The Making of Men in Black: Alien Attack at Universal Studios Florida

The Ride

Training Range

The ride starts with some target practice around a plainly designed city display. Trainees zap at alien cutout targets and pass through a garage door to the next training room, but an emergency interrupts the program.

Crash Site

The crumbled facility walls open up to a crashlanding where a prisoner spacecraft from Planet LV-428smashed smack dab in the middle of Manhattan. This is not a drill as the zappers are energized to full power, and the recruits are rushed into the action.

The ride rolls out to the streets of New York City where the scum of the universe are running amok. Among the rubble, fugitive aliens have scattered and are hiding in plain sight around the city. They could be anywhere, like in baby carriages, storefronts, upper-story windows, vending carts, taxis, and streetlights.

One alien springs up from behind a stack of crates and blasts smoke at the ride vehicles, which spin out of control. A monstrous alien bursts from a corner building, waving its tentacles and weapon around, which is a big-ticket target in the game.

The ride rounds the corner and pivots under sprays of water from alien chaos. With the situation getting out of hand, the ride vehicles split up into alleyways.

Ambush

A lone alien at the end of the lane raises its hands in surrender, only to stand up and loom over the ride vehicle. Aliens pop out from trash cans and barrels, outnumbering riders in a surprise attack. The ambush sends the ride vehicle spiraling into Central Park.

In the small Central Park scene, high-value glowing eyes watch from some trees while aliens in disguise play chess.

Scan and Finale

Zed chimes in with a warning that the other training vehicle might be secretly infested with aliens, so the ride takes a detour to a nearby MIB scanner.

The scan reveals the other car is overrun by undercover aliens. Recruits are then instructed to zap at the opposing vehicle’s fusion exhaust port, which rises over the car like an antenna. Every hit triggers the other car to spin, rewarding the zapper as one of the more valuable targets on the ride.

Aliens are wreaking havoc around the construction site, some hiding behind posters on the wall, which are also worth a lot of points.

Moving on, more aliens sneak around clever hiding spots, and the ride continues toward Times Square. Agent J broadcasts from the mega screen warning the rookies about a colossal alien close by.

As the ride vehicle turns around, riders are up against a 30-foot-tall alien ready to swallow them alive. The 50-foot-wide figure was marketed as Universal’s largest animatronic when the ride first opened. The multi-eyed sculpted figure has some animated elements with its 20-foot-long claw.

The ride vehicle inches closer toward the bug as the recruits are swallowed whole—like Agent K from the movie. With only one thing left to do, Agent Zed tells riders to push the red button, which activates a 100,000-point bonus and deploys the subatomic thermal disruptor.

The ride vehicles spin a few more times inside the belly of the beast, which once had a few effects, like a themed scent, fog, and a spray of water.

Back at MIB Headquarters

Recruits find themselves back at the MIB headquarters where Agent J reveals the final score, making some jokes between the two ride vehicles. This scene and the next have a possible 36 variations depending on the gameplay results. The ride vehicles then split off into separate hallways.

Here, the car’s average score is graded into one of three categories: Bug Bait, Cosmically Average, or Galaxy Defender. Bug Bait and Cosmically Average groups get a pep talk from a John-Madden-inspired alien coach. Galaxy Defender groups surprise an alien tailor who’s altering a black suit, blurting out, “It’ll be ready next Wednesday,” as voiced by Dave Cobb.

Agent J neuralyzes the recruits, and the ride vehicle swerves into a phony Universe and You unload area. The attraction bookends the way it started, as if the whole Men in Black experience never happened. Guests exit up a set of stairs and pass by a door with the silhouette of an alien worm. This little shadow was Spielberg’s idea to hint that the MIB world still exists.

As the Men in Black song by Will Smith plays, a long hallway leads to the attraction’s gift shop where guests will find screens playing the film on a loop and intergalactic merch.