Salamone and his kinsperson boarded a pontoon boat that direct them around a lagoon ring by New England - invigorate scene . After leaving the dock , it was almost possible to imagine they had been transported from Orlando to the fabricated island town of Amity fromJaws . Then something live on wrong : A rail break , and Salamone suddenly found himself in the water with tonic polish ’s most terrific shark .
The animatronic brute did n’t have a thirstiness for blood , but itwasknown for behave unpredictably . And as Salamone apace realise , it was coming his direction . " The shark ’s gon na eat dada ! " one of his children reportedly shouted . All that was missing from the scene was John Williams ’s iconic score .
Salamone made it out of the body of water with nonaged scrapes and bruises — he even received a circle of applause from fellow Edgar Albert Guest who thought he was part of the amusement — but the ride ’s star did n’t fare as well . Much like the mechanically skillful shark used inSteven Spielberg’s1975 movie , Jawsthe ride was plagued with problems .
A Monster of a Challenge
When Universal was selecting which movies to immortalize as rides at their novel Florida park , Jawsseemed like a no - brainer . The originalblockbusterwas one of the studio apartment ’s marquee title , and the suspenseful adventure story translated perfectly to a thrill ride . Additionally , the movie star a life sentence - sized animatronic shark that would look just as ferocious in a base parking lot as it did on screen .
At least , that was the hope . The designer of theJawsride give out to heed the lessonSpielberglearned while making the film : Water and animatronics do n’t mix . After many exceptional consequence experts called the task of designing a seaworthy , 25 - ft mechanical shark for the movie impossible , Hollywood caption Bob Mattey finally jibe to make out out of retreat to do the job .
Mattey succeeded in designing three massive robotic shark ( all key Bruce , after Spielberg ’s attorney ) , but their seaworthiness was confutable . The flick shot in the real - life seas around the island of Martha ’s Vineyard , and saltwater eroded the animatronics ' electrical motors after just one week — so it had to be replaced with a organization of pneumatic tube . Even when the animatronics were do work properly , they had to be drain , cancel , and repainted daily . Using the tool as design just was n’t viable .
Spielberg get around his technological trouble by hiding the shark from view for much of the picture — a narrative choice that has since been hailed as a bright storytelling gimmick and has been copied by countless freak movies since . But clever camerawork was n’t an alternative for the room decorator of theJawsride . For the ride to operate , the shark would need to perform consistently multiple times a day every day .
Such an attraction was n’t unprecedented . The ride ’s designers were cheer by the Universal Studios backlot tour in Hollywood , which passes a mechanical Bruce hurl out of the piddle at tramway rider . But while that experience lastsabout a minute , theJawsride would do much more — or attempt to , at least .
Dead in the Water
Underideal conditions , theJawsride was a spectacular show . Guests boarded a pontoon gravy boat with a live skipper quick to take them on a easy enlistment of Amity Island . As the ride progressed , it became clear that a shark was terrorizing the town . At one point , the three - gross ton world - eater would float up to the sauceboat and bite into it . Guests who looked closely may have noticed a back talk fit out with echt shark tooth .
As an homage to the moving picture , the ride ended with the sea captain can a grenade into the shark ’s mouthpiece , causing it to “ explode ” after sinking out of sight beneath the Earth’s surface . Chunks of fake shark flesh and water dyed blood - red sold the gist .
Unfortunately for passengers — and the fellowship that had expend $ 30 million on the ride — that was n’t the typical experience . Getting a giant golem to move through the water was trickier than anyone imagined . And its movements often failed to match up with the gravy boat ’s , making it look like it was attacking nothing . Sometimes , the climatic explosion did n’t occur . Because the machinery that power the ride was locate 20 foot below water , maintenance was a incubus . Guests who did have to put up with technical difficulty were lucky to experience the ride at all ; the attraction was infamous for never extend .
Universal quickly realise that the problems with theJawsride could n’t be solve with a quick fix . Then Salamone drop into the H2O with the shark . Though the incident was n’t related to technical troubles , it did n’t prognosticate well for the ride ’s future tense . Salamone action the theme park for $ 1 million , citing pitiful sustainment and neglect . Universal in routine sued MCA , the decorator of the ride , for alleged engineering defect and jerry-built craftsmanship . In August 1990 , two months after gap , the park accepted thatJawswas dead in the water . They decided to junk the attraction entirely and rebuild it from scratch .
Jaws: the Ride—the Sequel
After push back the reopening day of the month numerous times , Universal Studios Orlando last debuted its new and improvedJawsride in 1993 . This version did n’t end withJawsblowing up into tiny piece . rather , designers took inspiration from the sequel and electrocuted the shark at the end of the show .
guest did n’t seem to mind the change : Jawsthe Ride 2.0 engage for near two decennary , and many of the the great unwashed who hinge upon it had no idea it was n’t the original concept .
The newJawsride outlived its predecessor many times over , but it was n’t without its own trouble . It required enceinte amounts of fuel and was incredibly expensive to maintain . After the succeeder ofThe Wizarding World of Harry Potter , Universal Studios take the opportunity to closeJaws — permanently this clip — to make room for a new Potter - theme land . In2012 , the automatonlike shark stalked its last group of riders .
Though some topic park Guest associateJawsthe ride with foiling and the reek of gasoline , others catch it with nostalgia . Nearly 225 million people have view a ride - through of the finalJawsride on YouTube since it shut down . Homages to the attraction can be found in the park as well . In the arena that used to house theJawsride , Guest can still pose for photos with agiant great white statue . It ’s not as exciting as the mechanical variation , but technical malfunction will never be an issue .
