Peter Alexander, a former Disney Imagineer who had earlier success with Universal's King Kong Encounter, was instrumental in the ride's development.

[1] Spielberg had partnered with Universal in the planning of a new theme park in Orlando, Florida, but momentum for the project had stalled.

[1][3] The attraction opened a short time later and was an immediate success, causing attendance to spike and prompting Universal to revisit plans to build the Florida theme park.

[4] Alexander worked closely with Spielberg and led Universal Creative in the creation of the dark ride attraction.

[5] Alexander found the task challenging, saying that the "emotional impact" of a two-hour-long film is "not easily translated into six or eight minute theme park rides".

[6] Alexander also channeled his childhood experiences with coral reefs off the coast of California, which he recalled had the appearance of an "alien landscape".

[6][9] Guests entering the pre-show queue supply their name to a ride attendant and receive an "interplanetary passport" in return.

[6][9] Each passport contains a barcode that stores a name, which is then transferred to an RFID tag on the vehicle as each rider boards, identifying all of the occupants to the computer system.

[citation needed] The ride became a part of the Hollywood area in 2024 during the retheming of Woody Woodpecker's KidZone, which was renamed DreamWorks Land.

Posters of the film's 30th Anniversary re-release, in English and various other languages, are on display near the end of the exterior queue where the pre-show takes place.

Before entering the interior queue, Steven Spielberg appears on several overhead TV screens telling guests that E.T.

[4] Following the pre-show video, entrance doors automatically open and reveal another room where guests will receive their passport cards before moving into the interior queue.

[6][12] Inside the interior queue is a dark forest setting filled with redwood trees, which resembles the scene in the film where E.T.

constructed in the film to phone home, including a Speak & Spell prop that actively displays the letters H-E-L-P E-T one at a time.

The vehicles travel past NASA and police officials who give chase and try to arrest the riders and capture E.T.

From their bikes, the guests can see a miniature city below, including real moving cars and even a football stadium and two baseball fields.

The bikes are then transported to a kind of portal area with flashing lights which, when finally turned around, arrive at the Green Planet.

's healing touch travels through the Green Planet, reviving his friends and beginning a celebration with numerous baby E.T.s frolicking and playing.

[18] In November 2004, a 35-year-old woman got her hand stuck in a safety bar of Japan's version of the ride as an employee pulled it down to secure it.

[19] On January 31, 2019, an 11-year-old boy was injured on the ride after his foot and a portion of his leg became stuck between the moving vehicle and the cement boarding platform.

A lawsuit was filed by the boy's mother seeking $15,000 in damages, claiming that multiple bones were broken requiring surgery.