Workers are working at a furious pace at Project 340 in Islands of Adventure, wrapping the facade in beautiful rockwork. Meanwhile the inside of the structure is taking shape while the walls continue to enclose the main show building. There are always dozens of workers on site every day. The temple facade is growing to the right of the gate opening, with large supports being installed and readied for more rockwork continuing to the right on the structure. Check out all of the construction photos below.
The Jurassic Park River Adventure is still down for seasonal maintenance at Universal's Islands of Adventure. It appears that the water has been drained to facilitate cleaning and maintenance work. Other areas outside of the ride are also receiving some love such as planters and brickwork around the land. With the Jurassic World film less than 100 days from opening it'll be nice to have everything back in working order on the ride, including, hopefully, all of the animatronic figures' rubber skins, which need to be replaced and repaired quite often in the Florida sun and rain.
Check out the photos below, of both the ride rehab, and some sights around the area. I was fortunate to meet a baby triceratops on my travels and you can see a video below.
During the slow season is when the parks like to get their annual refurbs done. At Islands of Adventure they've just completed work on Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls and Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges in Toon Lagoon. Now that things are all sparkly and new over there they've moved their attention to the Jurassic Park River Adventure and surrounding areas. Workers have been cleaning the rockwork at the big drop, painting posts and there are construction walls up all around the area. Everything is going to be all shiny and new just in time for Jurassic World to hit theaters this summer! See the pictures below. ...continue reading →
The rockwork has finally begun over at Project 340 in Islands of Adventure. Things are shaping up to make for a gorgeous facade. In addition to the temple gate area a flat two-dimensional "rock-like" structure is being applied to block the show building from guests inside the park. It looks like that's what will be seen looming behind the Thunder Falls restaurant in Jurassic Park, which is good, as rocks look better than another big building ruining the skyline. Construction photos from today are below!
Also, today Comcast executives let the cat out of the bag during an earnings call, confirming that Kong is in fact returning to Orlando. "As we continue to invest in attractions, including Harry Potter and Fast and Furious in Hollywood and a King Kong attraction in Orlando, investments in our theme park are driving strong returns," said Michael Angelakis, CFO, during the fourth-quarter conference call. There has not yet been an official announcement from Universal Orlando, but at this point in the construction it's pretty hard to deny what's being built. This is clearly the temple gate from Skull Island we're seeing. ...continue reading →
In checking in on the construction progress at the site of Project 340 in Islands of Adventure, it looks like rockwork for the facade is about to be applied. The steel skeleton has been wrapped in some sort of cloth and then a wire mesh that resembles a tough chicken-wire, to maintain its shape. In addition to the huge facade, a two-dimensional cutout of what looks like rough rocks has been added behind the gate to block the view of top of the show building. This flat piece is being wrapped in weather-proof materials in preparation for its forthcoming aesthetic covering. Check out today's Construction photo report below and be sure to subscribe for more updates! ...continue reading →
The huge facade on the front-side of the building at the site of Project 340 in Islands of Adventure is starting to really resemble the temple gate from the King Kong films as construction continues. In addition to the facade work, walls have started to go up around the indoor queue section near the right side of the structure. See the construction photos from today below to catch up on the progress.
Here's a comparison of the current structure to a still from the 2005 King Kong film:
Kongstruction is back in swing and stronger than ever this week. More and more steel has been arriving each day to the site of Project 340 in Islands of Adventure. The walls on all sides of the building are almost all up while the large facade supports continue to grow along the front edge of the structure. What looks to be the steel skeleton for the left-side of the large gate from Skull Island can now be seen. Below are the construction photos from today's visit. ...continue reading →
Since we last checked in at Project 340 in Islands of Adventure, what looks to be the supports for a temple facade has gone up, and a smaller portion of building has been erected in front of the large show building. This smaller structure will most likely house sections of the indoor queue, leading up to the load area deeper inside. Rumors from this forum thread point to the queue being an underground temple theme. Compare pictures from today's update below to the last update and you can see this entire offshoot was freshly added within the last few weeks. See all the construction update images below.
In Skull Island movie news, the film's release has been pushed back from November 4, 2016, to March 10, 2017. It's also getting the new title of Kong: Skull Island, (in case you weren't sure which Skull Island it's going to be about). J.K. Simmons has been added to the cast, hot off the heals of the critically acclaimed Whiplash. He'll co-star beside Tom Hiddleston in the King Kong movie Legendary is calling a“new, distinct timeline” within the iconic beast’s canon. In other words, it's going to be a reboot and maybe take place in a different time period besides the 1930's, perhaps even modern day? That could be interesting.
Looks like the facade of the giant building in Islands of Adventure may turn out something like this
On a brisk November Florida morning I was able to grab some more pictures of the construction progress at Project 340 in Islands of Adventure. Things are moving right along as the wall continues to be completed along the front. The building has already grown 20% wider since I last saw it, bringing it all the way behind the Thunder Falls Terrace restaurant now. You can see new steel arriving and being assembled along the front wall. My guess is this will be the skeleton for the massive amount of rock-work and temple facade we can expect for this structure. There are many footers in place surrounding the front of the building where the facade will most likely be installed. Check out the pictures below from today's update. ...continue reading →
Progress is moving right along at Islands of Adventure between Toon Lagoon and Jurassic Park as the lot continues to grow and they prepare to lay down foundation. Today they were expanding the footprint all the way to the border of Toon Lagoon. Bamboo has been added along the construction walls to help keep the big hole in the ground from being too easily visible to guests. The pathway doesn't look so bad anymore as concrete where the Jurassic Park arch has been filled in as well.
The intrepid folks over at Parkscope uncovered official plans for drainage and construction permits for the area. Dubbed 'Project 340', the area is going to cover about 4.5 acres. There has not been an official announcement yet, but word on the street is that it's definitely going to be Skull Island. Only time will tell. Click on an image below to see a larger version. ...continue reading →
Workers are working at a furious pace at Project 340 in Islands of Adventure, wrapping the facade in beautiful rockwork. Meanwhile the inside of the structure is taking shape while the walls continue to enclose the main show building. There are always dozens of workers on site every day. The temple facade is growing to the right of the gate opening, with large supports being installed and readied for more rockwork continuing to the right on the structure. Check out all of the construction photos below.
