rise. “Doc, your aim’s worse than your haircut!” Spider-Man taunts, just before the doctor’s robotic leg makes contact and sends Spidey flying.
“Well, it’s good enough for your sitting-duck friends!” He turns to us, aiming the Anti-Gravity Cannon. As it hums to life, its green laser lands on us. Green smoke fills our view as he laughs. “Have a nice trip!”
When our vision returns, we see building’s stories falling away as we rise higher and higher. In an effect we listed among our list of 10 Special Effects That Still Amaze Us, we continue floating skyward as the buildings sink away. “Hey, wait for me!” Spider-Man cries, desperately webbing himself higher and higher to try and keep pace. “You’re not insured for this!”
The floating SCOOP turns to see an unbeatable view of the city as Spider-Man leaps. “Hang on! I’m webbing you down from there!” Before he can anchor us, the Hobgoblin races past on his Hoverboard and grabs Spidey, leaving us to trail behind like a kite. The SCOOP is pulled through the city, slamming side to side as it zooms through the air. Though Scream manages to pin Spidey to a water tower, the absentminded Hobgoblin crashed right into us, toppling off his Hoverboard to the streets below.
The airborn SCOOP rotates to face skyward, where Electro’s returned with avengence. “You punks have short-circuited our plans long enough,” he jeers as he overloads the lights on a billboard, raining shattered glass down on us. “You’re taking a dive,” Hydroman taunts.
“Guess again, super goons!” Spider-Man swings into the scene. Electro aims, but strikes Hydroman – a conductor, mind you – with his static, evaporating his colleague and causing a plume of steam to overcome to scene.
Image: Marvel / Universal
The SCOOP rotates back again, facing straight down. From a skyscraper roof below, Doc Ock braces himself. “Happy landings!” He laughs. He aims the Anti-Gravity Cannon skyward – straight toward us – as it emits a red pulse. Gravity restored, the SCOOP plummets to the rooftop. Spider-Man arrives just in time to blast Otto away, but turns to see us tumbling, helpless. “No!”
It’s too late – the SCOOP teeters, twists, and reveals a 400-foot freefall before us. With a breeze, the vehicle tumbles off the side of the building, racing headlong toward the street below. We brace ourselves, ready for the resounding force… But at the very last second, a web appears beneath. The cab bounces as riders are thrust from their seats, gently released down the last few feet to the ground.
As the SCOOP turns, we get a priceless view of Lady Liberty restored as the villains hang in a web cocoon behind a dangling Spider-Man. “Guess that about wraps things up! Hey, you guys did alright!” He gives a thumbs up (before noticing it’s upside down and correcting), seemingly unaware that one of Doc Ock’s tentacles has escaped the web as is inching toward him. Without so much as a look, Spidey webs the tentacle onto Hobgoblin’s face. “…But don’t give up your day job. See ya later!”
As the triumphant Spider-Man theme resounds, the SCOOP turns and settles back into its unassuming cart form. “Congratulations,” Jameson trumpets over the radio, “you’re heroes! I knew it all the time.
Before the SCOOPS arrive at the unload area, they pass the Syndicate’s Anti-Gravity Cannon bolstered against a few crates. A note on it reads: “To J.J.J. Here’s the raise you deserve. From: Spider-Man.” The cannon’s glowing laser ray points to a window overhead, where Jameson’s silhouette is floating helplessly as he flails.
As always, we end our Modern Marvels ride-throughs with the best point-of-view video we can find. Between our in-depth ride-through write-up and the on-board video below, there’s no better way to see the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man… except, of course, riding it:
Universal Studios Escape
Universal’s second gate was, by all accounts, a marvel. Partially designed and built by Disney Imagineers (as we explored in our in-depth account of the park’s Lost Legend: The Lost Continent), Universal had assembled a world-class collection of intellectual properties, constructed some of the most technologically advanced theme park rides on Earth, and had wrapped it all in a package as beautifully detailed and landscaped as anything Disney had done. Thoughtful, musical, whimsical, legendary, and adventurous, the park seemed like a surefire hit, and just the thing to put Universal on the map as a real contender in Orlando’s family market.
So then why was Islands of Adventure the least-attended theme park in Orlando for years after its opening?
Simple: Universal botched the marketing campaign.
Image: Universal
When the entire re-organized complex was announced, it was to be called Universal City Florida. Ultimately, the name was deemed too unexciting, so before the official relaunch, the complex was named Universal Studios Escape Orlando with the second park officially joining Universal Studios Florida and the new Universal Studios CityWalk being named Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.
And therein lies the problem. Travelers might have been aware of Universal Studios – less than a decade old – as a single-day aside from a Walt Disney World stay. But what was Universal Studios Escape? Or Universal Studios Islands of Adventure? Or Universal Studios CityWalk? Was each a new park? A new land? A new ride?
Image: Universal
The marketing campaign was botched. The extravagant, cutting-edge, leading Islands of Adventure was mostly ignored as travelers failed to understand what – if anything – had changed at Universal Studios.
We can chalk the confusion up to the notion that Universal was the first to expand its single park into a full resort in a single blow. They were learning from the “school of hard knocks.” If it weren’t for Universal’s 1999 flub, we might’ve ended up with Disneyland Park and Disneyland Adventure Park at Disneyland California.
In 2002, the entire resort was renamed Universal Orlando Resort, and the second park became Universal’s Islands of Adventure – a much more logical organization. Even then, we know that Islands of Adventure was still not given its due credit until the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened in 2010 and re-catapulted the park – at last – into international headlines.
Vol. 3-D
Before (1999) and After (2016). Images: Universal
Even after Potter’s debut drew roves of new guests to Universal Orlando, Universal seemed to recognize that keeping them would require more than just the Wizarding World be in top shape. So on May 19, 2011 (a week shy of the park’s 12th birthday), Universal announced a major refurbishment that would re-master the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man in high definition.
The film projectors would be replaced with Infitec digital projectors, and the ride would recieve a new audio system, new lighting, and set upgrades.
Here’s the thing: when the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man re-opened on March 8, 2012, it was brand spanking new. The spectacular fan-favorite had been completely revitalized. More than just new hardware or a “refining” of the original ride, every single animated scene was re-animated from scratch, adding immense detail and realism with vivid color. While it still feels as if you’ve stepped into a living comic book world, now there’s appropriate depth and texture.
Spider-Man looks better today than it did in 1999. Its upgrade is the sincere definition of a “plus,” super-charging the ride for another generation and ensuring it remains a marvel for all. The video and images we presented in our ride-through are all of the upgraded 2016 ride. You can see a side-by-side look at the original 1999 ride and the 2016 updated version here:
Getting the SCOOP(s)
The technology that powers Spider-Man – the roving, motion-based 3D dark ride that’s often simply called a SCOOP – was a wonder, shaking the industry. Never before could projections, physical sets, and motion co-exist in a physical ride space to such a degree. And as you might imagine from such a stellar new precedent, the success of Spider-Man’s SCOOP application is often imitated, but never duplicated…
Image: Thord Daniel Hedengren, Flickr (license)
…Er, duplicated once. In January 2004, Universal Studios Japan opened its own Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man in the park’s New York (located behind the facade American fans know as the entrance to Universal’s other Modern Marvel: Revenge of the Mummy and, before that, dearly departed Lost Legend: Kongfrontation). The ride is identical to Orlando’s but for its Japanese-language dubbing. Japan’s Spider-Man recieved the same 4K upgrade in 2013.
Most surprisingly, the technology’s next application wasn’t at Universal, Disney, or any other global destination park. Instead, it appeared at the regional, seasonal park Busch Gardens Williamsburg, whose themed lands are hamlets dedicated to European countries and the food, dance, stories, and legends of “the Old Country.” There, the German-set Curse of DarKastle was – in the loosest terms – a haunted house. The ride recast the SCOOPS as golden sleighs carrying us through the frozen grounds and haunted halls of mad King Ludwig’s castle – frozen in time – as his mother’s spirit tries to save us, break the curse, and end her son’s reign of terror at last.
Image: SeaWorld Parks
The full-on family adventure ride sent guests spinning, flying, and – yes – falling as they faced Ludwig and the curse. But the park must’ve quickly understood why such technology had been exclusive to big-budget mega-destination parks. After about a decade of annually-reduced intensity seemingly to compensate for wear-and-tear, it became clear that DarKastle would need its own media upgrade and a whole lot of TLC to keep running. Owner SeaWorld Parks instead chose to shutter the ride entirely, as chronicled in our Lost Legends: Curse of DarKastle tour of the ride’s story.
The ride system was used again in Abu Dhabi Ferrari World’s Speed of Magic ride (though to less creative success) and on the anime-stylized Tokyo Panic Cruise at the Tokyo Dome City indoor park.
Image: Universal
In 2011, the SCOOP style technology was used on the new Transformers – The Ride at Universal Studios Singapore, based on the Transformers film franchise by Michael Bay. On board, the SCOOP was themed as a Transformer named EVAC that guests ride in as they race to save the life-giving AllSpark from the hands of the Decepticons desperate for its power. Interestingly, Transformers – The Ride is two stories, with EVAC carried via a concealed elevator to a second level so effectively, most riders don’t even notice.
Given the ride’s success (and the moritorium on Marvel west of the Mississippi), Transformers then made its way to Universal Studios Hollywood in 2012. Most surprisingly, the SCOOP came full-circle when Transformers was duplicated a third time at Universal Studios Florida, giving Universal Orlando two SCOOP-based dark rides.
As clever as each reinvention has been, few would argue that any subsequent installation is better than the original Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man.
Innovating Onward…
In 1995, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye upped the ante for themed entertainment design and ride system engineering.
In 1999, Universal stole back to the crown with The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. To this day, it remains cutting edge and astounding in its complexity, and in the effectiveness of the illusions it presents. The ride system feels both current and timeless… a tremendous credit to the innovators who made it possible. As a testament to its brilliance, the SCOOP made our countdown of the Seven Modern Wonders of the Theme Park World, too, earning a place alongside the Omnimover and the EMV that spurred its creation!
Image: Disney
And as you might imagine, it also kicked off another spree of innovation and engineering, moving 21st century theme park design to the next level. In 2000, Disney returned fire with the trackless, LPS (local positioning sattelite) technology in Tokyo Disney’s Pooh’s Hunny Hunt and 2001’s Aquatopia at DisneySea next door. (The same technology is at use on SeaWorld’s Empire of the Penguin, Walt DIsney Studios’ Ratatouille: The Adventure, California Adventure’s Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters, Universal’s own Skull Island: Reign of Kong, and most famously in Hong Kong Disneyland’s Modern Marvel: Mystic Manor.)
When Universal countered, it was with 2010’s Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, unthinkably combining a KUKA robotic arm with a physical ride track. On board, guests twist, turn, drop, and flip through physical sets and past animatronic figures, then align with roving, all-encompassing projection domes as they “fly” through simulated scenes.
Image: Universal
2014’s Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts somehow seemed to combine it all, effectively bolting SCOOP-style motion-simulating ride carriages to a roller coaster cart, with physical sets, trick track, full-dome projections, KUKA robo arms, and more combining into one of the most spectacular family adventure rides ever built.
Amazing Adventures
What’s next? Well, that comes down to the rides listed above and the even-newer installations like AVATAR Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the incredible Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure that we analyzed in our In-Depth Walkthrough: Shanghai Disneyland, and whatever awaits in Disney’s Star Wars themed lands.
New technology allows Disney and Universal to trade friendly punches, pushing the envelope and the industry with subsequent installations. Every year, the limits we thought we knew stretch. More seamless integration; more high-definition; more motion; more immersion. We can’t begin to think of what “cutting edge” rides may debut a decade from today, using technology that hasn’t even been imagined yet.
Image: Universal
One thing we do know? Even as technology races forward, rides like The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man remain favorites. These Modern Marvels are at once cutting-edge and timeless, still inspiring awe in riders. That’s a sign of quality, and one of the reasons we inducted Spider-Man into our new series early.
And that’s where you come in – are you amazed by the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man? Does this spectacular dark ride still convince you that you’re racing through a comic book? Does your stomach still drop when you freefall 400-feet? What in the world could engineers be dreaming of next? What other “Modern Marvels” deserve in-depth looks in our new selection of stories?
