New Ride Hosted by Jimmy Fallon Coming to Universal


Just a few minutes ago, Jimmy Fallon officially announced that yet another new attraction is scheduled to open at the Universal Orlando Resort in 2017.
Why was this announcement made specifically during Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show? Well, that's because he will be the host of this new attraction, which is expected to be a flight simulator that will take Guests flying above (and below) New York City. This will be just one of the many new additions coming in 2017.


Here's the official announcement, as seen on the official blog of the Universal Orlando Resort:

"I’ll never forget my first phone call from Universal Creative when I joined the company as a creative director last year. The executive producer was calling me with my first assignment. I couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say!

Which blockbuster film franchise would be featured in my very first Universal project?

“Jimmy Fallon,” he said.

“What about him?” I asked.

“He’s getting his own ride, and you guys need to figure it out,” he said.

“We’re gonna do what, now?” I asked.

In all seriousness, I was equally surprised and delighted. Jimmy had just taken the world by storm with the new incarnation of The Tonight Show. He was already sitting comfortably atop the ratings heap and fast becoming a viral sensation.

Plus, I’ve been a late night fan my entire life. I was even lucky enough to attend tapings of The Tonight Show when the previous two hosts sat behind the fabled desk. I was in my element.

But what kind of story would we tell? How could we create a compelling guest experience that emerged organically from the world of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon? That was the challenge facing the entire Universal Creative team, but considering their track record, I was pretty sure I was surrounded by the people who could crack it.

Jimmy wanted a fun and hilarious adventure that was also a valentine to his hometown of New York City—and that’s exactly what you’re going to experience when “Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon” opens at Universal Studios Florida in 2017.


So, what’s the attraction going to be like? I can’t tell you everything, but I can tell you our team found inspiration in the outrageous celebrity races that have become one of the most popular segments of Jimmy’s Tonight Show. The source material already features a wild and crazy ride almost every week! And since Universal Studios Florida has long been famous for placing guests in the middle of their favorite movies and TV shows, we thought it was a perfect fit.

Soon, you will get the full Tonight Show experience as you make your way to the fabled Studio 6B for a very special taping in which Jimmy challenges his studio audience to the ultimate race through the greatest city on earth.

You’ll rocket through the streets—and skies—of New York City, from the deepest subway tunnels to the tallest skyscrapers, encountering colorful characters, famous landmarks and anything else that comes to Jimmy’s mind—and “that is some weird, wild stuff,” to quote an iconic previous host.

Our Universal Creative team has had an amazing experience collaborating with Jimmy and his staff of veteran comedy writers to create an unforgettable adventure that will bring The Tonight Show and New York City to life for our guests like never before. And our creative adventure is just beginning.

As you can probably imagine, Jimmy’s full of surprises and even we are never quite sure what’s going to happen next – just like on The Tonight Show!

To make way for this new experience, Twister…Ride It Out will close on November 2."

IMAGE: © 2015 Universal Orlando. All rights reserved. 

30 comments:

  1. This has got to be one of the worst ideas I've heard in some time.

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  2. Could be worse. Could be AVATAR.

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  3. It's an improvement over Twister!

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  4. Yet another 3D ride for universal - and it sounds like a soaring rip off, and in 10 years time all you'll hear from kids is "who's Jimmy Fallon?!"

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  5. At least it is themed in New York

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  6. Ding, Ding, Ding...
    That Cash Register just went off in my head
    There is a big gift shop as you exit the attraction where they can now sell "Tonight Show" and NBC stuff in a "themed" environment

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  7. Even though I'm aware of who Jimmy Fallon is - I can't imagine that the majority of UK visitors will know who or what he is.

    Really don't understand the concept of doing a ride so "American" when so many of Universal guests are overseas visitors.

    Just sounds such a strange tie-in to have - a ride based on a chat show....

    Surely there's more properties out there that Universal could use?

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  8. Meh!
    So Jimmy Fallon has "Taken the world by storm". By 'World' I assume Universal mean North America because he's unheard of elsewhere. I'm sure it will be a fun experience but why a tie in with a show that means nothing to a large portion of park visitors and that could change host at any time? This ride could become very dated, very quickly!

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  9. While I like the idea of the ride I have to agree with some of the comments here. I know who Jimmy is but I don't care for him, such a waste. I love twister and wish they would just update it.

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  10. Of the 60million people that visit Orlando each year and go to the theme parks, over 90% of these people are from North America. Guests from the UK, for example, only make up around 1.5% of visitors. So, this is still catering to the vast majority of vacationers visiting Universal.

    However, it is still a very strange and surreal choice for a theme park ride. But anything is an improvement over Twister.

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  11. This is the fourth ride underway for Universal Orlando in the next two years, not counting Volcano Bay as a whole new waterpark by 2017 or the Nintendo project that is coming a few years later. In other words, it's simply amazing how much they're putting into this place.

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  12. So for 2016 visitors, no Twister , NO Disaster, no Beetlejuice
    rather wait for 2017 then.

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  13. I'm from the UK and I've heard of, and enjoy Jimmy Fallon. He'll just be a vessel for the ride though, I'm sure the ride itself will be great and can be enjoyed by people who don't know who he is - sure it's a cash-in, but what isn't? Pretty sure a lot of younger people might not know who Popeye is, but it doesn't stop you from getting wet on that ride though, does it? Just enjoy new rides coming, people!

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  14. To say its simply amazing how much they're putting in to this place kinda baffles me, seeing as before there really wasn't a lot in terms of rides to begin with....the ones there are good, there's just not a ton of options in my opinion...my best friend and I made a specific visit to ride all the Harry Potter things in both parks, and we rode some other stuff in both parks. We started at 8am and left by 4pm.....when you really look at it, for the sizes of the parks, there's not a lot of rides. Diagon Alley was a huge expansion and has 1 ride (the train is really just a rolling theatre not a ride, but I guess by Universal's standards, if it has screens, its a ride), and that ride feels A LOT like Spider Man, Transformers, The Mummy, and people act like it was the second coming...The themeing of the entire Diagon Alley is stunning and once you're in it, you're truly immersed, but when you're in Springfield and you see a fire breathing dragon over the top of London, the effect is diminished. I'm not a Uni-hater, I'm just not wowed to pieces with their "expansions" that are really just bringing them to par.

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  15. When I read the title of this, I got so excited because I assumed this would be the Jurassic World announcement of a Gyrosphere ride hosted by Jimmy Fallon. Ugh that was dissapointing turn.

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  16. Title says New Attraction Hosted by Jimmie Fallon.
    Does that mean he has to hop on a plane overnight after the Tonight Show to Orlando and host this attraction? She works hard for the money. So hard for it honey.

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  17. Terrible decision by Universal. I used to think they were on fire, and could do no wrong. Of all the great movie properties out there, and they make a ride based on the Tonight Show? Nobody with a career that can afford to go on vacations stays up past midnight watching TV. This is probably the worst decision Universal Studios has ever made. Why not just make a Starbucks ride while you're at it?

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  18. My issue is the ride itself. I'm so tired of simulators. When will Universal and Disney finally admit we've "been there. done that."? They're cheaper to build and just get people nauseous. Even one of the new Avatar rides is a simulator. Stop simulating and start actually doing.

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  19. Great, replace one skippable attraction with another skippable attraction, way to waste space and money!

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  20. They already had the Jimmy ride at USF. Jimmy Nuetron. LOL Sounds like Soarin over the Big Apple.

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  21. Even though I'm not a Jimmy Fallon fan, he is an amazing host. He has taken the show to a much higher level. He'll just be hosting the ride, so it's going to be up to Universal to create a great attraction. It doesn't matter who hosts an attraction, it's up to the ride creators to make out what is. You've got all kinds of hosts all over the parks..the Cosby mom on Dinosaur, Ellen in Universe of Energy, Patrick in Soarin', but it's up to the parks to make a great attraction. I'm excited for something new there even those Twister will be missed. It had it's day..

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  22. Ugh. More simulators.

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  23. Kramer already did this on Seinfeld.

    Even fed his customers as part of the package..

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  24. Universal is owned by NBC and with the new NBC Bar and Grill @ City Walk, this makes sense. I'm excited

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  25. Jimmy Fallon is funny(just as good as Leno and better then Carson) but this a bad idea for a ride and i bet will lose it's popularity fast

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  26. Now that Universal at last announced the closing of Twister when will the Kidzone be next?

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  27. Don't post a negative comment about this ride at Universal Orlando official blog site or they will Sensor it!

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  28. If they were going to have a Soarin style ride I wish they had done some related to How to Train your Dragon. That would be amazing!

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