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Aliens - Ride at the Speed of Fright

Aliens: Ride at the Speed of Fright was an interactive theme park based ride produced by the company Iwerks. It was shown in 1994 in San Francisco at the Pier 39's TurboRide Simulation Theatre and was also shown in the United Kingdom at the American Adventure theme park. It was still being shown in October of 1995 at American Adventure.

It was an interactive movie ride. The viewer would sit in a chair that would move, vibrate and jolt, all in an effort to simulate the viewer experiencing what was being shown on the screen. The ride consisted of a pre-movie in which the situation and plot (I use the term plot loosely). A Colonial Marine called Hyer has just returned back to his ship, the New Jersey having narrowly escaped an Alien encounter on the mining colony Takaia 3.

Hyer recounts the experience to a Marine Captain and B Squad. The mission was supposed to be a routine reconnaissance for A Squad but they encountered the Aliens – hundreds of them. The marines activated a bomb and tried to escape. During their retreat, the APC crashed and was badly damaged. Many of the marines were injured, Hyer included but he escaped to find their dropship destroyed. He found a shuttle on the colony and left the planet.

The Captain is determined not to leave the other injured marines behind and others the B squad and Hyer back to the colony. Their orders are to rescue A Squad before the bomb goes off. The Sergeant tells his marines and the viewer/rider to buckle in (complete with a shot of the chairs belt buckles) and then the ride begins.

The ride starts with the dropship plummeting towards the colony. The chair shakes to simulate the turbulence until you land and the APC drives out. From this point on you’re in the APC, as if you’re the driver. We drive through the interior of the colony complex, avoiding various obstacles and mounting debris (the chair moving to simulate) until the APC arrives at the wreckage of A Squad's APC.

B Squad gets out and carries the wounded marines into their APC while fending off an Alien attack. The marines then pull out of the complex in the APC. After crashing down a hole, the APC arrives in the Queen’s lair and using the turret manages to kill her. The APC then uses the turrets again to blast a hole to the outside and escapes, making it back onto the dropship in time. As the dropship heads back into orbit, the bomb detonates. The ride ends when a facehugger drops into frame shortly after.

The ride last roughly 20 minutes long with the pre-movie being 10 minutes and the ride itself being 10 minutes. It’s comprised of stock footage used from Aliens (the ships, some close-ups of the Aliens) and original footage shot with the Marines, and obviously the ride segments. It’s a fun little ride and not to be taken seriously.

Trivia[]

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