It’s official – as of today The Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon ride is open for business at Orlando’s Universal Studios theme park. Fallon, the very popular and likable host of NBC’s “Tonight Show” cut the ribbon with great aplomb this morning in front of a waiting crowd.
Race Through New York Ceremony & Parade
The ceremony was preceded by a parade of characters from “Tonight” and other Universal regulars — Shrek, Scooby-Doo, Popeye, minions and more — up a street in the New York section of the theme park, stopping in front of the Fallon attraction’s entrance. They all entered to the hey-hey-heys of the “Tonight Show” theme song.
Popular “Tonight Show” bits were woven throughout represented by several moptoped tight white pants wearing dancers, Hashtag the Panda. the host and his house band the Roots rode a float that included the Empire State Building. Other representatives of NYC and the ride included drumming construction workers, police officers and pizza delivery guys on stilts – quite the collection!
Later, Fallon, joined by his wife and two precious young daughters, read a speech that thanked Universal, his family and former “Tonight Show” hosts Steve Allen, Jack Parr, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, who are all saluted in the pre-show of the ride.
Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon is a big-screen 3-D simulator attraction. Its plot features Fallon and audience rumbling through New York scenes and beyond. It also features Universal’s first implementation of its Virtual Line system, which hopes to eliminate long waits before boarding.