Islands of Adventure’s Very Unusual Abandoned Dr. Seuss Ride

What Went Wrong

The opening of Sylvester McMonkey McBean’s Very Unusual Driving Machines was delayed. As to why: Rumors suggest Universal executives were not satisfied with the design for a few reasons.

Capacity

First, the attraction would have had poor capacity—possibly only a few hundred riders per hour. Islands of Adventure, being Orlando’s newest theme park, was expected to pull in large crowds, so efficiency was important.

As an aside, the Pteranodon Flyers children’s roller coaster across the park had similar capacity issues. This was managed with a rule that adults could ride only when accompanying a child. The Very Unusual Driving Machines ride may have needed a similar rule if it ever opened, but this is just speculation.

Some rumors say the vehicles couldn’t accommodate adults, which would have been an issue for parents wanting to ride with their children. As a note, ride documents claim the vehicles were designed with a minimum assumption of 175 pounds per rider.

Evacuation

Second, and more importantly, the ride was not ideally equipped for emergency evacuations.

Seuss Landing’s creative director denied this rumor, explaining the vehicles could coast down the sloped tracks to safe exit areas; battery-powered tug vehicles were supposedly available to rescue stranded cars.

This was a point of conversation because most sections of the ride’s monorail track did not have any accessible evacuation platforms, walkways, or stairs. For example, Magic Kingdom’s PeopleMover has platforms on either side of the track. Considering the Seuss track was up to about 15 feet high, this meant riders could be stuck in the event of a power outage, malfunction, or other emergency. If an emergency were to occur mid-ride, the rumor mill believed riders would have no way to exit, and the vehicles could not return to the station on their own.

If true, this was a serious omission and raised several concerns. One was that riders might not remain seated during a stop, although the patent specified the ride would have restraints.

Discussions were going on behind the scenes about modifying the ride system to meet Universal’s standards. The option of installing more evacuation platforms and exits would have been expensive, especially if designed in a Seuss style.

“It was the push pull with what’s safe what’s creative. And of course, we creatively would never do anything that’s unsafe, but if you have to do so much to be safe that it takes away from the whole experience, then there’s a problem there too.”
Lisa Girolami, show producer of Seuss Landing, Recalled to Adventure podcast, 2024

Perhaps a solution would have been to rescue riders with a scissor lift or similar equipment, but that may be complicated to operate on the pathways of a busy theme park.

Very Unusual Machines, Very Unlikely to Open

No matter the workaround, the ride system did not turn out as intended. It needed a lot of work to get it up and running. Rumors suggest neither the manufacturer nor Universal were willing to pay for additional work, which allegedly was outside the scope of the contract.

Thus, neither side was willing to give in—just like the Zax—leaving the project at a standstill. A common claim is that the manufacturer, Severn-Lamb, was facing financial difficulties. Regardless, the ride had a lot of issues to overcome, and the manufacturer was no longer available for the project.

“I think we pushed them way too hard, and they had trouble being successful.”
Lisa Girolami, show producer of Seuss Landing, Recalled to Adventure podcast, 2024

The attraction, which once had high expectations, was becoming more trouble than it was worth, even with the track already in place.

Canceled

When guests first visited Islands of Adventure, a sign at the entrance of the delayed Seuss car ride teased its eventual opening for the next year, 2000. When that time came, the sign was updated with a new opening year, 2001. The ride seemed to still have a chance, but that changed by early 2001; the sign no longer had an opening date. A park spokesperson confirmed the ride was not ready and did not have an opening date.

“We are not opening in 2001. There is no opening date at this time.”
Jim Canfield, park spokesperson, The Orlando Sentinel, 2001

The original version of Sylvester McMonkey McBean’s Very Unusual Driving Machines was canceled.

A ride like the Very Unusual Driving Machines was much needed at Islands of Adventure in its opening year. The brand-new park was criticized for its lack of family-level attractions. Universal addressed this gap in its lineup by opening Storm Force Accelatron and Flying Unicorn in the park’s second year.

Despite being a needed ride type, the Very Unusual Driving Machines were not in the park’s plans. The trademark was abandoned in 2003 as Universal went in another direction. The tracks remained untouched for the foreseeable future. The ride vehicles, however, didn’t last; Seuss Landing’s creative director joked that the never-used ride vehicles were locked away “next to the Ark of the Covenant” from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

“Remember that warehouse at the end of the first Indiana Jones movie? I think they put them in there next to the Ark of the Covenant.”
Chris Lauren, creative director of Seuss Landing, Tampa Bay Times, 2006

Legal Dispute

The technical difficulties of Sylvester McMonkey McBean’s Very Unusual Driving Machines led to a legal dispute between Universal Orlando and the ride’s manufacturer, Severn-Lamb. The case offers some potential reasons why the project fell through.

According to public documents, Universal alleged that deficiencies in the ride’s design and engineering supposedly resulted in delays, additional work, and increased construction costs. Universal also alleged the attraction did not meet its intended “guest experience, creative intent, and guest throughput objectives.”

Severn-Lamb disputed Universal’s allegations, and because the case settled before trial, those claims were never decided by a court. A jury trial had been scheduled for 2006, but the parties reached an out-of-court settlement just weeks beforehand. The terms of that agreement were not made public.

Repurposing the Unused Venue

While the Very Unusual Driving Machines ride was put on ice, Universal made use of its vacant queue space.

In the park’s opening year, the area was used as a break room for team members of the short-lived ferry boat ride, Island Skipper Tours.

In 2000, the venue was a part of the park’s first Grinchmas celebration. The queue space under the load station during the event was used for a seasonal meet and greet attraction called Grinch’s Lair, which lasted in that venue until 2005.

By that point, Universal had sky-high plans for the venue and its abandoned ride system.