How It Worked: JAWS The Ride

Jaws The Ride was an incredibly immersive opening day ride at Universal Studios Florida, but was plagued with countless technical issues. In this video I'll show you the history, engineering and technology behind the ride. Enjoy!

Footage provided by: @attractionsmagazine @ThemeParkStop @UniversalOrlando @MartinsVidsDotNet

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[AmusementLabs]

Did you get to ride Jaws or the even rarer 1990 version? Share your memories below. 🙂
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[sonicobsessions]

The live actors/actresses is the best part of this shows. Always grade A performance

[donniewan]

I was a Skipper from 1995 to 1997. I have so many good memories of working on this ride. Summers were brutally hot and Winters would be pretty unbearable at times. My biggest fear was always falling in the water in the part @9:35. That scissor lift could potentially grab you and drag you underwater, crushing you. That was one of the reasons a giant "Emergency Stop" or "EStop" button was installed. We were also equipped with a cord that would pull the EStop if we happened to fall in the water. In addition to all of that, we had to be water safety trained. It was a fun job for a college kid.

[ethanleclair]

I went in this ride 12 times in a row one day on my birthday and wanted to be a skipper my whole childhood, I memorized the entire script and would mouth it along every time until it closed. Rip I’m luv u jaws

[cstumpy]

With Universals’s new park, Epic Universe, opening in the near future, I feel like they should bring this ride back for the 50th anniversary of Jaws. New tech advancements would make it even more fun and scary!

[jamesmckeever]

I can’t be the only person who’s had nightmares about falling off this boat and seeing a bunch of mechanical sharks surrounding me

[kevindiossi]

When I was a kid, this was THE ride. Universal really did have the most ambitious rides back then and Jaws was the top of my list. Now the wife and I are passholders and I still relive the nostalgia, even if Ghostbusters, Kongfrontation, Earthquake, and Jaws are distant memories of my childhood.

[zacharybozeman]

For everyone that got to ride this your a legend!

[MrLuckyAndrew]

man imagine how many times this skipper of of this ride and jungle cruise have to reenact over and over during their shifts, daily, weekly, monthly. props to these performers and BRUCE!

[MrSnakehair]

I’ll always remember riding this with my family! One of my favorite pictures of my now passed dad is him smiling on this ride. :)

[brandonbrouillette]

This ride traumatized me as a child. I wish I could experience it again

[mufasajosue]

Most underrated theme park channel! I’m currently interested in theme park engineering and this is by far the best “how it works” channel. Keep it up!

[ThePointymetal]

“The 1st of the eight sharks” is all I needed to hear they went all in on this attraction

[curtismartin]

The fire was so intense... I can still feel it today.

[tatianabaia]

I rode this ride when I was around five years old and my dad purposefully sat me right on the edge of the boat conveniently forgetting to tell me the shark was not real. I was so scared by the end of the ride I almost started crying.

[splewy]

It’s kind of sad to see complex practical effect attractions like this going away. Dark rides will never capture the same experience of actually seeing, hearing and feeling things actually happening before your eyes. I still vividly remember feeling the heat from the gas dock explosion on this ride.

[doctordetroit]

Back in July 97, we queued for over 4 hours to get on the ride, well worth it, I was "lucky" enough to be directly in line with Bruce when he bit the power cable, got some great photos!

[brienbloomfield]

I can still feel the intense heat on my skin when the gas station blew up. Absolutely loved this ride! It was the highlight of my 13th birthday back in 1996

[Sheza]

Wow! The first incarnation looked really good. The shark looked great!

[BEMSLife]

Went on this in the very early 90's, maybe 91/92. It was working. Possibly the best holiday I've ever had, to this day!