Remembering Twister…Ride It Out at Universal Studios Florida

The Spectacle of Twister

Overall, Twister…Ride It Out, which was ironically not a ride, was an advanced attraction that showed off 55 special effects. It was a lot to pull off, but here are some details.

The 5-story, 12-foot-wide vortex used a combination of steam and liquid nitrogen to make it visible. Its complex design of large fans generated 35 mph winds with enough air every show to fill more than four full-sized blimps. The attraction measured the weather conditions outside and adjusted accordingly to optimize the indoor effects. Each showing cycled tens of thousands of gallons of water to simulate the storm.

Guests could feel the rainy, blustery conditions, almost like being in a real storm. It was a full sensory experience with water, wind, and thunderous sound effects—made possible by a robust sound system and modified animal grunts to sound like a real disaster.

Reception

Twister…Ride It Out was popular upon opening, being a positive addition for the park. The effects were exciting and sometimes a little goofy. The experience nicely fit into Universal Studios. Twister the movie was still very much in the zeitgeist considering the attraction debuted not too long after the blockbuster came out. In fact, talks went around in 1998 about a potential sequel, but the director and stars were not on board at the time. Point being, the craze surrounding Twister was almost like lightning in a bottle.

Universal Orlando’s Struggles

Unfortunately, attendance for Universal Orlando Resort waned throughout the 2000s. Budgets between the two parks tightened up, and some operations were dialed back. These cuts affected Twister…Ride It Out as the attraction was reduced to only seasonal operations in early 2009. The show was expensive to operate, costing an estimated $1,500 each cycle. Fortunately, Twister’s hiatus didn’t last long as the attraction reopened a month later after guest feedback.

Since then, Twister operated steadily; however, its popularity was declining—so much so that the attraction lost its extended queue when the neighboring Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster was built.

After the addition of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Universal Orlando Resort was thriving once again. New attractions were popping up across Universal Studios Florida to improve the park at large.

Twister was on borrowed time.

The move was just about two decades old by the 2010s, and the attraction itself—while still impressive—was old news compared to Universal’s latest and greatest. The show’s set did make a brief cameo in Sharknado 3, but Twister was not safe. The classic attractions of Universal Studios were closing one by one over the years in favor of newer properties and modern ride systems. The rumor mill suggested Twister was next, shutting its doors as soon as 2014.

The show outlasted that rumor for a moment, but the writing was on the wall when Universal converted the Twister gift shop into a Halloween Horror Nights retail space before fall 2015.

In 2015, Universal Orlando Resort announced Twister…Ride It Out would soon close to make room for a ride themed to The Tonight Show hosted by Jimmy Fallon.

Fans showed up for the attraction’s final day on Nov. 2, 2015, celebrating Twister by dressing in blue shirts and denim like Bill Paxton and white tank tops like Helen Hunt from the pre-show. During Twister’s final showing, the crowd cheered throughout, especially for the flying cow. That evening, before the park’s after-hours Halloween Horror Nights event started, Twister…Ride It Out closed to the public for good.