Skull Island: Reign of Kong Reopens After Three Weeks, but Riders Report a Black Curtain Where King Kong Should Be

Skull Island: Reign of Kong is running again. King Kong, reportedly, is not.

The Universal Islands of Adventure dark ride reopened on Friday, September 18, after an unannounced closure of roughly three weeks. But according to WDW News Today, the animatronic that caused the closure has not been repaired. "Riders report there is instead a black curtain where the animatronic should be," the outlet wrote. "The animatronic itself appears to have been removed."

An expedition truck passes the temple gate on Skull Island: Reign of Kong. Photo: Universal Orlando Resort

What our wait-time tracker saw

Our own wait-time data backs up the reopening. Parks Magic logs posted waits every half hour, and the ride showed as closed at every reading through 8:30 a.m. Eastern on Friday. At 9 a.m. it came back as operating with a 5-minute posted wait. It held at 10 minutes through 10:30, then climbed: 35 minutes at 11 a.m., 45 at 11:30, and 60 by 1 p.m.

Those were the first operating readings since the evening of August 26, when the ride last showed as operating at 9 p.m. Eastern. From August 27 through September 17, the ride did not log a single operating reading. WDW News Today reported a 35-minute wait at the time it published.

Why it closed

Universal confirmed the cause in a statement Attractions Magazine published on September 14. "During routine maintenance, the King Kong animatronic sustained damage and is undergoing repairs," a Universal Orlando spokesperson said. "We look forward to welcoming guests back once the work is complete."

Rumors had suggested a fire caused the damage. Universal has not said how the damage happened beyond routine maintenance, how extensive it is, or when the figure will be repaired, WDW News Today notes. We have seen no new statement from Universal about Friday's reopening.

The King Kong animatronic that riders say is missing, in a 2016 publicity photo (the ride stopped handing out 3D glasses in 2024, per Attractions Magazine). Photo: Universal Orlando Resort

Why the missing figure matters

Kong is the ride's big finish. Attractions Magazine says the ride "ends with an impressive King Kong animatronic," and WDW News Today calls the figure "one of the attraction's most prominent physical elements," the thing that sets the finale apart from the projection-based scenes before it. If riders' reports are right, the climax is the part that is missing.

This is not the first time the ride has operated with a piece missing. Attractions Magazine notes that starting in 2023, ride vehicles skipped the outdoor temple-gate scene and took an indoor detour instead, and that scene did not come back until April 2025. The ride opened on July 13, 2016.

The Skull Island: Reign of Kong entrance. Photo: Universal Orlando Resort

If you are heading to Islands of Adventure: The ride was open as of Friday afternoon, but expect the finale to be different from the version you remember, if riders' reports hold. Universal has not said when King Kong will be back.

For the backstory, see our earlier coverage of the closure hitting 17 days, Universal's statement on the damaged animatronic and the reported fire.

Sources

• WDW News Today, Skull Island: Reign of Kong Reopens, Reportedly Without King Kong Animatronic at Islands of Adventure
• Attractions Magazine, King Kong animatronic damage unexpectedly closes Universal Orlando attraction
• Parks Magic wait-time data for Skull Island: Reign of Kong, August 24 to September 18, 2026

Image credits: All photos by Universal Orlando Resort.