Dinosaur Ride: Missing Effects!?!

[Robo]

When this ride first opened (then called "Countdown to Extinction") it had some cool major effects that no long appear to EVER be operating.

1. When you first "blast into the past", the WALLS are supposed to MOVE (slide towards you) to make the motion appear MUCH faster than it actually is. (This same effect is/was used in the Indy Adventure in Disneyland.)

2. After you safely return to the present, you can see your ride vehicle in a large floor-to-ceiling mirror. You USED to be able to see the image of the cute "dino passenger, extra large" reflected riding "with you" in this same mirror (think "Hitchhiking Ghosts" in the HM).

These effects seem to NEVER be operating when we ride "Dinosaur" these days.
Anyone remember when they WORKED and when they STOPPED?

 

[mickeymousemommy]

I guess I wasn't fortunate enough to be able to ride them when they were working. Bummer. It would have been cool! I love that ride!

 

[Rneighh]

Yes I remember when both of them worked. They were working on our trip in 2003 but I noticed on our trip just a few weeks ago that things were different.

Renee

 

[eblack0409]

I think you could tell that Disney ran out of money on Dinosaur....when they can't be very attentive to detail..they make it dark.....take out Chester and Hesters and apply money to finishing Dinosaur...they way it should have been done.

 

[tink too]

DH rode when it was "Countdown to Extinction" and really enjoyed the effects but I didn't ride until 2002 and can't remember if they happened or not!

OT - mickeymousemommy - what an adorable photo of your girls with Ariel! Can I ask where it was taken?

We didn't manage to see Ariel on our last visit to WDW, so she is on DD's "wish list" for our trip later this year!

 

[joshsmom]

Sadly, I've never been on Dinosaur. DS just doesn't want to go on it. Grandma went on it last year and really liked it, but the line was VERY long and the people we were with did not want to wait for me to go on it. We will remedy this on our next trip!! I will not force DS to go on it though--if he doesn't want to, that's fine with me!!

 

[mickeymousemommy]

tink,too: My daughters had their picture taken with Ariel at Akershus, Norway in EPCOT. We had a lunch reservation there. You can also see her with her flipper at Ariel's Grotto in the Magic Kingdom.

 

[sorcerormickey]

Ummm....I have been on this ride probably 100+ times, including pre-opening and opening day, and have NEVER seen these effects you mention. You see the dino you bring back on the monitor - like closed-circuit security camera type thing. Other people I have asked (including an AK CM) have ever heard of these either.

 

[Robo]

Ummm....I have been on this ride probably 100+ times, including pre-opening and opening day, and have NEVER seen these effects you mention. You see the dino you bring back on the monitor - like closed-circuit security camera type thing. Other people I have asked (including an AK CM) have ever heard of these either.

I have SEEN them and that's why I MISS them.

Why would they have gone to the trouble and expense of installing a HUGE MIRROR at the END of the ride, if not for the special effect of seeing the dino "riding with you"?

And on "behind the scenes" shows about Indy (and, by default, Dinosaur... same walls in both) they have discussed the "sliding walls" for "speed" effects.

Now, has anyone ever seen Brer Rabbit "hopping around" a fence in Splash Mtn?

Just because the effects don't work NOW doesn't mean they NEVER worked.

 

[__disneygirl]

That's odd! I wonder why the effects have stopped. That would be cool. It's still an excellent ride though.

 

[TDC Nala]

I may be remembering this incorrectly because I never rode the thing when it was Countdown to Extinction, but I do remember hearing that at the time they changed the name of the ride, they also toned it down and lowered the minimum height requirement. I don't know what that would have to do with the effects described, though.

Sometimes I get to see Brer Rabbit hopping around the fence on Splash Mountain. Once, he was inactive but visible and slumped over the fence, which caused my logmates to start exclaiming "Somebody shot Brer Rabbit!" Seems that lately it's more likely that he's not hopping, but they manage to keep him out of sight.

 

[Sylvester McBean]

those two effects were most certainly there before. my daughter now compares the launch back into time like 'driving into a toaster oven'. and what happened to that mirror?

 

[Glendamax]

Thank God for this thread! Now I know that I'm not CRAZY! I remember the dinosaur being in the car with my mother and I at the end of the ride, the first time we rode it shortly after it openned. The movie at the beginning explains that the whole point of the "excursion" is to bring back a dinosaur. So at the end you see the one that came back with you.

I also remember another effect the original "Countdown To Extinction" had: there was a little dinosaur to the left of the car that spat at you. My mother was horrified! It was so funny! I remember bracing myself last September when I saw it, and told my friend to watch out, but nothing happened

Also, didn't the camera used to take your picture when the big dinosaur at the end facing you came into view? Hmmmm . . . .

 

[Robo]

Sometimes I get to see Brer Rabbit hopping around the fence on Splash Mountain... Seems that lately it's more likely that he's not hopping, but they manage to keep him out of sight.

He used to hop EVERY TRIP and it was one of my favorite effects in the ride.
Now (even after the "major refurb" in January '06) he STILL AIN'T HOPPIN'

But at least the turtles in the lowest "cavern" are now floating on WATER JETS (instead of thin air)!

Brer Rabbit... Once, he was inactive but visible and slumped over the fence, which caused my logmates to start exclaiming "Somebody shot Brer Rabbit!"

 

[boomhauer]

Brer Rabbit WAS hopping on one of the Splash rides I went on this past January. Then, 2 days later, he wasn't.

I often think of telling a CM when I know things are broken on a ride, but I know they'd just ignore it.

 

[Robo]

Brer Rabbit WAS hopping on one of the Splash rides I went on this past January. Then, 2 days later, he wasn't.

We need a "chain of communication" to relay this kind of info.

"Pssst... Da rabbit's hoppin'... pass it on..."

 

[seashoreCM]

We need a "chain of communication" to relay this kind of info.

"Pssst... Da rabbit's hoppin'... pass it on..."

Let's start a fad!

We need to relay the non-info, for example,

"Pssst ... Da rabbit's not hoppin' "

But not to be passed on and on and on in a chain. Rather to be reported in a list (not in the words shown above) to Guest Relations as you leave the park at the end of the day.

Disney needs to know that guests notice things.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[perfectpluto10]

I've been to Disney many times and have ridden Dinosaur lots of times. I 've never noticed the walls- moving in -in the begining and at the end I don't remember a mirror with Aladar in it what I 've seen they showed it on a TV.
Everytime I've been to Disney Brer rabbit has been hopping over the fence.I think I'll research to see if Dinosaur did have those special effects.

 

[SeussicalSollaSollew]

I've been to Disney many times and have ridden Dinosaur lots of times. I 've never noticed the walls- moving in -in the begining and at the end I don't remember a mirror with Aladar in it what I 've seen they showed it on a TV.
Everytime I've been to Disney Brer rabbit has been hopping over the fence.I think I'll research to see if Dinosaur did have those special effects.

That's not the only effect that doesn't work sometimes. In Tower of Terror when you go through the 5th dimension there is supposed to be a lightning simulation before you start the drop sequences but half the time they forget to "plug" it in and turn it on. I also heard that a couple years ago they used to have some sparks flying off the hollywood sign and stopped it because it's too costly or something. My opinion is that if universal can do it with the jurassic park ride then disney can do it with this as well.

 

[Sylvester McBean]

like Robo said, just because they're not working now doesn't mean they aren't there or weren't there at some point. sometimes the effect needs a simple reset, sometimes they just get shelved. the projection of brer rabbit running over the hill on splash mountain isn't there half of the time, and that's a pretty simple thing to fix. on an IOA site there's a running thread called 'what isn't working on Jurassic Park today'