The Complicated History of JAWS at Universal Studios Florida

A Disastrous Opening

For a movie theme park filled with blockbusters, Universal Studios Florida’s debut was anything but. The $600 million theme park opened to the public on Thursday, June 7, 1990—a day marked with extreme technical issues and thousands of disappointed guests.

A power outage and operational complications affected the park’s major attractions, including Kongfrontation, Earthquake: The Big One, and especially JAWS.

JAWS was closed throughout most of the day; park personnel publicly blamed its closure on possible lightning in the area, despite beautiful weather.

In the following days, Kongfrontation and Earthquake were operationally reduced to technical rehearsals; JAWS, however, was fully closed for maintenance, reopening for technical rehearsals that weekend. The limited JAWS was met with a generally positive reception, despite a number of effects not working. With so many effects missing, some skippers reportedly improvised with reactions like, “Imagine explosions over there.”

JAWS wasn’t perfect yet, but at least it was open.

JAWS 1.0

To experience JAWS, guests entered a real life Amity Island. This Amity Island, set in the timeline of the movie, celebrated the Fourth of July year-round, giving it a spirited, energetic feel across the midway. The coastal town had a quaint, believable look to it—almost as if you could smell a salty ocean breeze. Its white-picket-fence, happy-go-lucky feel lulled guests into a false sense of security as a terror dwelled beyond the shores ahead.

The town led to a photo op of Bruce the shark hanging on display, right in front of the ride’s entrance.

Inside, the queue spanned three boathouse-like buildings with props and decorations sourced from Northeastern fishing communities.

The ride’s 7-acre, 5-million-gallon lagoon wrapped around a central island. Its charming New-England-style buildings hid the ride’s large equipment, such as its water filtration system. The convincingly themed environment made the open-air ride even more believable.

Guests boarded large inflatable pontoon cruisers that looked intentionally flimsy as part of the story. Piloting each boat were live onboard skippers, playing an even bigger role.

The scenic tour to Lighthouse Cove was accompanied by a condensed version of John Williams’ iconic soundtrack. The attraction began by cruising by Quint’s shack with the Orca boat docked outside. Riders clearly overheard an argument from Quint, discussing how the hanging shark outside wasn’t their shark. The skipper reassured riders the waters were safe as the nonchalant tour moved along.

A radio transmission from another boat in distress interrupted the tour, instantly dragging down the ride’s upbeat tone. Around the bend, guests witnessed a tour boat just like theirs sinking bow-first into the lagoon—with no survivors. Terror stuck as a fin emerged from the water, prowling for the next victim before dipping back under the surface.

The massive shark reappeared on the starboard side of the pontoon. The panicked skipper grabbed a grenade launcher, shooting and missing the shark a few times.

After a back-and-forth with the chief over the radio, the skipper navigated into a nearby boathouse for safety. The sign on the building read “Jay’s Boathouse” as a reference to Jay Stein, president of Universal Studios Florida. This dark, indoor scene was a break from the Florida sun, but not from the shark. The giant great white broke into the boathouse, and riders got their first full glimpse of the shark and its vicious teeth. A highly articulate Jaws animatronic darted at the pontoon in the dim, eerie boathouse.

The ride’s final two scenes were its most ambitious. After escaping the boathouse, the tour boat was still being hunted, but the shark was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, the shark lunged out of the open water, attacked the flimsy pontoon boat, and dragged it across the lagoon. This terrifying scene worked with a turntable system that rotated in sync with the thrashing animatronic shark.

The tour struggled onward, as the menacing fin resurfaced, swam toward the boat, dove underneath, and bumped it. Jaws came back for one final scare: The shark charged out of the water with its mouth ready to attack the boat. The skipper shot another grenade, landing directly in the shark’s mouth. Jaws swam back underwater. The delayed grenade went off, blowing up the savage shark similar to the end of Spielberg’s 1975 film.

After this scene, the boat returned back at the dock to drop guests off.

The ride’s explosive climax was made possible with a contraption called the “meat machine,” created by producer Craig Barr and fabricated by TRA Architects. The effect launched water and rubber shark chunks into the sky, simulating an underwater explosion. It then spurted red dye into the water, which was defused right after. The pieces would catch into a net system and funnel down to reset the effect for the next boat.