Remembering the Magic: Countdown To Extinction / DINOSAUR by Jonathan Heigl
Jonathan Heigl remembers the history of DINOSAUR
Read it here!
Remembering the Magic: Countdown To Extinction / DINOSAUR by Jonathan Heigl
Jonathan Heigl remembers the history of DINOSAUR
Read it here!
Excellent article, although I have a hard time believing that the carnotaurus in the queue is real.
The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.
- James Taylor
Re-Imagine is my vote!!!
I would prefer they change Dinosaur to an Indiana Jones Adventure ride and remake the whole Dinoland. Disney tried to capture the Jurassic Park craze, but they failed in their attempt. Universal owns the dinosaur theme. It is better that they replace Dinosaur with a better concept and Disney now owns Indiana Jones after acquiring Star Wars from George Lucas. Every time I visited Animal Kingdom in recent trips, I never visited the ride. I only went on it once over a decade ago and it was forgettable. I couldn't get enough from Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland.
I first rode Dinosaur in 2004 after the "frightening" aspects were tweaked so I never experienced the original. Sounds like it was really neat! My only complaint now is that some parts of the ride are so dark that you hardly see anything (maybe that's the intent!). I have also heard that all of the AAs are not working but I couldn't tell the last time I was on it (September 2014). I'm not really a dinosaur person but I like the attraction enough to keep it. I don't like DinoLand USA much at all and we only stay long enough to do Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl. We are not fans of Finding Nemo-The Musical which is technically part of DinoLand USA. AK needs all the help it can get.
John
Rode this a couple times, it is so dark and overly bumpy and speedy it is now a pass by for us. On the other hand we love Indiana Jones Adventure. I would love to see a redo on Dinosaur.
"Although we think it's DOPEY that Pluto has been downgraded to a dwarf planet, which has made some people GRUMPY and others just SLEEPY, we are not BASHFUL in saying we would be HAPPY if Disney's Pluto would join us as an 8th dwarf. We think this is just what the DOC ordered and is nothing to SNEEZE at."
If I had it my way, I would merge it with the Dinosaur scene at Universe of Energy. The story would be that they first transport us to a safe period of time and then a malfunction transports us to the time of the asteroid and they have to find a way to transport us to our time.
I rode this just once, and found it to be a case where the queue was much more interesting than the ride. The old Epcot Universe of Energy is a much better dinosaur experience in terms of atmosphere and attention to detail. All I can recall of Dinosaur! is a dark room and a sequence of Vehicle lurch! Stop! Dinosaur lunges! Vehicle lurch! Stop! Dinosaur lunges! etc. There was no pacing, or variety to the experience.
Thanks!! From all of the research I have done I have seen mention of real fossils in the pre-show area. I have not seen any mentions of fake or fabricated fossils. I cannot confirm with 100% certainty since I am not privy to that information, nor on the "inside", but if you are able to find out for sure I'd ask you keep me updated! As always, my articles are written from my perspective and research and information I have done throughout the years. I do not, and never have, professed these articles to be without any error! Since I am not, and have never been an employee of Disney or exposed to the actual documents and such for the rides, I can only write about the research I have done and the knowledge I have gathered.
Thanks again!!
"Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our planet has sailed through the universe of time. And for a brief moment, we have been among its many passengers."
Just a quick correction: it is an alioramus eating a crocodilian, not an allosaurus eating another dinosaur. Allosaurs lived during the Late Jurassic period, and were roughly the same size as carnotaurus. You may remember back when the ride was sponsored by McDonald's, the line of posters along the wall outside the gift shop used to have McDonald's-inspired captions; one of them had the alioramus eating the crocodilian, and a cute caption saying "Have you had your crocodilian today?"
I agree that DINOSAUR is a weak title, and most people these days don't even know that movie exists. When I was an intern there and used to do the presentations in front of Dino Sue, I can't recall many people recognizing the film when I mentioned it. I wish they would revert the name back to Countdown to Extinction, and also bring back the much cooler styracosaurus statue. It was still backstage near the boats when I worked there in 2009, and I bet it's still there now! I do like the epic score from the film that they play at the attraction entrance... they can keep that!
I propose they redo the ride as Indiana Jones: The Dinosaur Expedition. Remove the dinosaurs from the ride and set them in the queue as a Natural Science Museum with animation. They can even have an extended queue where you can see the dinosaurs as if it is an actual museum. For the ride, make it seem like you're entering the dinosaur excavation site. Indiana Jones has decided to participate in dinosaur anthropology. Unknown to him, it was also the site of an ancient human tomb and you awaken the malevolent spirits. You ride in some jeeps to get out. Some dinosaur spirits were awaken as well and you try to avoid them. You see amazing special effects, which were missing from the current attraction. You also see Indiana Jones, which I always love seeing.
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