Every week I think "How are they gonna talk about [insert attraction here] for almost 2 hours?" Then during the outtro I' always say with a tone of disappointment "It's over already?" Great job guys.
I rode Dinosaur for the first time on my 5th birthday. I was OBSESSED with dinosaurs at the time. Like pronouncing latin names, drawing musculature in crayon, nitpicking the accuracy of toys level obsessed. I vividly remember laughing in maniacal joy through the whole ride, especially as the carno leaned over the ride vehicle and my mother screamed bloody murder. It's still my absolute favorite ride ever.
There should be another test: “how quotable is the attraction?” Because “they’re not gonna make it! They’re not gonna make it!”, “definitely not our Dino”, and “we’re in!” are all regular phrases in my daily vocabulary.
One of my favorite pictures from my trip to Disney is my friends and I accidentally doing the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil on this ride. The photopass cast member even asked us if we planned it. We did not, it’s just pure terror lol
Getting to do ride testing for this ride multiple nights as an engineering intern was such an amazing (and exhausting) thing to do! A GOATed ride in my books. A super rare breed of scary but thrilling rides.
Everytime you mention this ride being the scariest at disneyworld i am like no way! alien encounter traumatized me in a way i cant even describe. I was 8 it was brand new, my family had no idea what we were getting into, and the kid that walked out was fundamentally different then the one that walked in. I mean they ripped it out for being too scary and dinosaur is still there so that means something lol
There actually is a connection between WDW, McDonalds, and Dinosaur! The Walt Disney Company and McDonalds spent a lot of money along with the Chicago Field Museum to keep famous T-Rex “Sue” out of private collection and available for the public to view. There is also a cast replica of Sue on display outside of Dinosaur. (Former DAK CM & dinosaur aficionado.)
Mike from RedLetterMedia once said "Kids need to see some horrifying things every now and again, just to keep em human." That's why I love Dinosaur so much.
It's crazy to me that "Dinosaur" has a major E-ticket ride and yet "Lion King" has never had a ride at any Disney park. I know "Lion King" has had various shows over the years, but the lack of a ride is still odd, especially here in California where "Lion King's" only permanent presence is a parking lot.
I feel like that is the result of A: The fact that a suitable land hasn’t been found for it yet, B: the success of the shows, and C: the era in which it was released. If you think about it, most Disney movie rides (not Pixar or other properties) are based on either films from before the nineties, or Iger-era films that were “new” at the time, like Frozen Ever After. Aside from the Little Mermaid, and small flat rides that barely count like The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Disney’s greatest decade rarely gets representation in the parks. We didn’t get a Beauty and the Beast ride until 2020, and that one was in Tokyo. (Which further means it will never be brought to the states for contractual reasons)
@@officialmonarchmusic Very good points. In a castle park, "Lion King" would probably fit best in Adventureland and I know we don't have room for that in Disneyland's. It does seem odd to me that there isn't a Lion King ride in Animal Kingdom, but I still haven't actually been there. As for "Aladdin," that Cave of Wonders sequence seems like it's especially designed to be thrill ride. It's very odd to me that there never has been a full-fledged E-ticket ride like that. Though I guess the plot of "Indiana Jones Adventure" is basically the same as that sequence. You did something wrong, now the angry deity is going to trap you in this cave.
@@RedCometCustom0079 That's true. I think the redesign of Mickey for those newer shorts is what led there to finally be a ride based on him. Like, they could keep the corporate symbol Mickey and the Mickey who gets into wacky hijinks on the ride separate.
@@brentparker7359Adventureland is sort of hemmed in on almost all sides in Florida. There probably is room if Disneyland was able to make Indy in the 90s, but it wouldn’t be easy. As for AK, it could be a thing but the truth is, it would disrupt the theming of the Africa section. Which is why it will almost certainly happen under Iger given a few years
A couple things to consider. The ride sort of did innovate in a way. It had the world's largest theme park smoke machine, and the largest animatronics at the time, that, as you said in the episode, took especial effort (with the building of the legs, body, and skin) to make work. However, if you want something more concrete, the ride was one of - if not the - first attractions to make an animatronic move / run (the 3rd carnotaurus animatronic that chases the ride vehicle). CTX / Dinosaur paved the way for future large walking figures, for example Jurassic World The Ride's Indominus Rex at the end (California), or Jurassic World Adventure's Indom that follows the vehicle for a good 20-30ish seconds on a turntable (Beijing). Both of these future rides have these impressive effects that CTX did first. Therefore, I think it should pass the innovation test (8/10). Also, as for has it held up well? This one is more based on your opinion, but whilst the spotty maintenance has caused issues (it got a major update in 2016 changing things like the Compy projection and fixing lighting and animatronics), and small effects improvements in 2023, ETC, all of the effects hold-up very well today when they work. Looking back at footage from 2012-23, the animatronic's fluidity was crazy, and even today, lighting, the small meteors hitting the ground and leaving craters and smoke and light trails, and the sound design, is all very good. If ET Adventure passed your Fine Wine Test despite having less maintenance and being in an even worse state of disrepair, Dinosaur I think should. It stands out for sort of being an IP-free(ish) E-Ticket ride, for being terrifying, and having good effects (so it would be a 9/10 now lol). I think 8/10 is fairest as Indy is better due to having 360-degrees theming, great effects of its own, and being more accessible to more guests in terms of less terror. But Dinosaur as a juicy-scusie has got to be appreciated, so maybe it should be 9/10 too?! BTW, some stuff you mentioned in the video has some more history behind it. I believe the asteroid finale DID have a physical prop moving towards you, using the exact same motion base s today's carnotaurus. If I understand correctly, Disney allegedly wanted a "proper conclusion" to the storyline of the carnotaurus chase, so when it came time to update CTX to 'Dinosaur', they swapped the meteor for a finale appearance of the Carno (I think the asteroid was better though, it was the 'real' threat and villain IMO and it looks like the Carno could've followed you through time in the new version (bad!)). Also, the mirror at the end of the ride right before unload was supposed to support a pepper's ghost effect of the iguanodon riding on the back of your vehicle, fixing your complaint on it not having a similar effect to ET Adventure with the McGuffin creature riding with you, but the effect never worked. There's posters outside the ride building talking about the "new" or "grand unveiling" or something of the time rover, supporting the explanation of the Dino Institute not being super techy and having a lab queue line. Fun fact (if I haven't given enough already lol), the reasons the lights flicker in the basement load station is because the time tunnels are sucking up all the electricity! And the ride vehicle moving weird in the time tunnel is canonically because the time travel sequence messes up gravity and you start to float (through the portal through time). CTX used to have strobe lights and a real electricity sparking effect in the time tunnel, but both were removed for safety reasons. The track layout of CTX and Indy are slightly different, but not due to track shortening for budget purposes, but so walls could be reconfigured, and space for large dino animatronics be made, which did make CTX very slightly shorter. There's so many more secrets and info, like Seeker having different dialogue during the ride experience that was changed either 2 weeks before AK opened, or 2 weeks after, as he sounded too cold and uncaring for the guests; the new modern CTX / Dinosaur dialogue makes him more comedic and likeable. This ride has so many special effects to keep being discovered, I recommend RUclips searching "Dinosaur at DAK Ultimate Tribute" for more info! :)
Man ive been on this ride a ton of times and i’ve never noticed the small craters left by tiny meteors! Unless you were referring to the small smoking vents you see during the beginning of the ride, near the Alioramus scene. I’m glad someone else has thought about this ride as much as me.
Dinosaur is one of my all time fave attractions in WDW and I am so sad it’s probably closing with the retheme. I rode it for the first time in 1998 within months of AK’s opening, and it scared me like no other. My parents still have the ride photo somewhere of little 7 year old me ducking under the railing on the car 😂. Every visit since, it’s been more of a conquering my fears situation with every ride. Back in 2022, I rope dropped it, and had the entire ride vehicle to myself. I think that ride officially helped me conquer the fear. I love it so much and I’ll forever treasure every ride on it
I brought my friend on this ride last year for her first time with no context. Just before the pterodactyl (her favorite dinosaur) I looked over to see her reaction and she was doubled over with her arms covering her head. Crying. We're 32.
You need to have this guest for every episode. He was one of the most objective guests you've ever had. It's a breath of fresh air for a guest that doesn't strong arm the hosts to pass a ride for the most part. Well done!
I feel like they're going to replace this ride because they don't think people care about the Dinosaur movie. While that may be true, I think it misses the point. The ride itself is fine - it's just stuck in a section of the park that many guests don't take seriously. I think if they fix up the surrounding land, Dinosaur would be better received. Maybe rework the theming a bit - call the show building "Museo de Dinsaurios" if it's now in South America - and if it really makes a difference, take out the movie clips in the pre-show, and go back to calling it "Countdown to Extinction." But, c'mon - it's a ride where you go back in time and get chased by dinosaurs. That's fun! And if attraction capacity is such a big deal, then they shouldn't replace a fun ride over IP, especially when they absolutely have room to expand. If they want to do Indy too, that's great - there should be plenty of space to make something new, and leave the Dinos alone.
core memory of my childhood was being traumatized on this ride. to this day i remember my mom telling me as we got in line "don't worry, disney is for kids it can't be scary!!"
1:32:33 This right here!!! Florida especially has been shafted in recent years. Every exclusive they've gotten recently except Guardians has been cloned elsewhere, and then everything else they've gotten has been clones from other parks (Ratatouille, Tron, etc.) With the rumors of Radiators Springs Racers being cloned to Magic Kingdom behind Big Thunder Mountain, things aren't looking great. Magic Kingdom especially needs more exclusive attractions!
I’ve *only* been listening to FYA since discovering it 2 weeks ago and I live in constant fear knowing it’s not a financially viable podcast. I need it to continue!! 😭
I rode the original full-on CTX in my mid-20s and I remember coming off it a bit weak-kneed. I loved it and wanted to do it again but needed to sit down and rest first before getting back in line. The highlights: The first Carnotaurus was not visible until seeker said "Full stop!" It lit up right in your face as you were still moving toward it in _red._ The full-standing Carnotaurus where they took your picture didn't light up until you were literally at its feet, and it lunged down when they took the picture. The running Carnotaurus at first seemed like another static animatronic, but suddenly it just busted out of the underbrush and _came after you_ as the rover peeled out trying to speed away. The meteor strike finale was absolute chaos. It was like being in the middle of a hurricane volume and sound wise, the meteor lit up sequential clouds in black smoke and fire as it whistled over your head, the impact caused a blast of wind from behind you which felt like it picked up the vehicle and threw it straight forward at the Carnotaurus's face before you fell down into the time portal hallway.
I had the pleasure of having my run of Animal Kingdom at a private event after hours last fall, so I got to ride Flight of Passage with no wait, but more importantly - I got to experience DINOSAUR for the first time! It was so scary but very fun. They should put closed captions on the video that plays in the queue beforehand because I could not hear a thing over everyone around me talking 😫 Thank you, FYA, for having Jenny on as a guest all those months ago - the episode she sat on is how I discovered this podcast, and now I look forward to new episodes every Tuesday. Thanks for all your fun discussions! You make me laugh so much.
I’ve been waiting for this one! This has been my all time favorite attraction from any theme park since I rode it for the first time back in 2017. I’ve heard the rumors of them replacing it and I really hope they don’t, they have potential to expand on the dino institute theme and remove the cheap dino carnival. But instead they will probably smack another IP there 😭 I took every friend of mine onto this ride and everytime it was a blast into the past! This is a phenomenal attraction and extremely underrated. Fun fact they had to lower the dinosaur animatronics into the show building because of how huge they are. When I say I love this ride, it is not an understatement. I know the whole pre show quote for quote and with my eyes closed I know the ride vehicle track. But I want to say I agree with what Ryan quoted about attractions. “They don’t design them around any danger” YES! This is a huge disney problem right now. For example I’m excited for Tiana’s Bayou but I fear there will be no dangerous element or villian and without that fear what are we running from? And if we aren’t escaping something in the upcoming attraction, it won’t work any longer as a thrill log flume. Anyways thanks for this podcast and thanks for passing my favorite attraction.
Oh my god the fail of the theme park tech question had me SCREAMING at the screen “THE GIANT ANAMATRONIC!!! HOW DID THEY MISS THE GIANT CARNASAURUS!!”!!! Like they literally talked about it earlier 😭😭
I finally got to ride this last year -- fun ride. At the park I was wearing a mask and a sweat band and a cast member told me I looked like a Ninja Turtle. I was first offended, then I saw my reflection ... it was a pretty accurate description. 😄
I went to Animal Kingdom last month for the first time since I was a kid (I believe it was 2005) and rode Dinosaur twice in one day to soak it in before it goes away. It was a walk on both times 😅 but I loved it just as much as I did when I was a kid - it made me sad to think about all the dinos going into storage when they reskin it.. Also made me sad to think about the finale dinos sitting idle instead of being fixed. On our second ride, I yelled and tried to point out the shadowy figure to my fiance and explain what used to happen 😂
This is one of the few rides we bought the picture from. It's hilarious. My friend and I are both looking to the side terrified and leaning hard away from it, and my mom is looking at us like we're being ridiculous. My mom is braver than all of us. (I was in high school at the time, so it's not like we were little kids, either.)
I have only ridden this as an adult and I still get scared. I’m glad I didn’t ride as a kid because even as a dinosaur fan this ride would’ve given me THE WORST apocalypse anxiety
I love this ride so much. I have been to Disneyland 3 or 4 times since I have been back to AK and every time I ride Indiana Jones (which I do love) it makes me miss Dinosaur, although Countdown to Extinction was the better name. I know quite a few people who were traumatized by the Carnotaurus. I still have the Happy Meal Hand Puppet of him too.
I remember my dad being so angry with me that my eyes were closed in the ride photo for this. He wanted me to get over how scary it was and had us ride it a second time. It was a rough 10th birthday. I remember having nightmares for months over that specific dino eating another one.
I really really want to do this ride. It will have to be a whole planned day with only that though, because I have a minor dinophobia (somehow walked in only during the death scenes when my parents rented Jurassic Park when I was 5 while taking snack breaks from my kiddie movie in another room). My brain wants to study the things I'm afraid of so I'm a bit of a paleontology buff for grown ass former English major. So I have kind of a weird mental/emotional conflict in that I love dinosaurs and find them fascinating but they also terrify me. I love to experience dinosaur stuff but I gotta be prepared and ideally doing it in a safe environment.
my grandma’s husband worked on countdown to extinction and he said Eisner would come by and check it out and be like “not thrilling enough” - he snickers every time he thinks about the fact that it had to be reworked for being too scary and says “all that work for a bunch of bones”
To "Dinosaur"'s credit, you are never supposed to experience the ride with the "lights-on"! You're zipping through a primeval forest at night and only pausing when the computer detects something. All the lighting is meant to be emitting from the moon, thermal vents, and your headlights!
My 5-year-old cousin went on this ride the last time we were in Disney and he loved it! They let him ride three times because a storm cleared out the park
My first time at WDW was in 2002 or 2003. I got to experience Alien Encounter AND Dinosaur for the first time, and they were both ridiculously terrifying. There were children bawling after Alien Encounter. At one point, a technician is straight up murdered on the walkway above you, and you get sprayed with his "blood." I really miss that attraction, and I'm going to miss Dinosaur.
HOT TAKE - Dinosaur is the only reason to visit Animal Kingdom. :X And you never even mentioned one of the best GOODs, Dr Seeker's name. Dr Grant Seeker! I love a good pun. He'll do anything to get his grants!
I completely disagree that Dino Land is trash. Imagine a young Pee Wee’s Big Adventure fanatic’s joy when he gets to see giant dinosaurs, and a merch shop set up just as majestic as Pee Wee’s home. Off in the distance, at the edge of the land, the Dino Institute is doing dark things. Where we get our Jurassic “Large Marge” moment.
32:00 touches on a good point that really pre 2012 youtube a lot of these rides had to be discovered essentially by accident. I remember there was real confusion going onto tiempo or knotts dinosaur ride specifically because of the weird placement.
1:29:32 I love Byron's idea to have the kid from UP running a South American conservation thing! Anything incorporating fictional animals with real ones is *chef's kiss* But.... as a MEGA Lion King Nerd (who spent the entire WDW trip wearing a Simba tail)... building a Lion King Land would get me to go back. Our WDW trip was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, but I will make reservations TODAY if they opened TLK Land. I don't think it'll happen -- South America seems far more likely with Encanto being the shiny new thing. Maybe even a Polynesian Moana-themed land?
I have such a vivid memory of being a kid and my family listening to the “kid friendly” rating on the animal kingdom map for this ride! Closed my eyes, cried, and screamed through the whole thing! We all blamed my mom who was the poor soul in charge of the map so I’ll have to tell her I’m not the only kid who fell victim to this ride lol.
As a California resident that has only been to Disney World twice in my life, I’ve sadly never gotten to experience this ride in person. I only this year got to see videos of it but, as a horror freak (as Ryan put it), I do have a great appreciation for this ride now. Sadly I don’t think I’ll be able to go there before they potentially change it. Also really love the fact that you guys brought up Alien Encounter at around 1:04:32 because that’s another ride I never got to experience but really wish I could.
I love seeing a new upload. I sometimes hold off on listening to it only because I want to fully experience it without distractions. Love this podcast and love the long episodes, cuz it’s never enough.
I grew up in California(hence the name). Family’s always been a Disney family. In 2001 (I was 11) they planned a big trip to Florida to go to Disney World. Not only did we ride Dinosaur but we also went on ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. Oh and we were in the airports in October of 2001. I’ve never fully recovered from that vacation 😂.
i have a suggestion! for the signature moment test, you could have each person prepare what THEY think is the signature moment of the ride, then compare during the show and if there's no unreasonable discrepencies, it should pass. love the show and i hope you're able to keep making more! i was so excited to see TWO sponsors this episode!!
I quote this ride without even realizing it 💀I loooove to say "definitely not our/my dino" but I never could remember what it's from. Ugh, I hope they treat this like Star Tours and leave it when they update the area.
I’m gonna be honest, I went on DINOSAUR for the first time recently, and the scariest part about it was the brontosaurus with a sloping, quasibroken neck. When I rode on that side of the vehicle on my second ride through, it gave me the chills that it was that close. But I’ve gotta say, I’ve got a family member who is scared by most big rides, and she ADORED this one, which made me so happy as a theme park enthusiast, since it’s a thrill ride that’s perfect for her that’s also a classic :D
Getting the Iguanodon back to the lab is explained by Dr. Seekers in the pre-show. At the very end he says he’ll enlarge the transporter field, thus bringing back the vehicle and the near by dino.
My friends and I weren’t expecting much when we rode Dinosaur, I had heard here and there that it was an underrated ride but still had low expectations. We were all pleasantly surprised and the ride photo has got to be one of the funniest I’ve ever seen.
This was the first ride my family went on during our first ever Disney trip (2010). We had no idea what we were getting into. I was 10 and my brother was 6. We both cried and as a result, we cried waiting in the line of most other rides for the rest of our trip because we thought they’d all be scary like Dinosaur. Our poor parents 😂. We did love our trip though.
went on this as a child: gave me a panic attack went on this as a full grown adult a few years ago: literally the most fun experience me and my friends did it three times during our trip 😂
The loss of traction for me (back row left) is the signature moment on this ride. The writing in the moment, the audio, and seeing the carno chase after you while you're stuck is so scary lol
Ride engineering is a special interest of mine, and it tends to help my anxiety about trying new rides when I know a lot about it already. It's pretty rare that I get on a ride blind, and usually only do if I'm certain it's a pretty tame attraction. The only reason we got on Dinosaur was because the wait time was short and it was in Dinoland, which did not seem like a place for such an intense attraction 😂 I got off that ride so surprised by what I had just experienced and I felt dumb for getting a little scared. Especially because the girls in front of us are posing so cute for the picture and I look terrified lmao. I feel so seen every time I hear experiences where people are like "I didn't think it was going to be that scary!"
I think grabbing the Dino right before the meteor shower is to prevent a butterfly effect. If we grab the dinosaur right before the meteor, it won’t miraculously change history because everything will be wiped out anyways. Grab him any earlier who knows what could change?
Thanks for having me guys! 🦖☄☄☄
Thanks for coming on!!!
How am I the second comment?
Woah I didn’t expect this crossover 😦
When you said "cut to sponsors" and there were sponsors, I cheered out loud while making dinner. Confused the hell outta my son 😂
Lol right? Get that Square Space money
This didn’t age well
Every week I think "How are they gonna talk about [insert attraction here] for almost 2 hours?" Then during the outtro I' always say with a tone of disappointment "It's over already?" Great job guys.
I rode Dinosaur for the first time on my 5th birthday. I was OBSESSED with dinosaurs at the time. Like pronouncing latin names, drawing musculature in crayon, nitpicking the accuracy of toys level obsessed. I vividly remember laughing in maniacal joy through the whole ride, especially as the carno leaned over the ride vehicle and my mother screamed bloody murder. It's still my absolute favorite ride ever.
There should be another test: “how quotable is the attraction?” Because “they’re not gonna make it! They’re not gonna make it!”, “definitely not our Dino”, and “we’re in!” are all regular phrases in my daily vocabulary.
I do that with the mummy ride and “the curse is real! You guys gotta get out of here!”
I have to physically stop myself from speaking along with this ride because I feel like it would ruin it for other guests. But it’s so damn quotable!
I say "You made it! I knew you would." at least once a day
Quoting the Winnie the Pooh lines! 😂
I think the people would like to see the orca
I think this is the first time Ryan has said "Let's cut to a word from our sponsors" and they actually put one of the sponsor reels after 🤣
One of my favorite pictures from my trip to Disney is my friends and I accidentally doing the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil on this ride. The photopass cast member even asked us if we planned it. We did not, it’s just pure terror lol
Getting to do ride testing for this ride multiple nights as an engineering intern was such an amazing (and exhausting) thing to do! A GOATed ride in my books. A super rare breed of scary but thrilling rides.
Lol I love that these episodes are just getting longer and longer
Everytime you mention this ride being the scariest at disneyworld i am like no way! alien encounter traumatized me in a way i cant even describe. I was 8 it was brand new, my family had no idea what we were getting into, and the kid that walked out was fundamentally different then the one that walked in. I mean they ripped it out for being too scary and dinosaur is still there so that means something lol
THIS!!!
I was also a traumatized child from Alien encounter… even the stitch version was intense IMO
There actually is a connection between WDW, McDonalds, and Dinosaur! The Walt Disney Company and McDonalds spent a lot of money along with the Chicago Field Museum to keep famous T-Rex “Sue” out of private collection and available for the public to view. There is also a cast replica of Sue on display outside of Dinosaur. (Former DAK CM & dinosaur aficionado.)
it’s TUESSSSSSDAAAAAAAY!!
Mike from RedLetterMedia once said "Kids need to see some horrifying things every now and again, just to keep em human." That's why I love Dinosaur so much.
Wise words from Mike. Surprised he didn't reference a star trek episode after saying that
It's crazy to me that "Dinosaur" has a major E-ticket ride and yet "Lion King" has never had a ride at any Disney park. I know "Lion King" has had various shows over the years, but the lack of a ride is still odd, especially here in California where "Lion King's" only permanent presence is a parking lot.
I feel like that is the result of A: The fact that a suitable land hasn’t been found for it yet, B: the success of the shows, and C: the era in which it was released. If you think about it, most Disney movie rides (not Pixar or other properties) are based on either films from before the nineties, or Iger-era films that were “new” at the time, like Frozen Ever After. Aside from the Little Mermaid, and small flat rides that barely count like The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Disney’s greatest decade rarely gets representation in the parks. We didn’t get a Beauty and the Beast ride until 2020, and that one was in Tokyo. (Which further means it will never be brought to the states for contractual reasons)
To be fair: Mickey just got his
@@officialmonarchmusic Very good points. In a castle park, "Lion King" would probably fit best in Adventureland and I know we don't have room for that in Disneyland's. It does seem odd to me that there isn't a Lion King ride in Animal Kingdom, but I still haven't actually been there. As for "Aladdin," that Cave of Wonders sequence seems like it's especially designed to be thrill ride. It's very odd to me that there never has been a full-fledged E-ticket ride like that. Though I guess the plot of "Indiana Jones Adventure" is basically the same as that sequence. You did something wrong, now the angry deity is going to trap you in this cave.
@@RedCometCustom0079 That's true. I think the redesign of Mickey for those newer shorts is what led there to finally be a ride based on him. Like, they could keep the corporate symbol Mickey and the Mickey who gets into wacky hijinks on the ride separate.
@@brentparker7359Adventureland is sort of hemmed in on almost all sides in Florida. There probably is room if Disneyland was able to make Indy in the 90s, but it wouldn’t be easy. As for AK, it could be a thing but the truth is, it would disrupt the theming of the Africa section. Which is why it will almost certainly happen under Iger given a few years
A couple things to consider.
The ride sort of did innovate in a way. It had the world's largest theme park smoke machine, and the largest animatronics at the time, that, as you said in the episode, took especial effort (with the building of the legs, body, and skin) to make work. However, if you want something more concrete, the ride was one of - if not the - first attractions to make an animatronic move / run (the 3rd carnotaurus animatronic that chases the ride vehicle). CTX / Dinosaur paved the way for future large walking figures, for example Jurassic World The Ride's Indominus Rex at the end (California), or Jurassic World Adventure's Indom that follows the vehicle for a good 20-30ish seconds on a turntable (Beijing). Both of these future rides have these impressive effects that CTX did first. Therefore, I think it should pass the innovation test (8/10).
Also, as for has it held up well? This one is more based on your opinion, but whilst the spotty maintenance has caused issues (it got a major update in 2016 changing things like the Compy projection and fixing lighting and animatronics), and small effects improvements in 2023, ETC, all of the effects hold-up very well today when they work. Looking back at footage from 2012-23, the animatronic's fluidity was crazy, and even today, lighting, the small meteors hitting the ground and leaving craters and smoke and light trails, and the sound design, is all very good. If ET Adventure passed your Fine Wine Test despite having less maintenance and being in an even worse state of disrepair, Dinosaur I think should. It stands out for sort of being an IP-free(ish) E-Ticket ride, for being terrifying, and having good effects (so it would be a 9/10 now lol).
I think 8/10 is fairest as Indy is better due to having 360-degrees theming, great effects of its own, and being more accessible to more guests in terms of less terror. But Dinosaur as a juicy-scusie has got to be appreciated, so maybe it should be 9/10 too?!
BTW, some stuff you mentioned in the video has some more history behind it. I believe the asteroid finale DID have a physical prop moving towards you, using the exact same motion base s today's carnotaurus. If I understand correctly, Disney allegedly wanted a "proper conclusion" to the storyline of the carnotaurus chase, so when it came time to update CTX to 'Dinosaur', they swapped the meteor for a finale appearance of the Carno (I think the asteroid was better though, it was the 'real' threat and villain IMO and it looks like the Carno could've followed you through time in the new version (bad!)). Also, the mirror at the end of the ride right before unload was supposed to support a pepper's ghost effect of the iguanodon riding on the back of your vehicle, fixing your complaint on it not having a similar effect to ET Adventure with the McGuffin creature riding with you, but the effect never worked. There's posters outside the ride building talking about the "new" or "grand unveiling" or something of the time rover, supporting the explanation of the Dino Institute not being super techy and having a lab queue line. Fun fact (if I haven't given enough already lol), the reasons the lights flicker in the basement load station is because the time tunnels are sucking up all the electricity! And the ride vehicle moving weird in the time tunnel is canonically because the time travel sequence messes up gravity and you start to float (through the portal through time). CTX used to have strobe lights and a real electricity sparking effect in the time tunnel, but both were removed for safety reasons. The track layout of CTX and Indy are slightly different, but not due to track shortening for budget purposes, but so walls could be reconfigured, and space for large dino animatronics be made, which did make CTX very slightly shorter. There's so many more secrets and info, like Seeker having different dialogue during the ride experience that was changed either 2 weeks before AK opened, or 2 weeks after, as he sounded too cold and uncaring for the guests; the new modern CTX / Dinosaur dialogue makes him more comedic and likeable. This ride has so many special effects to keep being discovered, I recommend RUclips searching "Dinosaur at DAK Ultimate Tribute" for more info! :)
Man ive been on this ride a ton of times and i’ve never noticed the small craters left by tiny meteors! Unless you were referring to the small smoking vents you see during the beginning of the ride, near the Alioramus scene.
I’m glad someone else has thought about this ride as much as me.
Totally expected Ryan to pull out a plastic dinosaur puppet, instead it was just a purple water bottle 😂
This happened to me too. He grinned like he had a secret surprise, but it was just a regular ol water bottle
Me too! 😅
Yes! I was so disappointed he didn’t have the puppet!!! 😂
Especially because they have the Professor's Mum in the Jurassic Park episode.
Dinosaur is one of my all time fave attractions in WDW and I am so sad it’s probably closing with the retheme. I rode it for the first time in 1998 within months of AK’s opening, and it scared me like no other. My parents still have the ride photo somewhere of little 7 year old me ducking under the railing on the car 😂. Every visit since, it’s been more of a conquering my fears situation with every ride. Back in 2022, I rope dropped it, and had the entire ride vehicle to myself. I think that ride officially helped me conquer the fear. I love it so much and I’ll forever treasure every ride on it
I brought my friend on this ride last year for her first time with no context. Just before the pterodactyl (her favorite dinosaur) I looked over to see her reaction and she was doubled over with her arms covering her head. Crying. We're 32.
You need to have this guest for every episode. He was one of the most objective guests you've ever had. It's a breath of fresh air for a guest that doesn't strong arm the hosts to pass a ride for the most part. Well done!
George’s videos are so good he’s so well researched
This is my favorite show on RUclips. Dont leave guys!
Quickest way to piss me off is to mention beastly kingdom I will never forget what we could’ve had
I feel like they're going to replace this ride because they don't think people care about the Dinosaur movie. While that may be true, I think it misses the point. The ride itself is fine - it's just stuck in a section of the park that many guests don't take seriously. I think if they fix up the surrounding land, Dinosaur would be better received. Maybe rework the theming a bit - call the show building "Museo de Dinsaurios" if it's now in South America - and if it really makes a difference, take out the movie clips in the pre-show, and go back to calling it "Countdown to Extinction." But, c'mon - it's a ride where you go back in time and get chased by dinosaurs. That's fun! And if attraction capacity is such a big deal, then they shouldn't replace a fun ride over IP, especially when they absolutely have room to expand. If they want to do Indy too, that's great - there should be plenty of space to make something new, and leave the Dinos alone.
core memory of my childhood was being traumatized on this ride. to this day i remember my mom telling me as we got in line "don't worry, disney is for kids it can't be scary!!"
update: i texted my mom and asked her if she would take my 6 and 9 year old siblings on this if we were to go today. she said yes she would lmao
hope that thought process didn't result on her taking you on the alien ride too 😂😭
@@jxssica_b thankfully by the time i was old enough it was already stitch's great escape......which did also very much so scare me LOL
My favourite day when FYA posts! Thanks for being my favourite podcast! 😊
SERIOUSLY! I love love this podcast so much!
1:32:33 This right here!!! Florida especially has been shafted in recent years. Every exclusive they've gotten recently except Guardians has been cloned elsewhere, and then everything else they've gotten has been clones from other parks (Ratatouille, Tron, etc.) With the rumors of Radiators Springs Racers being cloned to Magic Kingdom behind Big Thunder Mountain, things aren't looking great. Magic Kingdom especially needs more exclusive attractions!
This is the only podcast where I don’t skip the ads because I’m thrilled whenever they do get a sponsor 😭
I’ve *only* been listening to FYA since discovering it 2 weeks ago and I live in constant fear knowing it’s not a financially viable podcast. I need it to continue!! 😭
I rode the original full-on CTX in my mid-20s and I remember coming off it a bit weak-kneed. I loved it and wanted to do it again but needed to sit down and rest first before getting back in line.
The highlights:
The first Carnotaurus was not visible until seeker said "Full stop!" It lit up right in your face as you were still moving toward it in _red._
The full-standing Carnotaurus where they took your picture didn't light up until you were literally at its feet, and it lunged down when they took the picture.
The running Carnotaurus at first seemed like another static animatronic, but suddenly it just busted out of the underbrush and _came after you_ as the rover peeled out trying to speed away.
The meteor strike finale was absolute chaos. It was like being in the middle of a hurricane volume and sound wise, the meteor lit up sequential clouds in black smoke and fire as it whistled over your head, the impact caused a blast of wind from behind you which felt like it picked up the vehicle and threw it straight forward at the Carnotaurus's face before you fell down into the time portal hallway.
One time I rode it and right at “WE’RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT WE’RE NOT GONNA-“‘shoom….the lights and sound cut out. We were all adults freaking out 😂
I had the pleasure of having my run of Animal Kingdom at a private event after hours last fall, so I got to ride Flight of Passage with no wait, but more importantly - I got to experience DINOSAUR for the first time! It was so scary but very fun. They should put closed captions on the video that plays in the queue beforehand because I could not hear a thing over everyone around me talking 😫 Thank you, FYA, for having Jenny on as a guest all those months ago - the episode she sat on is how I discovered this podcast, and now I look forward to new episodes every Tuesday. Thanks for all your fun discussions! You make me laugh so much.
Commenting to show my support for this amazing show! So fun to see so many theme park RUclipsrs join this pod
I’ve been waiting for this one! This has been my all time favorite attraction from any theme park since I rode it for the first time back in 2017. I’ve heard the rumors of them replacing it and I really hope they don’t, they have potential to expand on the dino institute theme and remove the cheap dino carnival. But instead they will probably smack another IP there 😭 I took every friend of mine onto this ride and everytime it was a blast into the past! This is a phenomenal attraction and extremely underrated. Fun fact they had to lower the dinosaur animatronics into the show building because of how huge they are. When I say I love this ride, it is not an understatement. I know the whole pre show quote for quote and with my eyes closed I know the ride vehicle track. But I want to say I agree with what Ryan quoted about attractions. “They don’t design them around any danger” YES! This is a huge disney problem right now. For example I’m excited for Tiana’s Bayou but I fear there will be no dangerous element or villian and without that fear what are we running from? And if we aren’t escaping something in the upcoming attraction, it won’t work any longer as a thrill log flume. Anyways thanks for this podcast and thanks for passing my favorite attraction.
Oh my god the fail of the theme park tech question had me SCREAMING at the screen “THE GIANT ANAMATRONIC!!! HOW DID THEY MISS THE GIANT CARNASAURUS!!”!!! Like they literally talked about it earlier 😭😭
I finally got to ride this last year -- fun ride. At the park I was wearing a mask and a sweat band and a cast member told me I looked like a Ninja Turtle. I was first offended, then I saw my reflection ... it was a pretty accurate description. 😄
I went to Animal Kingdom last month for the first time since I was a kid (I believe it was 2005) and rode Dinosaur twice in one day to soak it in before it goes away. It was a walk on both times 😅 but I loved it just as much as I did when I was a kid - it made me sad to think about all the dinos going into storage when they reskin it.. Also made me sad to think about the finale dinos sitting idle instead of being fixed. On our second ride, I yelled and tried to point out the shadowy figure to my fiance and explain what used to happen 😂
Somewhere in my house exists a photo of my brother being absolutely terrified of the Carnotaurus at the end of the ride.
I've been waiting for this one! My all-time favourite ride, one of WDI's top 5 / 3 attractions ever built!
Tuesday is my favorite day!!!!! I legit schedule time to listen watch/listen to every Tuesday!!
This is one of the few rides we bought the picture from. It's hilarious. My friend and I are both looking to the side terrified and leaning hard away from it, and my mom is looking at us like we're being ridiculous. My mom is braver than all of us. (I was in high school at the time, so it's not like we were little kids, either.)
I would like to see them bring in Coaster Studios, Airtime Thrills, or ElToroRyan
Funny you say that...
I have a McDonald's Happy Meal toy of this ride. Minnie Mouse is driving the jeep and the dinosaur is indeed in the back seat :D.
Is Dinosaur the best version of this type of ride? No. Will I ever not be scared of the Carnataurus at the photo op? No.
I have only ridden this as an adult and I still get scared. I’m glad I didn’t ride as a kid because even as a dinosaur fan this ride would’ve given me THE WORST apocalypse anxiety
Now we need the OG Jurassic Park ride review! Either from Hollywood's version (before JW retheme) or Orlando's version.
I listen first on Spotify bc it airs 5-6am my time so can listen while I get ready for work/drive to work. Then I watch once I’m home from work😂
I love this ride so much. I have been to Disneyland 3 or 4 times since I have been back to AK and every time I ride Indiana Jones (which I do love) it makes me miss Dinosaur, although Countdown to Extinction was the better name. I know quite a few people who were traumatized by the Carnotaurus. I still have the Happy Meal Hand Puppet of him too.
This pod put me in the best mood 🥰 love you guys!
I remember my dad being so angry with me that my eyes were closed in the ride photo for this. He wanted me to get over how scary it was and had us ride it a second time. It was a rough 10th birthday. I remember having nightmares for months over that specific dino eating another one.
When it opened the animatronics that interacted with the ride path were super innovative....but eventually a safety issue lol 😆
I really really want to do this ride. It will have to be a whole planned day with only that though, because I have a minor dinophobia (somehow walked in only during the death scenes when my parents rented Jurassic Park when I was 5 while taking snack breaks from my kiddie movie in another room). My brain wants to study the things I'm afraid of so I'm a bit of a paleontology buff for grown ass former English major. So I have kind of a weird mental/emotional conflict in that I love dinosaurs and find them fascinating but they also terrify me. I love to experience dinosaur stuff but I gotta be prepared and ideally doing it in a safe environment.
my grandma’s husband worked on countdown to extinction and he said Eisner would come by and check it out and be like “not thrilling enough”
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he snickers every time he thinks about the fact that it had to be reworked for being too scary and says “all that work for a bunch of bones”
To "Dinosaur"'s credit, you are never supposed to experience the ride with the "lights-on"! You're zipping through a primeval forest at night and only pausing when the computer detects something. All the lighting is meant to be emitting from the moon, thermal vents, and your headlights!
My 5-year-old cousin went on this ride the last time we were in Disney and he loved it! They let him ride three times because a storm cleared out the park
My first time at WDW was in 2002 or 2003. I got to experience Alien Encounter AND Dinosaur for the first time, and they were both ridiculously terrifying. There were children bawling after Alien Encounter. At one point, a technician is straight up murdered on the walkway above you, and you get sprayed with his "blood." I really miss that attraction, and I'm going to miss Dinosaur.
Best Podcast! Means a whole lot to a specific corner of people! Now let's go find that Dino!
HOT TAKE - Dinosaur is the only reason to visit Animal Kingdom. :X And you never even mentioned one of the best GOODs, Dr Seeker's name. Dr Grant Seeker! I love a good pun. He'll do anything to get his grants!
I wait every week for these videos love what your doing guys 😊
I completely disagree that Dino Land is trash. Imagine a young Pee Wee’s Big Adventure fanatic’s joy when he gets to see giant dinosaurs, and a merch shop set up just as majestic as Pee Wee’s home. Off in the distance, at the edge of the land, the Dino Institute is doing dark things. Where we get our Jurassic “Large Marge” moment.
32:00 touches on a good point that really pre 2012 youtube a lot of these rides had to be discovered essentially by accident. I remember there was real confusion going onto tiempo or knotts dinosaur ride specifically because of the weird placement.
Great episode, as always! AK is my favorite park, I love the Dinosaur ride. I hope even if/when the land gets re-themed the ride can stay somehow!
1:29:32 I love Byron's idea to have the kid from UP running a South American conservation thing! Anything incorporating fictional animals with real ones is *chef's kiss*
But.... as a MEGA Lion King Nerd (who spent the entire WDW trip wearing a Simba tail)... building a Lion King Land would get me to go back. Our WDW trip was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, but I will make reservations TODAY if they opened TLK Land. I don't think it'll happen -- South America seems far more likely with Encanto being the shiny new thing. Maybe even a Polynesian Moana-themed land?
McDonald's sponsoring "time travel" is so dystopian in concept hahah
Commenting for algorithm to keep one of my favorite podcasts running!!!
Great shows guys, honestly the “I hate screens” has become a drinking game to every time it’s said drink!
The guy who directed The Brave Little Toaster was involved in both this ride and ExtraTERRORestrial? John Rees loves traumatizing children.
I have such a vivid memory of being a kid and my family listening to the “kid friendly” rating on the animal kingdom map for this ride! Closed my eyes, cried, and screamed through the whole thing! We all blamed my mom who was the poor soul in charge of the map so I’ll have to tell her I’m not the only kid who fell victim to this ride lol.
As a California resident that has only been to Disney World twice in my life, I’ve sadly never gotten to experience this ride in person. I only this year got to see videos of it but, as a horror freak (as Ryan put it), I do have a great appreciation for this ride now. Sadly I don’t think I’ll be able to go there before they potentially change it.
Also really love the fact that you guys brought up Alien Encounter at around 1:04:32 because that’s another ride I never got to experience but really wish I could.
Former Dinoland Attractions Cast Member here. The carnotaurus at the end still scares me.
I love seeing a new upload. I sometimes hold off on listening to it only because I want to fully experience it without distractions. Love this podcast and love the long episodes, cuz it’s never enough.
Oh I have been waiting for this one
Day 4 of asking for Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
I grew up in California(hence the name). Family’s always been a Disney family. In 2001 (I was 11) they planned a big trip to Florida to go to Disney World. Not only did we ride Dinosaur but we also went on ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. Oh and we were in the airports in October of 2001. I’ve never fully recovered from that vacation 😂.
Dinosaur is my favorite ride ever
I need "Fuck it, Dinos!" on some merch lol
i have a suggestion! for the signature moment test, you could have each person prepare what THEY think is the signature moment of the ride, then compare during the show and if there's no unreasonable discrepencies, it should pass. love the show and i hope you're able to keep making more! i was so excited to see TWO sponsors this episode!!
I quote this ride without even realizing it 💀I loooove to say "definitely not our/my dino" but I never could remember what it's from. Ugh, I hope they treat this like Star Tours and leave it when they update the area.
Congrats on actually having a sponsor when you "cut to sponsors"!
ahhhhhh I've been waiting for this one!!
I’m gonna be honest, I went on DINOSAUR for the first time recently, and the scariest part about it was the brontosaurus with a sloping, quasibroken neck. When I rode on that side of the vehicle on my second ride through, it gave me the chills that it was that close. But I’ve gotta say, I’ve got a family member who is scared by most big rides, and she ADORED this one, which made me so happy as a theme park enthusiast, since it’s a thrill ride that’s perfect for her that’s also a classic :D
Hell 🦖 yes 🦖
Getting the Iguanodon back to the lab is explained by Dr. Seekers in the pre-show. At the very end he says he’ll enlarge the transporter field, thus bringing back the vehicle and the near by dino.
My friends and I weren’t expecting much when we rode Dinosaur, I had heard here and there that it was an underrated ride but still had low expectations. We were all pleasantly surprised and the ride photo has got to be one of the funniest I’ve ever seen.
YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!! i love this ride with my whole heart, i'm so excited y'all are talking about it 🥹
I love this series so much, thanks for making the office days go by faster!!!
This was the first ride my family went on during our first ever Disney trip (2010). We had no idea what we were getting into. I was 10 and my brother was 6. We both cried and as a result, we cried waiting in the line of most other rides for the rest of our trip because we thought they’d all be scary like Dinosaur. Our poor parents 😂. We did love our trip though.
Probably one of the most important episodes IMO - I’m going to miss that toaster (the beginning) so so much when it’s gone
"WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!
WE MADE IT!
HOORAY!"
-"Frodo, Don't Wear The Ring"
Omg I am so sad this ride may go away at WDW. It is one of my favorites!! Scary and so fun!
went on this as a child: gave me a panic attack
went on this as a full grown adult a few years ago: literally the most fun experience me and my friends did it three times during our trip 😂
The loss of traction for me (back row left) is the signature moment on this ride. The writing in the moment, the audio, and seeing the carno chase after you while you're stuck is so scary lol
Keep making this podcast!
yay for sponsors!!! loving the length of these eps🫡
New episode lets goOOOOO RAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
"We shit our pants"
I love this podcast
Ride engineering is a special interest of mine, and it tends to help my anxiety about trying new rides when I know a lot about it already. It's pretty rare that I get on a ride blind, and usually only do if I'm certain it's a pretty tame attraction. The only reason we got on Dinosaur was because the wait time was short and it was in Dinoland, which did not seem like a place for such an intense attraction 😂 I got off that ride so surprised by what I had just experienced and I felt dumb for getting a little scared. Especially because the girls in front of us are posing so cute for the picture and I look terrified lmao. I feel so seen every time I hear experiences where people are like "I didn't think it was going to be that scary!"
I’d wait for this ride over Everest. I wouldn’t wait an hour for flight of passage.
❤❤❤ never stop these please. Favorite podcast hands down. Love yall
I think grabbing the Dino right before the meteor shower is to prevent a butterfly effect. If we grab the dinosaur right before the meteor, it won’t miraculously change history because everything will be wiped out anyways. Grab him any earlier who knows what could change?
let's go get that dino!!!!!
Countdown to extinction was terrifying as a child
ryan you are valid I was so confused as a child, I kept asking my Dad questions about what was happening