Universal Orlando is no stranger to ride downtime. Theme parks run on complicated systems, and when you combine moving vehicles, special effects, screens, and animatronics, things are bound to go wrong every now and then. Most guests expect a short delay at some point during their vacation, and usually it’s nothing more than a quick reset.
But lately, Universal Orlando’s King Kong attraction has been dealing with a very different kind of problem.
Skull Island: Reign of Kong at Universal’s Islands of Adventure has reportedly been forced to pause operations over and over again, and the number of closures is starting to raise eyebrows. We’re not talking about a ride that goes down once every few days. This has become a consistent issue that’s disrupting the guest experience.
According to tracking reports, the attraction closed 87 times in January alone, which is an almost unbelievable number for a ride that’s supposed to be one of the park’s major headliners. When a ride hits that level of downtime, it stops feeling like “normal theme park stuff” and starts feeling like a ride that may be dealing with a deeper technical issue.
The timing of these closures also couldn’t be worse.
Kong is located in its own section of Islands of Adventure between Jurassic Park and Toon Lagoon. It’s the only attraction in that specific area, which means it carries a lot of weight when it comes to crowd flow. Guests naturally funnel into the land expecting Kong to be the big experience, and when it’s down, they have to turn around and figure out what to do next.
That causes congestion, longer wait times nearby, and more frustration than Universal probably wants to deal with.
And it gets even trickier when you factor in that Jurassic Park River Adventure is currently scheduled to remain closed until November 19, 2026. With that ride unavailable, Kong becomes even more important for guests who want something to do in that corner of the park. If Kong can’t stay operational, it creates a serious gap in the lineup.
Part of the challenge may come from the ride’s design itself. While the attraction includes impressive physical elements, much of the experience is screen-based and heavily dependent on timing. That kind of setup can lead to frequent shutdowns if even one part of the system isn’t syncing correctly.
Of course, Universal hasn’t announced any major refurbishment plans for the ride, but if closures continue at this pace, guests may start wondering if a bigger fix is coming. Because at some point, constant downtime becomes impossible to ignore.
For now, anyone planning a visit to Islands of Adventure may want to approach Kong with a little caution. If it’s open, it might be worth riding it sooner rather than later. If it’s down, it may be best to move on and try again later.
Because right now, Universal’s King Kong attraction is struggling to stay running—and guests are definitely noticing.
