The script went through some changes after 9/11 had occurred. References to disaster areas, crashed helicopters and other sensitive lines were removed or edited.
During Halloween Horror Nights in 2001, the bottom streets of the attraction were opened up for the guests and used as a "party zone" called the Ooze Zone Fright Club, which employed the usage of green-colored foam for guests to play through. However, the original concept for that year had it being called Bloodbath Underground and using red-colored foam. Plans suddenly changed after the 9/11 attacks, when it was quickly realized that having an area depicting blood all over the streets of New York was obviously in very poor taste; thus resulting in it being altered and renamed to remove any mention of blood.
Inspiration for the Work: The attraction was directly inspired by the King Kong Encounter sequence on the Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood.
The footage of helicopter reporter Kelly King (played by Walker, Texas Ranger actress Sheree J. Wilson and dubbed over by a young Tress MacNeille) was recycled from the King Kong ride in Hollywood; it had originally been paired up with footage of veteran ABC News anchor Sander Vanocur as the in-studio anchor.
After the attraction's closure, many of its props would go on to be reused during Halloween Horror Nights. For instance, the police cars in the attraction were used in 2002's Island Under Siege scarezone.
Recycled Set: Before it closed, the first street was used as a set for WMAC Masters, alongside the sets from other Universal Orlando attractions and shows.
Throw It In!: Every now and then the ride's tour guides would do some minor improvising, usually when something on the ride goes wrong.
General Trivia:
The attraction was a particularly popular place for guests to toss pennies at, often aiming them at the flower pots and window ledges that were on the apartment sets. Universal would donate the pennies to local Central Florida charities.
The first deputy mayor of New York at the time was offended by the attraction's depiction of graffiti all over the subways, saying that New York puts hard work into removing graffiti. Universal's higher ups simply responded, "Our depiction of graffiti is not to be taken any more literally than the fact that King Kong is on the 59th Street Bridge."
One of the news announcers in the attraction was voiced by Ron Knight, who also does the voice for Bontanicus in E.T. Adventure.
The attraction was located inside a 37,000 sq ft Soundstage, which at the time was the largest of its kind.
The two King Kong animatronics in the ride were 39 ft tall, and had an arm span of 52 ft. The first one weighed 8,000 pounds while the second one weighed 13,000 pounds. Both of them could perform up to 62 different functions.
The helicopters in the attraction were size-accurate and were closely modeled after actual ones.
There were a total of 50 indoor facades in the attraction, modeled after buildings from the Lower East Side.
The facade of the ride's gift shop, "Safari Outfitters" was duplicated at the New York areas at Universal Studios Japan and Singapore (though it's an empty facade without anything inside), despite the fact that the ride itself was not duplicated.
The ride track on the ceiling still remains there to this day. You can see it on Revenge of the Mummy during the scene when the ride vehicles are accelerating forward, though you have to be really looking for it.
