Ride May Klonk After All

ORLANDO (Orlando Sentinel) – And it klonked. And it bonked. And it jerked. And it berked. And it bopped them about. But the thing really worked! Except at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure. There, a children's monorail inspired by the Dr. Seuss rhyme that klonks, bonks, jerks and berks, never worked in its nearly seven years in the park. But that may be about to change. The ride, perched 15 feet above ground in Seuss Landing, may open later this year, though with a revised design and possibly a new name. Universal Orlando officials don't talk publicly about what happened to Sylvester McMonkey McBean's Very Unusual Driving Machines ride, an attraction that has sat unused since Islands of Adventure opened in 1999. During that time, millions of visitors have walked past the ride's closed building and under the long ribbons of monorail that pass over walkways, skirt the lake and circle the Caro-Seuss-el and the If I Ran The Zoo attractions. Occasionally from 1999 to 2003, signs went up out front declaring that it would open soon. But those signs came down, and the ride never opened, while critics complained that the park did not have enough rides for small children. Meanwhile, the park added two other children's rides from scratch, Flying Unicorn and Storm Force Accelatron. Now another sign has gone up, "Coming Summer 2006." And Universal lately has been talking to employees about helping open the ride, which was inspired by Seuss's The Sneetches and Other Stories book. Universal still is not ready to talk much about the ride publicly, except to say that its time is near. "We open new attractions when we're convinced they meet our obsessively high standards for creativity, overall guest experience and safety. We're not going to compromise on any of those things," spokesman Tom Schroder said. "It's true there have been some challenges with this attraction in more than one area – but this experience is now exactly where we want it to be and we look forward to watching our guests enjoy it." Past problems reportedly included concerns over how the ride might be evacuated if mechanical problems caused it to stop while riders were aloft all over Seuss Landing, said Steven Smith, a former Universal employee and now operations manager at Baker Leisure Group, an Orlando-based theme park consulting firm. Smith said Universal also reportedly has changed the ride's design, though he said he did not know details. Originally the ride would have featured individual cars moving along the track. Riders would have had some control over the speed, so they could bump one another, much as with cars at Walt Disney World's Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. The McBean name also might change, Smith said. Meanwhile, the "Coming Summer 2006" sign and the violet and teal rails meandering overhead in Seuss Landing are catching customers' attention. "I can't wait," said Tina Milam of Tupelo, Miss., who was at Islands of Adventure recently with her two daughters and said she would be back. "It looks adorable."