Of course I could not miss the opportunity to pay my respects to this iconic ride that has been with us for 22 years (20 years the way it was up till now). Many memories were created from people proposing on the boat tour to a couple of musicals (The Jaws Ride: Ballad of the Boat Skipper and Jaws the Musical: How to Tune a Fish) that put a smile on your face. Here’s what the last Fourth of July looked like at Amity:
The closing team member shirts were so sad:
“For the first time in Amity, it will be July 5th”
The day didn’t go without a hitch for the old workshark though, around 2 hours before the ride was scheduled to close its doors forever it had it’s last “technical difficulty” breakdown. It didn’t take long though and it was back up and running again. Unfortunately after the break down the last shark attack scene did no longer work properly, so here is the last ride video I took ultimately before the ride broke down 15 minutes later.
The sun set one last time on Amity and the darkness of the night was beginning to set in. The time was getting closer and closer to that dreaded 8 o’clock pm park closing time. Having been on the ride seven times through out the day and the time being 7:59 pm it was time to join the queue one last time. A minute later the door was shut behind us forever and skippers outside saluted the crowd goodnight.
Not even 40 minutes later it was time to choose our row and get ready to board the last public boat tour. There was another voyage after us but that required you to have gotten one of the lucky lanyards for the last voyage. So I consider them being the last VIP group to have gotten a voyage on Jaws, while we were the last publicly open ride. Of course I recorded the last public ride, so here it is:
Once we got back to the docks, the area was surrounded by Amity and Jaws team members that had worked in and around the attraction. Tears were pouring out, not just a little and by few, but a lot and by many of the skippers that have called this attraction home for the last years. It was tough not to let a few tears slip by seeing all the emotion that surrounded what was about to happen. The last and final Jaws boat tour came to the dock, and cheers erupted and tears once again began to flow. The team members began chanting “Jaws Ride, Jaws Ride, Jaws Ride!” followed by them singing a final tribute. It was a bittersweet end for Jaws.
So here is my farewell to this great ride:
“We were on the second to last voyage of Jaws to have left dock at Amity. Memories were made, tears were shed, and goodbyes were said. RIP Jaws! You were great when you weren't broken down even if you were slightly out dated. You symbolized a piece of film history and theme park history. Farewell and Bon Voyage!”
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