The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (also known as The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man: The Ride in

Universal Studios Japan is a theme park located in Osaka, Japan. Opened on March 31, 2001, it is one of six Universal Studios theme parks worldwide and was the first to open outside the United States. The park is owned and operated by a wholly owned subsidiary of NB ...

) is a motion-based 3D

dark ride A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects. Appearing as early as the 19th century, su ...

at the

Islands of Adventure Universal's Islands of Adventure (also known as Islands of Adventure or IOA), originally called Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. It opened on May 28, 1999, along with CityWalk, as part of an ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

s, based on the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

superhero Spider-Man. Built for Islands of Adventure's opening in 1999, it is a hybrid ride combining special roving motion vehicles with 3D projection, elaborate physical sets, and practical and tactile effects. The ride turns park guests into last-minute reporters for the ''

Daily Bugle The ''Daily Bugle'' (at one time ''The DB'') is a fictional New York City tabloid newspaper appearing as a plot element in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The ''Daily Bugle'' is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, mos ...

.'' After boarding a vehicle known as the "Scoop", they learn that the

Sinister Syndicate The Sinister Syndicate is a group of supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters serve as a collection of lesser-known Spider-Man villains. The group was the focus of the 1991 ''Deadly Foes of Spider ...

has captured the Statue of Liberty with an

anti-gravity Anti-gravity (also known as non-gravitational field) is a hypothetical phenomenon of creating a place or object that is free from the force of gravity. It does not refer to the lack of weight under gravity experienced in free fall or orbit, or t ...

gun. This evil group is made up of five famous Spider-Man villains:

Doctor Octopus Doctor Octopus (Dr. Otto Gunther Octavius), also known as Doc Ock for short, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in ''Th ...

Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...

, Electro,

Hydro-Man Hydro-Man (Morris "Morrie" Bench) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics as an enemy of the superhero Spider-Man. Once an ordinary crewman, Morris Bench was accidentally knocked overboard while stationed on ...

and the

Hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Nig ...

, and it is up to Spider-Man to defeat them and save the guests. The attraction took three years to develop, and required the development of new multimedia technologies. It has received critical acclaim, winning several awards including the

Golden Ticket Award ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...

for Best Dark Ride for 12 consecutive years.

History

On March 27, 1999, Islands of Adventure opened for technical rehearsals, with ''The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man'' being one of its debut attractions. On May 28, 1999, the attraction officially opened to the public. Due to its success,

opened a version of the ride on January 23, 2004. On May 19, 2011, Islands of Adventure announced a major refurbishment of the attraction, with plans to remaster its entire video content in high definition, update its mechanics, and replace its film projectors with Infitec digital projectors. The refurbished attraction debuted on March 8, 2012, in time for the release of the 2012 film ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bimonthly per ...

''. In 2013, the attraction at Universal Studios Japan underwent a similar refurbishment with 4KHD projections and reopened on July 5, 2013. After Stan Lee died on November 12, 2018, a desk in the Islands of Adventure attraction's queue area was decorated with Spider-Man items,

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s, and photos of Lee.

Experience

Queue

Guests enter the ''

'' building from

Marvel Super Hero Island Marvel Super Hero Island is an area at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure park in Orlando, Florida that is themed after popular Marvel Comics superheroes. The area opened in 1999, ten years prior to Universal competitor The Walt Disney Co ...

at Islands of Adventure or

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

at Universal Studios Japan. Guests are shown a video in which the company's good reputation is touted and a new high tech news-gathering vehicle, the "Scoop", is introduced. After walking through the empty office, guests see a "live" video feed of news coverage: Five supervillains led by

have lain siege to the city using an experimental anti-gravity cannon the Doctor has created. The syndicate steals the Statue of Liberty and threatens to destroy it if the city does not surrender to them. As the guests continue through the Daily ''Bugle'''s offices, it becomes apparent that the reporters have fled, leaving Editor-in-Chief J. Jonah Jameson no choice but to send the guests to cover the story using the Bugle's new Scoop vehicle.

Ride experience

After donning night vision goggles (3D glasses), the "cub reporters" get in the Scoop and leave the loading docks to a

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

back alley where they encounter Spider-Man. He warns that he is in for "the most dangerous night of his life" and for the guests to "be careful". In this scene, a series of synchronized effects are used to simulate Spider-Man jumping on the Scoop. Barely missing a trash truck driven by a Stan Lee cameo, the guests enter a

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

where the

are holding the Statue of Liberty hostage. Once spotted, Electro tries to shock the guests with a sparking wire. The Scoop absorbs the electricity and vibrates, knocking Electro backwards. After this,

tries to shred the guests as

pulls her out of the way and fires his anti-gravity ray at the Scoop. A part of the Statue of Liberty is shown in the green light. Guests enter the sewers where Spider-Man is waiting. However,

appears behind him as he slams a pipe into the Scoop while Spider-Man attacks him. Following this,

busts through a brick wall and grabs the Scoop's front bumper, preparing to attack with a fiery claw. The bumper breaks loose, causing Doctor Octopus to stumble backwards. Then, the Scoop approaches the river where

tries to attack the guests with his pumpkin bombs. Spider-Man comes to catch one of the incoming pumpkin bombs, but Hobgoblin throws another pumpkin bomb as a fireball explodes above the guests. The Scoop is then sent into the streets where Spider Man fights Doctor Octopus.

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man queue 21

In the ride's climax, Doctor Octopus lifts the Scoop up to a simulated height of using the anti-gravity cannon. A number of synchronized effects help achieve this without the vehicle leaving the ground, including a movable building set, lighting cues, simulator movements, projections and wind effects. Spider-Man attempts to pull the Scoop down, but is attacked by all the supervillains. Spider-Man thwarts them, but not before Doctor Octopus disengages the anti-gravity device, sending the Scoop on a simulated free fall until it is rescued by Spider-Man's webbing right above the ground (stopping above a manhole cover that says "Not An Exit") and another Stan Lee cameo. Spider-Man capture all of the supervillains using his webs, and Doctor Octopus unsuccessfully tries to attack him one last time. As the vehicle pulls into the unload station, Spider-Man thanks the guests for their help and sends them back to the ''Daily Bugle'', where he has rigged the anti-gravity cannon to lift Jameson up to the ceiling in his office. Guests unload while a modern rendition of the classic Spider-Man theme song plays and a voiceover of Stan Lee instructs the riders on exiting properly.

Voice cast

Chris Edgerly Chris Edgerly (born August 6, 1969) is an American voice actor, comedian and singer. Life and career Edgerly provided the voice of Peter Potamus on the Adult Swim animated series, '' Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', in addition to several ...

as Peter Parker / Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson *

Rodger Bumpass Rodger Bumpass (born November 20, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his long-running role as Squidward Tentacles on the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He voices several other characters on the show as ...

as Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus *

Bill Fagerbakke William Fagerbakke ( ; born October 4, 1957) is an American actor. He voices Patrick Star in the animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and played Michael "Dauber" Dybinski on the sitcom ''Coach (TV series), Coach''. He also appeared in 12 ep ...

as Morris Bench / Hydro-Man * Pat Fraley as Ned Leeds / Hobgoblin *

Candi Milo Candyce Anne Rose "Candi" Milo (born January 9, 1961) Timestamps: (00:27:12-00:27:45) Milo states that she is "firmly 51". (00:06:40-00:06:47) Milo states that she was born in Palm Springs. (00:16:23-00:16:25) She says her birthday is in Januar ...

as Donna Diego / Scream *

Jim Wise James M. Wise (born July 30, 1964) is an American actor, singer, writer and composer. He is perhaps best known for his recurring role as Coach Tugnut in the Disney Channel Original Series ''Even Stevens''. He is also known for his voice-over wo ...

as Max Dillion / Electro Additionally in the refurbished version of the attraction, Stan Lee voices the Ride Announcer and makes several cameo appearances.

Production

Development

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man layout

Development of ''The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man'' at Islands of Adventure began in 1996. Allen Ambrosini from ''At The Park Magazine'' stated theme park guests in the late 1990s were becoming more sophisticated, desiring rides that combined theming and thrills in a single immersive experience. The ride's creators set out to combine the motion simulation elements of '' Back to the Future: The Ride'' with a 3D film similar to that used in '' T2 3-D: Battle Across Time''. The result was a prototype ride system combining a track-mounted motion base vehicle with 3D projections and other special effects, with the aim of immersing guests in a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

world.

Universal Creative Universal Creative designs and creates themed attractions, rides, and resorts, for Universal Parks & Resorts. Its divisions include master planning, creative development, design, engineering, project management, and research and development. The ...

brought together a number of companies including the Oceaneering Entertainment Systems division of Oceaneering International, Birket Engineering, Moog,

Soundelux Soundelux is an American audio post production company based in California, a previous member of the Todd Soundelux group of sound companies. The Soundelux library and trademark was bought in 2014 by Sounddogs. In 2021, original founders Bender ...

, Kleizer Walczak, and Rinehart Manufacturing.

Ride system

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man vehicle model 1

The original concept for the ride was planned as an Omnimover ride system with 3D effects combined with 4D elements, which would be make the experience unique compared to other Omnimover rides that came before. The debut of

Indiana Jones Adventure Indiana Jones Adventure is an enhanced motion vehicle dark ride A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, ...

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

in 1995, in which an Enhanced Motion Vehicle (EMV) transports riders, led Universal Creative to come up with a unique vehicle design to enhance the 3D experience. Moving away from a standard Omnimover transport system where vehicles simply rotate on a horizontal axis, they designed their own EMV capable of six degrees of freedom – heave, sway, surge, yaw, pitch, and roll. The ride vehicles, co-developed by Oceaneering International, are mounted to a track-roaming platform that provides the forward motion to move the vehicle through each show scene. The yaw motor and attached stewart platform allow them to move 360 degrees at different angles along the track. The track switches were manufactured by Dynamic Structures. Each of the vehicles designed by

Thierry Coup Thierry Jean-Andre Coup is the current senior vice president, chief creative officer of Universal Creative, Universal Parks & Resorts' research and development division. Coup began his career working in the film industry, performing set design ...

are themed as the ''Daily Bugle''s new "Scoop" vehicle for reporters, with each accommodating 12 riders. Each row of four riders is restrained by a single lap bar. The system was invented by Universal Creative employees Philip Hettema, William Mason, and

Gary Goddard Gary Goddard (born July 18, 1954) is an American producer and director who co-founded the Landmark Entertainment Group. In 2002, he left it to form Gary Goddard Entertainment (GGE), later known as the Goddard Group, an entertainment design firm ...

. A similar system has been patented by Oceaneering International and used on rides such as '' The Curse of DarKastle'' at

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Busch Gardens Williamsburg (formerly known as Busch Gardens Europe and Busch Gardens: The Old Country) is a amusement park located in Williamsburg, Virginia, James City County near Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Located approximately ...

, ''Tokyo Panic Cruise'' at

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

, and ''Speed of Magic'' at

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi Ferrari World Abu Dhabi ( ar, عالم فيراري أبوظبي) is a mostly indoors theme park located on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is the world’s first Ferrari-themed park and features Formula Rossa, the world's fas ...

. The ride system was prototyped for the attraction at Islands of Adventure, and later installed at Universal Studios Japan. It has also been utilized for '' Transformers: The Ride'' at

Universal Studios Singapore Universal Studios Singapore (abbreviation: USS) is a theme park located within the Resorts World Sentosa at Sentosa, Singapore. It features 28 rides, shows, and attractions in seven themed zones. It is one of the six Universal Studios theme ...

Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. About 70% of the studio lies within the unincorporated county island known as Universal City while the rest lies w ...

and

Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...

Ride film and projections

''The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man'' was primarily developed by Universal Creative, the research and development division of

Universal Parks & Resorts Universal Parks & Resorts, also known as Universal Studios Theme Parks or solely Universal Theme Parks, is the theme park unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The company, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, operates Universal theme par ...

. Scott Trowbridge, who now works for

Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attra ...

, was its producer.

, who has since worked on '' Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey'' and '' Transformers: The Ride'', was the director and production designer. Trowbridge and Coup helped develop the attraction's storyboards. They travelled to Massachusetts several times to meet with animation directors Jeff Kleiser and Diana Walczak and their team at Kleiser-Walczak Construction Co. (now Synthespian Studios) who provided the stereoscopic animation and custom software for ''squinching'' (see below). Coup produced the film alongside Patrick Mooney and Mark Rhodes. Scott Trowbridge and

are given writing credits alongside Ross Osterman and

Scott Peterson Scott Lee Peterson (born October 24, 1972) is an American convicted murderer. In 2004, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Laci, who was pregnant at the time, and the second-degree murder of their unborn son, Conner, in Mod ...

. Peter Lehman provided the soundtrack with

. The attraction features thirteen projection screens, twelve of which use 3D projection. It uses a

polarized 3D system A polarized 3D system uses polarization glasses to create the illusion of three-dimensional images by restricting the light that reaches each eye (an example of stereoscopy). To present stereoscopic images and films, two images are projected s ...

where each screen's two projectors have polarizers that interact with each lens of the 3D glasses. The 3D effect is achieved by blocking light from one projector with each lens, overcoming the limitations of traditional 3D projections, where off-center viewing positions reduce the 3D effect. To allow the ride to effectively combine 3D projections with moving viewers, Kleiser-Walczak and their head of software, Frank Vtiz, developed a process they called squinching: The amount of distortion is computed from a particular viewing angle; then the same distortion is added to the projection, in the opposite direction, to counteract it. Models were used to determine the ride's path and the vehicle's point of view, then full-scale prototypes were developed. Trowbridge and Coup are credited with inventing the process, with Universal Studios holding a patent for it.

Special effects

In addition to the ride's motion base and 3D projections, special effects including fog machines, fire, wind, heat, mist, strobe lights, and water spray are also employed throughout it. All of these effects are controlled by a central control system that operates them at a resolution of 1/30th of a second. Shortly before the ride's debut, Steve Blum, the director of show and ride engineering at Islands of Adventure, described ''The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man'' as the "most technically complex of all of the attractions" at the park. Vice president of design and creative development Mark Woodbury stated that they "would not have been able to tell this particular story if it weren't for the technical tools".

Reception

''The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man'' has been cited by many as one of Universal's best amusement rides. Howard Shapiro of ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' said it was "bound to become one of the all-time attractions of theme parks anywhere", and described its climax as the "most amazing effect". Bill Dean of ''

The Ledger ''The Ledger'' is a daily newspaper serving Lakeland, Florida, and the Polk County area. The paper was founded on August 22, 1924, as the ''Lakeland Evening Ledger''. In 1927, it bought its main competitor, the morning ''Lakeland Star-Telegram ...

'' described it as the "most impressive" attraction at Islands of Adventure. Guests interviewed by Dean praised the ride with comments including "I loved it", "I think this is better Back_to_the_Future:_The_Ride''.html" ;"title="han '' Back to the Future: The Ride''">han '' Back to the Future: The Ride''because of the 3-D effects", and "it was so exciting and everything was happening all at once… It was really, really good". Arthur Levine of

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

gave it 5 stars, describing it as "an incredibly sophisticated attraction" that "blurs the line between virtual and reality so well that you'll emerge slack-jawed and awestruck". He stated the enhancements made to the film projections in 2012 and 2013 "make teven more immersive and awe-inspiring". Brady MacDonald of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' rated it his second favorite in the world, after

. Following the opening of fellow Universal rides Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Transformers: The Ride 3D in 2010 and 2012, MacDonald bumped ''The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man'' to his fourth favorite. In an interview for ''Amusement Business'', Mark Hansen Jr. of Theme Park Critic praised the ride, and said that their "dream ride" would combine ''The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man'' with a

4th Dimension roller coaster A fourth-dimension roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster whereby riders are rotated independently of the orientation of the track, generally about a horizontal axis that is perpendicular to the track. The cars do not necessarily nee ...

such as '' X'' at

Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newh ...

. The websit
Theme Park Insider
rated it 9 out of 10, based on 250 reviews. In April 2004, just three months after the ride opened at Universal Studios Japan, ''Amusement Business'' reported the park was "benefiting greatly from the addition of the ride". Figures released at the end of 2004 showed Universal Studios Japan's attendance rose from 8.8 million in 2003 to 9.9 million in 2004, ranking it the sixth most visited park worldwide.

Awards

''The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man'' has received many awards from the amusement park industry. It won ''

Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arli ...

''s Golden Ticket Award for Best Dark Ride for 12 consecutive years, from 1999–2010. It has since placed second in that category, after fellow Islands of Adventure attraction '' Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey'' took the top spot in 2011. In 2000, the ride won a Thea Award from the

Themed Entertainment Association The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) is an international non-profit association that represents creators, developers, designers and producers of themed entertainment. It is also noted for its THEA Awards, which were founded in 1995 and ar ...

for outstanding themed entertainment and experience design. It has also won numerous public-voted Theme Park Insider Awards and Screamscape Ultimate Awards.

References

External links

Official website
to much the Islands of attraction

for the Universal Studios Japan attraction * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amazing Adventures Of Spider-Man, The 1990s 3D films Amusement rides introduced in 1999 Amusement rides introduced in 2004 Amusement rides manufactured by Dynamic Structures Amusement rides manufactured by Oceaneering International Dark rides Islands of Adventure Licensed-properties at Universal Parks & Resorts Marvel Comics in amusement parks Simulator rides Spider-Man in amusement parks Universal Parks & Resorts films Universal Studios Japan Universal Parks & Resorts attractions by name 1999 establishments in Florida 2004 establishments in Japan