The Jaws Ride became an archetypal part of the Universal Studios experience for many years.
An original version of the ride didn’t last very with some adventurous designs which didn’t work too well when it came to getting into the water.
Here author Dustin McNeill, who also wrote an excellent retrospective of the development hell of Freddy vs Jason, gives us a beyond a comprehensive account of the ride from those that were there.
The amount of research here is truly astounding as he interviews numerous people who worked on the ride in both of its guises plus super fans and those behind the designs of both versions.
For someone who never got to experience the ride before its closure in 2012, McNeill really fleshes out the narrative of Jaws the Ride plus the heartfelt accounts by workers at Universal are truly sincere. This was clearly more than a job for some of them; with rituals and rites of passage for the Captains all cataloged.
The finale which details the rides closure and its final night is truly emotional reads and really captures the family or pack mentality of the group of captains.
Jaws the Ride made way for Harry Potter, but remnants of it still remain at the park plus there is still a ride in Osaka, Japan.
Adventures in Amity is an essential read for fans of the Jaws Ride but also for fans of the series itself; sadly it will just leave you pining like this reader to have experienced it just once.
I was fortunate enough to go to Universal Studios when I was a middle school student. I got to ride the Jaws ride and enjoyed it so much. It’s a shame it is gone and replaced with annoying motion simulator rides.
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I never had the chance and this book really helped to paint a thorough picture of its history
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