Fidel at the Jaws' statue - Fabio Montiel

By: Fidel de Sousa Montiel (Grade 4)

Welcome back to forgotten rides! Today we will talk about Universal Studios Jaws – the Ride.

It all began in the 1920’ when Universal made a tram tour ride that would take guests around the studio on a small bus. Well, in the 70s they decided to remodel that idea with its best characters, such as E.T, Hannah Barbera and of course Jaws.

But now, let’s cut history short and talk about Jaws. It is originally a book written by Peter Benchley, which was a critical success, making Universal produce a movie about it directed by the amazing director Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg’s movie was an immediate commercial and critical success, just like the book, so voilá, Universal built a ride about it.

The Ride

Jaws the Ride was an opening day attraction at Universal Studios Florida in 1990, and its proposal was to take visitors in a boat through Amity Harbor, trying to escape the wrath of a great white shark, AKA Jaws. However, right on the first day, things went wrong.

Believe it or not, on its first go the ride went out of power, as well as the rest of the park, making guests get stuck on it for hours, including Steven Spielberg himself, who was there when it happened.

The sudden stops at the ride were frequent due to all the machinery required to make it work. Besides, the cost of gas and diesel that were needed to make the boat, the shark and the explosions was huge. Due to all these downfalls, the enormous space that the ride occupied in the park and the obvious arrival of new and current characters at Universal, the ride permanently closed in 2012 for the sadness of the fans.

Nowadays, it is possible to see a Jaws statue where it had been the ride’s entrance. With or without the ride, the place where once had been Amity is one of my favorite spots at Universal Studios Florida.

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