Welcome...to Jurassic Park!
At Jurassic Park, you'd better watch out for a menacing Carnotaurus. Wait a minute. What?
A Carnotaurus bullied visitors to Jurassic Park years before guests at an Orlando, Florida animal theme park (that opened in 1998) counted down to extinction on a dinosaur thrill ride.
The Carnotaurus was one of the dinosaurs featured in Michael Crichton's 1995 book, The Lost World (the sequel to his 1990 novel, Jurassic Park), though it did not appear in the 1997 film adaptation. The Carno did manage to appear on some merchandise.The Lost World seemed to have a much bigger marketing push than the original Jurassic Park.
It would have been nice if I had enjoyed The Lost World as much as I loved Jurassic Park.When the original Jurassic Park was released by Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment in 1993, I saw this Steven Spielberg film in the movie theater three times.
I made sure I got these PVC figures of a Triceratops, Dilophosaur, and Tyrannosaurs Rex made by Dakin.McDonald's and Coca Cola teamed up for Jurassic Park cups. I was only able to get two of them.
McDonald's also had a Jurassic Meal. There was no toy. It featured a HUGE burger. I think it was a triple Quarter Pounder with three slices of cheese and a gigantic serving of fries. Yes, I tried it!For the Lost World in 1997, Burger King handled the fast food promotion (at the time, McDonald's had an exclusive deal going on with a very famous and powerful Mouse).
This watch features a Stegosaurus, a dinosaur that made its big screen Jurassic Park debut in The Lost World.The Stegosaurus and Triceratops could be found on tubes of candy, too. The two dinosaur pieces snapped together to form a toy after the tube of candy was finished.
I think the candy was Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Mmmmm!Nobody would ever dare to leave the T-Rex out of anything involving food. The T-Rex Water Squirter and Stamper were found on the tops of tubes of candy.
I think these toys may have been sold with Hershey's chocolates.The Jurassic Park Lost World dinosaurs also became Koosh toys.
The T-Rex figure was really nicely done. If I had the money back then, I probably would have gotten all the dinosaurs.In 1994, I got to see the Triceratops from the Jurassic Park film at an movie prop exhibit at Universal Studios Florida.
Years later, visitors would get to encounter a full fledged animatronic Triceratops at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida.In 1999, Jurassic Park opened at Universal's Islands of Adventure next to Universal Studios Florida.
I got this pressed penny of a T-Rex during my visit to Universal Orlando in 2009.Jurassic Park opened with Camp Jurassic, Pteranodon Flyers, the Jurassic Park River Adventure, the Triceratops Discovery Trail and the Jurassic Park Discovery Center.
The Triceratops Discovery Trail had been closed for years.The Triceratops Encounter may or may not be listed as an attraction, but the buildings are still shown on the park map.
I got to see an animatronic Triceratops in person during my visit in 2009.Universal spared no expense in bringing Jurassic Park to life.
The Pteranodon Flyers coaster looks really fun in person. I have not been on this ride yet. This is a low-capacity attraction, unfortunately. I visited Islands of Adventure on an uncrowded day in November, and the wait for the ride was one of the longest in the park.
The Jurassic Park River Adventure features some friendly and not-so-friendly animatronic dinosaurs. You will get drenched.Before the big flume plunge, you are attacked by a Dilophosaur, hassled by Velociraptors, and nearly eaten by a T-Rex.
The Jurassic Park River Adventure first debuted at Universal Studios in Hollywood, California in 1996. The ride can also be found at Universal Studios Japan (2001) and Universal Studios Singapore (2010).New attractions for Jurassic Park at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Florida have been rumored for years. I have to wonder if Jurassic Park's expansion land has been surrendered to its neighbor, the very popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
I'd love to see a new fantasy based attraction for Jurassic Park based on Jurassic Park Chaos Effect.
Chaos Effect was a line of merchandise that was released by Kenner in 1998. This Hasbro Jurassic Park Spin-Off imagined scientists mixing the DNA of various dinosaurs and other animals to create "ultra-ferocious, hybrid dinosaurs---the most aggressive predators ever---wreaking chaos on an unsuspecting world!" Why would anyone ever do something like this? Because they look awesome, that's why.
The Jurassic Park scientists created this deadly 13 foot, 2 ton Compstegnathus using DNA from a Stegosaurus, a Compsognathus and an African Tree Frog.
The Chaos Effect creatures are "genetically mutated dinos gone bad." Really, who would have guessed that?I only have the Compstegnathus, so I don't have the statistics on the other creatures. We'll have to guess what makes up the other dinos.
Tyrannonops might have some sabre-tooth tiger DNA.
Tanaconda has a bit of anaconda.
Raptor Alpha looks a bit like a T-Rex and a Raptor.Ian Malcolm doesn't look much like Jeff Goldblum here. Is he on steroids? And he now works with a baby T-Rex.
I wonder if this was a proposed animated series.I'd love to see a giant animatronic Velocirapteryx in a new ride at Jurassic Park.
Chaos Effect could be a big new interactive ride of some sort, all leading up to an encounter with the biggest, baddest dinosaur ever developed by the mad scientists at Jurassic Park...Look out for Ultimasaurus! I believe I can see parts of a Triceratops, a T-Rex, a Velociraptor and an Ankylosaur.
I have a marketing slogan for Chaos Effect at Jurassic Park:Chaos Effect---It'll Kick Jurassic!
*UPDATE 6/6/14:
Chaos Effect will be in full force in the latest Jurassic Park film, Jurassic World.
Wow, did the Triceratops movie prop at Universal move? That would have been cool to see.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to Islands of Adventure in 2006, adults could ride the Pteranodon Flyers ONLY if they had a child with them. I was NOT happy about that. I wonder if people complained about that. It looked like a fun ride. If the attraction is that popular, maybe they should build some additional tracks/courses.
Hey TokyoMagic! I don't think the Triceratops at the Universal Studios Florida Jurassic prop display had any motion. That would have been impressive!
ReplyDeleteI did not know about the rider policy at the Pteranodon Flyers. I think this attraction only seems to be popular because the line never moves, due to the fact that it can't handle many riders.
I get the feeling that this won't change any time soon.
Man.. I think I have that pressed penny somewhere.. I need a scanner so I can do an article on all my pressed pennies from the last 21 years!!
ReplyDeleteDarrin: I would love to see that! Get to work...:-)
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of a Chaos Effect-esque event: Universal Orlando once did something kinda similar in the parks. In 2002, "Halloween Horror Nights XII: Island of Fear," HHN was held for the first time in Islands of Adventure. The scare house was found in JP Extinction, the twisted alter ego of Jurassic Park. The Park Map read, "Evilution: Deep within the jungle, top secret genetic experiments have horribly gone wrong, creating hideous mutants, half human, half dinosaur... and all evil."
ReplyDeleteI did about a 2-hour search to gather info/pic/links to validate my info, but just about all of the HHN resources no longer exist ;( I did find what I did here: http://www.horrornightnightmares.com/hhn-xii-islands-of-fear/#!lightbox/1/
There was a documentary done by travel Channel that can be found all over the net, ie Youtube where I watched it.
To DA and TokyoMagic: I have found your pages for the first time TODAY. Your blogs are excellent. DA provides a lot of info on the consumer and marketing strategies of theme parks. TokyoMagic provides chronicled accounts of the happenings at TDR, which has so few resources, few of which update to any degree. I am subscribing to both blogs now.
Hey Tyr4n02r! First, thanks for the compliments, and for following Dizmentia. I appreciate your visits!
ReplyDeleteWow, I did not know that Universal used Jurassic Park for their Halloween Horror Nights XII! That's very creative!
On my August 2011 visit to Universal's Islands of Adventure, I noticed a lack of Jurassic Park specific merchandise. The shops had some toy dinosaurs, but most were generic, not the JP brand (I saw a few JP items, but not many). I bet there won't be any more Jurassic Park attractions added in Florida, and I wouldn't count on the existing ones being around forever.
And yes, TokyoMagic! is the go-to guy for the Tokyo Disney Resort, that's for sure!