The Simpsons Ride

Location: Universal Studios Florida – World Expo

Height Restriction: 40 inches

Age Appropriateness: Anyone tall enough to ride

Seat Type: Bench seating in simulator cars; 2 rows, each seating about 4 people

Ride Description: The Simpsons Ride is a wild motion simulator that takes you on a theme park adventure with the Simpson family. As you begin the ride, your car raises up from the loading dock into a giant IMAX theater with 80-foot screens. The car doesn’t actually leave its original spot, but it will rock you about to give a very convincing simulation of movement. Though you’re supposed to be riding a new, thrilling roller coaster at Krustyland, the ride is instantly hijacked by Sideshow Bob and becomes a careening death trap racing through the theme park.

After falling off the coaster tracks, your vehicle drops into a series of other park attractions – all designed to poke not-so-subtle fun at other Orlando attractions. “Happy Little Elves in Panda Land” is reminiscent of “it’s a small world” while “Captain Dinosaur’s Pirate Rip-Off” mimics Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” right down to the fog screen effect. At “Krusty’s Wet and Smoky Stunt Show,” your car gets pulled around the water tank by an orca whale, making sure even Sea World is pulled into the gag.

Just as you’re almost out of the park, the vehicle is bumped off course and free falls backwards all the way to hell before its ricocheted back up the Springfield sign. From here you fly through the city of Springfield and get glimpses of all the classic haunts from the television show as well as regular cast members including Barney, Moe and many others. The adventure wouldn’t be complete without a stop at the Simpsons’ couch, but just when you think you’ve reached safety, the living room falls away and you make one more breath-taking ride on the “Death Drop Coaster” before you finally land back at Krustyland where it all began.

Getting Ready: The queue and preshow leading up to the ride are plenty of fun in and of themselves. You enter the queue through the mouth of a giant Krusty the Clown head and the rest of the line is designed to look like a carnival midway. Gimmicky posters are interspersed with television screens, giving guests plenty to take in while they wait.

If you’re prone to motion sickness, you may want to pop a Dramamine about an hour before the ride to make sure you keep your lunch down. The combination of the rocking ride vehicle and giant 2-D animations on the film screen can make some guests queasy.

Worth the Wait: At 4 ½ minutes, not including the preshow, this is one of the longer rides in the park, and worth a wait of 45 to 60 minutes, especially if you’re a fan of the show.