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I remember the ride I ever did in Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida was Jaws. I was able to go on the ride a total of 4 times between the first time I every went to Universal Studios until it finally shut down.

The Jaws ride official opening date was in the summer of 1990 and even though it was a pretty cool ride it faced a lot of breakdown issues.

The ride kind plays out like the movie you don’t really see the shark until near the end of ride. However most of the breakdown issues were due to the mechanics of the shark trying to “lunge” at the guests in the boat. Either the shark didn’t move at all or it was delayed by the time the boats got to the part where it was suppose to jump at them. They even shut down the ride for a couple of years in the early 1990’s to rework the mechanisms and restructure of the ride in order for it to work and flow better.

Even with the restructuring and somewhat better flow the ride it still ran into issues. Such as leaks in the shark and some of the pyrotechnical effects being too pricey to use during a recession and the park not being able to afford them. In the 2000’s the availability of the ride was scaled back to being open to only seasonal and when the park was at a busier capacity

With issue after issue the ride made Universal finally decided to formally shut down the ride in 2011 to make room for Harry Potter.

I was able to go on this ride about maybe three times out of the times I went to the park during the time frame it was open. Although the ride is gone you can still take your picture in the San Francisco area of the park with Bruce.