As the eight-passenger exploration craft ‘Heev’ entered ‘Hollow Earth’, the home of the Titans and a mysterious subterranean world, an enormous Kong appeared right before our eyes. The animatronic that rose to its feet and turned its head conveyed an overwhelming feeling, as if confronting a real living creature rather than a character on a screen.

Moments later, a battle among Kong, Godzilla, and the Titans unfolded on an extra-large screen. In sync with the on-screen impacts, the Heev was pushed back and changed course. In the scene where it plunged off a cliff and then soared back into the air, the vehicle tilt and rotation, along with wind and vibration effects, combined to create the illusion of being hurled into the void.

Lotte World Adventure held a press briefing in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the 22nd and unveiled the new multimedia dark ride ‘Kong X Godzilla: The Ride’. Opening on the 25th, this attraction is the first example of bringing the film universe ‘MonsterVerse’ of Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. to a theme park, and it represents the largest-ever investment for a single attraction at Lotte World.

On this day, Lotte World CEO Kwon O-sang said, “This facility concentrates the highest level of technology among trackless attractions in Korea,” adding, “It has been unveiled after about four years of preparation, from IP negotiations to design, production, installation, and stabilization testing.” He continued, “The fundamental competitiveness of theme parks lies in providing pleasures that are hard to experience in everyday life,” and stated, “We will continue to introduce world-class attractions and provide differentiated experiences to foreign tourists as well.”

‘Kong X Godzilla: The Ride’ occupies about 1,550 pyeong on the third floor of Adventure. The total travel distance is about 320 meters, and the ride time is about 11 minutes. It features an extra-large screen up to 22 meters in length, 39 pieces of video equipment, and animatronics up to 5 meters tall and 11 meters wide, while dynamic trackless motion vehicles rotate freely and change direction in sync with the visuals. With wind, vibration, and various other special effects, it delivers an immersive feel of being in the middle of a battle among the Titans even without 3D glasses.

Immersion starts even before boarding. The queue area reproduces the research facilities and equipment of the film setting’s Titan-research organization ‘Monarch’, and visitors board the exploration craft after receiving a mission through a pre-show video. Reflecting the film setting, the Korean base has been assigned the number ‘M-42’, and the time spent in line is structured to continue as part of a single story. After the experience, visitors will also find a photo spot and a shop selling limited-edition merchandise.

After riding it firsthand, ‘Kong X Godzilla: The Ride’ places more weight on experiencing the world of the films with the whole body than on extreme thrills like a roller coaster. If you have watched the ‘Godzilla×Kong’ series, understanding Hollow Earth and the Titans enhances immersion even more. Even if you have not seen the films, the pre-show before boarding explains the universe and the mission, so there is no major difficulty following the story.

Lotte World has so far collaborated with game, animation, and webtoon IP such as MapleStory, Pokemon, Detective Conan, and ‘Maru Is a Dog’. This ‘Kong X Godzilla: The Ride’ is significant as the first large-scale project using a film IP. Lee Hae-yeol, head of marketing at Lotte World, said, “While family visitors can be fully satisfied with the attraction itself, young adults feel greater appeal toward content combined with IP,” adding, “We hope this attraction will serve as an opportunity to broaden our customer base to include not only families but also film fans, young adults, and foreign tourists.”