“Time… the ever-flowing river. Come with us now to a time before Man, when the river flowed through a newborn world and giants walked the Earth…”
As time flows on, more and more groundbreaking, ambitious, and beloved attractions join the celebrated closed classics in our LOST LEGENDS collection. In the name of progress and keeping theme parks stocked with box office blockbusters and high-earning intellectual properties, we’ve seen attractions like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, KONGFRONTATION, Back to the Future – The Ride, and even California’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror removed in favor of what’s hot, now. While fans may forever debate this cutthroat strategy of showcasing “flavor-of-the-week” intellectual properties, it appears here to stay…
And today, we add yet another cinematic classic to the growing list – JURASSIC PARK: The Ride. This spectacular, world-building water ride at Universal Studios Hollywood seemed like a golden age classic set to thrill guests for generations… and even though some elements of this Spielberg-original remain, it’s definitely a new World for a new generation…
Settle in and join us for the full cinematic story behind the original cruise through Jurassic Park, why it’s gone, and where Jurassic World may be heading next. “… Welcome to Jurassic Park.”
Collisions
For centuries, it was believed that our world is governed by immutable laws described by testable theories. Think, gravity; electricity; chemistry; motion; life. Science is about predictability and order… until it isn’t. Chaos theory is a staggering contradiction: an attempt to predict the unpredictable – the flap of a butterfly’s wing cascading into a hurricane a continent away; a single driver tapping their brakes causing a traffic jam 10 minutes later and 5 miles down the road… In a complex system, even a small change can have unimaginable consequences.
It’s all about being in the right place at the right time. And therein lies the birth of Jurassic Park. Just as the end of the dinosaurs was brought about by the happenstance collision of a 20-mile-wide asteroid with the particularly catastrophic landing site near the Yucatán peninsula, their rebirth was made possible by the lucky collision of three pop culture figures.
First is Steven Spielberg. After being rejected from the University of Southern California’s film school (twice!), Spielberg ended up attending California State University Long Beach, where an unpaid internship in the 1960s took him to Universal Studios. There, he produced a short, 22-minute film (called Amblin’) that caught the eye of the studio’s vice president.
That’s our second key figure – Sidney Sheinberg. Sheinberg was impressed with Spielberg’s work, officially hiring him in 1968 to Universal’s payroll. Back then, Universal was a second-rate studio whose revenue mostly came from TV productions, so Spielberg recalls that he “was plucked out of Long Beach State and given a chance to sign a seven-year contract and direct TV… for $300 a week.” Transformatively, Spielberg still recalls his new mentor telling him, “a lot of people will stick with you in success; I’ll stick with you in failure.”
For better, for worse
…And he did! When Sheinberg became president of MCA (then-owners of Universal) in 1973, he brought Steven along, greenlighting Jaws… and famously standing behind Spielberg when the 1975 film went wildly over budget. (Ultimately, it was a smart decision since Jaws made $471 million against its $9 million budget, literally created the summer blockbuster, became one of Universal’s most iconic and celebrated films, and spawned its own theme park Lost Legend: JAWS).
It turns out, that loyalty mattered.
After the success of 1982’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Spielberg was the hottest filmmaker in Hollywood… and he was a free agent. Allegedly, Warner Bros. set out to lure Spielberg away from Universal with a hefty sign-on bonus. Sheinberg’s Universal couldn’t compete with Warner Bros. cash offer… but he could do something to sweeten Spielberg into staying with Universal Studios.
Allegedly, Spielberg was offered a surprising perk…
If he stayed with Universal and helped with the in-development Universal Studios Florida (featuring a handful of rides based on Spielberg’s films), Spielberg would earn 2% of park ticket revenue in perpetuity as a consulting fee; a permanent financial stake in Universal’s existing Hollywood attraction and upcoming Floridian park in exchange for his creative consulting and his continued commitment to Universal. Spielberg signed on.
(For reference, it’s believed that the 2% deal earns Spielberg about $50 million a year; a 2017 option allegedly would’ve allowed Universal to buy him out for a one-time payout equal to his earning through the deal up to that point… $535 million.)
With his relationship with Universal Studios solidified, Spielberg announced that he had a big idea for his next feature… Which brings us to that third essential figure whose collision here matters…
Setting the stage
Michael Crichton’s literary works span genres, but often share one fundamental trait: they explore humanity’s relationship with science and technology. Like Jules Verne before him, Crichton’s novels might be best described as “encyclopedic novels,” given the thought-provoking (if dystopian) science they contain and the almost-prophetic science-fiction adventures his characters tend to encounter.
A fusion of The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, many of Crichton’s most influential stories have been translated to films and television shows over the years, like The Andromeda Strain (a techno-thriller exploring the spread of an alien microorganism), Congo (a “lost world” adventure novel into a jungle protected by ancient hybrid ape guardians), and Westworld (an original film thriller set in an Old West-stylized theme park populated by androids who develop sentience and turn on guests).
In keeping with his dystopian, scientific, technological tales, Crichton planned a new novel for publication in 1990: Jurassic Park. As the story goes, he’d tossed around the idea of a graduate student bringing a dinosaur to life for years, but the idea had never fully filled in… until he realized that the genetic engineering required to revive a dinosaur would be massively expensive (especially when “there is no pressing need to create a dinosaur”), and thus concluded that only a corporation could only ever undertake the costly process, and even then, only out of “the desire to entertain.”
Take a boutique zoo dedicated to once-extinct creatures; mix in Man’s Frankenstein-like hubris; add a dash of chaos theory, and voila. That’s where our collision strikes. Spielberg convinced Sheinberg that Universal needed to option Chricton’s book for a film adaptation before the novel was even published.
In 1993, Jurassic Park debuted. The groundbreaking film was massive in scale, defying expectations and using never-before-seen computer generated imagery and animatronics to bring dinosaurs to life. Jurassic Park wasn’t just a billion-dollar hit (before such things were commonplace) that secured Universal Studios’ finances and future; it was a pop culture phenomenon.
Today, Jurassic Park remains a landmark film (even having been preserved by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”) that launched a multi-billion dollar franchise.
And just as Universal had optioned the story before its publication, before the film’s debut, development had already begun on Jurassic Park: The Ride… Read on as we go behind-the-scenes to explore the making of this prehistoric marvel.
Making (Pre-)History
Though Spielberg gets much of the creative credit behind Jurassic Park: The Ride, we’d be remiss if we skipped over a massively pivotal figure in Universal Parks: Gary Goddard and his team at the Goddard Group. (In fairness, we must point out that Goddard has largely exited public life after allegations that connected him to accused sexual predator Bryan Singer, director of the X-Men films.)
In a must-read 2013 interview with Inside Universal, Goddard recalled that development on the ride began even before the film. Since the Jurassic Park script was on lockdown at Spielberg’s Amblin studio, Goddard read Michael Crichton’s original novel to get a grasp of the story. As production of the film began, Goddard said he rallied against the initial expectation that Universal should recreate the film’s iconic Jeep sequence as an attraction, arguing that it would be impossible to have the T. rex chase the Jeep or tear through trees convincingly enough to live up to the film.
Instead, Goddard remembered a scene from the book that never made it to the film, in which young protagonist Tim climbs aboard a closed-off boat ride not yet ready for the public (due to dilophosaurs spitting at the test boats). The idea offered an opportunity to add a real, standalone ride to Universal Studios Hollywood while also offering a thrilling drop and a splash that would make the ride a favorite of teens. Better yet, a boat-based ride would also make great sense for duplication in hot and humid Orlando at the new Universal Studios Florida.
But would Steven agree? Goddard told Inside Universal, “Steven liked the idea of a boat ride as it was inspired by a chapter in the book and would cover ground not seen in the movie, while remaining true to the spirit and mythology. Because Steven liked it, the Jeep Ride became a Boat Ride instead.” In other words, a boat-based Jurassic Park ride might not have been seen in the film, but it would feel like something the “real” park would’ve plausibly featured just off-screen… an experience that fused the film’s aesthetic with a literary origin.
The initial Goddard Group concept above clearly resembles the final product but for at least one very big difference: the removal of a domed pterodactyl exhibit (later used in Jurassic Park III). Goddard said, “you never get 100% of what you want. Not at Disney, not at Universal – it’s just part of the reality.”
But what Steven loved most, according to Goddard, were the scaled models the Goddard Group built for the ride. The idea is to create a physical model that’s staged on tables that allow the “rider” to walk through the entire ride with the eyes at the same level they would be if sitting in the boat.
Goddard said, “I took [Spielberg], Sid Sheinberg, and Barry Upson [Sr. V.P. of Design and Planning at Universal] through the entire experience. Steven loved it and mentioned he had never seen a model done like that before. It allowed him to ‘see’ the ride in a very compelling way. Beyond that, during regular story meetings, Steven would provide directional ideas having to do with everything from staging to ‘gags’ that he liked or didn’t like.”
As production finished on the film, the ride project team moved in, re-using the movie’s sets to film pre-show videos before they were demolished, starring the distinguished Richard Attenborough (the film’s John Hammond) with cameos by Spielberg himself.
Constructed in Universal Studios Hollywood’s Lower Lot, Jurassic Park: The Ride was manufactured by Vekoma. Among the ride’s more sensational statistics are its 7-minute ride time, more than a dozen Audio-Animatronics (many in water and unprotected, despite Goddard’s arguments), 1,900 foot long flume, and an 85-foot drop at 51°.
Jurassic Park: The Ride opened at Universal Studios Hollywood just in time for summer – June 21, 1996. As with any ride spurred by the “Ride the Movies” era, its opening was a star-studded affair. Among the guests in attendance at the ride’s grand opening celebration were film cast members Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello… Naturally, Steven Spielberg also attended the opening… but requested that he be let off of the attraction just before the 85-foot drop.
Put on your ponchos… it’s time to climb aboard.
Jurassic Park: The Ride
While Disney Imagineering is hard at work building the Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction planned for the in-production Animal Kingdom park, Universal Studios Hollywood already has a journey through the “real” habitats of a living zoological collection… it’s just that Universal’s animals are prehistoric.
But that’s what Jurassic Park: The Ride is: a leisurely, sightseeing cruise along the waterways that connect the herbivore habitats within this unbelievable, one-of-a-kind theme park. Where else can you glimpse creatures extinct for 65 million years or more, in the flesh?
As the bright yellow and red rafts set off from the ride’s loading area, they’re carried up a small hill and tipped forward into a river channel. With a slosh, the boats settle into the river as it curves to the left, light piercing through the arched trellis tunnel overhead and the Costa Rican flowers entwined throughout it.
“Time… the ever-flowing river. Come with us now to a time before Man…” ahead, the iconic wooden doors of Jurassic Park’s entry appear. “…when the river flowed through a newborn world and giants walked the Earth..” With a resounding creak, the doors part as John Williams’ score swells.
“Welcome… to Jurassic Park.”
The swinging doors reveal beyond a sprawling pond marked “Ultrasaur Springs,” with a massive, towering, long-necked dinosaur wading in the water. At first, its head resembled a bent palm tree, tucked behind a rock, until it lifts up to its full height, chewing on seaweed pulled from the lagoon floor. “The ultrasaurs in this lagoon are the largest creatures to ever live on the Earth. Despite their awsome size, these gentle giants pose no threat to us.” As the boat sails beneath, water drips from their mouths and onto riders below.
We drift into a cave carved from a pounding waterfall, emerging in a jungle grotto of spitting geysers and jagged rockwork. “Ahead in Stegosaur Springs, our journey continues. Head armor protects these great beasts from savage predators of the period.”
Our cruise sails toward a gargantuan stegosaurus standing on a high rocky outcropping ahead, with a waterfall pouring past its feet. Primeval geysers erupt, spraying it – and us – with water.
But oh, the vegetation to our right suddenly reveals an even larger stegosaurus mere inches from the boat, vocalizing and dipping its tail in he cool water. Turns out the one above us is a big baby.
“Jurassic Park scientists provide our herbivore friends a healthy diet of organic diet insuring healthy growth and balance of our ecosystem… Next up on our tour: Hadrosaur Cove…” To the left, a duck-billed dinosaur pokes its head out of the water, then dips back down into the river. A thud signals that it’s passed directly beneath us… and indeed, the dinosaur pops up playfully on the right, emitting friendly vocalizations and teasingly spraying water from its nose.
But wait… the Hadrosaur seems to have knocked the boat off course… The drifting boat misaligns from the marked entrance to Hadrosaur Cove ahead on the right, instead diverting left toward the industrial, barbed-wire entrance to a backstage area… As we drift to the left, the pleasant narration of our announcer grows more and more distant… “…Unlike the viscious carnivores in the compound to our left, here in Hadrosaur Cove we find the charming, duck-billed parasaurolophus…”
In fact, the boat had indeed been diverted down an auxiliary river channel into the inner workings of Jurassic Park: the unsightly, industrial facilities that provide the illusion of untouched prehistoric peace.
In fact, the first sight is one easily identifiable to fans of the film: the highly-protected Velociraptor pen… and indeed, as the narration of the tour fades away, the sound of crackling electricity and radio distress calls fills the air instead… And in the pen, tree branches sway as if something is moving in there…
And our (un)luck would have it, we’ve stumbled into Jurassic Park on a very, very bad day. Rounding the corner, the boat travels past another Jurassic Park tour boat, beached along the industrial waterway… a distant roar echoes from atop the towering concrete wall to the right, then a resounding boom. rounding the corner, we see why: a Jurassic Park Jeep is perched along the ride of the wall, stomped and smashed by… something big.
It teeters on the edge, then tips and falls into the water in a rain of sparks, its lights flashing. It hits the water, splashing guests, as its horn blares.
Around the corner, guests see the only means of escape: the Environmental Systems building. But before they can get inside, dilosophosaurus (the “spitters”) spring up, their frilled necks vibrating as they spit their deadly venom at riders.
The boat is hauled into the Environmental Systems building and engages with a lift. At every possible level of escape, loose velociraptors prevent the ride from evacuating. (An original scene here envisioned by the Goddard Group had a live actor attempt to save riders before being attacked by a surprise velociraptor animatronic, necessitating their continued ascent.)
Ultimately, hoisted high up into the building and lost among its maze of catwalks, pipes, returns, and hardware, the T. rex itself makes its first appearance, its massive jaws crashing through overhead pipes like they were drinking straws. It gnashes at guests, but can’t quite reach… yet.
“Warning,” a pleasant pre-recorded voice begins, “Toxic gases are present. Life support systems will terminate in: 15 seconds.” As a flurry of warning lights and screaming radio chatter envelopes the boat, it drifts ahead toward a massive waterfall: the hidden source of the boat ride’s flow… A-ha! If this waterfall is the origin of the ride’s river, we can topple over the edge and get to safety! If only it weren’t an 85 foot drop… gulp…
“…7, 6, 5, 4…” Just as we reach the height of the building, the waterfall parts. From behind, a massive, full-sized T. rex swings forward through the parted water, literally flying toward guests. It throws it head back with a deafening roar, then – just as we tip over the drop’s edge – it lowers its jaws within inches of the boat.
The raft flies down the auxiliary water channel, bursting out of the Environmental Systems building in a cascade of water. Just like that, we’re back “on stage,” having narrowly escaped the hunger of the wildest predator the world’s ever known.
Enjoy a serene, moonlit cruise through the perfectly-safe animal habitats of the Jurassic jungles aboard Universal Studios Hollywood’s legendary-and-lost JURASSIC PARK: The Ride:
Jurassic Park debuted in 1993.
Jurassic Park: The Ride launched its first rafts in 1996.
And through it all, Jurassic Park and the popularity of dinosaurs showed no signs of slowing down. How would Universal take advantage of its stellar new attraction? Where would it be duplicated next, and how?
From California to Florida
Of course, that meant that an attraction as ambitious as Jurassic Park: The Ride would be a natural candidate for inclusion at the still-young Universal Studios Florida that had opened in 1990. Like in Hollywood, the larger-than-life adventure ride would feel right at home alongside other movie masterpiece Lost Legends: JAWS, Back to the Future: The Ride, and Kongfrontation. In fact, a section along the park’s lagoon (the current site of Men in Black: Alien Attack) was allegedly eyed as the future site of a Floridian Jurassic Park: The Ride.
But curiously, dirt wasn’t moving in Orlando’s park… That’s because, by the mid-’90s, it was decided that Jurassic Park wouldn’t be added to Universal Studios Florida at all. But that didn’t mean the ride wouldn’t come to Orlando…
Meanwhile…
Since the opening of Universal Studios Florida in 1990, Sheinberg and MCA had been racing to become more than a day trip from Walt Disney World’s backyard. Even then, in the early ‘90s, their plans for Orlando expanded beyond the Studios park and to a whole new second gate that they hoped would hit Disney where it hurt: Cartoon World. Assembling Jay Ward comics, Dr. Seuss, Looney Tunes, and DC Comics into one theme park, Cartoon World would assemble a world-class collection of timeless animated intellectual properties that would give Disney a run for its money.
Of course, Universal didn’t specifically own any of those brands. Instead, they’d need to license them from their parent companies.
As we know, Warner Bros. ended up axing its agreement with MCA, causing Looney Tunes and DC Comics to be stricken from the planned park… and instead opening the door for Universal’s intriguing ownership of Marvel’s Avengers in Orlando in 1994.
But at that same moment, the roaring success of Jurassic Park in theaters (and the in-progress build of The Ride in Hollywood) suggested that Universal might do well to consider making Jurassic Park a centerpiece of its new park, expanding from a single, standalone ride into a full land recreating the Costa Rican island. Other lands developed around the centerpiece Jurassic Park.
Naturally, that meant that Universal’s second gate was no longer a “Cartoon World” at all.
So when Jurassic Park: The Ride opened in 1996, the blueprints were sent back East to coincide with the groundbreaking of a very different second gate: one built around literature, myths, legends, novels, picture books, and comics. Universal’s Islands of Adventure would feature immersive, Disney-style “islands” situated around a central lagoon. And as guests gazed across this great sea from the park’s Port of Entry, they’d see Jurassic Park itself.
Isla Nublar
Whereas Universal Studios Hollywood invites us behind-the-scenes of our favorite films, Islands of Adventure is about being transported to new worlds. And there’s a sort of meta, in-universe brilliance to that in the case of Jurassic Park. After all, the Jurassic Park “land” is essentially inviting us into the theme park version of… a theme park! There’s no need for a convoluted story to explain away our role on rides, or the existence of restaurants or midway games; we’re on Isla Nublar and stepping into the “real” theme park built there by John Hammond!
As a result, we can tour the Jurassic Park Discovery Center, a picturesque mini-museum where “real” Jurassic Park scientists can introduce us to freshly-hatched dinosaurs; we can tour the Triceratops Encounter, a really-for-real zoological exhibit inviting us into the island’s veterinary clinic for a meet-and-greet with a living (but sedated) triceratops. There’s even Camp Jurassic, a purpose-built family discovery area of ranger towers, bridges, and dig pits built around the island’s natural amber-encrusted caves with the Pteranodon Flyers roller coaster gliding around its perimeter – built here by Hammond and company for family amusement!
And here, as part of the “living” theme park, resides one spectacular way to tour its habitat: the Jurassic Park River Adventure. (Note the name change, firmly establishing this as just one attraction in the “real” park. This also happens to be the name initially chosen by the Goddard Group for Hollywood’s original version.)
Jurassic Park River Adventure (later copied to Universal Studios Japan in a mirror-image “flipped” version as part of a similarly-scaled Jurassic Park land) opened alongside Islands of Adventure in May, 1999. The Floridian version of the ride does differ from its original Hollywood counterpart in a number of ways aside from its in-universe narrative. Unfortunately, most were clearly budget-related:
- The living trellis tunnel was removed from the ride’s initial approach to the Jurassic Park gates. (Perhaps a fair trade off given Islands of Adventure’s authentically-dense jungle.)
- The Ultrasaur lagoon features the single, towering Ultrasaur without its young baby.
- More lush landscaping and more scenic design elements (with fewer exposed infrastructure) in keeping with the land’s immense scale.
- The “falling Jeep” effect was cut and replaced with a more reliable and startling effect – a “falling crate” with a live velociraptor within, positioned directly over the boat.
- The ride’s indoor portion removes the conceit of the “Environmental Systems Building” and the tense countdown to the termination of life support systems.
- There is no initial T. rex attack from above; instead, the venom-spitting dilophosaurus are relocated to the top of the lift (rather than outdoors in Hollywood).
- The T. rex is visible upon approach rather than being concealed behind a waterfall and “swinging” out toward riders.
Take a look at this on-ride point-of-view video of Jurassic Park River Adventure at Universal’s Islands of Adventure to spot all the changes that came with the ride as it was exported to Florida in 1999:
Something new
After the 1993 success of Jurassic Park, the film was followed by two sequels – 1997’s The Lost World and 2001’s Jurassic Park III – each representing declining reviews and revenue. Maybe the magic of Jurassic Park had been a once-in-a-lifetime pop culture moment; an awe-inspiring, gotta-see-it demonstration of early CGI doing what had – until that very moment – been impossible. Worse, maybe Jurassic Park would become a never-ending franchise of decreasing quality entries and tie-ins until fading some public consciousness as a tarnished brand…
Then, in 2015, Jurassic World debuted. Set 22 years after the original film (the actual amount of time that had passed), the reboot picks up a decade into the successful operation of a new park. Back in the ’90s, Jurassic Park was essentially the dinosaur equivalent to SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove; an all-inclusive, high-cost boutique resort accessible only to the well-to-do; a 1-percent-ers vacation to an exclusive tropical hideaway for big spenders. Jurassic World is… well… a little different…
The idea is that while the ruins of Jurassic Park rot somewhere on Isla Nublar, a separate section of the island has been reborn. Jurassic World has more in common with Shanghai Disneyland than Discovery Cove; it’s a corporate-built, master-planned, built-out theme park for the masses, from guests’ arrival via monorails and ferries to its CityWalk-style retail-and-dining district stocked with everything from Fossil to Starbucks. It all leads to the park’s Samsung Innovation Center – a clear homage to the original Discovery Center, blown up with modern glass and wood, and a whole island’s worth of high-tech tours and outright thrill rides.
But its main draw? Bio-engineered dinosaurs genetically designed to create our collective shared image of dinosaurs (cleverly addressing the series’s maintaining of scaly reptilian dinosaurs despite now-undeniable evidence that many dinosaurs were covered in feathers). If Jurassic Park was committed to showing dinosaurs in their natural state, Jurassic World commodifies them for our entertainment: Shamu-like stadiums (complete with “splash zones”) built around the aquatic mosasaurus that literally eats sharks for dinner; enormous stages for showcasing velociraptors trained like performing seals… and something entirely new…
Jurassic World is built to give the people what they want. And what they want is the newest, baddest, most deadly predator on Earth. That roaring T. rex just doesn’t quite do it for audiences anymore. To up the ante, Jurassic World scientists create the wild, viscious, and brilliant Indominus rex. This horrific creature “wasn’t bred; she was designed,” fusing DNA from the dinosaur kingdom’s meat-eaters with a cuttlefish, tree frog, and pit viper. A genetically-engineered hybrid super predator capable of thermal regulation and color camouflage, with crocodilian teeth, sickle-shaped claws, and record-breaking bite force… what’s the worst that could happen?
With a new cast of characters including the park’s operations manager Claire (played by Bryce Dallas Howard) and animal behavior specialist / raptor trainer Owen (Chris Pratt), the film amps up the ante.
Though film critics and fans largely consider the new series to lack the brains, heart, and awe of the originals, Jurassic World earned $1.67 billion – more than Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. What’s more, 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom nearly reached the same milestone, with a third (and final?) entry in the new trilogy set for June 2021.
And as we know from Lost Legends: JAWS, Back to the Future: The Ride, T2 3-D, and Kongfrontation, nothing at Universal is forever. When a hot new franchise arises, it demands a place in the park come hell or high water. In most any head-to-head between a classic and a flavor-of-the-week film, you can count on the latter winning out. And that’s just what happened.
On September 3, 2018, Jurassic Park: The Ride closed forever at Universal Studios Hollywood. In a large-scale redesign, the original ride’s yellow, red, and black accents, signage, and rafts were stripped, replaced with the cool, modern blue, white, and silver of the Jurassic World franchise. But would the Indominus rex replace the Tyrannosaurus? Would that iconic score remain? What was happening behind the closed gates? It turns out, quite a lot…
Jurassic World: The Ride
It’s not just that Jurassic World: The Ride absorbed the more modern, sleek, white and blue coloring of the newest film trilogy; the experience on board is entirely unique. A few of the noteworthy changes you’ll spot along the banks of the new Hollywood attraction?
- The opening scene (the John Williams score, trellis, and Jurassic Park wooden gates) have been replaced with new music, narration, and visuals indicating guests arrival at the tank of the mosasaurus;
- The Ultrasaur Lagoon scene has been entirely enclosed, with parallax screens simulating glass walls looking out into the tank of the aquatic mosasaurus. A rare appearance of screens in the ride, the scene is exceedingly well-done and contains a surprise or two.
- The falling Jeep has been removed and replaced with the mangled bars of the Indominus rex’s enclosure, with bloodied claw marks and dead pterodactyls across the river indicating its escape… an eerie (but unfortunately static and lifeless) new scene.
- Monitors placed along the course connect “live” to Bryce Dallas Howard’s “Claire” and Chris Pratt’s “Owen” as they direct riders on what to do.
- The interior of the Environmental Systems Building has lost its “industrial” appearance and instead was redesigned as the “T. rex Kingdom” exhibit, with false rockwork and plants giving the impression of a curated habitat guests are meant to visit.
- The initial attacking T. rex animatronic (the gnashing head) has become the I. rex.
- Blue, the famous Velociraptor from Jurassic World, makes an appearance in animatronic form before the finale
- The I. rex appears as an animatronic just before the drop, (eventually) battling with the T. rex (which remains in its position behind a waterfall over the drop).
Take a ride through the magnificent Jurassic World: The Ride here. It’s not a matter of figuring out what’s changed from Jurassic Park; it’s more about trying to find something that’s stayed the same!
Is Jurassic World: The Ride better than its predecessor? We’ll leave that up to you to decide. We can confidently say that the newest iteration of Universal’s prehistoric water ride certainly features its fair share of “wow” moments and much-improved pacing in spots, but it seemingly splits the difference by undermining some of the greatest moments of the original in stretches of inactivity or passive scenery.
Which brings us to the question everyone’s wondering…
Is Jurassic World coming to Florida?
Truthfully, we just can’t say whether or not Jurassic World is coming to Universal’s Islands of Adventure. On one hand, the land is inherently tied to the original film franchise by way of recreating its Discovery Center, for example. And by the way, to that end, Jurassic Park is probably, objectively a better fit for Islands of Adventure and its literary backstories than World would be; if you squint, you can imagine that the land is themed to Michael Crichton’s novel simply using the film for some visual inspiration here and there.
A lot probably depends on a change that is coming to the Jurassic Park land at Universal Orlando: a new (and still-officially-unannounced) roller coaster is taking shape along the park’s central lagoon, twisting in the jungles formerly home to the Triceratops Encounter and diving along the water’s edge in front of the Discovery Center. The very concept of such a high-speed, overtly thrilling, bare steel roller coaster taking root on Isla Nublar inherently feels more World than Park, doesn’t it? Even its allegedly-leaked name – Velocicoaster – feels like the modern, 21st century, in-your-face name you’d expect of Owen Grady’s version of the park rather than John Hammond’s, right?
Perhaps the ultimate direction of Islands of Adventure’s Jurassic Park will be more clear once the land’s new roller coaster is official – and it may be as easy as seeing if it’s yellow or blue! However, even if the coaster (and its rumored velociraptor show scene) do hint at or even explicitly feature Jurassic World characters like Owen Grady or Blue, we still expect it to simply be a cross-contaminated, mish-mashed contradiction rather than a signal that the entire land is going the way of the World franchise.
For now, it appears that – for better or worse – Jurassic Park is here to stay at Universal’s Islands of Adventure… Even if most fans would probably be happy to swap a few of Jurassic World: The Ride’s best scenes into Orlando’s 20-year old River Adventure ride…
Lost Legend
And that brings us back to that long-gone Hollywood original, Jurassic Park: The Ride. Perhaps the pinnacle of Universal’s “creature feature” era, this Californian classic was twice imitated, but never duplicated. The original ride did the unthinkable: submerging Audio-Animatronics in water beneath Californian sun, sending guests on a tranquil cruise-turned-nightmare, and somehow creating a new adventure that feels as if it could’ve existed just off-screen in the real Jurassic Park.
Its reimagining as Jurassic World: The Ride certainly introduced new twists and turns to the attraction’s tried-and-true course, but ultimately we’d argue that it’s simply different, not better. After all, how can you beat the soaring John Williams score as those wooden gates part? The industrial mayhem of the Environmental System Building and that imposing countdown; the T. rex appearing from behind a waterfall?
So while the Jurassic Park River Adventure continues to cruise through custom-built lands at both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Japan, we’ll always feel that the Hollywood original was a step above, and deserves to be an exalted entry in our Lost Legends series.
