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Rumor: 'Inside The Mind Of Jimmy Fallon' Ride To Replace 'Twister...Ride It Out' At Universal Orlando

Inside The Mind Of Jimmy Fallon
By Peter Sciretta

Despite the recent additions of Harry Potter's Diagon Alley, a lot of the earlier attractions and experiences at Universal Studios Orlando feel dated. And it seems like the Universal Orlando mandate is to replace a lot of the older attractions with new experiences (I hope they decide to refurbish and update E.T. Adventure rather than replace it entirely). The latest rumor is that the Twister...Ride it Out attraction will be replaced with a ride that will take us inside the mind of Jimmy Fallon. So essentially they would be replacing an old attraction based on a 1990's movie with an experience ride based on a 2015 late night television series. More details, after the jump.

This latest rumor comes from This Is Infamous, who claims that Inside The Mind Of Jimmy Fallon will replace Twister... Ride It Out in the near future:

Universal will be using a SOARIN'-type ride system, complete with mechanical lift and large projection screen, in order to lend the attraction the flight simulation it'll need. However, this will not be just some flyover of New York City as some had previously thought. Instead, it'll all take place inside Jimmy Fallon's head, with the screens showing the comedian's POV backstage at THE TONIGHT SHOW with all of the hijinks and shenanigans that may ensure there, so expect appearances by The Roots, Higgins and potentially more thna a few celebrity cameos. Therefore, you'll still be privy to the narration and comedic quirks that Fallon has brought to the table as host of the late night brand while in the midst of some type of humorous adventure.

There isn't much in terms of additional details, but prevailing logic tells us that the ride's story would probably deal with something jeopardizing Fallon getting out onto the stage before the Tonight Show goes "live". Either way, this sounds like a horrible idea. You'd think that Universal would learn from their previous attractions that rides based on a moment in time quickly becomes dated.

I can imagine this kind of attraction would be one that would feature a bunch of cameos, which might be big stars of the moment, but could quickly become dated in just a few years. If you add in topical jokes about selfie sticks and what not, the ride's shelf life becomes even more limited. The Tonight Show itself is based in the moment and day it airs. The smarter thing to do would be to base an attraction on something more timeless, a classic movie or something more general that won't quickly become dated.

But maybe I'm throwing too much judgement at this point, its just a rumor and we don't have any idea what the ride will be like. But that said, I feel like Universal doesn't need more rides where people move around in a vehicle while looking at a projected image on a screen.

I was never really a fan of the Twister... Ride It Out attraction, which you can relive in the video above. Also worth noting that Twister... Ride It Out was just featured in Sharknado 3. The television movie which aired last week on Syfy probably gave the attraction more attention than its gotten in over a decade.

The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon is owned by Viacom, which makes it a more synergistic move to bring that franchise to the park than a non-Universal owned property. Jimmy Fallon, of course, already has a presence in Universal parks as the host of Universal Studios Hollywood's famous tram tour (a fact that was cleverly cameo'd in the Gyrosphere tour in Universal's highly successful film sequel Jurassic World).

Twister... Ride It Out replaced one of the opening day attractions at Universal Studios Orlando, a Ghostbusters experience called Ghostbusters Spooktacular.  When I visited the attraction as a kid, I loved it. And I know I speak from the nostalgia of a generation who grew up in the 1980's, but I somehow feel like that old Ghostbusters attraction would feel less dated today than the Twister experience that replaced it.

The special effects show attraction let you watch human actors as the Ghostbusters fight Gozer on a recreation of the Temple of Gozer featuring live effects that recreated what had been seen in the movie. You can watch a video taped version of the show here:

The Ghostbusters Spooktacular Show closed on November 9th 1996. Its too bad that Universal couldn't score a deal with Sony for a new ride based on their upcoming Ghostbusters films. The movies could make for a fun shoot-the-ghosts Haunted Mansion style dark ride — Six Flags almost built a Ghostbusters ride like this in the 1980's.

No word on when Inside The Mind Of Jimmy Fallon would open, but Twister... Ride It Out is rumored to close by the end of 2015 — so maybe  a late-2016, early-2017 opening is in the works?

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