The Simpsons Ride
The Simpsons Ride is a motion simulator ride located in the Springfield areas of both Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood. Based on the animated television series The Simpsons, the ride was announced in 2007 as a replacement for Back to the Future: The Ride at both parks.[9] It first opened at Universal Studios Florida on May 15, 2008, and then a few days later at Universal Studios Hollywood on May 19, 2008. The producers of The Simpsons contributed to the design of the ride, which uses CGI animation, also worked on the ride's 2D animation. At the time of its opening, the ride featured state-of-the-art projection and hydraulic technology.
The Simpsons Ride
World Expo (2008–2013)
Springfield (2013–present)
Operating
April 23, 2008[5]
May 15, 2008[2]
Operating
US$40 million
May 19, 2008[7]
Krustyfield Classic Rollercoaster Cars[8]
24[8]
8[8]
2
4
4:30
40 in (102 cm)
Krusty the Clown (voiced by Dan Castellaneta)
In 2013, the ride became the centerpiece of a themed Simpsons area at both parks, based on the fictional town of Springfield depicted in the animated series. The attraction is more than four minutes long and features two pre-show line queues that guests experience before boarding the ride. Its theme focuses on Krustyland, a theme park built by and named after Krusty the Clown, in which his former sidekick, evil genius Sideshow Bob, attempts to get revenge on Krusty and the Simpson family. Many characters from the animated series make an appearance, all voiced by their original actors.
Production[edit]
History[edit]
Planning for The Simpsons Ride started two years prior to its opening. Simpsons creators James L. Brooks and Matt Groening, as well as executive producer and current showrunner Al Jean, collaborated with the Universal Studios creative team, Universal Creative, to help develop the ride.[10] Music for the ride was composed by Jim Dooley, who worked with composer Hans Zimmer on the feature film and video game.[8] The ride is located at both Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood in the former Back to the Future: The Ride buildings at both locations. The Back to the Future opened in Florida in 1991 and closed March 30, 2007, while the Hollywood version opened in 1993 and closed on September 3, 2007.[11]
Ride experience[edit]
Queue[edit]
Guests walk through a 32-foot (9.8 m) head of Krusty the Clown[3] as they enter the ride's line queue, which leads them into a pavilion under various circus tents themed to carnival stalls. A variety of posters are on display advertising attractions at Krustyland, while television monitors stationed around the queue play video clips from the Krusty the Clown television show, animated footage from Krustyland, and clips from episodes of The Simpsons, many of which are theme park-related and hail from episodes such as "Itchy & Scratchy Land" and "Selma's Choice". Guests eventually leave the queue and enter "Krusty's Carnival Midway", the first of two pre-shows.
The Simpsons Ride
Mike B. Anderson
John Rice
- James L. Brooks
- Matt Groening
- Al Jean
- Pete Herzog
- Mark Rhodes
- Debbie G. Yu
Abe Forman-Greenwald
- Gracie Films
- 20th Century Fox (uncredited)
- 2008
12 minutes
United States
English
Reception[edit]
The Simpsons Ride was very well received by fans after it opened.[34] Seth Kubersky of Orlando Weekly described the ride as "a more than worthy successor" to Back to the Future: The Ride.[21] Brady MacDonald of the Los Angeles Times described the ride as "visually stunning" and said it "truly delivers — with loads of in-jokes and satire for serious fanatics and tons of thrills and fun for casual fans."[35] Elise Thompson of the LAist said "the ride is a total blast, with plenty of laughs as well as thrills."[36]
Jay Cridlin of the St. Petersburg Times wrote that "the ride is packed with more original, funny material than you'd expect to see in a sitcom, much less a theme park." However, he admitted that the ride was "a little discombobulating".[37]
The Universal Studios Florida version of the ride hosted its one millionth rider on July 14, 2008, reaching the milestone faster than any other attraction in the resort.[38] The ride was named the best new attraction of 2008 by the website Themeparkinsider.com.[39]
Incident[edit]
On June 13, 2008, guests in one ride vehicle were sprayed with a nontoxic substance described as a "derivative of vegetable oil". No injuries were reported, and the guests were given a change of clothes and allowed to shower at the property. The park identified the source of the oil but could not determine the cause of the incident, and the unaffected ride vehicles remained open.[40][41]