Jurassic Park: The Ride

Jurassic Park: The Ride

The final splashdown of the ride.
Universal Studios Hollywood
Area Lower lot
Status Operating
Opening date June 21, 1996 (1996-06-21)
Islands of Adventure
Area Jurassic Park
Status Operating
Opening date May 1999 (1999-05)
Universal Studios Japan
Area Jurassic Park
Status Operating
Opening date 2001 (2001)
General statistics
Type Shoot the Chute
Manufacturer Vekoma
Designer Universal Creative
Lift system 3 Chain Lifts
Drop 84 ft (26 m)
Length 1,900 ft (580 m)
Speed 50 mph (80 km/h)
Max vertical angle 51°
Capacity 3000 riders per hour
Duration 5:30 minutes
Height restriction 42 in (107 cm)
Single rider line available

Jurassic Park: The Ride (Jurassic Park River Adventure at Islands of Adventure) is a water-based amusement ride based on the Steven Spielberg film Jurassic Park and Michael Crichton's novel located at Universal Studios Hollywood. The ride was researched and built as the film was still in its production phase and opened on June 21, 1996. Duplicates of the ride have since been built at Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Japan. A river rapids ride version of the attraction opened at Universal Studios Singapore in 2010.

History

Opening

Among the guests in attendance at the ride's grand opening celebration in 1996 were film cast members Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Richards, and Joseph Mazzello. Steven Spielberg also attended the opening, but requested that he be let off of the attraction before the 84-foot (26 m) drop.

Promotion

On August 12, 1996,[1] Universal launched an online game titled Jurassic Park – The Ride Online Adventure, to promote the ride.[2]

Ride-through

Queue and Pre-show

The ride is designed to have the feel of Isla Nublar. Guests begin the queue by walking under the Jurassic Park Sign before waiting under an open-wall building. A tour guide appears on television monitors in the building, reviewing boarding and ride safety. Other videos will play, with some about the "safety of the ride" spoken by InGen employees, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) talking about the dinosaurs, and music from the first film's score in the background. Guests are then split into two lines to board their tour boats for the ride.

Ride

The Hadrosaur cove.

The ride starts at Ultrasaur Lagoon, where two Ultrasaurus are seen eating plants in the water as well as two Psittacosaurus. The boat then moves behind a waterfall and emerges in Stegosaur Springs, where riders then see an adult Stegosaurus and its young. Two Compys are seen fighting over an empty popcorn box before the boat enters Hadrosaur Cove, where a parasaurolophus pops up in front of the raft. The Jurassic Park Animal Control calls, revealing that the parasaurolophus threw the raft off course, causing it to enter the raptor containment area, which is shown to be heavily damaged.

Riders next encounter what appears to be an abandoned tour raft, where a Dilophosaurus is seen eating the remains of a poncho. A nearby motorboat is also abandoned, sent by Jurassic Park Animal Control to guide the raft towards a safe area, but the Dilophosaurus appears to have killed the tourists and boat crew. A Mickey Mouse hat can be seen floating in the water at Universal Studios Hollywood next to a ruined raft as an apparent reference to nearby theme park rival Disneyland. A heavily damaged tour vehicle can be seen being pushed over the wall to the right of the raft, and the grunts and growls of a tyrannosaur are heard.

Dilophosauruses jump out and spit their toxic venom (water) at guests. Sparks and flood lights are added to the effect during nighttime operations of the attraction.

Warning sign at the entrance of the Jurassic Park River Adventure at Islands of Adventure.

The raft then enters the Environmental Systems Building (this area at Universal Studios Hollywood has special effects that the other versions of the ride don't). and slowly begins to ascend a long lift hill. A voice on a loudspeaker in the building alerts guests that an emergency evacuation is going to be attempted. As the raft makes its way up the lift hill, numerous alarms are heard as escaped Velociraptors lunge out at guests. Once the raft reaches the top of the lift hill, it drops down a small waterfall and is attacked by a Tyrannosaurus. A claw falls from the ceiling followed by its head and a set of collapsing pipes above riders' heads.

A technician begins counting down when the building's life support systems will terminate (due to "toxic gases" released during the Tyrannosaurus encounter). The raft climbs a small lift hill that brings it closer to the emergency evacuation drop. A second technician screams "If you can hear my voice, get out of there! It's in the building! IT'S IN THE BUILDING!". This section of the ride used to include a tense music score but has now been removed as of the 2016 update[3]

The Tyrannosaurus then emerges from a waterfall coming from broken pipes in front of the raft, and lunges down to grab the raft and the raft escapes by plunging down an 85 feet (26 m) high evacuation drop and into a tropical lagoon outside the Environmental Systems Building. A Dilophosaur tries to squirt "venom" at the passengers one last time. A can of Barbasol can be seen in the planter just before the ride ends, referencing the can Dennis Nedry uses in the first film to steal dinosaur genetics. The raft finally makes its way to the unloading dock where guests disembark the ride through the Jurassic Outfitters gift shop.

Jurassic Park in the Dark

During Universal Studios Hollywood's annual "Halloween Horror Nights" , the ride is temporarily renamed "Jurassic Park in the Dark." Most of the lights inside the Environmental Systems Building near the end of the ride were turned off, with only strobe lights illuminating violent scenes of raptors tearing apart scientists and game wardens. The tense Jurassic Park score usually heard during this portion of the ride was replaced with "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns 'N' Roses. The Jurassic Park in the Dark theme recurs each year at the Halloween Horror Nights event.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jurassic Park: The Ride.

References

  1. ↑ "Experience the Fear Now". Jurassic.UniCity.com. Archived from the original on December 29, 1996.
  2. ↑ Cheng, Kipp (August 23, 1996). "Jurassic Park moves online". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  3. ↑ InsideUniversal (2016-03-04), Jurassic Park: The Ride - 2016 Refurbishment at Universal Studios Hollywood, retrieved 2016-03-06
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