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
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
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
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
The government of Thailand is exploring plans for a THB300bn (£6.3bn, US$8.3bn)
entertainment complex in the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with officials
proposing a large-scale theme park and sports destination as part of a broader tourism and
economic development strategy.
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
