let's try this one for past Universal rides About This Page:

[WillCAD]

I remember the old Ghostbusters show, where Twister now stands. I liked it, though I wasn't terribly in love with it. I do wish there was some representation o Ghostbusters in the parks today, though.

[karadisney]

Originally Posted by jimmymac

I loved Kongfrontation. Back to the Future was one of the first of its kind

YES Kongfrontation!!! I will have to scan my picture from that ride!! Why did they take it away it was great!

[karadisney]

Originally Posted by espnerica

I gotta say the Simpsons Ride is great, really cute and the line is so well decorated. Its basically the same thing as Back to the Future with a Simpsons movie.

I think Disaster was better as Earthquake! Except of course with the addition of Christopher Walken to the pre-show.

Anyone remember the Wild West Stunt Show?

Yes I remember the Wild West Stunt Show what is it now?

[BarryH]

Originally Posted by karadisney

Yes I remember the Wild West Stunt Show what is it now?

Fear Factor Live

Also how could you forget AT&T at the Movies?

[Sue M.]

Earthquake! I liked Back to the Future, but love The Simpsons!!! Flying Unicorn Is the Animal Actors not there anymore? I thought I saw it last year, but maybe not!

[BostonTeaParty]

Originally Posted by materstater

It wasn't a ride but we loved the Hitchcock theater.

We loved that one, too! It had audience participation, with a volunteer to show how they did "The Hitchcock Zoom." And they had the entire setup of apartments from "Rear Window." It looked so real! As Hitchcock fans we really enjoyed the Hitchcock Theater.

[karadisney]

Originally Posted by BostonTeaParty

We loved that one, too! It had audience participation, with a volunteer to show how they did "The Hitchcock Zoom." And they had the entire setup of apartments from "Rear Window." It looked so real! As Hitchcock fans we really enjoyed the Hitchcock Theater.

Yeah, the Hitchcock theater was cool. What is Fear Factor Live like?

[disney]

Originally Posted by karadisney

Yeah, the Hitchcock theater was cool. What is Fear Factor Live like?

if i remember they took 2 vacationers to try what they did on the tv show but a smaller version.

[judyjo]

Kongfrontation for sure!!! I really miss that one.

[Steph K]

the fear factor live show i cried the first time i saw it because i thought they were actually throwin a spider at me...that was in december and im 21 haha

i love the disaster ride, i prefer it much more how it is now to the earthquake ride, it really mades me giggle!

[DVCBird941]

Last year was the first trip to US/IoA for the DW and I. I wish we had gone in the years past as some of the themed attractions you all have mentioned are things that I loved growing up. Cant wait to go again this year, nor for the new HP to open up

[LuvMinnie]

Miss KONG the most. Back to the Future was great & the Hitchock show was very good.

*Why does Universal close such good rides, they have more space/land for new attractions....right?

[1stJawsLead]

I think it's a combination of wear and tear on the rides, and trying to keep the park as up to date as possible. I started in '90, before the park opened, and besides training on the rides, we were constantly running them for the engineers so they could fine tune, repair, and maintain the rides.

Most of the originals were state-of-the-art rides that had never been done before, and Universal really wanted them to be something to blow visitor's socks off. I started on Jaws, and we were working on that ride through park opening and for months and months after. We had times where it worked great, but then it just had so many recurring problems they had to shut it down.

After Jaws closed for remodeling, I moved to Kong, and while that ride ran much better, it also had it's share of breakdowns. Lots of hydraulic leaks, and just stress on the parts, especially the two Kong structures. Nothing like the ride stopping cold when you're driving the tram 35 feet in the air.

When the park opened, these were the originals:
Rides:
Kong (opened a cpl months after park opening)
Jaws
Hanna Barbera
Earthquake
Back to the Future (opened a few months after the official park opening)
E.T.

Shows:
Hitchcock
Murder, She Wrote (this was similar to the sound effect show at MGM)
Horror Make Up
Animal Actors
Stunt Boat show in the lagoon
Ghostbusters (I think this opened just a bit later than the official opening, but can't remember - hey, it was almost 20 yrs ago!!)
Wild West Stunt Show (same for this one)
Nikelodeon Tour
Backstage Studio Tour

During the first few months, Jaws and Kong had major issues and were open sporadically. Jaws finally got going and then Kong opened a cpl months later. BttF took a little longer, but ran the best. Universal gave out free park tickets to everyone during those first few months to make up for it.

[janicelovesmickey]

i loved the backstage tour! I miss that
kongfrontation and hanna barberra was great too