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FEAR FACTOR LIVE FIRST THEME PARK ATTRACTION BASED ON REALITY TV SHOW OPENS AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA
“Fear Factor” TV Winners Return to the “Fear” to Compete During Grand Opening
ORLANDO, Fla, June 2, 2005 – There are snakes crawling through a woman’s hair. A man is swinging from a cable tossing squid to his partner. Another woman gulps down a smoothie made of blended worms and sauerkraut. And this is just the beginning.
One of television’s hottest shows jumps off the screen today as Universal Studios Florida unveils its new interactive attraction, Fear Factor Live. Past winners of the TV show “Fear Factor” are in the spotlight again when they compete against staunch “Fear Factor” fans who bid on eBay to be the first to take part in the attraction’s opening ceremonies.
With no re-takes and no re-shoots, the two former TV winners and the eBay winners find themselves in front of a live audience at Universal Studios running, hanging, eating and screaming their way through the new attraction. The pulse-pounding stunts include a daring “Pendulum Swing” involving aerial squid-tossing, a “Desert Hat Ordeal” in which snakes and other creatures are placed onto a contestant’s head and a stunt where the contestant is hoisted many feet above the audience in a car suspended by a cable.
Dean and Ashley Molina won this season’s “Fear Factor” Couples’ Competition on NBC, but came to Universal Studios Florida today to once again test themselves by performing new stunts in front of a live audience.
“It was quite an experience appearing on the “Fear Factor” show, but going through these stunts in front of a live audience is another level of fear altogether,” said Dean. “On TV, you forget you are being filmed and watched by millions of people. At Universal, you are always aware of the audience watching every move you make.”
Also competing in the Grand Opening stunts were longtime “Fear Factor” fans Eric and Stacey Knox, a construction worker and a health spa owner from Fort Morgan, Colorado who bid on eBay for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to be the first to experience Fear Factor Live and to compete against the winning TV couple. Their performance serves as a live audition in front of producers from “Fear Factor,” who will consider offering the winners a place on the show next season. This is the first live audition ever conducted by “Fear Factor” producers.
“We are huge fans of the TV show “Fear Factor,” and to have the chance to be among the first to take part in Fear Factor Live at Universal is a dream-come-true,” said Eric Knox. “We watch the show on TV and think “We could do that,” and today we got the chance!”
The opening of Fear Factor Live marks the first time a reality television program has been turned into a theme park attraction. It is also the first NBC television product to be fully integrated into Universal’s theme parks. The new Fear Factor Live attraction joins other such thrilling television and movie-based attractions at Universal Studios as Revenge of the Mummy, Twister..Ride It Out! and Men in Black Alien Attack. The attraction will also open at Universal Studios Hollywood later in June.
The Universal Orlando resort destination (www.universalorlando.com) includes two dramatically distinct and adjacent theme parks, the Universal Studios motion picture and television theme park and Islands of Adventure, Orlando's most thrilling and exhilarating theme park. Universal Orlando also includes CityWalk, a 30-acre dining, shopping, club and live-entertainment venue as well as premier on-site Loews hotels and world-class film and television production facilities.
NBC Universal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates the No.1 television network, the fastest-growing Spanish-language network, a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.
“Fear Factor” is produced by Endemol USA, the leading producer of television programming specializing in reality and non-scripted genres for network and cable television. David Goldberg is President of Endemol USA. The series is executive produced by Matt Kunitz (“Real World,” "Dog Eat Dog") and David Hurwitz.
