Jaws (ride)
| Jaws: The Ride | |
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The former entrance to Jaws at Universal Studios Florida, which was a popular photo spot in the park. The shark model seen above was later relocated to the adjacent San Francisco area.
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| Universal Studios Japan | |
| Area | Amity Village |
| Coordinates | 28°28′48″N 81°28′12″W / 28.479877°N 81.469869°WCoordinates: 28°28′48″N 81°28′12″W / 28.479877°N 81.469869°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Cost | US$35 million |
| Opening date | March 31, 2001 |
| Universal Studios Florida | |
| Area | San Francisco/Amity |
| Status | Closed |
| Cost | US$45 million |
| Soft opening date | May 1990 |
| Opening date | June 7, 1990 |
| Closing date | January 2, 2012 |
| Replaced by |
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts (The Wizarding World of Harry Potter) |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Boat |
| Designer |
MCA Planning and Development Ride & Show Engineering, Inc. (1990 version) Totally Fun Company (1993 version) |
| Length | 1,140 ft (350 m) |
| Duration | 5:00 |
| Manufacturers |
Ride & Show Engineering, Inc. (1990 version) Intamin (1993 version) MTS Systems Corporation (USJ version) |
| Ride Host | Skipper |
| Theme | Jaws |
 Universal Express Pass available |
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Jaws is a theme park attraction at Universal Studios Japan. Based upon the films of the same name. The attraction places guests aboard tour boats for what should be a leisurely tour of Amity Harbor, but instead becomes a harrowing chase between the craft and a very determined great white shark. Jaws is an expanded version of a famous scene on the long-running backlot tour at Universal Studios Hollywood, also inspired by the film, and can be found at Universal Studios Japan near Osaka, and formerly, at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando.
The original attraction at Universal Studios Florida was inspired by a scene on the long-running Universal Studios Backlot Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood, in which the Studio Tour tram passed through several sets from the film and was then attacked by the shark known as Jaws while driving by the Amity Harbour shore line. For the Universal Studios Florida park/studio project, Universal sought to take the components of the Hollywood tour scene and turn it into its own ride. The original ride was designed by MCA/Universal Planning and Development, in association with Ride & Show Engineering, Inc., which designed the original tour scene. Steven Spielberg, who directed the first film in the series, also served as a creative consultant for the ride.
Following the opening of Jaws with the park on June 7, 1990, it experienced extensive and persistent breakdowns as a result of the elaborate special effects involved, as did fellow original rides Kongfrontation and Earthquake: The Big One. However, while Universal was able to eventually contain the technical bugs in the Kong and Earthquake rides at "utmost consistency", the effects in the Jaws ride constantly refused to work at all, resulting in the ride having to be evacuated almost daily. Following the Summer opening of the park, Universal temporarily shut down the ride in August 1990, and sued Ride & Show Engineering, Inc. for failing to properly design the ride. Throughout 1991 and early 1992, Universal attempted to refurbish the effects of the ride for an eventual re-opening, but with no success. Some reports leaked that the high-tech electronics used in the sharks was damaged due to inadequate waterproofing.
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Wikipedia