Universal: Jimmy Fallon ride opens with parade, dancing characters, nod to ‘Tonight Show’ past

The Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon ride is officially open for business at Universal Studios theme park. Fallon, the host of NBC’s “Tonight Show” ceremoniously cut the ribbon in front of the attraction on Thursday morning.

That was preceded by a parade of characters from “Tonight” and the usual Universal suspects — 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.

“Tonight Show” bits were represented by several moptoped tight white pants wearing dancers, Hashtag the Panda. Fallon and house band the Roots rode a float that included the Empire State Building. Other representatives of New York City and the ride included drumming construction workers, police officers and pizza delivery guys on stilts.

Later, Fallon, joined by his wife and two young daughters, read a speech that thanked Universal executives and team members, 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.

The ceremony ended just before rainfall began. Gathered clouds had audience members wondering if the ghost of Twister, the previous attraction in the building, was coming back to douse the grand opening.

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.

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