4. Twister...Ride It Out
Twister... Ride It Out is a special effects simulation attraction which is based on the 1996 film Twister. It was announced in 1997 and replaced the Ghostbusters Spooktacular (a much more enjoyable attraction) in the New York area of the park. The attraction is hosted by actors Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt, who starred in the original film and speak to the riders through recorded footage. In the queue, guests see a small mock-up of the Oklahoma town of Wakita, while video monitors show home movies of tornadoes and signs give them information about the Fujita Scale. Guests then watch the video with the movie's stars and see a mock-up set of a twister-damaged house in which televisions are seen impaled into the wall, as if by tremendous force. The moment Paxton and Hunt finish talking, the televisions start to static and, after the static, the channel changes to Channel 5, with a weather anchor issuing a tornado warning in the area the guests are in. They are finally led onto a set resembling the drive-in theater scene in the movie. There, they witness a simulated twister first-hand, and it is generally quite boring. Guests see lightning strikes, are hit with simulated rain, blasted with simulated winds and see large objects, including the very roof above them, being blown around (with "humorous" things like cows flying past). It has outstayed its welcome now (it wasn't that great when it first arrived in the park) and should be replaced.