The Simpsons Ride

The Simpsons Ride is a motion simulator located in the Springfield section of Universal Studios Florida. It is based on the hit animated series The Simpsons on Fox. The ride features the titular family visiting Krusty the Clown's theme park KrustyLand, with Bart's nemesis Sideshow Bob plotting to kill the family once and for all. The Simpsons Ride originally opened in 2008 as a replacement for Back to the Future: The Ride, and was located in the World Expo section of the park. In 2013, the area surrounding the ride was rethemed to The Simpsons' hometown of Springfield, with new restaurants, scenery, and a smaller ride themed to aliens Kang and Kodos, called Kang and Kodos' Twirl 'N Hurl. Carnival games themed to the show were also added near the entrance to the ride to add the effect that the Krustyland setting in the ride was a full park. Most of the main cast from the show returned to voice their respective characters, as well as Kelsey Grammar, who returned to voice the shows recurring antagonist, Sideshow Bob. A near-identical port of the ride exists at Universal Studios Hollywood, and like the Orlando version, it also opened as a replacement of Back to the Future: The Ride.

History
In 2007, Back to the Future: The Ride was closed at both Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood. The following year, The Simpsons Ride opened in its place, though a queue line video that explains how Krustyland was built on the former site can be seen, and features Doc Brown in the show's signature art style, once again portrayed by Christopher Lloyd.

Five years later in 2013, the area of World Expo on the right side of The Simpsons Ride was renovated to resemble Springfield, the hometown of the titular family. New restaurants and food booths such as Krusty Burger, Moe's Tavern, and Lard Lad Donuts were added, along with multiple carnival games near the entrance to the ride. During this renovation, Krusty the Clown and Sideshow Bob were also added as meet-and-greet characters alongside Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa.

The Simpsons Ride celebrated its tenth year of operation in 2018.

In 2017, 21st Century Fox was in talks to sell most of its assets to The Walt Disney Company. This included the company's television properties such as The Simpsons. The acquisition was completed in March of 2019. It is currently unknown if The Simpsons Ride and all related content and attractions will remain at Universal's parks, or be removed as a result of the acquisition.

Background
Although the ride's preshow videos were made with the traditional 2D animation methods that are also used in making the show, the ride movie uses computer-generated animation with 3D character models.

Queue
The ride entrance is marked by a statue of the Simpson family in a ride car, with the ride's logo next to it. Guests enter through a giant recreation of Krusty the Clown's head, where they will find several television screens displaying notable moments from The Simpsons. Advertisements for Krustyland featuring various characters from the show such as Nelson Muntz, Milhouse van Houten, and more can be seen inside the queue, along with signs that follow the show's signature humor of jokes written on signs.

First Preshow
Once guests are guided past the main queue, they find several midway booths operated by several side characters of the show, including Marge's sisters Patty and Selma Bouvier, and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. The characters are actually on screens that blend in with the surrounding scenery, and while they stand idly for the most part, they occasionally say something.

The first preshow then begins, with Krusty getting ready to present his newest ride at the park. However, he also warns that recurring antagonist Sideshow Bob has once again escaped from prison, and is once again attempting revenge against The Simpsons. Bob steals a Scratchy mascot costume from Barney Gumble, and stubs Homer's toe while Krusty is picking the first riders for the new ride, causing Homer to shout his signature "D'oh!" catchphrase. Mistaking this as eagerly wanting to ride, Krusty chooses the Simpsons family. Krusty also allows the family to take a second group with them. Bart breaks the fourth wall and picks the guests to accompany them. Meanwhile, Sideshow Bob is seen laughing as the family enters the ride.

Second Preshow
Once outside the loading area, Professor Frink arrives to warn Krusty that the nuclear power that the ride runs on isn't safe, but the annoyed Krusty dismisses this. The Squeaky-Voiced Teen operating the ride asks that Grandpa Simpson and Maggie refrain from riding, as Maggie does not meet the height requirement, and Grandpa suffers from numerous heart problems. Maggie escapes when Grandpa falls asleep, and wanders into the nuclear power room that Professor Frink warned Krusty about.

Meanwhile, the Simpsons family is about to board the ride when Sideshow Bob appears and knocks Krusty unconscious, forcing the family to get on the ride. Despite the family's objections, Homer insists that he ride anyway after waiting in line for an hour. Bob then shows a safety video featuring Itchy and Scratchy, with the latter being injured numerous times due to not following instructions.

Ride Experience
Once guests are seated and the car doors are closed, the Squeaky-Voiced Teen informs the riders that he'll keep them safe, but gets distracted as he tries studying for a math test. Sideshow Bob intercepts the video, claiming he has taken over the entire park, and prepares to demolish the ride as the guests and the Simpsons family are riding. The ride cars begin to rise to view the projection screen, where Bob threatens the family. Homer, retorting back at Bob, is hit by a wrecking ball in a similar manner to a scene from The Simpsons Movie. He later falls on the track, where the ball rolls after him, launching him, the kids, and the riders elsewhere.

Nelson Muntz can be heard mocking the riders as they land in front of Bart and Lisa on a ride aimed for young children. Sideshow Bob once again appears with a panda mech, and launches the riders towards a boat ride that features pirate dinosaurs (a parody of Jurassic Park River Adventure as well as rival Disney Parks' Pirates of the Caribbean), where Homer and Marge have landed. Homer activates a chain reaction after ignoring Bob's advice to resist temptations, where they meet up with Bart and Lisa at a stunt show, where Bob is attacking Bart. Homer and Marge's boat hits Bob's panda mech, causing him to land in the boat. Lisa, who is riding on an orca, then attaches a grappling hook to the rider's vehicle. Although the family finds an exit, it is destroyed, causing Homer to fall out of the boat, though a rope is attached to his foot, causing a rather painful experience for him as the family attempts to find another escape.

As the family lands in an empty area of the stunt show stands, Bob once again attacks, this time with a saw on his panda mech. He misses, creating a huge hole with a lava pit underneath the riders. Before he can further attack the family, Maggie appears, now giant from the radiation in the nuclear power room. She slams Bob against the riders, who fall into the pit, but are caught by Professor Frink, who is piloting a small helicopter.

Meanwhile, Sideshow Bob has gotten the upper hand on Maggie, and taken her pacifier. Bob forces the giant Maggie to attack Springfield, where the family arrives in a transportation bus from the park, while Professor Frink continues to carry the riders. Maggie eventually gets her pacifier, but loses it when trying to get rid of Bob hanging onto it. She then notices the riders, and grabs their car, placing it in her mouth as the smell of baby powder fills the room. Maggie then throws the ride car, which is slingshot forward by power cables to The Simpsons' house, where the family rushes to the couch as they usually do in the show's intro sequence, only to find it is a trap set by Kang and Kodos, who exclaim "Foolish earthlings, don't you know all rides must end at the gift shop?"

The family is then sent downward on a combination of a drop tower and roller coaster, where Ralph Wiggum and Mr. Burns make brief appearances, along with the ride photo being taken here. The scene then cuts back to the entrance of KrustyLand, with Sideshow Bob hoping to kill someone, and conveniently spots the guests. Before he can attack, the couch, along with the family, lands on him, with Homer finally being happy the ride is over as Maggie knocks over the entrance gates designed to resemble Krusty's head. Almost immediately and ironically, Homer then exclaims excitedly that he wants to ride again.

Trivia

 * Although the preshows feature the traditional 2D animation of the TV show, the ride film features 3D computer-generated animation, most likely to add more perspective to the ride.
 * The statue of the family in a ride car is actually a sculpture version of one of the promotional artworks created for the ride.
 * Harry Shearer, one of the main voice actors who provides the voices of multiple characters on the show such as Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, and Principal Skinner, did not return for the ride. This resulted in several of his characters not appearing in the ride. However, Mr. Burns does appear briefly near the end of the ride in a hot-air balloon, but does not speak.
 * Two nods to Back to the Future: The Ride, can be found at The Simpsons Ride.
 * The first is Doc Brown drawn in the art style of the show in a queue line video. Brown is attempting to save the Institute of Future Technology, where the BttF ride is set. However, Professor Frink arrives in a DeLorean Time Machine, and accidentally runs over the bank executive that Brown is speaking with, forcing him to sell the land to Krusty. Christopher Lloyd returned to voice Doc Brown for this cameo.
 * The second is the ride vehicles. When entering and exiting the ride vehicles, the car doors open by sliding upwards like a DeLorean, rather than a traditional ride car. This is more likely due to reusing the ride cars from Back to the Future: The Ride, and as a result, an unintentional Easter egg.
 * Barney Gumble initially appears in the preshow as one of the actors dressed as Itchy and Scratchy (whom Sideshow Bob steals a costume from). But in the main ride, he is seen as one of the many residents of Springfield, indicated by his signature burping when the riders encounter giant Maggie. It's not explained how he returned to Springfield, especially since he was knocked out by Sideshow Bob.
 * Before boarding the ride vehicles, guests will see a television screen advertising KrustyLand's non-existent attractions, including a parody of Walt Disney World's Hall of Presidents. The attraction is called Hall of the Secretaries of the Interior. Even further poking fun at Disney, the attraction is listed as having no wait time, implying that guests don't care about it.