What Happened to the Jaws Ride at Universal Orlando?

For the first two decades of Universal Studios Florida’s existence, Jaws was a major part of the park experience!

The attraction, based on Steven Spielberg’s iconic blockbuster, became a defining experience for many Universal Orlando guests, and was heavily promoted in advertising and on film until it simply disappeared… like magic.

What happened, and what stands where Jaws once prowled? Let us sink our teeth into what happened to Jaws at Universal Studios Florida. 

The origins of Universal Orlando’s Jaws attraction can be found almost 3,000 miles away at the company’s original theme park, Universal Studios Hollywood. In 1976, that park — which at the time was mainly just the iconic Tram Tour — opened a portion on said tour which featured an encounter with an animatronic representation of the Jaws shark, based on the film that had premiered the year before. The segment became the breakout hit of the tour, and kickstarted the development of Universal Hollywood’s transition from solely a studio to a themed entertainment destination. 

Given the massive success of Hollywood’s Jaws segment, it’s unsurprising that a full-fledged Jaws attraction was always a major part of the plans for a Florida-based Universal park that germinated and expanded throughout the 1980s, culminating in the opening of a full Jaws-themed Amity area at the new Universal Studios Florida in June 1990. However, like many things that happened on the park’s opening day, something was terribly wrong with Jaws. 

The version of Jaws that opened with Universal Studios Florida on June 7, 1990, would be almost completely unrecognizable to those who became fans of the ride in later years. Like its fellow headline attractions Kongfrontation and Earthquake: The Big One, Jaws was plagued by technical problems when the park opened, leading to near constant breakdowns, evacuations, and downtime. However, unlike those other two attractions, things never got better for Jaws. Universal went as far as shutting down the attraction in August of 1990 — despite it being a major part of the park’s marketing — and sued the ride’s designers (Ride & Show Engineering Inc.) over the issues. 

Jaws remained closed throughout 1991 and 1992 as Universal worked through the legal issues. Eventually the company brought in Totally Fun Company, ITEC Entertainment, Intamin and Oceaneering International to essentially redesign the attraction from the ground — er, seabed — up.

This included reworking many scenes, the ride system, and the Jaws animatronics themselves. The biggest change was to the ride’s finale.

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Originally, the climax of the experience was based on the ending to the first Jaws film, featuring the ride vehicle’s skipper shooting an air tank in the shark’s mouth with a rifle, causing it to explode underwater, complete with “shark pieces” flying through the air. This effect never worked at an acceptable level, and was replaced by the shark electrocuting itself biting onto an underwater cable attached to a high-voltage barge, itself a callback to the ending of Jaws 2. 

The new version of Jaws opened to great fanfare in the spring of 1993, quickly becoming a fan-favorite. Now that the ride was constantly operational and highly rated, Universal began pushing Jaws heavily in advertising an promotional materials, including commercials, billboards, and even an appearance in the 1995 Kevin Smith film Mallrats.

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As the new millennium dawned, there was no reason to believe that Jaws wasn’t going to remain a major part of Universal Studios Florida for decades to come. However, mother nature and a boy wizard both got in the way. 

The first hints that Jaws may be in trouble came in 2004 and 2005, when the ride was closed after a series of hurricanes battered Florida, leading first to a shortage of, followed by rising prices for, the petroleum gas that was needed for the ride’s pyrotechnic effects. Due to these issues, Jaws was closed for most of 2005, and operated seasonally for 2006 before reverting back to full-time status in 2007. However, rumors of the attraction being replaced continued to dog the ride even after it reopened. 

The proverbial other shoe dropped in December of 2011, when Universal announced that Jaws and the entire Amity area would be closing to to be replaced by ‘an exciting, NEW, experience” which was soon revealed to be the Diagon Alley expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. 

Much to the chagrin of die hard fans of classic Universal Studios Florida, the attraction closed for good on January 2, 2012. However, Jaws fans can still find some remnants of the attraction around the park, if they know where to look. The biggest is the massive hanging shark photo-op that previously stood near the ride’s entrance and is now located in the Fisherman’s Wharf area. There are also several Jaws-themed easter eggs in the windows of Diagon Alley’s London section, as well as the still-standing Amity-themed bathrooms. In addition, for those with a bit more travel time on their hands, the ride is still in operation at Universal Studios Japan, and the original Tram Tour incarnation is still going strong in Hollywood. 

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Do you miss having Jaws at Universal Studios Florida, or was it worth the trade-off for Diagon Alley? Let us know in the comments below!

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