Fallon will host his TV show at Universal to coincide with launch the new ride
Jimmy Fallon’s dream of having a theme park ride based on his personas and TV show is about to be realised.
The TV star, who presents the popular Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, came up with the idea for his own attraction and pitched it to Universal.
Now the ride, Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon, has an official launch date of 6 April at Universal Orlando, promising the ultimate Tonight Show experience and a wild ride through the city.
The 3D ride will be a 72-seat flying theatre, with appearances from show announcer Steve Higgins as well as Grammy award-winning band, The Roots, who wrote the original attraction score.
Riders will speed through the streets of New York and all the way to the moon and back, encountering iconic landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building as they race against Fallon.
“It’s like visiting New York City by going on the craziest, awesomest rollercoaster simulator and going to the Tonight Show all in one ride,” Fallon says. “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever done. It’s so cool. It’s the most exciting, fun thing ever.”
It’s a multi-sensory experience, so riders will be getting wet from the river, smelling pizza and “floating” on the moon. There’ll also be cameos from some of Fallon’s alter egos, including teenager Sara and her puppies, and Jimmy Tight Pants.
“You can’t have a ride without puppies and a 40-year-old dressed as a teenage girl,” Fallon says. “You need both of these things, or else it’s not an attraction.”
Fallon’s career started on Saturday Night Live in 1998. He’s appeared in films like Taxi, Fever Pitch, Ted 2 and the Arthur films.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 1
People profile: Nolan Bushnell
Nolan Bushnell, father of the video game industry, on his new VR business and the future of technology
People profile: Ron Magill
Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill gives the lowdown on the attraction’s new Florida: Mission Everglades zone
People profile: Kim Gladstone Herlev
Denmark’s Experimentarium has reopened after a major renovation. CEO Kim Gladstone Herlev shares his vision for the future
People profile: Jimmy Fallon
Hold on tight! US TV star Jimmy Fallon is the subject of a brand new ride at Universal Orlando
Interview: Matthias Li
Matthias Li, chief executive at Hong Kong’s
Ocean Park, on his response to a changing
visitor profile and rising competition
Pipeline: Opening Doors
There’s an array of attractions set to launch.
We anticipate the hot debuts of the year
Tourism: A Plan for Oman
The Ministry of Tourism’s Maitha Al Mahrouqi
on Oman’s status as a budding destination
Fallon will host his TV show at Universal to coincide with launch the new ride
Jimmy Fallon’s dream of having a theme park ride based on his personas and TV show is about to be realised.
The TV star, who presents the popular Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, came up with the idea for his own attraction and pitched it to Universal.
Now the ride, Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon, has an official launch date of 6 April at Universal Orlando, promising the ultimate Tonight Show experience and a wild ride through the city.
The 3D ride will be a 72-seat flying theatre, with appearances from show announcer Steve Higgins as well as Grammy award-winning band, The Roots, who wrote the original attraction score.
Riders will speed through the streets of New York and all the way to the moon and back, encountering iconic landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building as they race against Fallon.
“It’s like visiting New York City by going on the craziest, awesomest rollercoaster simulator and going to the Tonight Show all in one ride,” Fallon says. “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever done. It’s so cool. It’s the most exciting, fun thing ever.”
It’s a multi-sensory experience, so riders will be getting wet from the river, smelling pizza and “floating” on the moon. There’ll also be cameos from some of Fallon’s alter egos, including teenager Sara and her puppies, and Jimmy Tight Pants.
“You can’t have a ride without puppies and a 40-year-old dressed as a teenage girl,” Fallon says. “You need both of these things, or else it’s not an attraction.”
Fallon’s career started on Saturday Night Live in 1998. He’s appeared in films like Taxi, Fever Pitch, Ted 2 and the Arthur films.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 1
People profile: Nolan Bushnell
Nolan Bushnell, father of the video game industry, on his new VR business and the future of technology
People profile: Ron Magill
Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill gives the lowdown on the attraction’s new Florida: Mission Everglades zone
People profile: Kim Gladstone Herlev
Denmark’s Experimentarium has reopened after a major renovation. CEO Kim Gladstone Herlev shares his vision for the future
People profile: Jimmy Fallon
Hold on tight! US TV star Jimmy Fallon is the subject of a brand new ride at Universal Orlando
Interview: Matthias Li
Matthias Li, chief executive at Hong Kong’s
Ocean Park, on his response to a changing
visitor profile and rising competition
Pipeline: Opening Doors
There’s an array of attractions set to launch.
We anticipate the hot debuts of the year
Tourism: A Plan for Oman
The Ministry of Tourism’s Maitha Al Mahrouqi
on Oman’s status as a budding destination
London Museum will open four new food and drink destinations when it launches its new home
at Smithfield on 28 November, making hospitality a central part of the visitor experience at one
of the capital's biggest cultural openings of the year.
OMA has completed a major transformation of New York's New Museum, creating a larger
cultural campus that combines expanded exhibition spaces with learning, performance,
hospitality and public programming.
A US$50 million (£44.2 million, €51.2 million) transformation of Chicago's historic McCormick
Mansion has created a new destination that combines live magic, immersive theatre, dining and
private membership under one roof.
The Montana Historical Society has officially celebrated the opening of its new Montana
Heritage
Center, a US$107 million (£79 million, €92 million) destination that combines immersive
storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
