The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man

Entrance to the ride, modeled after the headquarters of The Daily Bugle.

*For the title character featured in this ride, see **Spider-Man**.*

***The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man*** is a dark thrill ride located in the Marvel Super Hero Island section of Islands of Adventure. It is the flagship attraction of the area, and based on the titular character's comic and film franchises. The ride was a huge success when it opened with the park on May 28, 1999, and is frequently considered the ride that made Universal known as a major competitor against The Walt Disney Company's theme parks. *The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man* proved to be so popular that it won the Best Dark Ride award from Amusement Today for twelve consecutive years, and a similar ride was later opened five years later at Universal Studios Japan. Originally, the ride was based on the 1994 animated series as indicated by the preshow art style, but since the 2012 update, it is now based on the franchise as a whole, as indicated by some of the changes made to the characters in the ride footage.

## History

While planning Islands of Adventure, Universal originally planned on making an island themed to the characters of DC Comics, most likely due to the success of Tim Burton's *Batman* movies, and the various animated series based on the characters that were airing at the time. Several concepts were designed, such as Superman dark thrill ride, which was possibly the original concept that became *The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man*. No official reason has been given for why this land was scrapped, but it is likely due to the fact that Warner Bros. was already using DC characters in the Six Flags amusement parks throughout North America.

Universal instead turned to Marvel, who allowed a license for their characters. The only problem was that this was before blockbuster films based on Marvel's characters were being mad, and therefore not as widespread as DC Comics' characters. As a result, Universal took much inspiration from multiple animated series, many of which were airing on Fox at the time, including the 1994 *Spider-Man* series. With Spider-Man being one of the most popular characters from Marvel, it was decided that the flagship ride would be focused on this character.

*The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man* opened with the rest of Islands of Adventure on May 28, 1999, and was a massive success for the Universal Orlando Resort, winning numerous awards, including Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Award for Best Dark Ride for twelve years in a row. The ride's popularity led to a port of the ride at Universal Studios Japan.

In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment for four billion US dollars ($). Despite the acquisition, Universal's contract with Marvel has allowed Islands of Adventure to continue using Marvel characters in the park. In addition, Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando's primary competitor, is not allowed to use any Marvel characters featured in Islands of Adventure. Other Disney Parks such as Disney's California Adventure however, are set to open Marvel-themed areas where the characters are not used at nearby Universal Parks. In addition, Walt Disney World has been featuring Marvel characters who are not featured at Islands of Adventure, such as the Guardians of the Galaxy.

In 2011, the ride was temporarily closed for refurbishment, and underwent changes that updated the ride technology with HD projectors, reopening in March of 2012 just months before the release of the then-latest film based on the character, *The Amazing Spider-Man*. The ride films were also redesigned from a cartoon-like appearance to a more-realistic design, with some noticeable features based on the film adaptions of the character by Sony. This is most noticeable on Doctor Octopus, who now sports an appearance similar to Alfred Molina's portrayal of the character in 2004's *Spider-Man 2*. Spider-Man's suit also now resembles that of the 2002 film trilogy.

## Background

### **Queue and Preshow**

The ride building is based off of The Daily Bugle, a newspaper printing company that Spider-Man's true identity, Peter Parker, works for as a photographer. The head of the company, J. Jonah Jameson, is furious as always, this time due to being unable to find Peter Parker, who is needed to get pictures of the recent events. He informs riders that the Sinister Six, a group consisting of several super villains, is using an anti-gravity gun created by group leader Doctor Octopus to steal the Statue of Liberty. The delusional Jameson is also convinced Spider-Man is working with the villains, and with no one else to grab details on the story, he sends guests in vehicles supplied by the Daily Bugle.

### **Ride Experience**

As soon as the ride begins, the vehicles enter a dark alleyway, where they see the Spider-Signal, possibly a parody of the Bat-Signal from Batman. Guests then meet Spider-Man, who is very concerned for the riders' safety, and warns them to be careful before swinging off into the dark city. The riders then drive away, almost crashing into a truck driven by Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee, and approach the hideout of the Sinister Six. Electro spots the riders, and electrocutes the car by overcharging a power cable that he attaches to the car. Scream also attempts to attack the car, but she is stopped by Doctor Octopus, who then begins to use the anti-gravity gun to lift numerous objects and throw them at the riders.

The riders escape and once again meet up with Spider-Man in the sewers, where Hydro Man attacks, sending the riders to another area. Doctor Octopus then tears down a brick wall and once again attempts to attack riders, who then escape a second time only to run into the Hobgoblin. Spider-Man manages to prevent one of Hobgoblin's bombs from hitting the riders, but another bomb causes an explosion nearby.

Spidey follows the riders towards the entrance of a movie theater, where Doctor Octopus attacks with the anti-gravity gun, all while Spidey taunts him. Doc Ock then focuses his attention to the riders, and begins to levitate the car above the ground. Spider-Man is then seen trying to jump up numerous buildings in an attempt to save the riders. Spider-Man attempts to drag the ride car downward to safety, but is caught by Hobgoblin, causing the car to fly through the city with his glider before throwing Spidey off. Hydro Man and Electro attempt to attack, but Spider-Man's quick reflexes cause Electro to unintentionally attack Hydro Man, destroying the billboard the two are standing on.

Doctor Octopus then releases the riders, who begin to fall towards the ground, but Spider-Man quickly tosses a web net towards the ground, saving the riders, while Stan Lee can be seen watching the rescue. The riders then move towards all of the Sinister Six members tied up in web, where Spider-Man thanks the riders for their help. Stan Lee also congratulates the riders and gives instruction on exiting the ride. Off to the side, Doc Ock's anti-gravity gun can be seen with a note that says "To: JJJ, Here's the raise you deserve. From: Spider-Man".

## Trivia

* Although the ride primarily uses screens and 3D effects, a select few of the ride scenes are physical.
* Marvel co-creator Stan Lee makes multiple cameos in the ride.
	+ The first cameo features him as a garbage truck driver that the ride vehicles almost crash into.
	+ The second cameo is SL holding hands with a woman running underneath the movie marquees as Doc Octopus fires at Spiderman, misses and says "It's good enough for your sitting duck friends ahahaha".
	+ Another cameo features him as a bystander who sees the ride car caught by Spider-Man's web net and he's standing in front of the stores when Spiderman says "Don't give up your day job".
	+ The final cameo is a voice cameo, where he instructs the riders on exiting the vehicle and where to discard the 3D glasses.
* During the scene where Doc Ock attempts to attack Spider-Man with the anti-gravity gun, a movie theater sign displays that a film titled *The Clone Saga* is now playing. This is a reference to a popular story arc of the Spider-Man comics.