Poseidon’s Fury is (now, was) one of the last walkthrough attractions at a major theme park, and an opening day attraction for Universal’s Islands of Adventure. As someone now living in Florida and having never experienced this attraction, I figured I should go to its final day of operation and see what I will soon be missing. So in this article will be my review of the attraction and coverage of the attraction’s final day of tours through Poseidon’s Temple.
Whenever I was at Universal on previous visits, Poseidon’s Fury was never a priority for me, even though it seemed exactly like the type of attraction I would like, I could never choose to experience it over something like VelociCoaster or Forbidden Journey. I think that is one of the reasons the attraction is closing, because most park guests either don’t know what it is or don’t have an interest. After having experienced the attraction, I think this is a shame because it is really special and a very unique type of attraction that doesn’t exist anymore.
I had no expectations going in, because I wasn’t sure exactly what I was in for, but I was impressed with the massive facade and huge pieces of outdoor theming. Walking through the queue, it reminded me of the Journey to Atlantis attractions at SeaWorld parks, but on a much larger scale. I was also impressed because the attraction had only recently been refurbished, so all of the paint and theming outside looked brand new and in great shape. There isn’t much to look at in the indoor portion of the queue, but it moved quickly and the ambience of the temple set a great tone for the show to come. I have always been a fan of the adventure genre, with movies like Indiana Jones and games like Uncharted having a big appeal to me, so I already liked what was being set up as we entered the first show room.
Here we met our guide, Taylor, and she was perfectly in character for the attraction, playing into the story just enough to fit the old school, sort of cheesy acting necessary without going over the top. I experienced Poseidon’s Fury three times, and the same actor was the guide for all three, so I also got to see some of the slight changes she made from show to show. I loved the storytelling in this room, and the reveal of a secret code around the walls of the room was all I needed to feel like I was in the middle of an epic adventure movie. All of my tours were also very full, and I am assuming this was only because it was the last day, many people in the crowd had “Poseidon’s Fury Last Tour” shirts and were very energetic throughout the tour, so I was happy I was with an audience that was excited.
When we entered the second room, I was very intrigued by the standing bleachers setup, and the set design in the room was great as well, with so many cool props. The storytelling in this room isn’t great, and it mostly felt like a pause before you could go into the last show scene, but I was enjoying the campy energy and neat visuals. The big effect in this room is of course the reveal of the water vortex, and I loved the big presentation of a massive door sliding open to reveal the tunnel.
The final room was probably my favorite because of the clever reveal of the massive set, and while the film that was projected on the water screens was clearly a little dated, I liked the theatricality of it all and the fire effects mixing with the water. I couldn’t believe just how big this room was, the show building is well hidden from the outside, and I liked the clever choice of having the previous room have the same ceiling structure so that the raising room effect in the finale wasn’t as obvious. The final showdown was cheesy and fun, and while I wished for a few more practical effects that just isn’t possible with an attraction this old, and for the time it was made it is all very technically impressive.
Overall, I will miss this attraction and I do wish I had gotten to experience it more before its closure. It’s very much a product of its time, and shows how much theme park attractions have progressed over the years. I do now wish for more walk through attractions at parks, and I think an updated version of this format with modern effects would work great with today’s audience. I understand why Universal is closing this attraction, but I’m glad I got to experience this unique show on its last day with fans who really love it.
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