The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (ride)

The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera was a motion simulator ride that opened with Universal Studios Florida. It operated from 7 June 1990 through 20 October 2002, when the ride was torn down and replaced by Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast. 
The ride's plot is that Dick Dastardly and Muttley have kidnapped Elroy Jetson. Yogi Bear and Boo Boo take the park guests through the worlds of The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo and The Jetsons in hope of rescuing Elroy.
== The Attraction ==
=== Queue ===
The facility which housed the ride featured several areas in which the guests were moved throughout. The outside queue area, where people waited in line, featured several televisions that showed Hanna-Barbera cartoons on a loop. When the ride first opened, the queue videos consisted of whole short episodes of Hanna-Barbera's "three-shorts" shows such as Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear as well as extended clips from Hanna-Barbera's well-known full-length story shows (The Flintstones, The Jetsons, etc.). In the years after, clips and commercials from Hanna-Barbera's modern cartoons such as SWAT Kats, were played on the monitors interspersed with the classic shows. The guests were then taken into a pre-show area where the storyline for the ride was revealed.
===Pre-Show===
Inside the preshow, there were three projection screens. Two oval shaped screens and a regular square screen. On one of the oval screens, Yogi Bear appeared pestering guests for food, Boo Boo shows up to inform him that the guests are here for an animation demonstration by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The two (live-action) appear on the square screen and begin talking about animation, leading to drawing Elroy Jetson, who magically comes to life and jumps out of the paper three dimensionally. Hanna goes on to talk about computer animation using Dick Dastardly's airplane (in this case, a spaceship).
Dastardly and Muttley soon show up from inside the spaceship's 
depths, requesting that they be a part of Hanna-Barbera's next project. 
However, Hanna and Barbera informs him that the Jetsons are next 
(coincidentally, at the time of the ride's opening, the release of Jetsons: The Movie was only several weeks away) followed by The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo. In a fit of rage, Dastardly kidnaps Elroy by forcefully pulling him into the computer using the suction of a toilet plunger
gun, claiming "If I'm not the star of the next project, then no one 
will be! I'm taking Elroy where you'll never find him!" The computer 
begins to self-destruct and the two run away. Yogi and Boo Boo, feeling 
they should do something, go (with the ride guests) into a rocketship 
(the main theater) to go save Elroy from the evil plans Dastardly and 
Muttley have in store for him.
=== Ride ===
When the riders 
enter the main theater, the riders are seated in a rocket ship with Yogi
as the captain. The power source is a large rubber band that fires the rocket via a giant slingshot. The force is so strong everyone ends up going back in time to Bedrock.
The riders fly off a cliff and through Mr. Slate's construction site 
before flying into the main city. Yogi and the riders chase after 
Dastardly through the streets, dodging cars, residents of Bedrock 
(including Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble), and Yogi ends up chasing Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble
(who are driving Fred's car) down a street by accident. The riders fly 
up after Dastardly into the skies, and through a vortex. The riders end 
up chasing Dastardly through a cemetery in the middle of the night, and 
the riders are on a near-collision near the Mystery Machine
that Scooby-Doo and Shaggy are driving, leading them into a castle 
where they encounter ghosts. The riders fly around the haunted house 
looking for Dastardly down hallways and corridors, dodging Scooby and 
Shaggy who are left hanging on a chandelier when the riders chase after 
Dastardly into another vortex.
This time the riders end up in the future into Orbit City, dodging 
flying cars and buildings. It's not long before Elroy's family (except 
Judy and Astro who are absent from the ride) appear and see Elroy 
captured, (after which he jumped from Dastardly's ship in a bold move 
aiming to get caught by one of his parents standing nearby, just to be 
pulled back in Dastardly's ship by the suction of a toilet plunger) and 
chase after Dastardly with the riders, going into a futuristic amusement
park.
The riders fly on a roller-coaster track after the villain, and 
end up going down a steep drop when Rosie the Robot (flying with the 
Jetsons) extends her arm and lifts Dastardly and Muttley from their 
rocket, allowing George to save Elroy. Dastardly and Muttley then get 
surrounded by thousands of flying cop cars, and both are arrested and 
dropped in a flying jail cell. The Jetsons thank them, and the riders 
fly back home through a vortex and crash land back at the station on a 
giant inflated bumper reading "END". Yogi gives them a farewell message.
"So folks, thanks for joining in the ride, I'll see you on the 
outside!" A lamp comes down from the top, from which Yogi pulls the 
light switch. The screen goes black and the ride ends.
There was a 40-inch height requirement for the simulator, 
requiring smaller children to sit in a non-motion seat. Expectant 
mothers, people with motion sickness, heart problems, back or neck 
problems, were all encouraged to sit in a non-motion seat. Occasionally, 
people on the ride would panic because of the intense motion, and the 
ride would be stopped by one of the operators. The ride consisted of 12 
bases, each of which held 8 people for a total of 96 riders. The front 
row consisted of a bench in which people who did not want a motion seat 
could enjoy the show.
=== Post-show ===
After the show, guests were escorted into an interactive area where they 
could interact with various technologies geared towards children.
=== Hanna-Barbera's Store ===
Following this area, was a gift shop where Hanna-Barbera merchandise could be purchased.
== Trivia ==
* It was sponsored by 7Up from 1990 through 2002.
== Gallery ==
Universal Studios The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera logo.jpg|The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera logo
Universal Studios The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera rocket model.jpg|The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera rocket model
Universal Studios The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera Flintstone's car.jpg|The Flintstones' Flintmobile at the ride's exit
== External Links ==
* Jimmy Neutron wikia: Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast
* Despicable Me wikia: Despicable Me Minion Mayhem
Category:Attractions
Category:The Funtastic Index