Reign of Kong Opening Date

Probably not, no.

If they are saying summer, May is way too early. Probably July, maybe a soft opening in June

Dang! But what if I REALLY want it to be open, does that change anything??

Well I will be there 1st week of May and I will ask Universal to make sure there is a soft opening that week... Therefore I guess it will be open for you also..

Unlike Disney, Universal listens to their guest's request. (And here come the Disney Fan boys responding in 3,2,1)..
(All of the above is opinion only and cannot, should not and will not be disseminated in any way without the express written consent by me).

Well if you wish really hard, and if you are at just the right time and just the right place, you can jump over the construction fence, go to the operating booth and turn it on, only to fall to your doom because of the unfinished track.

Brian: We're arriving May 7th, so I'll just miss you. There's a couple of insiders saying that there's a possibility that softs might start sometime in May, probably mid to late, so maybe we'll get lucky.Even Woodward (UC)probably doesn't even know for sure yet. They've been testing the vehicles for a while now and operations are supposed to start training people sometime in February. We're going a second time in late September, so we'll catch the opening then if it doesn't materialize in May. I would expect they'll try to start softs far in advance of the late June target opening date so they can avoid the start up problems they had with Gringotts running at only half it's capacity at opening. So far there's been no systems problems, according to insiders. But, they haven't tested the lifts yet , so hopefully they'll work OK in tandem with the vehicles. Keep the fingers crossed.

What do the lifts do?

They simulate movements, effects etc. on the vehicle when it's in the the 360 degree screen area.

Great Rob... We will be leaving Florida on the 7th... hahaha - Probable pass you in the Airport. I will be the pudgy 40's white guy, look for me, I am sure you can pick me out easily... I am going to book the flights today...

May is such a great time to hit the parks...
Universal just came out with the buy two days, get 3rd day free promotion.. Have to buy tickets before April 15 or so and use them by May 31st..

It would be nice to have a soft opening early May... But I am sure we will miss it.. But still a boy can wish..
Here is an old saying I enjoy - You can wish in one hand and Crap in the other, see which one gets filled first...

Thats why you have to play it safe, and go to universal in sept/oct. Hulk will be up and running again, Kong will be open, and you have Halloween Horror nights to go to.

Brian: We always drive down. I can't stand flying since the 2001 restrictions and all the delayed fights anymore. They just came out with the Annual Pass on site hotel discounts, so I got some really good rates for a CBBR 4 nights poolside suite ( Try CBBR some time. Great hotel for the price)and then 6 nights at Portofino. The AP pays for itself with hotel discounts alone. It's Universal's best kept secret if you're staying for a long vacation. Right now I'm debating on hotels in the fall. Sapphire Falls has a free buffet breakfast for two for each night booked (min. of 4 nights). I might give that a try & combine it with 6 nights at Portofino. Sapphire's pool and restaurant/bar looks really cool.

I guess the best I can hope for is a soft opening. We'll be staying on site at the Royal Pacific, so maybe that will grant us extra opportunities at that time. The price of a night at a hotel was ridiculously cheaper in mid-May than basically any other time in late spring.

Thanks for the advice Nick and Rob..
We have to fly, we live in the Northeast and it is a 3 hour flight so no driving...

It's too bad we only get there Once a year...

It's funny because we were at IOA about 1 month before the opening of WWOHP.. There was an employee there only letting Universal workers enter through a door. All of the construction we complete at that time. I tried to give him $20 bucks to let us look around for a few minutes...
But alas, he declined.

Brian: You're making a habit of being at Universal pre soft opening. LOL

Wow cool Rob! Maybe I'll run into some trained employees at the hotel while I'm there :)

We will be there the end of May, first of June. We will go in and wake the beast if it isn't stirring. Always look forward to going. Hey Rob, can my family use your pass while we are there? We'll stay at any of them, we aren't picky...lol:)

Jon; LOL....Heh, you might be there early enough for the Jimmy Fallon Show. I'm guessing you'll have a better than 50/50 chance to catch Kong softs then. My GF couldn't get that week off so we had to go earlier in May where the soft chances aren't very high. But then we have the fall. Kong is looking to be one of the eeriest, scariest , most entertaining attractions ever. Hope you get lucky.

Rob, I hope we do get to see Kong. If not we will be back in the fall for HHN's and will hit it then along with the new and improved Hulk ride. It would be nice if that was open when we there this spring but I'm not holding my breath. That is one of my favorite rides and am looking forward to what B & M has in store for us with the new launch system and upgrades. Hope you guys are able to get in with a soft opening and can tell us all about it

Jon: Looks like we think alike when it comes to Universal vacations. Spring/Fall, can't beat it. They started installing the new Hulk track last week. Maybe we'll get lucky in May for at least one of the two (Kong/Hulk) One won't be half bad.It sounds like they've just run into a bit of a glitch on Kong. Shouldn't be too hard to fix though....Take care, my friend.