Universal City, Calif. – “Fear Factor” is coming to Universal Studios Hollywood this summer, giving theme park visitors a chance to experience gut-twisting vertigo, subject themselves to electric shocks and gag on nauseating things no sane person would put in his mouth.
Parkgoers will be able to volunteer for a live version of the hit NBC television series, which will be played out several times a day in front of a live audience.
“We didn’t want this to be a watered-down version of ‘Fear Factor,’ and it’s not,” says Matt Kunitz, the TV show’s executive producer. He worked closely with Universal Studios to develop the live attraction.
“The only difference is that we’re not going to be casting extreme athletes. This is going to be all about putting ordinary people into extraordinary situations.”
Universal Studios is also giving visitors a chance to buy the actual costumes used in Universal films and NBC television shows and unveiling an “all-you-can-eat – all day” option for two of their most popular restaurants.
Parkgoers can drop by a casting booth in the morning to audition for the attraction. There are expected to be eight performances each day, each with 18 participants.
After signing a liability waver that’s presumably as thick as the Los Angeles telephone book, they’ll subject themselves to three stunts: They’ll hang from a trapeze bar, 30 feet off the ground, while audience members shoot objects at them from an air cannon.
They’ll plunge into a tank of live eels to snatch yellow “Fear Factor” flags, and then gulp down a “secret Fear Factor Live smoothie” made out such things as sour goat’s milk, octopus and silk worm pupae. (The producers note that all ingredients are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.)
They’ll suffer electrical shocks while being strapped to a table “in a settling reminiscent of Frankenstein’s laboratory.” Those who give in to their fear will undertake the “walk of shame” familiar to viewers of the TV series.
Safety, yes; comfort, no
In between stunts, audience members will be invited on stage to eat chocolate-covered bugs and stick their heads into a Plexiglas box full of emperor scorpions.
“Safety is paramount in all this,” says Scott Trowbridge, Universal’s vice president. “But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be comfortable.”
Close-ups of the stunts will be filmed, edited immediately and broadcast on 10-foot screens. The winners will get prizes, but as of press time Universal had not announced what these will be.
Meanwhile, at the Wardrobe Department, a shop that opened inside the park in March, visitors can buy the costumes worn in feature films and such television shows as “Will and Grace,” “American Dreams,” “Crossing Jordan” and “Passions.” Each garment will include a certificate of authenticity documenting the TV episode or movie in which the garment was used.
Some of them still have the actors’ names written on the lining in chalk. Also on sale will be a limited number of props and cue cards.
And for those who still have an appetite after watching – or participating in – Fear Factor Live, Universal Studios is offering, through the end of June, a pass that lets guests gorge themselves to their belly’s content, all day long, at two of the park’s most popular restaurants: Mel’s Diner and the Jurassic Park Cafe.
The price is $19.95 for adults and $11.95 for guests 48 inches or less.
Presumably this means their height.
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The details
Universal Studios Hollywood: The theme park is in Universal City and is easily reached via the Los Angeles Metro system’s Red Line.
When to go: Through the summer, the park’s hours are 9 a.m.-8 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. A standard one-day pass is $47 for adults and $43 for children under 4 feet.
For information: Call 800-864-8377 or visit universalstudioshollywood.com.
