As with every great adventure there is a beginning...
On July 2, Paramount's Kings Island announced an adventure... Tomb Raider: The Ride... a ride so great the park claims it will change the face of thrill ride history.
Based on the smash-hit video game and action adventure film of 2001. Tomb Raider: The Ride will be a unique, multi-sensory attraction that will likely become the world's greatest adventure ride.
With construction already underway prior to the announcement anticipation was running high. In a clever manner, and fitting for the theme, park officials revealed little keeping most of the story under wraps and leaving many questions unanswered, thus starting the adventure. Tomb Raider: The Ride would instantly become the great mystery attraction of 2002.
With much unknown the story is told...
Tomb Raider: The Ride will continue the mysterious adventures of Lara Croft, a 21st century heroine inspired by a popular interactive adventure game. Born into wealth and groomed at the most elite schools, Lara Croft like any adventure seeking heroine travels to dangerous and mysterious places around the globe searching for rare, lost crypts and long-forgotten empires. She speaks numerous languages, is highly trained for combat and answers to no one, obeying only a desire for adventure.
In the 2001 film she faced her greatest challenge yet: to find two halves of an ancient artifact buried in time and space. And of course the fate of mankind rests in her hands during the adventure.
"Part of the thrill of the Tomb Raider property is the mystery and intrigue that surrounds each adventure. We want to preserve this mystery with the Tomb Raider ride until the first group of adventurers braves it in 2002 - so, we aren't going to disclose all of the surprises in store for riders," said Tim Fisher, executive vice president and general manager of Paramount's Kings Island.
On Tomb Raider: The Ride, adventuring guests are in for an experience unique to the theme park universe that is filled with all of Lara Croft's real passions: raiding tombs, besting bad guys and one extreme adventure after another.
The excitement begins with a journey into a foreboding ancient temple. As stone walls give way to others, guests will proceed through mysterious chambers, engraved with strange, runic symbols and the debris of failed expeditions, as a sense of impending doom grows.
With only seconds to spare before certain calamity, guests strap in to the only possible vehicle of escape. Playing off scenes from the motion picture filmed in Cambodia and Iceland, the escape will include rocketing upward for a close encounter in an ice cave with menacing, razor-sharp stalactites and a face-first plunge straight down toward a pit of boiling, red-hot lava.
Anticipation awaits every adventure...
With the outcome uncertain and questions unanswered we know you're anxious to learn more. But until opening day you'll just have to be patient. For the mystery and intrigue surrounding this ride will not be revealed until you and others first venture into the adventure called Tomb Raider: The Ride.
Type of Ride:
Indoor Themed Adventure Dark Ride
Location In Park:
Rivertown
Designer:
Paramount's Parks, Eidos Interactive
Location:
Paramount's Kings Island
Cinncinatti, Ohio
Additional Information
Audio:
Antechamber Music (624k mp3)
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Tomb Raider: The Ride Logo artwork courtesy of Paramount's Kings Island.