Jurassic Park at IOA

I am going to Universal Orlando over Spring Break and I was just wondering on a scale of one to ten how scary the Jurassic Park River Adventure is.

I found this ride to be more amusing than scary. Countdown to Extinction, err, Dinosaur at Disney's Animal Kingdom is much more scary. That is the better dino ride of the two in my opinion. It's also more realistic than the Jurassic Park ride.

As long as you don't sit on an end, its not scary at all. But on the ends, (especially to the right) I've seen teenagers hysterically crying and go hide under the huge lap bars. If animatronic Raptors scare you, don't sit on a side. The drop is not the least bit frightning though. Sit in the front row so you can get really close to the T-Rex.

Everything is relative.

The good animatronic dinosaurs were "wasted" in the outdoor parts of the ride. This is done by necessity, of course, but still means that the opportunities for fright go underutilized.

The real disappointment for me is that the last two years I've been on it, the fog just before the drop was inadequate, thus not hiding drop or the T-Rex. The first time I rode it, it was far more effective when that scary bastard came out of the fog.

yeah, it was never really THAT scary, but it has now become merely mediocre in my opinion, it's well worth a ride, but on a scale of 1-10 for scariness i would give it a 2 or 3.

Thanks for the info, but also I would like to know if it is good or just overrated.

It is NOT overrated. It is a great ride.

My opinion is biased, because I was employed at the ride for 6 months.

I rode the thing at least 5 times a week, and every time I did, I still jumped at some of the surprises. A lot of kids and some adults were scared to ride at first, but after one ride they wanted to do it again and again.

I respectfully disagree with Mr. Stich about the drop not being frightening. It is long and steep, in the dark. A lot of park guests scream on the way down. Brace youself at the splashdown or else you will be violently forced into the lapbar padding.

I got paid for sitting and watching the boat go over the big drop. Sometimes when we were not busy, I got an empty boat. This allowed me to focus on the actions of the T-Rex instead of riders. She is one scary monster. Each time she came out I got goosebumps. It never got old for me.

It's a GREAT ride-Don't miss it.

A lot of times, one of the Dinos in broken, which is pretty funny, watching it stay in one position.

The drop, I thought, was unexpected, and very steep, and scary for some. However, no one really noticed the T-Rex. My Brother was very scared on it, and he's in fifth grade. Many others were too, including a college age student, right next to me.

I would have to say this ride is 100% better than the ride at Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom's dinosaurs are not as realistic as the one's in Jurassic Park. This is one of my favorite rides at the park. If you don't want to get wet try and sit in the back row. I always head there on the cool days. As for the drop, sometimes the fog works and other times it doesn't. One time I rode it and there were no lights on the T-Rex until you got right to the hump and the lights turned on. That was freaky! Overall the T-Rex is the best dinosaur I've ever seen portrayed!

Shoewee

Annual Passholder Disney AND Univeral!

Yeah jeff,

That part when the fog was there was incredible. When he came out right before you went down was just .... speachless. If the fog is there then you will be frightened.

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Shoewee said:
One time I rode it and there were no lights on the T-Rex until you got right to the hump and the lights turned on. That was freaky! Overall the T-Rex is the best dinosaur I've ever seen portrayed!

Shoewee

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ive never ridden the one at IOA, but from what I remember of the one at USH, they always turned the lights on the t-rex right at the end as he came thru the waterfall

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CPcyclone said:
I found this ride to be more amusing than scary. Countdown to Extinction, err, Dinosaur at Disney's Animal Kingdom is much more scary. That is the better dino ride of the two in my opinion. It's also more realistic than the Jurassic Park ride.

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I guess I am to old for this ride it was a nice ride just that it did look more amusing than scary.

I have ridden both JPRA's and i have to say that i enjoyed the one at USH more than at IOA. They are both basically the same layout, but some of the effects are different. For example, i like the Tour Jeep falling over the wall at USH more than the rapotor cage at IOA. And unless they'ce changed the layout at USH you have two encounters with the t-rex. And the first one is where the t-rex sticks its head through the ceileing and is trying to eat everyone. That was the best effect of the ride. I heard that they took this part out, because someone actually stuck their hand in the t-rexs mouth and was injured..........but i don;t know if this is true or not...............

Yeah, Hollywood's version is a much much better ride. I suspect that to get the IOA version within the budget of the park they had to cut most of the outstanding effects from the original, because about half the dinousaurs are missing and those that are there aren't nearly as good.

Of the water rides at IOA I say it rates below Ripsaw and Popeye. With Ripsaw you've got a wacky ride with plenty of drops and surprises and on Popeye you've got a ride that's so evil in how much it soaks you that you can't help but laugh (even if it was 50ºF).

It's a great ride, with an excellent drop, but I definitely don't think it's anywhere near its potential.

I found Jurrasic Park entertaining, but not thrilling. It is far from the best ride at this wonderful park.

I don't know about the IOA but at 15 years old I was pretty scared of the one at USH. When the T-Rex came through the ceiling it scared the piss outta me. I rode it around 11 times and every single time it was still frightening, its soooo close. The effects on the USH one were amazing (even the jeep wasnt working) but if the IOA one is anything like it im sure its fun.

I was wondering about one effect on the IOA one. I've ridden JPRA about 8 times. 7 of which were basically the same, however once one of the pipes overhead right before the t-rex was gushing water straight into the ride trough area, completely drenching everyone in the boat. Is this a regular effect, or soemthing they turn on in the Summer when it is warmer (like Thunder River at SFoG, we only turn the waterfall on when the temp is over a certain mark).?

Those fountains were on it July when I went.

Sure it's the weakest of the water rides at IoA, but come ON, that's some serious competition....(unless Dudley gets *neutered* worse than his horse during this particular rehab, LOL)...

CtCF, I haven't had experienced that water pipe "on", but I know from Dudley and Bilge Rats that the water rides at IoA do seem to have some variability in terms of wetness...right dawn? ;)