Jaws: The Ride - A Deep Dive into Universal Studios' Thrilling (and Troubled) Attraction

In the summer of 1975, Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" emerged from the depths of the ocean and forever changed the landscape of cinema. The film broke box-office records and became such a massive success, critics began describing it as a “blockbuster.” The term “blockbuster” was originally used to describe bombs powerful enough to destroy entire city blocks during World War II. That was the impact of “Jaws.” Today, summer blockbusters are an annual occurrence. With the unprecedented success of “Jaws,” major movie studios realized that summer was the perfect time to release their big budget films. If marketed correctly and released in several theaters at once, they could (hopefully) recreate what “Jaws” had done. But its influence extended beyond the silver screen, inspiring Universal Studios to bring the terror of Amity Island to life in its theme parks. The Jaws Experience brought movie magic to life in an exciting way for Universal Studios. This is the story of "Jaws: The Ride," a thrilling, yet notoriously challenging, attraction that captivated and terrified guests at Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Japan.

From Blockbuster to Theme Park Attraction

While the great white was busy taking a bite out of the silver screen, Universal executive Jay Stein and his team of creatives were quickly expanding a little something they called the Universal Studio Tour. (Spoiler: future theme park enthusiasts will know it as The World-Famous Studio Tour.) What had started as driving through a working movie studio was evolving into a whole thrill-seeking experience unto itself. Following “Jaws’” impact on Hollywood, the shark made its Studio Tour debut in 1976. “[The movie] thrilled them, but it also scared the living daylights out of them.” Murdy says. The early version of this attraction took guests on a scenic view of the lake to see the character Ben Gardener fishing. A shark fin would come out of the water and knock down Gardner and his boat, filling the lake with blood. Just as guests thought it was over, a yellow barrel would appear to show us the shark’s location - just like in the movie. The attraction was a huge success, with guests coming to the Studio Tour to face the terrifying creature they had only ever encountered on screen.

The Birth of Jaws: The Ride in Florida

By the mid-‘80s, Universal Studios began producing a new tram tour to be built in a promising tourist destination: Orlando, Florida. The competition pushed Universal Studios to create bigger attractions beyond a tram tour. Universal sought to "out-Disney" Disney in Florida. Some of the most technically advanced rides ever dreamed up for a theme park at the time were installed. In an effort to do this they spent big on Universal Studios in Florida. On paper, a "Jaws" ride was a perfect fit for the upcoming Universal Studios Florida. The boat ride was planned to have underwater animatronic sharks. The stated mission of Universal in Hollywood was to “Ride The Movies” - putting guests inside their favorite scenes.

The designers of the Jaws ride failed to heed the lesson Spielberg learned while making the film: Water and animatronics don’t mix. After many special effects experts called the task of designing a seaworthy, 25-foot mechanical shark for the movie impossible, Hollywood legend Bob Mattey finally agreed to come out of retirement to do the job. Mattey succeeded in designing three massive robotic sharks (all named Bruce, after Spielberg’s lawyer), but their seaworthiness was questionable. The movie shot in the real-life seas around the island of Martha's Vineyard, and saltwater eroded the animatronics' electric motors after just one week-so it had to be replaced with a system of pneumatic tubes. Even when the animatronics were working properly, they had to be drained, scrubbed, and repainted daily. Using the puppets as planned just wasn’t feasible.

Spielberg got around his technical difficulties by hiding the shark from view for much of the movie-a narrative choice that has since been hailed as a brilliant storytelling device and has been copied by countless monster movies since. But clever camerawork wasn’t an option for the designers of the Jaws ride. For the ride to operate, the shark would need to perform consistently multiple times a day every day.

The ride’s designers were inspired by the Universal Studios backlot tour in Hollywood, which passes a mechanical Bruce lunging out of the water at tram riders. But while that experience lasts about a minute, the Jaws ride would do much more-or attempt to, at least.

JAWS, similar to Disney’s Jungle Cruise, was going to be a boat ride headed by a live skipper spieling a script. The attraction would have a spoof local radio program playing in the queue. In concept, the unsuspecting boat tour would come across several shark attacks. One notable scene in an early draft of the ride took place in a boathouse-a concept by Tom Reidenbach. The concept was coming together, but the story needed an impactful scene halfway through. A show-stopping moment like completely sinking the boat would be unforgettable, but not realistic to actually build for the ride.

Florida’s JAWS ride was a technical feat, reaching a cost of $30 million-among the most expensive attractions in the park. Major effects were failing to work repeatedly. The large design and its troublesome elements made it an “engineering nightmare,” in the words of an anonymous former MCA executive.

The Original Jaws Ride: A Troubled Debut

The original attraction at Universal Studios Florida was inspired by a scene from 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. 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.

To experience JAWS, guests entered a real life Amity Island. This Amity Island, set in the timeline of the movie, celebrated the Fourth of July year-round, giving it a spirited, energetic feel across the midway. The coastal town had a quaint, believable look to it-almost as if you could smell a salty ocean breeze. The ride’s 7-acre, 5-million-gallon lagoon wrapped around a central island. Its charming New-England-style buildings hid the ride’s large equipment, such as its water filtration system. The scenic tour to Lighthouse Cove was accompanied by a condensed version of John Williams’ iconic soundtrack.

Under ideal conditions, the Jaws ride was a spectacular show. Guests boarded a pontoon boat with a live skipper ready to take them on a leisurely tour of Amity Island. The boats were specifically designed to feel lighter and flimsier than those you may be familiar with today. This was to add to the sense of jeopardy as a rider. As the ride progressed, it became clear that a shark was terrorizing the town. At one point, the three-ton man-eater would swim up to the boat and bite into it. As they neared the lighthouse, a distress call would be heard from another tour boat, Gordon on Amity III. Guests who looked closely may have noticed a mouth outfitted with genuine shark teeth. As an homage to the movie, the ride ended with the skipper firing a grenade into the shark’s mouth, causing it to “explode” after sinking out of sight beneath the surface. Chunks of fake shark flesh and water dyed blood-red sold the effect. These animatronic sharks were controlled with computer-guided hydraulic systems, all timed to perfection with the passing of the boats.

Unfortunately for passengers-and the company that had spent $30 million on the ride-that wasn’t the typical experience. Getting a giant robot to move through the water was trickier than anyone imagined. And its movements often failed to match up with the boat's, making it look like it was attacking nothing. Boat evacuations were a daily occurrence. One issue was the amount of drag caused by the actions of the sharks. They were forced to go from a dead stop to a lunging speed for the ride scenes. Sometimes, the climatic explosion didn't happen. Because the machinery that powered the ride was located 20 feet below water, maintenance was a nightmare. Guests who did have to put up with technical difficulties were lucky to experience the ride at all; the attraction was notorious for never running.

The attraction began by cruising by Quint’s shack with the Orca boat docked outside. A radio transmission from another boat in distress interrupted the tour, instantly dragging down the ride’s upbeat tone. Around the bend, guests witnessed a tour boat just like theirs sinking bow-first into the lagoon-with no survivors. After a back-and-forth with the chief over the radio, the skipper navigated into a nearby boathouse for safety. The sign on the building read “Jay’s Boathouse” as a reference to Jay Stein, president of Universal Studios Florida. This dark, indoor scene was a break from the Florida sun, but not from the shark. The giant great white broke into the boathouse, and riders got their first full glimpse of the shark and its vicious teeth.

The ride’s final two scenes were its most ambitious. After escaping the boathouse, the tour boat was still being hunted, but the shark was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, the shark lunged out of the open water, attacked the flimsy pontoon boat, and dragged it across the lagoon. The tour struggled onward, as the menacing fin resurfaced, swam toward the boat, dove underneath, and bumped it. Jaws came back for one final scare: The shark charged out of the water with its mouth ready to attack the boat. The skipper shot another grenade, landing directly in the shark’s mouth. Jaws swam back underwater. The ride’s explosive climax was made possible with a contraption called the “meat machine,” created by producer Craig Barr and fabricated by TRA Architects. The effect launched water and rubber shark chunks into the sky, simulating an underwater explosion. It then spurted red dye into the water, which was defused right after.

The turntable effect had two synchronized elements-the boat and the shark-which moved independently. This effect relied on accurate timing by the skipper, which happened inconsistently. The boat and the shark in that case would not connect, causing a very awkward and anti-climatic scene at best. The low success rate of this effect was only part of the issue.

Incidents and Lawsuits

In July 1990 a guest named Anthony Salamone fell out of the boat and into the lagoon when a guardrail on a boat broke. He came dangerously close to one of the powerful, lunging sharks. The press was having a field day.

Universal quickly realized that the problems with the Jaws ride couldn’t be solved with a quick fix. Then Salamone fell into the water with the shark. Though the incident wasn't related to technical troubles, it didn’t bode well for the ride’s future. Salamone sued the theme park for $1 million, citing poor maintenance and negligence. Universal in turn sued MCA, the designers of the ride, for alleged engineering flaws and shoddy workmanship.

The Ride's Closure and Re-Engineering

As other rides managed to salvage their reliability, Jaws just got worse. No amount of bug fixing seemed to improve things. It wasn’t long before Universal decided to close the ride and attempt to fix its problems. It was decided that the ride was simply flawed from the start. On Aug. 22, 1990, just over two months after opening: Universal Studios Florida closed its anchor attraction, JAWS.

Universal Studios Florida took a huge loss by pulling the plug on JAWS. It was a $30 million investment plus the millions of additional dollars it would take to get it properly up and running. So, Universal Studios opened a 40-page lawsuit against the ride’s manufacturer, Ride & Show Engineering. The manufacturer defended that the park rushed development. The unrealistic deadlines resulted in key effects not being tested underwater before being installed on the ride. Having enough time to test prior to installation may have prevented malfunctions. The ride was also designed to operate in filtered water; Universal Studios allegedly mixed clay into the JAWS lagoon to make the water murky and hide the underwater mechanisms. “Basically, Universal didn’t have any experience with a ride like this. The two sides settled out of court in April 1991.

After closing JAWS in 1990, Universal Studios had hoped to make the failed ride operational. Universal hired third-party consultants for a “redesign that will lead to the re-engineering, rebuilding, and reopening of Jaws in 1991.” The plan was to more or less automate the boats and strengthen the mechanical structures. A major finding was that the attraction developed weld cracks at the base of key framework structures for the ride and its effects. This made the attraction prone to failure-such as potentially causing a catastrophic accident.

Universal scrapped the former JAWS ride system and effects, except the basic lagoon structure and themed sets.

Jaws: The Ride 2.0 - A Resurfacing with a Shocking Twist

After pushing back the reopening date numerous times, Universal Studios Orlando finally debuted its new and improved Jaws ride in 1993. The ride’s creators cycled the ride day and night to fine-tune every detail. Even if they were making minor tweaks to a single scene, they had to complete the entire layout since the ride vehicles couldn’t move in reverse. After completely overhauling the ride, the combined cost of the two versions of JAWS jumped up to an estimated $70 million.

On the creative side, Universal worked on a more engaging script for the skippers. The spiel for the original JAWS ride was somewhat reactionary with rudimentary lines. Peter Alexander tweaked the story to be more captivating, also incorporating new scenes to replace the old defective effects. Adam Bezark took over during development to oversee production. Universal partnered with several contractors on the redesign of JAWS. The company specialized in deep sea robotic submarines, so the new animatronics could handle being underwater. The company crafted seven fiberglass, latex skin, and steel sharks, which were as powerful as the liftoff of a Boeing 737 airliner.

Universal made use of the JAWS queue while the attraction was closed to guests. The JAWS queue was the venue for a haunted house during the seasonal event that would eventually become Halloween Horror Nights. Meanwhile, Universal Studios Florida opened Back to the Future: The Ride in 1991. Unlike the struggles of the park’s opening day, the debut of Back to the Future went over smoothly.

The reimagined JAWS ride, though heavily re-engineered, had a very similar format to the original. It was still in a massive 7-acre lagoon, holding 5 million gallons of water. The new diesel-powered boats appeared sturdier than the original pontoon boats, now with automated movements.

The experience started off the same way as before: Guests passed through the Amity Island area, celebrating the Fourth of July. In the queue, a 50-minute video played local programming called Hey There Amity!. The channel played ads for Amity’s local business plus Ocean Spray, an early sponsor of the ride. The video also had some talk show segments with the “real life” counterparts of the Jaws characters. At the dock, guests boarded tour boats with tiered rows, seating up to 48 passengers. A voice over the radio from Amity Base, voiced by the ride’s show director, gave the boat the all-clear. “Uh, this is Base.

This version didn’t end with Jaws blowing up into tiny pieces. Instead, designers took inspiration from the sequel and electrocuted the shark at the end of the show.

In the new version of the ride, the skipper introduced the tour and pointed out Chief Brody’s home across the lagoon. A distress call from another tour boat played over the radio, and the tour continued around the lighthouse only to discover a sinking boat. The skittish skipper swiveled the boat’s light around at each bump and bang heard in the claustrophobic boathouse. This scene had improved effects with boats and cargo knocking around as the shark was trying to barge its way inside. Jaws crashed in and charged at the boat-probably the most tense moment of the ride.

Back on the open water, the shark was nowhere to be found. Chief Brody called in saying he’d be there in 10 minutes; the skipper reacted with one of the most iconic lines from the ride: “Ten minutes? The shark charged at the boat. The skipper tried shooting it but missed, causing the gas dock on the shore to explore. Large equipment fell over, a barrel rocketed into the sky, and the lagoon went up in flames. This scene was hot. Some guests complained this scene burned their skin, but it could’ve just been discomfort from sunburns combined with the heat.

This was the home stretch. The skipper headed toward a dock where everyone could evacuate. However, Jaws was still on the hunt. Its fin surfaced and rushed toward the boat, disappearing into the wake. Just as the boat stopped near a high-voltage barge, the shark attacked once more, accidentally swimming into an electrical cable with its mouth. Sparks and steam shot up, and the shark went under.

The return of JAWS was well-received by guests. Simply put, the new and improved JAWS was exciting. The boat’s motion base was intense, and the ride didn’t hold back on giant animatronic sharks. The unpredictability of being outdoors on the water gave it an expansive, real feeling with the uneasiness of not knowing what was under the surface. On a ride like Kongfrontation, King Kong was out in the open, seen from far away-but Jaws could pop out from anywhere in the lagoon. No other ride could replicate the uncontrollable, secluded tension JAWS had.

The improved JAWS ride did exactly what Universal wanted it to do: It was reliable, unlike the original version. Having JAWS back at Universal Studios felt right.

Challenges and Eventual Closure

The new Jaws ride outlived its predecessor many times over, but it wasn’t without its own problems. The animatronics themselves were prone to breaking down. They weren’t necessarily faulty like in the original version of the ride, but they were still tricky to keep fully operational. The intricate JAWS ride was also expensive to operate-from staffing needs, to regular maintenance, to costly resources. Every ride vehicle had a spieling team member on board, costing slightly more than the staffing of typical attractions.

The outdoor ride had other weird quirks, like “duck stops.” As the story goes, a duck was in the lagoon one day-as is common during certain seasons-and was unfortunately on top of a special effect during the ride. The duck shot up and landed on a horrified guest.

The explosion effect reportedly cost around $2 million annually in natural gas. Speaking of fuel prices: The cost of gas skyrocketed in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina. Universal Orlando, which was struggling in attendance at this time, temporarily closed JAWS to save on rising fuel costs.

These leaks among other pollutants affected local stormwater ponds when the lagoon was drained. Environmental Protection Agency received an anonymous tip about the issue, forcing Universal Studios to change its practices with the lagoon water. The ride actually closed every so often-about once per year-for deep maintenance.

JAWS across the years had many ups and downs-the failed original version, the popularity of the second, the mechanical issues, the loyal fans, the costs, and so on. JAWS was now well over a decade into operation and outlasted other opening-day attractions like Kongfrontation and Nickelodeon Studios; Universal Studios was a very different park by this point. It was no secret the complicated JAWS couldn’t last forever.

Guests didn’t seem to mind the change: Jaws the Ride 2.0 operated for nearly two decades, and many of the people who rode it had no idea it wasn’t the original concept.

Next door at Islands of Adventure, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was a smash success when it opened in 2010. In late 2011, Universal Orlando Resort announced JAWS would soon close permanently to make room for a Wizarding World expansion.

Farewell to Amity

Fans showed up for JAWS’ final day of operation on Jan. 2, 2012, with the line reaching nearly 90 minutes at its peak. The emotional day ended with the late Michael “Skip” Skipper behind the helm for JAWS’ final public ride, followed by a lap for just the closing team. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley opened in place of JAWS and Amity Island on July 15, 2014.

Legacy and Homages

Even without JAWS, Universal Studios Florida still has a few remnants and Easter eggs from the classic ride-whether it’s a nod to Spielberg’s 1975 film or the famous Bruce the shark on display in San Francisco. The hanging shark statue from the town square remains as a tribute to the ride and can be found in the Fisherman's Wharf area of the San Francisco section of the park. Other remnants of the former Amity area include a building with the text Amity Island Lobster Co. on it, a restroom building, and its accompanying sign.

Back in Florida, JAWS left behind a storied reputation. It was one of the most celebrated attractions not just in Universal’s history, but in all of theme park history. A lot of that success can be credited to the ride’s design; sharks are always scary, and nothing beats the up-close-and-personal feeling of seeing a giant animatronic shark trying to attack you. But the real reason this ride stayed so relevant for so long were the skippers. They put their heart in soul into every single show to make sure everyone had a great time. They cared about the attraction, its story, and its significance. Without the personal touch of skippers, JAWS would’ve just been a lap around the lagoon with some animatronics. Their timing and effort made the ride feel believable, and they made a connection with guests in just five short minutes.

Though some theme park guests associate Jaws the ride with frustration and the stench of gasoline, others view it with nostalgia. Nearly 225 million people have watched a ride-through of the final Jaws ride on YouTube since it shut down. Homages to the attraction can be found in the park as well. In the area that used to house the Jaws ride, guests can still pose for photos with a giant great white statue.

Nothing is quite as special as JAWS was. The Jaws Experience brought movie magic to life in an exciting way for Universal Studios.

Jaws in Japan

On March 31, 2001, Jaws officially opened at Universal Studios Japan. A clone of this ride still operates at Universal Studios Japan in Konohana-ku, Osaka, Japan.

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