Jurassic Park: The Ride is an amusement attraction that was in operation from 1996 to 2018 at Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando. It was a water ride where you rode around in a boat and took a tour of the facility before going off course and ultimately crossing paths with a T-Rex that jumps out at you, scares you, and then the water ride drops off and takes your photo all at the same time.
I rode the ride when I was much younger around 2000 when my family went to Universal Studios Orlando. I didn't ride it again until its final season in 2018 at Universal Studios Hollywood while on an off production day during the filming of BattleBots. I didn't know they were shutting down the ride but man it was sure showing its age by 2018. The safety videos that play while you wait in line had never been updated so they were nostalgic cheesy 90's stuff. The ride itself was in a poor state though. One of the Brachiosaurs had a crick in its neck and didn't animate properly. The part where the Ford Explorer falls down the side of the bridge wasn't operable either. The ride as a whole definitely looked like it had been running for 20 years.
I'm kinda bummed out that something that was a part of my childhood is no more but I'm also really glad that I at least got to see it one last time during its final season in operation.
Did you get to ride the ride? (At Universal Studios)
-
TyrannosaurTJ
- Administrator
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2022 2:07 pm
- Location: Bloomsburg, PA
- Favorite Jurassic Series Film: Jurassic World Dominion
- Favorite prehistoric animal in the series: Tyrannosaurus
- Favorite Jurassic Park/World toy: Hammond Collection Tyrannosaurus rex
Re: Did you get to ride the ride? (At Universal Studios)
I did in about 2007, I went down to Universal Orlando and stayed with a good friend for about a month or so. He and I did the River Adventure and went to the rest of Universal at that time and I am extremely grateful for my friend and their family for having me so long down there. I can tell now it's a different feeling in that section now instead of how it felt then. You could tell at points the area was extremely popular for Universal, but it all felt underused. I know specifically the Trike Encounter at that point was no longer in service so it was just the River Adventure, Discovery Center, Camp Jurassic, and Pterosaur Flyers. I would love to go back now and give Velocicoaster a shot as well as get my hands on all the new merch too. I loved every minute there, and I think I would love every minute there still.
