Theme Park Scope

Sometimes the internet rumor mill gets ahead of the facts.

This time, it turns out the rumor mill was onto something real.

Skull Island: Reign of Kong has been closed at Universal’s Islands of Adventure since August 26, with no reopening date in sight. For weeks, the only explanation floating around came from unverified posts in Universal fan Facebook groups and Reddit threads, claiming the ride’s massive King Kong animatronic had caught fire during routine repairs.

Universal has now confirmed the core of that story. In an official statement, a Universal Orlando spokesperson said: “During routine maintenance, the King Kong animatronic sustained damage and is undergoing repairs. We look forward to welcoming guests back once the work is complete.” That statement confirms damage occurred, though Universal has stopped short of publicly using the word “fire” in its own wording. According to a Universal Team Member with direct knowledge of the situation, a fire is indeed what caused the damage…which lines up with what fans had been piecing together from secondhand posts for weeks. Beyond that, Universal hasn’t detailed the extent of the damage or offered any estimate on repair time.

If you’ve never experienced Reign of Kong up close, it’s worth understanding just how big a job this likely is. The King Kong animatronic anchoring the ride’s climactic finale stands roughly three stories tall and 18 feet wide across the shoulders, with a head larger than a car. It’s the single most complex show element in an attraction already built around massive trackless expedition vehicles and a mix of physical sets and screen-based encounters. A figure of that scale and complexity doesn’t get repaired overnight, which helps explain why this closure has already stretched into weeks with no end date announced.

Here’s a detail worth knowing if you weren’t around for it: this isn’t the first time a King Kong animatronic has gone down in flames at a Universal park. Back in June 2008, a major backlot fire at Universal Studios Hollywood destroyed the original 30-foot King Kong animatronic used on that park’s Studio Tour. If a fire is genuinely behind this latest incident, it gives Kong an unfortunate second chapter of fire damage at Universal parks, on opposite coasts, roughly 18 years apart.

This closure also isn’t happening in isolation. The Skull Island area sits between Toon Lagoon and Jurassic Park, a corner of Islands of Adventure that’s already dealt with a lengthy refurbishment of Jurassic Park River Adventure and the permanent closure of Thunder Falls Terrace dining. Losing Reign of Kong on top of that makes the downtime considerably more noticeable to anyone touring that side of the park right now.

For context on demand, Reign of Kong has posted average waits of around 25 minutes in 2026 according to Queue Times data; notably lower than Jurassic World VelociCoaster’s 56-minute average or Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure’s 107-minute average nearby. That lower relative demand doesn’t make the closure any less disruptive, but it may be part of why Universal hasn’t rushed out a public timeline the way it might for a higher-priority headliner.

There’s no indication of that. Universal has handled past permanent closures at the resort (like Fast & Furious: Supercharged and Rip Ride Rockit) with confirmed final operating dates and clear announcements well ahead of time. Nothing like that has happened here, and Reign of Kong still appears on Universal’s official park map and 2026 rider guide, which suggests this is being treated internally as a repair situation rather than the start of a retirement.

If Reign of Kong was on your must-do list for an upcoming Islands of Adventure trip, there’s no way around it right now — you’ll need to build your day around the rest of Skull Island and the surrounding Jurassic Park and Toon Lagoon areas instead. Given the scale of the animatronic and the total lack of a timeline, this doesn’t feel like a closure that wraps up in the next week or two.

We’ll keep pushing for updates on a reopening date, so check back with Theme Park Scope for the latest on Reign of Kong.